Iowa
Nikki Haley bets on retail politics in Iowa
It’s Thursday lunchtime in Iowa and, upstairs in a boathouse on the banks of the Cedar River, Nikki Haley is making her case to be president.
The modestly sized venue is packed. The crowd is polite and receptive, and also notably upscale.
These aren’t country club Republicans as such but they are clearly more prosperous than the MAGA battalions who make up former President Trump’s base. At least two people in the question-and-answer session will talk about the tough challenges facing veterans.
Haley, the former governor of South Carolina, is fond of reminding skeptics that she has never lost an election. Watching her at close quarters, it’s easy to see why.
The positions she enunciates are firmly conservative. She shows no reluctance to plunge into culture war issues, including immigration, “wokeness” in education, and support for law enforcement.
But Haley leavens the seriousness of her conservatism with a mix of charm and self-deprecation.
Her stump speech includes a memory of celebrating a victory over recalcitrant colleagues in South Carolina by “blasting through the statehouse Pat Benatar’s ‘Hit Me With Your Best Shot.’”
Her remarks end with an instruction that, if the audience likes what they have heard, they should each tell 10 people. And if they don’t, Haley adds with a theatrical flourish — “Shhhhh!”
Afterwards, Haley waits to shake every hand, dispensing smiles and pleasantries all the way down the line.
One line in her remarks might be more politically important than any other, however.
“The polls you see today are not the polls you are going to see a year from now,” Haley says.
She badly needs this prediction to be right. And she is betting that old-school campaigning here will make it so.
The boathouse event, held in Waterloo, brought her count of campaign events in the Hawkeye State to 20 since she announced her candidacy in mid-February. By the end of the following day — last Friday — the tally stood at 22.
When Haley tells Iowans that nobody will outwork her in the search for their vote, she seems like she means it.
Will it work?
A crowded 2024 GOP field
Haley faces major challenges — the most immediate being the possibility that she will get squeezed out by the two biggest names, former President Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R).
In national polls, the contest right now is a two-horse race — even though DeSantis is only expected to make his official entrance into the race later this week.
In the weighted polling average maintained by FiveThirtyEight, Trump stood at about 54 percent support as of Monday afternoon, with DeSantis at about 21 percent. Haley registered just 4 percent support nationally.
Complicating the calculus for her even more, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) entered the presidential race on Monday.
It’s a rarity to have two South Carolinians running for president and, if both stay in the race, they could make fundraising more arduous and, ultimately, damage each other’s chances of a strong showing in the crucial Palmetto State primary next year.
But, despite those downsides, there are some reasons for optimism in the Haley camp.
Polling in Iowa is sparse at this stage of the race, but one of the few recent surveys showed Haley making progress. The poll, from Victory Insights, showed the former South Carolina governor in double figures, just 10 points behind DeSantis. They were both well behind Trump, but also well clear of the rest of the field.
The poll was also taken more than a month ago. At least as Team Haley sees it, there is plenty of time for her skill at retail politics to move the needle even more.
“We said we weren’t going to do any shortcuts,” Haley told The Hill in an exclusive interview before another campaign stop, in Dubuque. “This is about touching as many hands as you can. This is about getting your message out. This is about getting people to trust you, and to earn their support. And so we will do town hall after town hall after town hall. We will stay until the last person is done.”
She insisted that, even in an age where candidates have innumerable options for connecting with voters, from cable news to Twitter and TikTok, putting in the miles from town to town can still break through.
“Even now, nothing takes the place of that eye-to-eye contact,” she says. “The shaking hands, the really getting to know people and them getting to know you — I just think that’s more meaningful. It’s easy to come in and do a rally and leave.”
Haley and Trump
The last remark could be seen as a jab at Trump, who can draw crowds but who generally feels no need to adopt the campaigning cadence that Haley has thrown herself into.
Haley, who served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations in the early part of Trump’s term, is trying to thread a fine needle when it comes to the former president.
At times, she seeks to make an asset of her service to him.
Her stump speech includes an anecdote about presenting the then-president with a briefing book showing the amount of foreign aid being given to nations that often voted against the U.S. at the United Nations. In Haley’s telling, this produced a characteristically volcanic reaction from Trump.
But she also puts some clear water between herself and the former president.
At one campaign stop last week, in Ankeny, a woman in the audience asked Haley about the length of time some defendants are having to wait before their trials on alleged offenses related to Jan. 6, 2021.
Haley began her answer with language offering a break with Trump:
“I will continue to say it was a terrible day. It was not a beautiful day. It was a terrible day,” she says.
In her interview with The Hill, asked why she believes voters want a “new generation” of leadership, as she often claims, she replies that Americans are “tired of the drama. They’re tired of the noise.”
As for DeSantis’s likely entrance into the race?
