Iowa Caucus
The presidential election may feel like hundreds of days away but with the Iowa Caucus votes coming in, the election is just heating up. Now, whether you like it or not, presidential ads will be splayed on every T.V. screen.
The Iowa Caucus is important to the presidential election not only because it is the first major primary election, but also because the caucus is a good tell on how the presidential candidates will do in later elections. The eventual Democratic nominee won the Iowa caucuses in six out of the past eight competitive Democratic presidential primaries, states Business Insider.
Because of this, the Democratic presidential candidates are all flocking their attention to the state of Iowa. Some candidates: Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Amy Klobuchar, and Michael Bennet all got a late start to campaigning because of the impeachment trial being held in the Senate.
There were twelve democratic candidates running in the primary:
- Bernie Sanders
- Michael Bennet
- Tulsi Gabbard
- John K. Delaney
- Amy Klobuchar
- Elizabeth Warren
- Joe Bidden
- Pete Buttigieg
- Andrew Yang
- Tom Sawyer
- Michael Bloomberg
- Deval Patrick
When Monday night rolled around, the Democratic Party was thrown into chaos when they believed to have found inconsistencies in voting causing confusion on who won the caucus. That did not stop some of the Presidential Candidates declaring victory. “By all indications, we are going on to New Hampshire victorious“ states Pete Buttigieg.
Coming into the primary, all polls showed Bernie Sanders leading in the race. However, Pete Buttigieg came from behind and surprised everyone with winning the caucus. Bernie Sanders was right behind with only a few votes behind.
For Donald Trump, on the other hand, he won with 97.1% of votes. The two other candidates, Bill Weld and Joe Walsh combined for only 2.4% of the votes.
With all the attention being shined on Iowa, some are begging the question: does the Iowa Caucus system really work? “The system is weird but every state runs its own election,” states Mr. Winkles, an AP U.S. Government teacher. In Iowa’s state constitution, it states they have to be the first state to have a primary
State of the Union Address
Every year, the current president of the United States speaks to the American people about the plans they have for the subsequent year. For President Donald Trump, this is his fourth State of the Union Address coming a day before Trump’s acquittal in the Senate in the impeachment trial.
Not once did Trump mention the impeachment trial. Instead, he focused on gloating about all of the amazing things he was able to accomplish while in his presidency, including the stock market being the highest it has ever been and claiming that the economy is growing tremendously.
One thing Trump did during his speech was to reunite a military family. Sgt. 1st Class Townsend Williams, was in Afghanistan on his fourth deployment to the Middle East for the past seven months. His wife, Amy Williams, works a full-time job and devotes hours to helping other military families, all the while raising two children. The surprise reunion started a U-S-A chant from the lawmakers in the House Chambers and brought together both Republicans and Democrats when throughout the address both parties were separated.
Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House, was not happy throughout the address. In the beginning, it seemed as though President Trump purposely did not shake Pelosi’s hand. On top of this, she did not agree with some of the things Trump was stating, especially on the topic of insurance for preexisting conditions. At the end of the night, Pelosi ripped up Trump’s speech and threw it on the ground. “He shredded the truth, so I shredded his speech,” she stated when asked what made her act it that manner.
Pelosi’s remark follow a long-standing trend between the two leaders who have constantly gone back and forth on what they believe is right and wrong. Pelosi is usually restrained in her emotions. Her actions at the State of the Union signify a growing divide between the Democratic Party and the Republican Party.
