Tag: politics

As the last month of summer proceeds to Labor Day, the official kickoff for the fall election campaign, our county party is not that organized. Partly, that’s to be expected as voters and activists engage in elections later each successive cycle.

Iowa Democratic Party Chair Ross Wilburn continues to make the case to the Democratic National Committee that Iowa should be first in the nation during presidential election years. The party has much bigger problems to address going forward than presidential preference.

The big news is there does not appear to be a state party coordinated campaign that helps synchronize efforts. Lack of a coordinated campaign creates an environment where every activist is free to do what they want regarding support of candidates. The county party chair asserted this was a good thing, freeing the group to turnout Democratic votes to increase county margin. It takes more than Democratic votes to win elections and that has in part been the work of individual campaigns. We don’t need a coordinated campaign for the simple reason of having one. What we have without one is a recipe for chaos. A skosh of chaos is okay.

Our county believes the best way they can help Democratic causes is to turnout as many Democratic voters as possible to offset the rest of the Republican state in statewide races. I call this the margin argument, which is spurious at best. Remove the votes from our county from the tallies for federal races in recent cycles and the outcome would be no different. The problem with the margin argument is precincts like mine, which have voted Republican in recent cycles, get lost in the push to turn out Democratic votes in our more populous areas. We need Democrats to win down ticket races and the margin approach doesn’t effectively help.

My years of working at the orchard made weekend campaign work difficult because of my schedule. As a retired septuagenarian, I’m reluctant to make phones calls and door knock people I don’t know, as I did in the past. Making phone calls and door knocking appears to be the main organizing activity being used in the county. I need to find another way.

I would feel better if more central committee members attended last night’s Zoom central committee meeting. By Labor Day, I hope to have an approach for this cycle because this year, more than previous, Democrats will need the help.

I attended enough events and got enough one-on-one time with Deidre DeJear – both during her current campaign and when she ran for Secretary of State – to know she would be a good governor. When I compare her to other Democratic gubernatorial candidates, she is hands down the most enthusiastic I’ve seen in recent years. We Democrats need some enthusiasm to defeat the Republican machine.

I like her and plan to vote for her yet this race is not about me.

The question I get asked repeatedly is “Can she win?”

At her June nominating convention, DeJear said, “My story being possible in Iowa, ensures that all our stories are possible.” It resonated with me when I heard it. Iowa writer Chuck Offenburger said it would resonate with Iowans if it were broadcast across the state.

Offenburger laid out a case for DeJear in a July 18 column.

He gave reasons why continuing a Reynolds administration would be a bad choice. His conclusion about Reynolds’ governance is “Doesn’t that sound like a whole lot of big-government overreach — which Republicans are normally the first to bitch about — by a governor who might be trying to stretch her shelf life too long?”

Offenburger also told DeJear’s story. He concluded with “It’s time for Barack & Michelle Obama to make another visit to Iowa.” It is polished writing of an experienced journalist which Democrats should read. I believe the column helped DeJear’s cause.

As counterpoint, Offenburger’s writing seems likely to be drowned out by the conservative noise machine with its ubiquitous right-wing radio, television and social media chatter. Not enough people have heard this case. More need to.

When people I don’t know ask me, “Can she win?” they are likely referring to one of the following things.

The governor is commanding the polls with a 17-point advantage in the latest Des Moines Register Iowa Poll. DeJear is behind in fundraising as well. With a bit more than three months until the Nov. 8 election, DeJear and Iowa Democrats could overcome these disadvantages with hard work and more voter engagement, especially as we get closer to the election. Can she win? Yes she can if you vote for her and convince your friends to do likewise.

Deidre DeJear is black. There is a racist strain running throughout Iowa with Iowans who won’t vote for a black governor regardless of their qualifications. Can she win? Yes she can if you vote for her and convince your friends to do likewise.

Is there a “Blue Wave” coming in November? Some express skepticism, including me. We are worn out from the elections beginning in 2010. When we drag out the old sawhorse about Obama’s 2008 and 2012 wins, or the true story of Tom Vilsack’s come from behind victory, we seem to be running out of Democratic anecdotes. We need new stories of a kind to which Iowans across the state can relate. Deidre DeJear is that story.

Can she win? Yes she can if you vote for her and convince your friends to do likewise.

She could use your financial donation as well. Click here to donate.

Click here to access Offenburger’s column and share it with a friend or family member.

~ First published on Blog for Iowa. A version of this post ran as a letter to the editor in the online Des Moines Register on Aug. 4, 2022.

A lot changed in political campaigns since I worked my first for Lyndon Johnson in 1964. Democrats and Republicans are now at a place where established patterns repeat each cycle: marching in parades, having a booth at the county fair, putting up sign advertising, and canvassing voters. These may be comforting, yet campaign action has moved.

Both major parties use big data to inform their campaigns.

Perhaps the most dramatic change was the way Trump campaigns used Facebook and Cambridge Analytica to scrape personal data about tens of millions of voters from the internet, and then custom target voters with tens of thousands of distinct daily ads designed to either persuade people to vote for Trump or not vote at all.

Progressive radio host Thom Hartmann wrote that on the day of the third presidential debate in October 2020, team Trump ran 175,000 variations of ads micro-targeting voters. These ads were, for the most part, not publicly seen.

This is way beyond showing up to meet candidates at a county fair.

Despite this use of technology, elections reduce to staying engaged with candidates, and working to cast an informed vote. That pressure from social media to disengage from politics? Someone is working to make us feel that way. We must resist and vote for who best serves our interests.

