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Annie Linskey
A national political journalist focused on the 2020 presidential campaign.
SIOUX CITY, Iowa – People were standing in parking lots, jostled in front yards crammed into the attic to attend the inaugural appearances of Senator Elizabeth Warren in the first state presidential caucus.
This was part of a trend: in December, the Liberal Progress Iowa group had doubled the size of its annual meeting compared to four years ago, with 300 activists eager to participate. In October, Democrats in Iowa sold their 1,500-seat dinner to Des Moines, which proposed another potential candidate, Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey.
Iowa caucuses remain in 13 months, but the White House's pending demand for change is a tangible reality for Democrats who earnestly want the 2020 campaign to begin in earnest. The crowd of voters bombing the events in Iowa testifies to something worrisome for Republicans: the huge wave of Democratic voters who fueled party gains in 2018 "It has not lost interest as attention turns to the 2020 presidential race.
for a rally, but I wanted it for a long time," said Dan Elliott, while He was waiting in the ornamental hall of the Orpheum Theater in Sioux City for Warren to speak Saturday morning. "I am surprised by the energy here. The lines are longer than expected.
Iowans cites many reasons for his eagerness to begin the lengthy nomination process to choose a leader who will face President Trump. There have been tax cuts that one voter has described as "waste of time and money"; the trade war with China depressed export demand and harmed farmers; hostility towards immigrants, a labor pool heavily used in Iowa farms; the decline in environmental regulations affecting the Iowa rivers; a foreign policy approach that changes the status of the country in the world; and general chaos and lack of civility in the White House.
"It's never too early to try to get rid of Donald Trump," said Shannon Kennedy, a 48-year-old man who queued to retire. selfie in front of an American flag the size of a barn door at the Orpheum Theater. "It is urgent to put things back in order. Our country is laughing at the moment.
Attendees listen to Senator Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts Democrat, speak at an event held as part of the presidential campaign in Sioux City, Iowa on Saturday. (Daniel Acker / Bloomberg News)
Warren has not only sparked interest in the most open caucus contest since 2004.
Booker was greeted by an enthusiastic crowd on his first trip in Iowa early October for the Democratic Party Gala. His visit included a participation only standing at an event presented as a discussion on agricultural issues and held in the Boone County Democratic Bureaus.
Senator Kamala D. Harris (California) delivered a speech to Ankeny during her speech. During her speech in Iowa City and Des Moines, she invaded rooms with a capacity of 500 people.
"They are attentive because they do not do it. think this guy can be reelected, "said Rep. John Delaney (D-MD), who has already visited 99 counties in his presidential bid. "And many Democrats tell me that 2016 was not a good primary. These were people who were entering their camps early. This year, it's the opposite. Democrats focus on how we beat this guy in 2020 and enter the primary process with an open mind.
To help channel some of this democratic enthusiasm, organizations such as Siouxland Progressive Women, one of the thousands of groups that have appeared left since the 2016 elections.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass. ) Welcomes a large crowd outside the Our Place Community Center before attending a roundtable on Saturday in Storm Lake, Iowa. (Scott Olson / Getty Images)
"We are really ready said 64-year-old Susan Leonard, a co-founder of the group, whose 200-member organization campaigned for JD Scholten, the Democrat who unsuccessfully challenged Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), to turn to 2020.
"We already have invitations for several presidential candidates," said Leonard, "It's a big group and we want to know their ideas."
Many potential candidates and candidates come to Iowa louse r meet with Democratic activists. One day after Warren's departure on Sunday, Julián Castro, former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and Mayor of San Antonio, plans calls to Cedar Rapids and Iowa City. Delaney, the first democrat of the race, will open campaign offices here on his return to Iowa Friday and Saturday for events.
Tom Steyer, the billionaire who is campaigning to oust Trump while he ponders his own candidacy for the presidency, is back soon for an event on education reform. In an interview, he said that Trump's actions over the last few weeks had added to an already overwhelming enthusiasm. He said the government's closure and the departure of Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis.
"We added 5,000 people to our list this morning. we added 10,000 people to our list yesterday, "said Steyer. "Look at the participation rate on November 6: it broke records and we think the people on our list got between 75 and 80%. And after that, they literally can not get [an agreement] to keep the government open, and the most respected member of his cabinet has resigned!
Progress Iowa drew about 150 people to its 2014 meeting at which Senator Bernie Sanders was introduced. (I-Vt.). Last month's attendance doubled even though the list included less known potential candidates such as representatives Eric Swalwell (California), Sen. Jeff Merkley (Oregon) and South Bend, Indiana mayor, Pete Buttigieg.
We've seen massive jumps, "said Matt Sinovic, executive director of the group. Online donations are also rising, he said.
This momentum of energy for Democrats in Iowa began in early 2017, when Trump took office and as Republicans took control of both Houses of the Legislature and have retained the governor's mansion, he said. "Now that we have the opportunity to confront President Trump directly, now that he is on the ballot, you will see that it continues to grow," Sinovic said.
Republicans have noticed the enthusiasm.
"Democrats are constantly angry at President Trump.It's a year back ," said David Kochel, a GOP strategist who oversaw Iowa's campaigns for Mitt Romney in 2012 and Jeb Bush in 2016. He predicted that Democrats will see a big caucus form in 2020.
"They are hungry for this presidential campaign to actually start," Kochel said. you will see with participation and participation at the beginning of this year.They are starting to walk. "
For Warren, an additional 200 people attended an event held Friday night at Council Bluffs and bringing together 200 people." I'm sorry I do not have enough room to go inside, but I'm glad you're all here, "she said, and repeated her apology Saturday when dozens of people could not attend. to a di group scouting at a community center in Storm Lake.
Crowds getting ready are eager to participate. In Sioux City, when Warren told the public that she could not do anything against Trump's insults, Glenda Verhoeven, a 63-year-old farmer, shouted, "Yes, you can!"
Verhoeven, who "No caucus for any Democrat in 2016, she said that she considered the senator as a powerful opponent of Trump because the president seemed obsessed with it.
"Whenever he starts calling people, it's the ones who bother him," Verhoeven said. "She already knows the enemy and he knows her."
Verhoeven, whose operations and investments were affected by the commercial war of administration, said that Trump 's actions made her more interested in the election.
"It's embarrassing," she says. "The tariffs are only blackmail, not less than the blackmail he is doing now, refusing to open the government if he does not succeed."
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