Iowa

AMES, Iowa (AP) — In the liberal strongholds of Des Moines’ west side and the Iowa State University campus in Ames, not once was South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg asked by voters recently about the impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump.

It’s not that the investigation into the president’s request for foreign help in his reelection effort is an afterthought for Democrats whose votes in Iowa will start the nominating process. Quite the opposite.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A fire truck, a marching band and hundreds of supporters ushered Joe Biden into this weekend’s Iowa Steak Fry, a show of force intended to solidify the former vice president’s front-runner status. His closest rival, Elizabeth Warren, slipped in with little fanfare, delivered her speech and hit a brief selfie line before departing the show.

Their approaches to the steak fry were as divergent as their views on the role of government. But Warren and Biden increasingly face the same challenge: the pressure of being on top.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Lagging in polling and fundraising, Democratic presidential candidate Cory Booker said Saturday he may end his run unless donations from supporters increase quickly.

“I don’t believe people should stay in this just to stay in it. You either have a trajectory to win or not, and right now if we don’t raise $1.7 million we won’t be able to make the investments necessary,” he told The Associated Press after speaking at a Democratic Party fundraiser in Des Moines. “If we don’t have a pathway to win, we should get out of this race.”

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — When Barack Obama marched into the 2007 Iowa steak fry flanked by 1,000 supporters, skeptical Iowans were put on notice that he could win the caucus. A dozen years later, a new generation of Democratic White House hopefuls are looking to pull off a repeat performance to turbocharge their campaigns.

Saturday’s steak fry is part parade, part organizing show of force — and quintessentially Iowa. It began as a fundraiser for Tom Harkin’s first congressional bid, where the 53 attendees could buy a steak and a foil-wrapped baked potato for $2.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Kamala Harris will “exponentially” increase the time she’s spending in Iowa. Bernie Sanders is shaking up his operations there and in New Hampshire. And Beto O’Rourke is going broader, turning up at such places as a San Quentin prison and an Arkansas gun show.

With just over four months until the Iowa caucuses usher in the battle for the Democratic nomination, candidates are shifting their approaches to the state. Some are betting the changes will pay off closer to the caucuses. Others are lowering expectations by looking beyond Iowa.

UNITED STATES (AP) —  As his 10 top competitors were in Houston prepping for a big night on national television last week, Democratic presidential candidate and Montana Gov. Steve Bullock was 900 miles (1,450 kilometers) north in a suburban Des Moines brewpub.

The governor wasn’t drowning his sorrows over failing to qualify for the primary debate, but he wasn’t exactly hiding his disappointment from the crowd that gathered to hear his pitch on a Thursday afternoon. “There may be one place I’d rather be than in Clive tonight,” he acknowledged.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Pete Buttigieg would like to turn the fight for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination into a contest about generational change. But there’s one looming problem: He has yet to win over his own.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Democratic presidential candidates Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg, moderates who project themselves as pragmatic collaborators, are taking a no-compromise approach on the overhaul of the nation’s gun laws after the latest mass shooting.

Campaigning separately in eastern Iowa on Monday, the former vice president and the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, say the minimum provisions include universal background checks, a ban on military-style weapons and high-capacity ammunition, and red flag laws to allow officials to confiscate firearms from dangerous people.

KEOKUK, Iowa (AP) — The question was about climate change. The answer soon turned to the Bible.

And Pete Buttigieg knew the verses.

“There’s a lot about the stewardship of creation that is in Scripture that I don’t see being honored by the administration right now, not to mention the stuff about loving your neighbor and taking care of the least among us and feeding the poor,” the South Bend, Indiana, mayor said. The crowd of about 250 at a Mississippi River park in southeastern Iowa this month erupted with cheers.

PROLE, Iowa (AP) — Campaigning under the stifling August sun, Joe Biden assailed President Donald Trump’s trade war with China, accusing him of squandering a strong economy and putting Americans’ financial security at risk.

But he was quick to add that he was not hoping for the worst.

“I never wish for a recession. Period,” the former vice president and current Democratic presidential candidate told reporters in Prole, Iowa.