witnessed our share of dropouts. 3 on the democratic side and 4 on the republican side. it seems like forever ago when rick perry ended his campaign, right? and he was actually the first to go. joining us now for the whole half hour is r rhel caufield, phd and prpressor of politics at drake university, thanksksor joining us rachel. >> rachel: thanks for having me. >> lucas: we're going to revisit some of the biggest national stories and political moments of 2015 in countdown form. but really the order's not that important. we're, there were so many stories that dominated the landscape this year. we want to start with an issue that iowa voters are saying was their number one issue. and that is terrorism, specifically the attacks in san bernadino and paris. in the last quinnipiac poll of likely republican caucus goers in iowa, they sited terrorism as their number onenessue. now,t seems to be all that candidates are talking about, how to keep america safe. but there's that

and civil liberties. rachel, first off, what do you think about the federal response from the obama administration to these terror attacks? >> rachel: well, i think that obama has been a president, who has really, i think struggled to find the appropriate tone that particularly republicans want to hear. and he has a very, kind of laid back style in his speech, in his approach to these issues, and certainly when you're in full campaign cycle as the republicans are right now, (laughing) >> lucas: absolululy. >> rachel: they wawa some more heated rhetoric from the president. and so, he's trying to find that balance and i think it's given him more trouble than he would like. >> lucas: we, you kind of mentioned the politics around this and the reactions of candidates. how do you think they, what do you make of their reactions to these incidents and to president obama's reaction? >> rachel: well i think it's, when you're out on the campaign trail it's always easy to say what you would do if

hearing a lot about no fly zones and we're hearing a lot about, ya know, um, no boots on the grounds. and the candidates actually seem pretty similar in a lot of their positions on how they would approach these issues. having said that, it's different when you're actuallyly the oval office and you have to make these calls. and you have to make the tough decisions on a day-to-day basis. and so, the president is trying to find his footing. republicans are responding because it's good for them on the campaign trail. (laughing) >> lucas: well, you noted that it's different when you're acally in office. is it also actually different when you're casting a vote? iowa republicans said it's the number one issue right now. >> rachel: mmhmm >> lucas: will they continue to think that when they're caucusing for a candidate? and eventually when they are voting for someone in 2016? >> rachel: well, there are always issues that are going to pop up on the agenda. and i don't think any of them

terrororm would be the numbebe one topic this campaign cycle. so, ya know, certainly when we began this campaign cycle, immigration was everywhere. right? we were all talking about immigration. and um, the attacks in paris, e attacks in san bernadino shifted that rhetoric a little bit. and shifted the focus of the electorate and so now the candidates are speaking on this issue. for the coming year, for the general election cycle in 2016. you never know what's going to come up. (laughing) >> rachel: it's hard to predict in advance what issues are going to come to the floor. >> lucas: well, and you've actually brought us to our next issue, the attack in paris also led to a discussion on refugees and immigration, we're calling that our number 2 issue. some governors and presential candidates saying they would ban refugees from syria from coming to the u.s. all togeer. donald trump went a step further calling for a ban on all muslims entering the u.s. when it comes to securing our borders from neighboring countries, he's

wall. he called mexican immigrants rapists and drug traffickers at one time. that's just one of the many comments the republican front runner has made that have raised eyebrows through his campaign. and for that, we actually call donald trump number 3 on our list. trump declared his candidacy in june. many pundants thought it uld be short-lived. . ybe just a summer fling. but it had more staying power than many thought. he's remained number one in the polls for several months now. rachel, did you think this would be just a fling with donald trump? (laughing) >> rachel: i think eryone expected this was just going to be a fling with donald trump. and i think a lot of people still consider him a kind of novelty candidate, right? he's a reality t.v. star. he's never had any political experience. he stepped out onto the campaign trail. people know him because of the apprentice and obviously a long history of ya know, being in the public spotlight in one form or another. but not in government. and so this is a new role for him. i don't think anyone

that he has. and he seems to be kind of immune to the rules of politics, the conventional wisdoms that we've come to except in politics. i mean, gaff after gaff after gaff. right? (laughing) >> rachel: incendiary statements and um- >> lucas: and we mentioned just a couple of those previously. >> rachel: mmhmm >> lucas: calling mexican immigrants rapists, drug traffickers. those would end many of the average politicians career. but like you say, they're more likened to a reality t.v. star. why hasn't it ended his, his political aspirations anyway? >> rachel: because he's different. he's the non-politician. and i think people see him and they see him fresh and new. he's a strong voice. and ththe are a lot of americans out there who are angry at the governmentt right now. he is giving voice to that anger and that frustration. and he's doing it in a new way. so i think, i think a lot of people find it refreshing to have somebody out on the campaign trail telling it like it is. and ya know, no holds