“Welcome to the race. We’ve been waiting,” a smiling Haley replied.
But the battlefield is getting more crowded now. The question of whether Haley can carve out her own territory is becoming more acute.
Will Haley’s approach in Iowa benefit her?
Iowa has produced plenty of upsets over the years, in both major parties.
The caucuses first became significant a generation ago when Jimmy Carter won the 1976 Democratic contest, a victory that ultimately catapulted him toward the nomination.
In 2008, then-Sen. Barack Obama won in Iowa on a night when Hillary Clinton was relegated to third place, changing that year’s Democratic contest at a stroke.
On the Republican side, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee scored a startling victory in 2008 and, four years later, former Sen. Rick Santorum (Pa.) pulled off a broadly similar feat.
On the other hand, there are plenty of candidates of both parties who have virtually set up home in Iowa before the caucuses — and gone nowhere.
Which fate awaits Haley?
“The odds are against her — but lightning is going to strike somebody,” said David Yepsen, who covered numerous caucuses during a 34-year stretch writing about politics for the Des Moines Register.
“Sure, it’s possible that she does a Jimmy Carter, wins Iowa and goes the distance,” Yepsen adds. “But it is more likely that she carves a niche for herself in a post-Trump era…She will run well enough that by the time this is over, her position will be much enhanced in the national Republican Party.
“She is certainly young enough to fight another day if she doesn’t make it — and she may make it.”
So far, there is at least some evidence that Haley’s bid to turn Iowa in her favor, one potential caucus-goer at time, can’t be wholly ruled out.
After the event in Ankeny, Des Moines resident James Hart tells The Hill that he is impressed:
“Very articulate, well spoken, I think she’s got a good head on her shoulders,” he says. “In Iowa we like to look somebody in the eye and see what kind of character they have. That’s real value.”
In Waterloo, retired educator Beth McCrindle and her attorney husband Kevin McCrindle also seem close to being won over.
“I was in tears about five different times…I think I maybe have found my candidate here,” Beth tells The Hill. “But I will continue to go and hear the others as they come through too.”
No-one is speaking of Haley as a winner yet. For all the warm words, she still runs the risk of being unable to escape the long shadows of Trump and DeSantis.
But ask her about the charge, too often leveled at female candidates, that she’s really running to be vice president, and an emphatic reply comes back.
“I don’t play for second; I’ve never played for second. I’m doing this to win it,” she says.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Iowa
Who the ranked Iowa high school football teams face in Week 7
The Gazette offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
Here’s who all 71 Iowa high school football teams ranked in this week’s Gazette poll face in Week 7 games Friday night.
Class 3A gets the spotlight this week as its top two teams face top-seven opponents. No. 1 Algona visits No. 7 Humboldt, while second-ranked Williamsburg hosts a Solon team eager to bounce back from last week’s loss to Benton Community that dropped it from the top spot.
There is intrigue in the 8-Player top five as well, where three of the top five teams face fellow unbeaten foes. That includes No. 1 Remsen St. Mary’s taking on No. 10 Woodbine and No. 2 Algona Garrigan hosting Ruthven GTRA.
Class 5A
No. 1 West Des Moines Valley (5-1) vs. Waterloo West (5-1)
No. 2 West Des Moines Dowling (5-1) at Urbandale (3-3)
No. 3 Bettendorf (6-0) at Davenport Central (2-4)
No. 4 Pleasant Valley (5-1) vs. Muscatine (2-4)
No. 5 Ankeny Centennial (4-2) vs. Des Moines Roosevelt (1-5)
No. 6 Linn-Mar (5-1) vs. Davenport West (0-6)
