Your setup in West Liberty sounds intriguing, glad you got to see how they think on their feet.
I very much agree with your point #4, my son and I felt the same about John Norris. Still liking Boulton a lot, I would like to see him run with Norris.
I can't agree with your #5. Dr. McGuire is knowlegeable and confident, as you say, but she has this kinda fakey folksiness about her that just grates on me. Plus, I do think she screwed Bernie supporters pretty bad in 16. I think there were some screwy things went on in the caucuses when she was IDP chair, and I think that if the caucus had been run more fairly, Bernie would have narrowly won Iowa and done better in the primaries. Did she bring up that she had been IDP chair? She didn't in Waterloo til nearly the end, when many had left.
But-back to Norris: you can't beat the experience and knowledge he has, his connection with rural Iowans, and he seemed to me to be someone who is a Democrat for many of the same reasons I am - to make government work for the working class and poor, the rich can take care of themselves.