Sunday, February 3, 2013
A cultural war is taking place within the Republican Party. In Iowa, where gay marriage opponents and social conservatives Rick Santorum and Mike Huckabee have come out winners in the first-in-the-nation caucus, the conversation is critically important.
The first article in a two-part series. Read Part 2, Fight Against Gay Marriage? Not if Iowa GOP Wants Young Voters, on Iowa City Patch. __________ Troubled by polling data that shows traditional positions on issues like same-sex marriage are costing elections, the Republican Party is going through what its leaders politely call a period of introspection. More brutally, it's a question of whether the GOP can hold its nose and keep quiet on same-sex marriage and other social issues in order to welcome in a new group of young voters whose priorities center more on fiscal values than family values. The conversation is critically important – and difficult – in Iowa, where the results of first-in-the-nation caucuses and the Straw Poll leading …
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Republicans across the state weighed in on Saturday's Des Moines GOP debate.
At the Iowa GOP debate in Des Moines on Saturday, there were no losers, and Gingrich, Santorum and Romney did well, Republicans leaders across Iowa told Patch. Patch editors spoke with a mix of party leaders and everyday voters after the debate. University of Iowa political science professor Tim Hagle said candidates usually stand more to lose than to gain with debates, and, given that, no one seemed to lose big. This was especially important for Gingrich. As the current front-runner, he was the most scrutinized, and Hagle said he did fairly well. He specifically commended Gingrich for diffusing the fidelity issue. "It didn't get worse for Gingrich, and that was the best he could hope for," Hagle said. He added that Romney's performance …
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Dogged by personal baggage, could Newt Gingrich's presidential aspirations be resurrected by, of all people, Iowa's evangelical Christians?
Newt Gingrich’s surprise performance in the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition presidential forum Oct. 23, when he received greater applause than candidates with arguably more appeal with influential evangelical Christians, may be breathing life into a presidential campaign that many Republicans had left for dead. Former state Republican chairman Mike Mahaffey said support by religious conservatives of a candidate whose “life is a soap opera” is an unexpected sign of the times. Iowa Republicans have thrown their support behind several presidential hopefuls this year, only to then turn fickle. Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann won the Ames Straw Poll in August, with Rep. Ron Paul finishing second. Then Texas Gov. Rick Perry jumped into…
Jon Trouten
12:27 pm on Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Maxine: It hasn't always been one man and one woman. It still isn't always one man and one woman. The Bible itself shows us that marriage sometimes has more than two spouses. We haven't always called our relationships "unions". Back when Vermont's supreme court told the state that there was no reason to deny us marriage licenses, the legislature came up with civil unions to provide us with … more ›