I reviewed the candidates and for me, Democrats on the ballot deserve our votes. That’s for whom I will vote on Nov. 8.

~ First published as a letter to the editor of The Little Village on July 15, 2022

In a 589-word article published Monday, July 11, Des Moines Register reporters Katie Akin and Francesca Block managed to reduce Sunday’s Reproductive Freedom Rally of thousands of people at the State Capitol to pabulum.

“Speakers encouraged attendees of the event to vote for candidates who support abortion access, donate to aid organizations that help women pay for abortions, and to discuss the issue with their communities,” they wrote.

It was unclear from the article how any of that would get done.

They featured organizers of the rally, which was reaction to the recent Supreme Court decision Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Center which overturned Roe v. Wade. Akin and Block did little more than touch on enough aspects of it to get a story. The rally happened, the Register reported it, but it was the wrong story.

President Biden encouraged women to continue to protest this Supreme Court decision. Click here to view a video of his weekend statement to media. One assumes protests will continue, yet the unanswered question from Sunday is how can thousands of protesters turn into a functioning, effective movement?

The Democratic answer to almost every contemporary issue is to get out the vote for Democratic candidates up and down the ticket. For some of us, this needn’t be repeated as we get it: do everything we can to elect Democrats. Beyond this there is little depth or consistency in media messaging. Without solid organization and a master plan, Democrats risk being beaten again at the ballot box. This time, a lot more is at stake than in 2020, if that’s possible.

The Iowa Democratic Party is in transition. I’ve known Chair Ross Wilburn since he was mayor of Iowa City. I liked him then and I like him now. It is a mistake to look toward the small cadre of Democratic Party officials or state central committee members for meaningful guidance. By its nature, the Democratic Party and the tactics and tools we use are decentralized. Any get out the vote effort has to be grounded in precinct politics. Local voters must take ownership. I’m confident they can.

To an extent, the several Supreme Court decisions this year have motivated voters to get more involved. Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (abortion), West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency (agency regulation of the energy sector), Kennedy v. Bremerton School District (school prayer), New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen (gun control), Carson v. Makin (state funding of private schools), and others engaged diverse constituencies across the nation. It would seem there is plenty to motivate folks to vote.

I understand many families and friends talk among themselves about politics. The challenge is expanding the circle of contacts to include others in our community. Several prominent campaigns in the state have encouraged just that. Some plans are specific, some nothing more than to contact a few new people each week about the election and why it is important to vote Democratic. It is something yet what are the metrics to determine the efficacy of these approaches? It’s hard to say. This is no plan unless one puts air quotes around the word.

I’m glad there was something in the Register about Sunday’s rally. What we need more than a boilerplate news story is a plan. One that goes beyond advocacy groups that organized the rally.

If you haven’t, give your local county party a call and get involved in the 2022 midterm now. You will be thankful you did.

~ First posted on Blog for Iowa

On June 25, 2022, President Joe Biden signed into law S.2938, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.

The bill passed the U.S. Senate by a vote of 65-33, and the U.S. House by a vote of 234-193. Chuck Grassley, Randy Feenstra, Ashley Hinson and Mariannette Miller-Meeks of the Iowa delegation voted no on the negotiated bill that rose out of the May 24 mass shootings at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.

The White House supported the legislation, saying in a statement, “While the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act does not include additional important steps the President has called for as part of his comprehensive gun crime reduction agenda, it would make meaningful progress to combat gun violence. As communities continue to experience gun violence every day, the Administration calls for swift passage of this life-saving legislation.”

The bill is something, what a divided Congress could accomplish in the wake of a horrific series of mass shootings. It left out popular measures such as expanded background checks, an assault weapons ban, and a higher minimum age of purchase for assault-style weapons. Most Americans support these measures. Even Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) said the age to purchase assault weapons must be raised from 18 to 21. Senator Amy Klobuchar summarized by saying, “We’ve taken one step to stop gun violence with the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. But we need to do more. Families everywhere are counting on us. This is not over.”

Those who support additional gun control measures will accept this bill for the good things it does: enhance background checks for gun buyers under age 21, support state red flag laws, tighten gun possession on domestic abusers (including closing the so-called boyfriend loophole), clarify existing law regarding background checks, crack down on interstate gun trafficking, fund community violence intervention, invest in mental health services, and provide school safety funding.

For more information about the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, here are some links:

Wikipedia

Giffords: Courage to Fight Gun Violence

CNN

Voice of America

U.S. Congress

~ First posted on Blog for Iowa

Republican lawmakers twice passed an amendment to the Iowa Constitution which will appear on the Nov. 8 ballot. I urge readers to vote no.

According to House Majority Leader Matt Windschitl, “The Freedom Amendment is the proposal to enshrine in our state constitution protections for our Second Amendment rights.”

Most Americans appreciate the Bill of Rights. So do I. Here’s the Second Amendment:

“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

What Republicans propose isn’t the same:

“The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. The sovereign state of Iowa affirms and recognizes this right to be a fundamental individual right. Any and all restrictions of this right shall be subject to strict scrutiny.”

Whoa buddy! This isn’t the language written by the founders in 1789. It is lawyered up with terms like “sovereign state” and “strict scrutiny.”

Republicans are tampering with our Second Amendment rights. They would infringe on rights that stood since the founders wrote them and the states ratified the Bill of Rights. 

Readers should pay attention on Nov. 8 and vote no on this bogus constitutional amendment that reduces our rights, protecting nothing.

~ A version of this letter appeared at the Des Moines Register on June 23, 2022.