No. 7 Johnston (4-2) vs. Council Bluffs Lincoln (4-2)
No. 8 Iowa City Liberty (5-1) vs. Ankeny (3-3)
No. 9 Waukee (4-2) at Southeast Polk (3-3)
No. 10 Sioux City East (4-2) vs. Des Moines Lincoln (1-5)
Class 4A
No. 1 Lewis Central (6-0) at Winterset (4-2)
No. 2 Pella (6-0) at Des Moines Hoover (0-6), Thursday
No. 3 North Polk (6-0) at No. 10 Indianola (4-2)
No. 4 Gilbert (6-0) vs. Bondurant-Farrar (1-5)
No. 5 Decorah (6-0) at Marion (2-4)
No. 6 Adel ADM (5-1) at Ballard (3-3)
No. 7 Cedar Rapids Xavier (4-2) at Oskaloosa (1-5)
No. 8 North Scott (4-2) at Clear Creek Amana (4-2)
No. 9 Newton (4-2) vs. Carlisle (0-6)
No. 10 Indianola (4-2) vs. No. 3 North Polk (6-0)
No. 10 Western Dubuque (4-2) at Waterloo East (2-4)
Class 3A
No. 1 Algona (6-0) at No. 7 Humboldt (5-1)
No. 2 Williamsburg (5-1) vs. No. 5 Solon (5-1)
No. 3 Dubuque Wahlert (6-0) at West Delaware (4-2)
No. 4 Sergeant Bluff-Luton (6-0) vs. Carroll (4-2)
No. 5 Mount Vernon (5-1) vs. Fort Madison (0-6)
No. 5 Solon (5-1) at No. 2 Williamsburg (5-1)
No. 7 Humboldt (5-1) vs. No. 1 Algona (6-0)
No. 8 Sioux City Heelan (4-2) at Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley (1-5)
No. 9 Independence (4-2) at Maquoketa (1-5)
No. 10 Nevada (5-1) at Harlan (3-3)
Class 2A
No. 1 West Lyon (6-0) at Sheldon (2-4)
No. 2 Monroe PCM (6-0) at West Marshall (5-1)
No. 3 Spirit Lake (5-1) at Garner GHV (1-5)
No. 4 Van Meter (5-1) vs. Centerville (4-2)
No. 5 Carroll Kuemper (5-1) vs. Saydel (1-5)
No. 6 North Fayette Valley (5-1) vs. Oelwein (0-6) — canceled, Oelwein to forfeit
No. 7 Northeast (6-0) at Tipton (2-4)
No. 8 Central Lyon/George-Little Rock (4-2) vs. No. 10 Western Christian (4-2)
No. 9 Roland-Story (4-2) vs. Des Moines Christian (4-2)
No. 10 Western Christian (4-2) at No. 8 Central Lyon/George-Little Rock (4-2)
Class 1A
No. 1 Grundy Center (6-0) at Alburnett (4-2)
No. 2 Wilton (6-0) at West Branch (2-4)
No. 3 Dike-New Hartford (5-1) vs. Aplington-Parkersburg (2-4)
No. 4 Emmetsburg (6-0) vs. Eagle Grove (0-6)
No. 5 Iowa City Regina (6-0) at Dyersville Beckman (4-2)
No. 6 Ida Grove OABCIG (5-1) vs. No. 10 Hinton (5-1)
No. 7 South Hardin (5-1) at Hudson (5-1)
No. 8 Treynor (5-1) vs. Shenandoah (3-3)
No. 9 Sigourney-Keota (5-1) at Colfax-Mingo (1-5)
No. 10 Hinton (5-1) at No. 6 Ida Grove OABCIG (5-1)
Class A
No. 1 West Hancock (6-0) at Lake Mills (4-2)
No. 2 Guthrie Center ACGC (6-0) vs. Mount Ayr (5-1)
No. 3 Saint Ansgar (5-1) at West Fork (1-5)
No. 4 Lisbon (6-0) vs. Danville (4-2)
No. 5 Earlham (5-1) at Oakland Riverside (4-2)
No. 6 Tri-Center (5-1) vs. No. 8 Woodbury Central (5-1)
No. 7 Le Mars Gehlen (5-1) at South O’Brien (0-6)
No. 8 Woodbury Central (5-1) at No. 6 Tri-Center (5-1)
No. 9 North Linn (6-0) vs. Maquoketa Valley (5-1)
No. 10 Madrid (4-2) at North Mahaska (3-3)
8-Player
No. 1 Remsen St. Mary’s (6-0) vs. No. 10 Woodbine (6-0)
No. 2 Algona Garrigan (6-0) vs. Ruthven GTRA (6-0)
No. 3 Don Bosco (6-0) vs. Turkey Valley (3-3)
No. 4 Audubon (6-0) vs. Collins-Maxwell (4-2)
No. 5 Lenox (6-0) vs. Southeast Warren (6-0)
No. 6 Iowa Valley (6-0) vs. HLV (1-6)
No. 7 Gladbrook-Reinbeck (5-1) at Clarksville (5-2)
No. 8 Anita CAM (5-1) at Fremont-Mills (5-1)
No. 9 Bedford (5-1) vs. Lamoni (4-2)
No. 10 Woodbine (6-0) at No. 1 Remsen St. Mary’s (6-0)
Comments: nathan.ford@thegazette.com
Iowa
Iowa State women’s basketball star Emily Ryan discusses eating disorder in video
Iowa State women’s basketball star Emily Ryan released a video Thursday in which she discusses her battle with an eating disorder.
Ryan, a senior from Claflin, Kansas, has been one of the Big 12 Conference’s best point guards for the past few seasons. She was a first-team all-conference pick in 2022, and a second-team selection in 2023.
“By sharing my story, I hope to build awareness and provide hope to everyone else fighting an invisible battle,” Ryan said in the video.