>> lucas: well, if they find it refreshing, do you think the way he's approached politics, do you think it will have a lasting effect beyond the 2016 caucus's, beyond the 2016 general election in republican and democratic politics? do you think it will have a lasting effect? >> rachel: well, we don't know yet. we're about to find out. (laughing) >> rachel: i do think to some extent, those of us who pay attention to politics, there's been this convergence over timim of candidate personality and social media and a 24 hour media cycle and it kind of, an increasing reality t.v. aspect to our political discussions in the country. and i think donald trump has kind of brought us full circle. we're there. we have a reality t.v. campaign going on right now in a way that we've never had before. so i think that's really interesting. and i think of all the surprises this year, donald trump is is the big surprise. >> lucas: well perhaps seond on the surprise then, another trend it sort of took us, everybody by

that's number 4, bernie mentum. bernie sanders, the senator from vermont, whoo could've predicted the rise of this self-described socialist against the presumed democratic front runner, hillary clinton. so rachel, what's behind this surgence of support for bernie sanders? (laughing) >> rachel: feel the bern- (laughing) >> lucas: yeah, it's caught on. >> rachel: i don't think anyone is as surprised by bernie momentum, bernie mentum as bernie sanders is. i think (chuckles) >> rachel: ya know, i think he got into this race aiming to move the political agenda to the left, to raise issues in the campaign. and push hillary clinton to address things like wealth and equality more fully. and over the course of the year, he has foundndimself with this huge following. . d um, ya know, i thk again, it speaks to anger and frustration with politics as usual. i think it speaks to a democratic party

figure out where it wants to position itself. >> lucas: mmhmm >> rachel: as the republican party has kind of leaning to the right more and more with the tea party and some of the developments that we've seen. um, i think the democratic party is trying to figure out, where exactly do we want to be, do we want to be more left of center. do we want to be more centrist. who's our best option going forward and ya know, bernie sanders is giving voice to a segment of the party. >> lucas: and what segment exactly? how would you describe that segment? who are his supporters? >> rachel: they're typically young. (laughing) > rachel: he's got a lot of young supporters. they are typically left of center. they're the, they're the folks who really see fundamental problems in the system that we have, not just the governmental system but certainly the economic system as well. so, particularly among millennials who fear for their economic future and are trying to get a handle on what changes need to

represents an attractive option to them. >> lucas: alright, let's turn now to number 5.5.n issue that hillary clinton juststan't get away from, that's her emails. the controversy arose in march 2015 when it came out that clinton used her private server instead of her government email while she was serving as secretary of state. critics say it was a violation of state department procedures. there was an fbi probe initiated and congressional hearings. rachel. (laughing) >> lucas: has this hurt her in the long run? >> rachel: i think among a certain segment of voters who don't trust hillary clinton from ya know, a long history in politics, they still don't trust her. among a certain segment of voters who say, look, she's tough, she's strong, she's making the necesry decisions and there will always be people who arout to get her, they still support her. so, i'm not sure that it's made a huge ya know, a huge difference in her campaign this cycle. i do think that it has

supporters and oppents of her campgn. and i have to say that 11 hour congressional hearing i think really demonstrated to a number of people, she's got stamina, she has grace under pressure. i mean, that was a pretty stellar performance. >> lucas: alright, rachel sticks with us as we continue our conversation. (music) >> lucas: our top topics of

this week in iowa. >> lucas: welcome back. as we recap the year in popotics, we're bringing you our top 10 stories of 2015. and now to the number 6 story of the year, gun violence. with mass shootings in charleston, south carolina, as well as a community college in oregon, it's renewed the call by many to tighten restrictions on guns. but on the other side, it's been a rallying cry for groups like the nra to better protect the second amendment rights. allegations of violence by police against citizens is our number 7 story of the year. we're talking about the black lives matter activist movement, spurred by the death of several

in cities like baltimore, racked by riots over the spring after the death of freddie grey. but it wasast isolated to baltimore. let's k kping counting, our number 8 issue of the year, those planned parenthood videos. it was a sting operation. an anti-abortion group, releasing undercover videos, painting planned parenthood in a negative light. one of the videos depicting a planned parenthood official in a conversation about donating tissue from aborted fetuses with a discussion of compensation. several gop candidates, particully carly fiorina, have made the videos a central part of their campaigns. and congress has also served as a venue for republicans to attack planned parenthood. number 9, the legagazation of the same-sex marriage in a supreme court decision. it was a big deal for civil rights in this country. but then there was the political firestorm that

showdown in kentucky that caught the attention of republican presidential candidates. when a previously unknown couy clerk named, kim davis, refused to sign marriage licenses in her county. and finally, there's new leadership for congressional republicans. paul ryan's ascension to speaker of the house is our number 10 story of the year. he was elected this past fall filling the shoes of long-time speaker john boehner, who rather unexpectedly decided to step down and retire. there was lots of chaos and concern over who might take over, in the end it was decided ryan could unite the party's various factions and craft a new gislative agenda. rachel, what do you think? is papa ryan the guy to unite the various factions in the republican party? >> rachel: well, i think he played this very well. um, ya know, there is always an ebb and flow to leadership in the u.s. house of representatives. and party power can, increases and is centralized in a speaker and various other party leaders. and then it gets more distributed to

party. so this is not, i think at the te, there was a lot of talk about how this is a constitutional crisis, this is something, ya know, something crazy that's going on in the u.s. house of represestatives. from a historical perspective, it's actually not that uncommon. . ul ryan stepped forward, he stepped his positions very clearly. he said, i'm willing to take on this role but only if i have people behind me. and so, he's got thatevere now, with his party base in the house. it'll be interesting to see what he's able to do with it. but the speaker of the house has always been a strong party position. and so, if you, if he's able to unite those factions successfully, but behind closed doors and in front of, in front of the american people. then i think it positions him exceptionally well as the leader of the republican party right now. >> lucas: well, you said the speaker is a powerful political position, lots of people aroundd the country maybe don't even know that, the role that they play. but in iowa, we know paul ryan because he ran for president.

