OCT. 28, 2018 | The sun rose as the crew left Cedar Falls, Iowa, on a hard road (yes, we said it) trip to Indiana to meet with a biographer of Vice President Mike Pence. Along the way, the terrain was familiar: flat, flat land that was tan with corn, wheat and other crops.
OCT. 27, 2018 | Bruce Hawker and Iowa state Sen. Jeff Danielson, D-Cedar Falls, shared a laugh at Cup of Joe, a great little coffee shop in Cedar Falls.
OCT. 26, 2018 | After a tour of the Kaehler family cattle farm near St. Charles, Minn., the crew headed to view a livestock auction in nearby Lanesboro. A hearty breakfast at the Lanesboro Sales Commission auction house preceded sheep and cattle put to auction attended by more than two dozen area farmers.
OCT. 25, 2018 | Two dozen students rubbed sleep from their eyes early Thursday at the University of Minnesota to learn about political advertising from veteran journalism professors Chris Terry and Chris Ison. They said the 2018 Minnesota political campaigns were on track to spend a record $100 million in television advertising, about a third by candidates and the rest from advocacy groups.
Australian strategist Bruce Hawker spoke by satellite this week to ABC Australia’s Stan Grant on the Oct. 24 broadcast of Matter of Fact. He describes what he’s learning about America as it heads toward midterm elections on Nov. 6.
OCT. 24, 2018 | Autumn colors filled the University of Minnesota campus as the crew met with a local journalist who covers Washington politics, followed by a happy hour discussion about politics with a group of business people involved in the solar energy industry.
OCT. 23, 2018 | After waking early to a brisk Minnesota morning (25 degrees F), the crew met with several western Minnesota farmers and business people in a diner in Wahpeton, N.D.
OCT. 22, 2018 | The low morning temperature of Charleston, S.C. (56 degrees F) matched the high temperature at noon in Minneapolis, Minn., when the crew touched down to explore what people in the upper Midwest think of what’s happening in America.
OCT. 27, 2018 | Democratic presidential candidate John Delaney, a Maryland congressman who is the only announced candidate for 2020 in his party, said America needs to push for common ground to get past the division wrought by Republicans. If real change doesn’t happen, too many Americans will get left behind and won’t get the future they deserve, he said.
OCT. 23, 2018 | During a focus group of Minnesotans in a North Dakota diner, farmers and business people described why they supported President Donald Trump’s trade war, despite how they may be at economic risk.