Steffen Schmidt

I blogged the Ames debate live for WNYC, New York and I came away with the following observations.

First, the debate was way too long. In Operas you have an intermission and then resume the show – my dad always fell asleep in the second half. In debates ...

The Fed and the federal government manage one-size-fits-all policies. Yet, the United States is fully as diverse as Europe in terms of regional economies and problems. -Steffen Schm...

Once again the process is pregnant with too many people who think they are qualified to even mention that they are running for president. -Steffen Schmidt, It's A Free Country blogg...

The Tea Party representatives seem to be operating on the basis of a different philosophy, which is called "standing on principle." This has never been tried before in Washington D.C....

Recall also that a group of Iowa Republican leaders went to New Jersey and pleaded with the recently elected Christie to throw his hat in the ring for the 2012 caucuses. Christie turn...

Most people know what the Iowa caucuses are - the “first-in-the-nation” event where delegates are selected to support a wannabe candidate for President of the United States.

But before the caucuses take place on a freezing, windy January evening, there is another event that’s been gaining a lot of buzz ...

All of our attention is focused on whom the Republicans will nominate to run for president of the United States against Barack Obama. While that is the simple way to approach what’s happening, the real story is that the United States is going through a serious “mega passage,” a “paradigm shift” if you prefer.

The night’s real stand-out was Michelle Bachmann, who took advantage of the debate spotlight to announce she is running for president. She clearly and surprisingly won the debate. B...

The latest spin is that Newt can recover, attract a new team, and regain his footing. I completely disagree. This is a year when the GOP is anxious to weed out weak candidates sin...

Although there is a substantial field of GOP candidates or about-to-announce candidates in the wings, you get a clear feeling that the party heavyweights are not satisfied that it inc...

Nowadays the thing about running for president is that it can be a great career-booster for other stuff you are doing. Say you have a reality TV show with flagging ratings. You run f...

Let me remind you that the Iowa caucuses are not about Newt or Sarah Palin. They are about Iowa sending on to New Hampshire and South Carolina someone who can get the nomination and t...

Ron Paul is running for president.

Paul has been coming to Iowa for many years and has visited numerous times this year alone. I’ve been to Paul events. Many of my college students love him for the same reason they loved Ronald Reagan and their grandpa. He simplifies things to the bare bones and he represents personal freedom. He’s also bona fide “Mr. Budget Cutter” so he jibes with fiscal conservatives of many stripes. Here are some of his strengths as he heads again for Iowa in chase of the elusive and valuable Iowa caucus victory.

Now he’s asking moderate former Republicans, now listed as no-party or independents, to scrutinize him. I fear they will be less kind than the acolytes. -Steffen Schmidt, on the tou...

The Ryan budget proposal is a political IED. In the last couple of days we’ve seen angry mobs at town hall meetings with GOP congress folks back in their districts. This year and 20...

A huge airplane with TRUMP splattered on the side landed in Des Moines Monday. The Donald was not on board. No doubt too busy yelling "You're Fired!" at some of his peeps. His right-h...

Recently, I blogged at InsiderIowa.com about trouble in the Colorado Republican Party. I wrote that although the Tea Party mobilized Republicans at the base for the 2010 election and managed to create momentum sufficient to give the GOP a big victory, not all is well in elephant land. Colorado could be a lesson, and a warning for Iowa’s first in the nation test for 2012.

Saying he's "tired of the nuts who have no grasp of what the state party's role is," Colorado Republican Chairman Dick Wadhams won't run for re-election. He warned that if the Tea Party continues to high-jack the larger Republican agenda and veers more sharply to the right, the GOP stands a good chance of losing Colorado's "large unaffiliated voter base."

On the opening day of the conservative lovefest CPAC, who would show up but Donald Trump. Trump attacked President Obama's leadership and said that the United States is "becoming a laughingstock" around the world.

I can’t resist but to suggest that the self-inflating loudmouth billionaire has now made CPAC the laughingstock of many Republican voters who may not be in the mood for yet another unqualified, preposterous gazillionaire toying with throwing his hat in the ring.

We’re a year out now, and candidates are starting to trickle in. A presidential debate with the Iowa GOP and Fox News will open the season on August 11, followed two days later by the...