Aside from Senator Ted Cruz kicking of his presidential campaign, last week was a relatively quiet one in Iowa caucus news. But there are still plenty of stories and prospects to discuss.

Any comments about the presidential race are welcome in this thread. Follow me after the jump for a news roundup.

NEWS ON THE DEMOCRATIC RACE

Let’s start with the Democrats. A new poll was in the field last week asking Iowans about child care tax credits and paid family and medical leave. I received the call on March 24, and Pat Rynard’s notes line up closely with mine. The survey tested many messages supporting or opposing federal policies that would provide either paid leave for workers or more assistance for working women needing child care. My first thought was the same as Rynard’s; the poll probably came from Hillary Clinton’s circle. Paid leave and child care are hugely important issues for working people and especially for working women. As a centerpiece for a presidential campaign, Clinton could do a lot worse.

Former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley appeared on ABC’s “This Week” on March 29 and laid out what will could become a common refrain of his candidacy: “The presidency of the United States is not some crown to be passed between two families. It is an awesome and sacred trust to be earned and exercised on behalf of the American people.”

Funny, O’Malley wasn’t worried about passing the crown back to the Clinton family in 2007, when he called Hillary Clinton “the kind of experienced leader this country needs,” adding that “No one is better equipped to repair America’s alliances abroad and address the urgent needs of our communities at home.” I still have trouble seeing him as a real rival to Clinton. He could be an alternative on the left only in a kabuki theater way.

Senator Elizabeth Warren keeps saying she has no interest in running for president, most recently today on National Public Radio.

On interest in running for president

I’m working on those ideas, I’m pushing those ideas forward, I’m fighting for those ideas, every single day.

But you don’t want to run, still?

I do not.

Do you think it will be better for the party though if Hillary Clinton has a challenger in the primary?

Now, come on. Hillary Clinton has not declared.

Do you think it would be better if she sails through the nomination or if she has a challenger from the left?

What I care about is that everyone who runs for president, who runs for any national office right now, talks about this core set of issues about what kind of a country we are and what kind of a future we’re building. For me this is really personal.

When will the “draft Warren” activists start doing something useful with their time and money?

NEWS ON THE REPUBLICAN RACE

Two no-hopers on the GOP side made news this weekend. Former Hewlett-Packard chief executive and 2010 U.S. Senate nominee in California Carly Fiorina came close to throwing her hat in the ring.

Speaking on “Fox News Sunday,” the 2010 Senate candidate said she is “higher than 90 percent” likely to enter the race, with an announcement coming in late April or early May.

Fiorina said she could appeal to voters with a “deep understanding of how the economy actually works, having started as a secretary and become the chief executive of the largest technology company in the world.”

She added that she has relationships with “many of the world leaders on the stage today” and that she understands executive decision-making, as well as how to change large bureaucracies for the better.

If you like corporate executives who spy on their employees and board members before being forced out, Fiorina’s your woman. She can spin a good story out of her work for HP, but no one would say she left the company in better shape than she found it. Although I think it’s a positive development to have at least one woman seeking the GOP nomination, I don’t see any large constituency for Fiorina in Iowa. The business Republicans will probably split between former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, with former Texas Governor Rick Perry picking up some support on this wing too.

Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina visited Iowa over the weekend. He says he’ll decide in May whether to run for president. If he runs, his campaign promises to be a low-budget affair; for instance, he has already ruled out participating in the Iowa GOP’s straw poll fundraiser this August. I assume he is running in order to bring his perspective on some issues to presidential debates and news coverage of the campaign, rather than with any realistic goal of winning the GOP nomination. Graham deserves credit for telling audiences more than the usual platitudes.

“You need a rational immigration system,” Graham said of his plan that’s to the left of most Republican presidential candidates. “Everyone’s one car wreck from needing government, I just want it to be a sustainable government,” he mentioned – most conservative Republicans would say people in need turn to faith and family, not government first in times of crisis. “If I were honored to be President of the United States, there’s no way I know how to solve the big problems without some Democratic buy-in,” he said about working with the other party.

The Iowa Republican’s Craig Robinson talked to others who liked Graham despite their previous perception of him.

“Before he started coming to Iowa, my impression of Graham was that his politics were far to centrist to find an audience in Iowa or anywhere, for that matter,” said Wes Enos, a former Republican Party of Iowa State Central Committee member and former staffer to Mike Huckabee and Michele Bachmann. “The field already consisted of big-name center-right Republican icons like Christie and Bush. However, after hearing him speak, I think that Graham’s appeal could be more broad than people give him credit for.”

Another Iowa Republican has also been impressed by Graham. “I really liked that he is able to use humor in an easy way,” said Mary Whisenand. “So many politicians are fake about it, but he has the gift to do it naturally. He’s obviously very knowledgeable about foreign policy being a veteran, serving on the armed forces committees, traveling to the military theaters, etc,” she added. […]

“Graham’s extremely articulate and knowledgeable, and he didn’t try to back-down from difficult questions like immigration, entitlement spending, and Mid-East foreign policy,” Enos said about Graham’s Des Moines stop on Friday night. ” I often found myself nodding along with his answers to some of these questions, which honestly shocked me. I viewed his frank, direct style to be something of a breath of fresh air. People are used to people pandering to them and giving platitudes and talking points in response to the big issues. Graham didn’t do that,” Enos added.

