Editorial Roundup:

Sioux City Journal. February 2, 2020

America awaits an answer from the people of Iowa

or most of the past year, Iowans have been listening. On Monday, they will do the talking.

In addition to conducting party business at individual caucus sites across the state, the people of Iowa will cast the first votes of the 2020 campaign for president before attention shifts to the Feb. 11 New Hampshire primary. For the obvious reason, Democrats will get the lion’s share of attention this year.

Call us biased for our home state if you wish, but we can’t conceive of a better place for this process to begin than America’s heartland. When presidential campaigns descend on Iowa every four years they find a well-managed state, in which honest government is a tradition, filled with educated, engaged Americans who care passionately about their country, who take seriously their responsibilities as voters and who put candidates to the test. This is a state in which you don’t have to be a millionaire to run for president. Everyone gets an equal first chance on an even playing field to sell himself or herself by engaging in true retail politicking at the grassroots level.

Still, because we do not ignore or diminish the reality of criticism from outside Iowa about our state’s coveted status, we understand this state must remain vigilant in protection of its leadoff position (both Democrats and Republicans have started their nomination process here since the 1970s).

One way Iowa can strengthen its hold on No. 1 - and, in turn, properly meet its obligation to the rest of the country - is produce strong turnout on caucus night. Low turnout feeds criticisms about small population and dominance by the fringe. As we have said prior to caucuses of the past, we believe it’s important, if not imperative for Iowa to get as many of its informed citizens to participate as possible.

So whether you are Republican or Democrat and whether you are driven by candidate, delegate or platform decisions, let your voice be heard tomorrow night.

Troy Price, state chairman, anticipates his party’s wide-open presidential race will result in more Democratic caucusgoers this year than in 2008 when a record 239,000 Democrats participated.

That’s one good sign that with the nation’s eyes upon us, Iowans will rise to the occasion once again.

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Quad-City Times. January 29, 2020

Iowa can do better

With less than a week before the Iowa caucuses, it’s not surprising to hear people calling for an end to the Iowa caucuses. Or at least for an end to the privileged place the state occupies in the nomination calendar.

This isn’t unusual. Critics of Iowa’s leadoff role have been around for nearly as long as the modern caucuses themselves.

In some ways, we understand the arguments. Iowa is much older and whiter than the rest of the country. And, let’s face it, the state has no inherent right to its spot in the calendar.

Iowa has benefited by its partnership with New Hampshire to guard their spots, as well as the inability of other states to come to an agreement on an alternative.

However, each caucus cycle leads us to wonder: Is this the last time that Iowa will be first?

We don’t know the answer to that question, but one factor will be whether Iowa adequately improves access to the caucuses.

That pressure has largely come from within the Democratic Party, and the state party in Iowa has revised its rules to try to make it possible for more people to take part.

We have praised some of those efforts, so it’s distressing to read about the experiences of many Iowans with disabilities who have found it difficult to get what they need to participate in the upcoming caucuses.

The New York Times this week documented the struggles of some people with disabilities to secure the accommodations needed to make it possible for them to even attend.

According to the article:

“Caucusgoers said they had struggled to navigate the request processes, or hadn’t known they existed until recent days. Even those seeking simple accommodations - a chair, for instance - described a mass of red tape and unreturned calls.”

The article said only 160 people out of an estimated 300,000 people with disabilities who are registered to vote in the state had requested an accommodation from the Democrats. Only one had made such a request of the Republicans.

This suggests to us that the message isn’t adequately being sent - or heard.

This problem isn’t likely to get a lot of attention as the focus will be on who wins and who loses next week. But this needs to be fixed, especially if Iowa wants to improve its chances of being first in 2024.

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Fort Dodge Messenger. January 30, 2020

Corn still fuels Iowa economy

Corn production has been a key factor in the Iowa economy for more than 150 years. The state’s 21st-century economy is characterized by increasing diversity. Agriculture isn’t as dominant as once was the case.

Even so, there can be little doubt that corn remains of critical importance. The renewable fuels industries have increased demand for corn as a critical ingredient in manufacturing ethanol. Ethanol production has not only increased demand for corn, but also strengthens corn’s already enormous importance to Iowa’s prosperity.

Iowa leads the nation in ethanol production, with 39 percent (953 million bushels) of the corn grown in Iowa going to create nearly 30 percent of all American ethanol. Corn is in more than 4,000 grocery store items including shampoo, toothpaste, chewing gum, marshmallows, crayons and paper.

Corn is big business in Webster County. In addition to the thousands of acres planted every year by county farmers, there are major industrial facilities that add value to the corn by processing it into other products. The Cargill plant west of Fort Dodge in the industrial park called Iowa’s Crossroads of Global Innovation turns corn into a handful of products. The Valero Renewables plant in that same industrial park and the POET Biorefining plant near Gowrie make ethanol.

Corn has been king in Iowa for generations. It seems likely to remain so well into the 21st century.

Corn producers have been a vital part of the Iowa economy throughout the state’s history and are certain to remain so far into the future.

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