January 1, 30 Days Until the Iowa Caucuses: It’s Anybody’s Ballgame

This Day in History | 1933

Construction begins on the Golden Gate bridge 

Good morning Middle Americans!

Can you believe the official start of the 2020 presidential campaign is just 30 days away? Ok, maybe it already feels like we’ve been in the 2020 campaign for a very long time. And that’s because we have. But starting Feb. 3rd. the is become a lot less about polling and a lot more about actual votes. 

President Trump says he’s targeting 52 Iranian sites, one for each of the hostages taken during the 1979 embassy siege. Iran also says it has some American targets. Tension is mounting. And this is a situation worth monitoring. 

Finally Congressional Democrats are trying to get serious about opposing the commander in chief’s military response to Iran. All of the sudden 

Read all about it. 

– Fraser Dixon

Iowa Still Up for Grabs

(The Hill) – The Iowa caucuses are 30 days away and it’s anybody’s ballgame, with a half dozen candidates having reason to believe that the Hawkeye State will set them on the path to the nomination.

The campaigns are on edge and political analysts are flying blind, as a drought of public polling has produced uncertainty about the state of the race ahead of the Feb. 3 contest.

Political operatives on the ground are buzzing about Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-Vt.) ascendant campaign after he posted blowout fourth-quarter fundraising numbers, but former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg is matching Sanders in attracting large crowds of enthusiastic supporters.

Read more from the Hill here

Trump Vows to Hit 52 Targets if Iran Retaliates for Soleimani Killing

(Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday threatened to hit 52 Iranian sites “very hard” if Iran attacks Americans or U.S. assets after a drone strike that killed Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani and an Iraqi militia leader, as tens of thousands of people marched in Iraq to mourn their deaths.

Showing no signs of seeking to ease tensions raised by the strike he ordered that killed Soleimani and Iranian-backed Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis at Baghdad airport on Friday, Trump issued a threat to Iran on Twitter. The strike has raised the specter of wider conflict in the Middle East.

Find out more here

Bernie Sanders Introduces Law to Stop Trump from Starting War with Iran

(The Independent) – Bernie Sanders and fellow progressive Ro Khanna have introduced a law to block funding for “military force in or against Iran” without congressional approval, in an effort to stall a potential new war in the Middle East.

The pair introduced the legislation just a day after Donald Trump approved a targeted airstrike against Qasem Soleimani, a general with the Iran Revolutionary Guard’s elite Quds Force.

“Today, we are seeing a dangerous escalation that brings us closer to another disastrous war in the Middle East,” Mr Sanders, a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, and Mr Khanna, a member of the House, said in a joint statement.

The statement continued: “A war with Iran could cost countless lives and trillions more dollars and lead to even more deaths, more conflict, more displacement in that already highly volatile region of the world.”

Learn more here