The presidential campaign could use a good injection of humor, but Graham should shelve “creepy” jokes about South Carolina legend Strom Thurmond having kids in his 70s.

I’m still not high on Senator Ted Cruz’s chances in Iowa or in the GOP primaries as a whole, but I admit that his call for audiences to “imagine” a better future could be inspiring. In contrast, Jon Ward filed this report on a New Hampshire event featuring Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker.

In a recent speech here, the Wisconsin governor used the word “worry” or “worried” 12 times in the space of 15 minutes.

“As a parent today, I’m worried. I’m worried for our country,” Walker told a few hundred conservative activists in a darkened amphitheater, standing in front of a red stage curtain. “I’m worried about my sons and your sons and daughters, my nieces and your nieces and nephews and grandsons and granddaughters, and I’m worried that we’re headed down that same path that worried me years ago in my own state.”

Walker’s message, just a few months into his nascent (and still unofficial) presidential campaign, has been largely a negative one. There is an undertone of testiness in his stump speech, leavened with chest-swelling machismo fueled by his defeat of a recall effort in 2012 and his re-election in 2014.

Striking a negative note is rarely helpful in a campaign, though in a Republican primary it may not be as much of a hindrance as it would be in a general election.

A bigger problem for Walker may be reports that he told a private group of supporters he backs a path to citizenship for some undocumented immigrants.

Pat Rynard pondered the question of why so many candidates are waiting so long to make their presidential campaigns official.

For Cruz, an early launch gave him full media attention for nearly the entire week. That’s something many others won’t get when a stampede of candidates’ announcements fill the April calendar each week. […]

It’s also questionable as to how important the first quarter reporting really is to the long-term prospects of a campaign. How important is one news cycle in which the media talks of an underwhelming fundraising report? More important than being the only announced candidate and soaking up attention you wouldn’t otherwise get for weeks and weeks? Really, if Cruz wanted to maximize an early-start strategy, he should have launched back in February. […]

[Louisiana Governor Bobby] Jindal certainly appears like he wants to run, but he could get lost in the mix by delaying serious campaigning. Even more confusing is Ben Carson’s hesitancy to get more in the competition. There’s actually a wellspring of excitement for him among the conservative base, and yet he’s doing nothing to capitalize on it. By the time he starts visiting the Pizza Ranches in Iowa, the Fox News crowd may have found a new conservative darling.

A number of these underdogs are playing the presidential game too conventionally. Yes, campaign finance reporting logic dictates you wait until April. But then you’ll just be drowned out by the media’s excitement over the big names getting in. If you stick to the conventional script, then the conventional result will happen: the long-shots will lose and those with the most money and gravitas will win.

I’ve never understood why Jindal sees himself as presidential material when he’s not even popular in his own red state.

Ben Carson is not ready for prime time but I agree with Rynard, he should have struck while the iron was hot. Iowa conservative activists seemed energized about him just a few months ago, and he got a great reception at the Iowa Freedom Summit in January.

At one time Indiana Governor Mike Pence was viewed as a promising presidential candidate for the “establishment” wing. He blew it in a big way by signing Indiana’s “license to discriminate” law and being unprepared to defend it in a high-profile televised interview. Business Republicans want to see competence and confidence; Pence showed neither. Social conservatives would prefer a full-throated defense of their right to use religious convictions as an excuse for discriminating against a group of people.

Foreign policy doesn’t usually loom large in presidential primaries, but former Secretary of State James Baker’s role as an adviser to Jeb Bush is causing some problems for the former Florida governor.

And in the days since Mr. Baker’s speech [to the advocacy group J Street] – in which he criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel for failing to work harder for Mideast peace – the criticism from Republicans has only intensified. […]

Sheldon Adelson, the billionaire casino mogul and a powerful donor to Republican “super PACs,” is among those who have expressed concerns to Mr. Bush’s friends and allies, several of them said. Mr. Adelson is said to be incensed over Mr. Baker’s comments and the lack of pressure put on him by the Bush team before his address – a significant concern, given that Mr. Adelson has the resources to pour tens of millions of dollars into the Republican presidential primary.

But the flare-up could thrust Mr. Bush into conflict with some of the most hawkish voices in his party, including some leading Republican donors, and a constituency determined to demonstrate its strength in the primary.

“A few months ago, people I speak to thought Jeb Bush was the guy. That’s changed,” said Morton A. Klein, president of the Zionist Organization of America, a conservative pro-Israel organization.

Raise your hand if you are old enough to remember when George H.W. Bush was president and Baker allegedly said, “F*ck the Jews; they didn’t vote for us anyway.”