welcome to inside politics live from iowa. here we go. the first vote of the 2024 presidential election are tonight. after months of rallying, tens of millions in campaign ads, voters will finally have their say. and in the last few hours, candidates are scrambling to reach as many of those voters as possible. you have to get it done quickly. we have to set the stage. think of the fact that you might be making history in this moment. we are the nation s best days actually still be ahead of us. here in iowa, you have the ability to change the trajectory of american politics. tonight will come down to the one word we use each and every election day turnout. who can get the most voters out. the record-breaking cold weather here in iowa will make that even harder than ever before. take a look at the scene outside right now. subzero temperatures, dangerous conditions complicating travel to the caucus sites. 1,657 separate caucus sites across the state. it is a crucia
Its hard not to be giddy for people like us. You cant see my boots but im wearing the same boots i wore covering the bradley campaign. I think i need new treads on these snow boots. Lets set the table with a little bit of history. That is, the winning margins here in iowa over the past several cycles, starting competitive caucuses for republicans. Ted cruz won by just a little bit more than 3 . Ran santorum not even a full percentage point, 0. 1 . Mike huckabee had a pretty big win by iowa standards, over 9 . George w. Bush, even bigger, 10 . Bob dole, 3 . And then Bob Dole in 1988, even bigger. I dont think you go all the way back to Bob Dole, jeff zeleny, but you started covering it back in 2000, right . The bush campaign. I was looking back at that this morning, the same morning you were breaking out those boots. George w. Bush won in iowa, 41 of the vote
Cedar Rapids residents received a mailer earlier this month from Rick David and Barclay Woerner, two of nine candidates running for four seats on the Cedar Rapids school board. The Gazette’s Fact Checker looked at 11 claims on the mailer about incumbents Cindy Garlock, Dexter Merschbrock, Jennifer Neumann and David Tominsky.
population centers. by iowa standards, that means here, polk county. only 30% of the vote counted right here, ron paul is winning, but by the tie nest margin, mitt romney not that far behind. this is where the most votes are still outstanding tonight, in the center of the state, by the state capital. duh buick, about 44% of the vote counted. one of the things we ll do throughout the night, romney tonight, match it up to romney four years ago. he had 42% there four years ago, just 33% now. he neds eds to continue to lead this county if he wants to pull this one out. another population center, davenport and cedar rapids here. here is our biggest question still remaining tonight. in the western part of the state, look at the open areas right here. this is a very conservative part of the state, and right here, these are mostly small counties, half a percent, 1 percent of the vote. but right here, where sioux city is, woodbury county, 3.5% of the population. you watch the western part fill