Tag: politics

Since Iowa Democrats picked Fred Hubbell as their nominee for governor he’s honed his message to a few major issues. In a recent letter Hubbell wrote,

I want to be clear about one thing: I’m not just running against Governor Reynolds and her failed record. I’m running for the people of Iowa. All of Iowa. I’m running on a vision to get Iowa growing the right way and a record of bringing people together to get things done. We’ve got to turn this state around and we don’t have time to waste.

We are all Iowans and we stand united by a simple vision — that if we invest in the future, the people of our great state will benefit.

Hubbell’s priorities are straight forward: make Iowa first in education again; get incomes rising across our state; restore funding to Planned Parenthood; improve our health care system, including mental health; invest in renewable energy; preserve our topsoil; address water and air quality concerns; and restore workers’ rights.

“Blue waves are not automatic; they must be created,” Hubbell said. “It’s on us to make sure every voter has the opportunity to engage with our campaign and hear our vision for Iowa.”

Consider this an invitation to get involved with the Hubbell-Hart campaign.

Check out the Hubbell-Hart website at fredhubbell.com.

Sign up for campaign updates here.

Sign up to volunteer here.

Make a monetary donation here.

“I know we can take back Terrace Hill, but we can’t take it for granted,” Hubbell said. “Can we count on you to join the team today? With your help we can win in November.”

~ First posted on Blog for Iowa

I attended the Iowa Democratic Party state convention — unenthusiastically.

I went once before and remember leaving around 9 p.m. while delegates argued the platform. More the reason to stay home and work in the garden as platforms are virtually meaningless in a Democratically diverse state like Iowa.

I left home early enough to arrive in time for the veterans caucus and grab a cup of coffee at the Starbucks kiosk in HyVee Hall. I returned my credentials and vote clicker around 12:30 p.m. before “party business.”

What did I see? I’m not sure, but what you see is what you get. WYSIWYG.

The big, positive news — released before gavelling in — was gubernatorial candidate Fred Hubbell picked State Senator Rita Hart from Big Rock, Iowa as his running mate. I don’t know any Democrat who knows and doesn’t like Senator Hart. Conclusion? The nominating process was successful in picking a governor and lieutenant governor who are electable.

Party Chair Troy Price was energetic, enthusiastic and positive all rolled into one. Our delegates to the Democratic National Committee reported Iowa would likely remain the first caucus in the nation. In a new twist, Fourth Congressional District candidate J.D. “Standing Tall for All” Scholten read from a Bleeding Heartland post about how to win his district. Definitely some positives during the convention.

The convention ratified the slate of candidates and enabled them to tell delegates to knock on doors, make political phone calls, contribute money and a couple of other volunteer asks. To be honest, it got old hearing each speaker ask for the same thing. It made me wish I was out door knocking, at home writing a check, or in Johnson County walking in the pride parade with Congressman Dave Loebsack. Any of these would have been a better use of my time, and maybe was their subliminal message.

A couple things bothered me about the convention.

If memory serves, the official number of delegates seated was 781 (or was that 871?). Divide either by 594,198 active, registered Democrats as of June 1 and one can see this sliver of the party is not representative of the electorate that will choose a governor in November. We learned little about the electorate in this elite, inner-circle gathering. Maybe that’s not the point of a state convention. More likely I’m just not used to or don’t like breathing this kind of rarified air.

What matters more is transforming the party from primary to general election mode. The transmission gears ground a bit as the shift was made. The notable holdout is Cathy Glasson who has not endorsed the party’s nominee for governor. As a former candidate she owes the winner this much. Her campaign manager, Misty Rebik tweeted, “we are just getting started,” although that must be an inside joke as I’m not sure what it means. It is time to endorse and move on.

It is too early to be talking about a “blue wave.” See me after the general election. The convention served as a mile marker on the way to Nov. 6. Democrats dislike the Trump administration and the Republican Party of Iowa, but we’ll need many voters who are not Democrats to win in November. Scholten was one of a couple who mentioned this and he was reading from a blogger’s post. It served little purpose telling this group about waves of blue. They are already pumped up and well know there is plenty of work to do before a celebration.

Overall, the four and a half hours of the convention I saw was a good day for the state party. IDP needed that after the drubbing they took in 2016 under chair Andy McGuire.

There were mostly positives this morning. Now on to November!

A lot of pixel dust has been spilled about the meaning of the June 5 Iowa Democratic primary.

Read three people I follow Laura Belin, Pat Rynard and John Deeth for a perspective different from conventional news outlets. My take is simple. We are beginning to see aspects of the electorate that will shape the general election.

WYSIWYG — What you see is what you get.

What are we seeing? Here is a brief list from my perch in Senate District 37.

The minority of Democrats who participate in primaries played nice with each other most of the time. Keep that up and we’ll win in November. Many general election voters like it when people in the party play nice.

Democratic turnout was way more than expected, 176,700 votes. This is evidence what we heard at the caucus was not wrong, “we have to do something in November.” Not only did people say it, four months later they put their vote where their mouth is, beating the Democratic primary turnout in 2006 by about 20 percent.