>> lucas: and do you think, >> rachel: vice president- yep (laughing) >> lucas: yeah, right. (laughing) >> lucas: do you think he still has a political future beyond the speakership. >> rachel: i do. i think this is probably one of the considerations that he had to ya know, seriously, uh, ya know, seriously address when he was deciding whether or not to take on this role. obviously, family concerns, as he expressed at the time, we're a big deal. but i think, this is a person whose always had political ambitions. and he knows that he's a rising star within the republican party. the speaker of the house role as an institutional position, uh, it positions him differently, and so he's gonna have to figure out how to effectively use that particular, ya know, that particular role and now how to kind of talk to the american people from within that ro. but yeah, i think he still has political ambitions and i think it potentially sets him up very well for a presidential run in

>> lucas: we'll, of course, be watching from iowa. >> rachel: yeah. >> lucas: okay, up next, we take a closer look at how 2015 has played out in the polls.

>> lucas: stay tuned.. >> lucas: welcome back. as we check in on the latest presidential polls, from quinnipiac this week on thee democratic side, hillary clinton at 61%, bernie sanders - 30%, and martin o'malley just 2% support. on the republican side, these numbers from the cnn/orc poll, trump in the lead, 39% followed by ted cruz, ben carson and marco rubio are tied next at 10% each. and here's an interesting turn, chris christie in the top five. best in even rand paul and jeb bush. rachel caufield, professor of politics is sticking with us for a deeper discussion on the polls. now u.s.a. today does a poll of polls. >> rachel: yeah. >> lucas: basically averagg all the major polls for each month. and we wanted to see over the course of 2015 which candidates took a turn as the front runnnns in iowa. it's

for the first two months of the year, it was all mike huckabee, the former winner of the iowa caucuses. but scott walker had the longest run at the top in iowa march through august, believe it or not. but he couldn't get traction nationally and dropped out all together. donald trump then had his turn through the rest of the year with a bried stint for ben carson as number one in november. now rachel, it's interesting to see mike huckabee on this list because he's become such a nonplayer of late. but he had that name recognition. >> rachel: yeah, he certainly did. and he had a storng base of support across iowa. and ya ow, iowa's not like other states, we all know that. because we're lucky enough to live here and to see this in person. and, mike huckabee ya know, he was wildly popular. (laughing) >> rachel: on the campaign trail in 2008. he has a strong base of support particularly among those people who are most likely to caucus. evangelical voters, rural parts of the state. and

he seemed like a really strong candidate. >> lucas: so his orgnaization aside, what other, what republican front runner now do you think is next best at having that ground game and that organization established that they need to win. >> racacl: well, i think despite the fact that we consider trump to be a kind of novelty candidate, there's n ndoubt that his campaign is now organizing for a caucus. >> lucas: mmmhmm >> rachel: they are training their precept captains and they are out there, ya know, getting the commit to caucus cards and figuring out how to get people to actually attend their caucus. so it'll be interesting to see if his campaign can pull through on the organizational aspects of it. i think ted cruz is doing a good job of kind of attracting that evangelical support. the most likely caucus goers who would go to the caucus no matter what seem to be trending towards cruz. >> lucas: alright, thanks. uh, we talked about the top political moments of the year, nationally. what about here in iowa? that's coming up next on

(music) >> lucas: welcome back, wewe, no matter your polititi, there is one e ing we can all agreeeen, iowa has been the center of the political universe all year. and our this week in iowa team has been right in the middle of it all. so we wanted to share our number one moment from 2015. and it's not really one moment, but a series of moments that top the list. the busiest time of all for political reporters in des moines in iowa, the iowa state fair. it's a golden opportunity for a presidential candidate. a chance to meet throngs of potential voters all in one place. plus, get a photo opp with something on a stick to show just how authentic you really are. and all 20 presidential candidates visited des moines during the two weeks of the fair. 18 of them spoke at the des moines register's soap box. but, here's the moment perhaps we'll all remember most, donald trump's helicopter. the billionaire republican arrived at a secret location shared only with

up for a free ride circling overhead, while hillary clinton was down below. they both picked the same busy saturday of the last weekend of the fair to attend. what a scene it was at

right back. lucas: next week, we'll be joined by special guest, democratic candidate, marin o'malley. we'll talk important issues, what life is really like on the campaign trail. and he's even bringing his acoustic guitar. for amanda krenz and saina ahmed, i'm lucas casey, thanks for joining us. (music)

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