Ryan said her sense of self-worth was dependent on Iowa State’s success and her individual performance. That led to increased time spent in the weight room in an effort to get stronger and faster. When Ryan didn’t see the results that she desired, she began to focus on her diet.
Ryan said the Iowa State medical staff expressed their concern about Ryan’s eating habits and what it was doing to her body. Ryan said she was in “complete denial” about having an eating disorder, but her health continued to worsen.
Ryan missed the first nine games of the 2023-24 season due to the eating disorder. When she returned, she said, “off the court I was really struggling. By the end of the season, I was physically and mentally hanging on by a thread.”
During the offseason, Ryan spent 88 days at a treatment center in Denver.
“It took a long time but I finally came to the understanding that being sick wasn’t my fault, and eating disorders are real, complex illnesses,” she said.
How to get help
For resources on disordered eating, call the National Eating Disorders Helpline at 800-931-2237 or text NEDA to 741741.
Iowa
Latest Iowa high school volleyball rankings reveal regional pairings
It was an important date around the state for volleyball teams in Iowa, as the latest rankings were released and regional pairings in all five classes were revealed.
The two come into play once regionals reach the championship round, as the higher-ranked team will serve as the host for those games.
All five No. 1 squads remained the same, as Ankeny Centennial (Class 5A), Cedar Rapids Xavier (4A), Mount Vernon (3A), Denver (2A) and Ankeny Christian (1A) held serve.
New teams to the Top-15 include Iowa City West in 5A, Ballard in 4A, Wapsie Valley in 2A and Stanton in 1A. The entire 3A poll remained the same while Sidney made one of the biggest climbs, moving to ninth from 12th in 1A.
Regional play for 1A and 2A begins Oct. 21 with 3A, 4A and 5A starting Oct. 22. The state tournament is scheduled for Nov. 4-7 in Coralville from the Xtream Arena. Complete regional pairings can be found on Bound.
Class 5A
1. Ankeny Centennial; 2. Pleasant Valley; 3. Ankeny; 4. West Des Moines Dowling; 5. Indianola; 6. Waukee Northwest; 7. Cedar Falls; 8. Cedar Rapids Prairie; 9. Waukee; 10. Iowa City Liberty; 11. West Des Moines Valley; 12. Sioux City East; 13. Iowa City West; 14. Iowa City High; 15. Linn-Mar.
Class 4A
1. Cedar Rapids Xavier; 2. Sioux City Bishop Heelan; 3. North Scott; 4. Clear Creek-Amana; 5. Lewis Central; 6. Pella; 7. Glenwood; 8. Carlisle; 9. Marion; 10. Adel-ADM; 11. Norwalk; 12. Sergeant Bluff-Luton; 13. MOC-Floyd Valley; 14. Ballard; 15. Grinnell.
Class 3A
1. Mount Vernon; 2. Western Christian; 3. West Delaware; 4. Dubuque Wahlert; 5. Davenport Assumption; 6. Sioux Center; 7. Carroll Kuemper; 8. Mid-Prairie; 9. Cherokee; 10. Wilton; 11. Solon; 12. Anamosa; 13. Roland-Story; 14. Clarinda; 15. Nevada.
Class 2A
1. Denver; 2. Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont; 3. Dyersville Beckman; 4. Dike-New Hartford; 5. Aplington-Parkersburg; 6. South Hardin; 7. Boyden-Hull; 8. Pella Christian; 9. Iowa City Regina; 10. Hinton; 11. Grundy Center; 12. Sumner-Fredericksburg; 13. Wapsie Valley; 14. West Burlington; 15. Shenandoah.
Class 1A
1. Ankeny Christian; 2. Holy Trinity; 3. Saint Ansgar; 4. Riverside; 5. BCLUW; 6. Janesville; 7. North Tama; 8. Don Bosco; 9. Sidney; 10. River Valley; 11. Akron-Westfield; 12. Stanton; 13. Fremont-Mills; 14. Southwest Valley; 15. Gladbrook-Reinbeck.
-
Technology1 week ago
Charter will offer Peacock for free with some cable subscriptions next year
-
World1 week ago
Ukrainian stronghold Vuhledar falls to Russian offensive after two years of bombardment
-
World1 week ago
WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange says he pleaded ‘guilty to journalism’ in order to be freed
-
Technology1 week ago
Beware of fraudsters posing as government officials trying to steal your cash
-
Health6 days ago
Health, happiness and helping others are vital parts of free and responsible society, Founding Fathers taught
-
Virginia1 week ago
Status for Daniels and Green still uncertain for this week against Virginia Tech; Reuben done for season
-
Sports7 days ago
Freddie Freeman says his ankle sprain is worst injury he's ever tried to play through
-
News6 days ago
Lebanon says 50 medics killed in past three days as Israel extends its bombardment