Once the demographic information is available we’ll be able to do more numbers crunching. There really isn’t that much of a need. Results already tell the story. More voters participated in the process than in any previous Democratic primary election. What drove that? Three things: reactions the 87th Iowa General Assembly and a new president, combined with a highly qualified roster of Democratic gubernatorial candidates. To participate voters need something positive to attract them. Having good candidates shows what Democrats stand for. We had that in the primary, and I believe have that for the general election now that we know the results.

Fred Hubbell is our nominee for governor. He won a remarkable 55.5 percent (98,125 votes) of votes cast in a five-way race. It’s up to him to lead, and I believe he will. It’s up to the rest of Iowa Democratic activists to support, defend and vote for him if we want change in Iowa. There is no time for the bitter tears of losing a campaign. By this weekend’s state convention the mourning period is over. General election voters are likely to see Hubbell as qualified to be governor and that will encourage participation.

Events like the Democratic primary are an interface with the general election electorate as it is being created, long before most voters engage in general election campaigns. What you see is what you get and what I’m seeing is an electorate well on its way to being fully activated. I don’t understand the dynamics that produced the results of the June 5 primary, just like I don’t write on the internet using html code. I don’t need to. WYSIWYG.

When people participate in elections the results favor Democrats and that appears to be where we are heading.

I support Democrat Jodi Clemens over Republican Bobby Kaufmann in the Nov. 6 general election.

When our precinct was redistricted after the 2010 U.S. Census we landed in House District 73 which includes Cedar County, the City of Wilton and six adjacent Johnson County precincts.

I went to an event at the Solon Public Library with then House Speaker Pro Tempore Jeff Kaufmann who would represent the district if re-elected. He seemed reasonable enough. I remember saying to myself, “I can work with this.”

Kaufmann left the legislature and was elected Cedar County supervisor. His eldest son Bobby ran for his seat and won the 2012 election.

In following years I worked with Kaufmann to advance my interests in climate change, local food, and township services. I wanted to work with him, in a common sense way, to get things done in society. I believe we accomplished positive things.

Along came the 87th Iowa General Assembly and Katy bar the door. In retrospect, considering the damage done by Iowa Republicans during those two years — to the budget, to our mental health system, to Medicaid, to our tax system, to public employee unions — what I thought were accomplishments amounted to tinkering around the edges.

I thought if Kaufmann would give me some time, we’d work together, and find some kind of happiness. I was wrong.

I’m reminded of the 1968 song by the British group the Foundations. “Build me up, buttercup baby, just to let me down, and mess me around.”

I’m confident Jodi Clemens, a Democrat, won’t mess around the way Republicans have.

~ Published in the June 7, 2018 edition of the Solon Economist

There was little doubt Fred Hubbell would win the Democratic gubernatorial primary election yesterday and he did with 98,013 votes or 55.5 percent of the total, according to preliminary results from the Iowa Secretary of State.

It wasn’t predetermined. There were no establishment Democrats behind cubicles in Des Moines calling the shots. He is a progressive Democratic candidate who ran a successful campaign voters could relate to. It was a straight up win for Hubbell and Democrats should and likely will rally around his candidacy.

On April 17, I posted what my neighbors were saying, that we were down to two candidates, Hubbell and Nate Boulton. When Boulton dropped out of the race, it cleared the path for Hubbell’s victory last night, at least according to their analysis. If one listens to the community there are grains of truth if we are only perceptive enough to recognize them.

I hope Hubbell finds room in the general election campaign for his rivals and that they help him in substantial ways if he defeats Republican Kim Reynolds. I also hope Democrats recapture control of the Iowa House of Representatives, and eventually the Iowa Senate, because the governor can’t make needed changes alone.

So it’s Hubbell. Good. That means the June 16 State Convention will be shorter than if we had to pick a nominee.

I stayed up late enough last night to get a flavor of the returns.

My new friend Zach Wahls won his primary for Senate District 37 against three others. I knew when I met him on Jan. 13 Wahls is the kind of leader Iowa needs. We need the perspective and energy of the next generation of politicians. I am exquisitely glad voters picked a young person who is also an advocate for LGBTQ rights. It was my pleasure to contribute in a small way to Wahls’ campaign. I’m also glad I can leave his bumper sticker on my car until November.

Janice Weiner, Wahls’ only effective competition, ran an excellent campaign but fell short of votes needed. Weiner won Cedar County by 65 votes but it was not enough to overcome Wahls’ margin in Muscatine (5 votes) and Johnson (1,682 votes). As I told a former candidate for the house district that includes Cedar County, Johnson County drives the bus of who gets elected in current Senate District 37. Redistricting may change everything in a couple of years, but this cycle, Wahls had the strategy and tactics to win this race.

Janelle Rettig and Pat Heiden won berths to the county supervisor general election. Both of them ran exceptional campaigns, particularly Heiden who came from a fourth place finish in the 2016 Democratic primary into her own. I have more to say about that race and want to take a closer look at the precinct results. I supported Mike Carberry, however, one could see it was a lost cause as early as April when I wrote my candidate profiles of the three contenders. I framed up the problems in this twitter thread. I’m encouraged there will now be three women on the county board of supervisors.

Soon I need to get ready for work at the home, farm and auto supply store. I’ll be thinking about the election on my breaks and while I’m hauling animal feed around the warehouse. Physical labor is a great way to process complex events.

Congratulations to Iowa Democrats on this positive primary election.