Tonight, GOP voters in Iowa will jumpstart the 2024 nominating calendar, if the blizzard doesn't stop them!

Monday, January 15, 2024
BY JULIA CLAIRE & CROOKED MEDIA
“If you’re sick as a dog, you say, ‘Darling, I gotta make it.’ Even if you vote and then pass away, it’s worth it, remember.”
- Donald Trump ([link removed]) on the moral imperative of his supporters dying so that he can win Iowa

Aye aye Iowa.

* Iowa has been home to the nation’s first presidential nominating contests since 1972, meaning the summer before every election year, White House hopefuls from both parties make their way to the Iowa State Fair to press the flesh, kiss babies, and eat deep-fried turkey legs until their blood starts turning to vegetable oil. This year, though, is ever-so-slightly different. Democrats pushed the Hawkeye State further down the nominating calendar ([link removed]) , partly because the demographics of Iowa, which is almost 90 percent white and largely rural ([link removed]) , hardly represent the wider U.S. population. But Republicans have kept Iowa in the first slot, so GOP voters have to brave a menacing blizzard ([link removed]) and haul their asses to their local precinct
locations to caucus.

* Okay so where are we going into this snowy Iowa Monday? Well, the game is still very much disgraced former president Donald Trump’s to lose. Trump is comfortably holding a nearly 30-point lead ([link removed]) , according to the latest NBC News/Des Moines Register poll. One defining feature of caucuses is that they often bring out the most enthusiastic and committed supporters of a particular candidate—for better or worse—which means Trump’s band of psychotic die-hards may very well be the ones showing up to put him over the edge. Trump’s former United Nations Secretary Nikki Haley has been gaining in recent weeks, and even pulled past Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to second place. But she has seemingly put most of her eggs in the New Hampshire primary basket. And even if she wins there next Tuesday, she could still flame out, as John McCain did in the 2000 GOP primary
([link removed]) .

* The Iowa caucuses can feel very “Everything’s made up and the points don’t matter,” ([link removed]) because in the past half-century, the overwhelming majority of both Democrats and Republicans who won the Iowa caucus in a crowded field did not actually go on to become president. Consider that the 2008, 2012, and 2016 Republican caucus winners were, respectively, Mike Huckabee, Rick Santorum, and Ted Cruz ([link removed]) . Lol. Nonetheless, barring some cataclysmic event or sea change, the 2024 GOP primary remains a race for second at this point.

Now, a quick refresher on caucuses for those of us who somehow forget what they are and how they work every four years (like me).

* Here’s the rundown: Republican voters arrive at their precinct, elect a chair and a secretary to preside over the day ([link removed]) , and then supporters of each candidate get up and give a little speech about the morally bankrupt man or woman they think everyone should vote for. Then everyone casts their ballots, precinct workers tally them up, and then totals are reported to the state party. That’s another thing: state governments run primaries, but state political parties run caucuses. The Democratic caucus process is somehow even more convoluted, but that’s a problem for another day ([link removed]) .

* Caucuses are a big time commitment for voters, and the comparatively-limited window in which participation can happen means that if you’re disabled, a shift worker, can’t get child care, or there’s oh, say, a historic blizzard, you’re kind of screwed. No early voting, no voting by mail (Iowa Democrats did amend the latter for this year’s caucus ([link removed]) ), which is why caucuses have such historically low turnout. In 2016, the last year of competitive primaries for both parties, only 15.7 percent of eligible voters attended ([link removed]) either GOP or Democratic caucuses, about half the average turnout of primaries.

Okay, everyone feeling good? No? Well, yeah, that’s to be expected.

Vote Save America is about to kick it into high gear, so now’s the perfect time to get yourself some VSA gear. Grab a brand-new tee or crewneck that’s perfect for wearing to your next volunteer shift or just around the house while you rant about gerrymandering to your dog. Plus, 100% of the profits from the Vote Save America collection will go to support VSA and grassroots organizations working to give Americans the tools they need to have an impact. Head tocrooked.com/store ([link removed]) to shop VSA.
[link removed]

Hamas militants released a video on Monday appearing to show the dead bodies of two Israeli hostages ([link removed]) after warning Israel they might be killed if it did not stop its siege of Gaza.


Despite increasing pressure from Washington for Israel to expand humanitarian aid to Gaza and minimize civilian casualties, there has been no meaningful change on either front ([link removed]) .


Soldiers deployed by Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) did not allow Border Patrol agents to attempt to rescue drowning migrants ([link removed]) in the Rio Grande on Friday, according to federal officials and a Texas congressman. A woman and two children died.


Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was released from the hospital on Monday after a two-week stint for complications from prostate cancer surgery ([link removed]) . He initially kept the surgery secret from the White House, a major breach of protocol.


The government of Iran sentenced 2023 Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi to an additional 15 months in prison on Monday ([link removed]) . Just one day before, the country released journalists Niloufar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi on bail for helping to break the story of Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old woman who died in custody of the Iranian morality police in September 2022 for allegedly violating the country’s religiously-based conservative dress code, sparking nationwide protests.


Houthi forces in Yemen hit an American dry bulk ship in the gulf of Aden with a ballistic missile on Monday. ([link removed]) Thankfully, there were no reports of injuries or significant damage.

Boeing said on Monday that it would make changes to quality control processes after a harrowing incident in which one of its 737 Max 9 jets lost a portion of its body ([link removed]) during an Alaska Airlines flight earlier this month. Yeah, if you could make those quality control changes ASAP so doors are not flying off aircrafts at 30,000 feet that would be great!!
[link removed]

In a Trump-dominated GOP primary, is this year's Iowa caucus just a formality? Or something more pivotal? With some Iowa powerbrokers predicting a possible shake-up in the Republican leaderboard, Pod Save America's Tommy Vietor is heading to the Hawkeye State to talk directly to voters and experts on what this Iowa caucus means for the election year ahead. Tune in to On The Ground in Iowa ([link removed]) , a special 2-episode series, in the Pod Save America feed now.

Today we remember Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy and maintain the importance of teaching history accurately so that Republicans will stop bastardizing it ([link removed]) .


Democrats are upping their ground game in gerrymandering-engineered GOP strongholds Texas and Florida ([link removed]) in the hopes of covering any potential setbacks that may come in other states.

For the first time, women make up the majority of associates at American law firms ([link removed]) . This is good to know for those of us contemplating embarking on a life of crime.
[link removed]

============================================================
** ([link removed])
. . . . . .
** ([link removed])

© Crooked Media 2024. All Rights Reserved.
If you want to manage which emails you receive from Crooked Media, ** update your preferences here ([link removed])
. If you prefer to opt out of all Crooked Media communications, you may ** unsubscribe ([link removed])
.
** Share this newsletter ([link removed])

7162 Beverly Blvd #212, Los Angeles, CA, 90036
** Powered by Mailchimp ([link removed])
** Twitter ([link removed])
** Facebook ([link removed])
** Link ([link removed])