Jay P. Wagner has spent 25 years in journalism in the state of Iowa. He was editor of his family’s award-winning weekly, The N’West Iowa REVIEW, before taking a job at the Des Moines Reigster. He served as editor of the Iowan Magazine for four years and as editorial director at Business Publications Corporation for three years. He has two children and lives in Des Moines. He covers the Republican presidential candidates for Iowa Independent.

Blog Entries by Jay Wagner

GOP Candidates Play Fast And Loose With Facts At Debate

Posted December 13, 2007 | 08:06 AM (EST)


The following piece is published on Iowa Independent as well as HuffPost's OffTheBus.

This is a companion piece to an analysis of Wednesday's Des Moines Register Republican Presidential Debate.

Factcheck.org, a non-partisan organization that reviews candidate's claims during public events, pointed to six...

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Brownback Supporters Say They Won't Automatically Back McCain

Posted November 7, 2007 | 07:25 PM (EST)


The following piece is published on Iowa Independent as well as OffTheBus.

Arizona Sen. John McCain received the endorsement of former rival, Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback, at a news conference in Dubuque early Wednesday morning. Brownback dropped out of the presidential race several weeks ago after lagging in...

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Huckabee, Thompson Energize Crowd At Reagan Dinner

Posted October 29, 2007 | 08:02 AM (EST)


The following piece is published on Iowa Independent as well as OffTheBus.

Fred Thompson may have gotten more laughs during his speech, but surging Mike Huckabee received the only genuine standing ovation of the night when six Republican presidential candidates spoke to attendees at the...

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