Here's why I said what I said
And the State of the Union, too
This is not Twitter (X). This is not Facebook (Meta). I’m thankful. One of the benefits that I appreciate most on this platform as we expand our conversations are the thoughtful responses from you.
And I really mean “thoughtful.” It’s similar to LinkedIn, not like the rage-filled attacks that are far too common on other platforms.
I heard from more of you over the past week than I think that I ever have. We must have touched on something. Let’s keep going.
Here’s what I wrote last week in case you haven’t read it yet. My point was that maybe we shouldn’t wait on politicians to solve problems. Too many seem more focused on a verbal jab than committing to improve a vexing challenge.
Don’t get me wrong: I agree with many of you that our elected officials have a responsibility to work on behalf of our communities. We do pay them after all. So I understand why some of you messaged me to disagree that we should not look to politicians to solve major problems these days. I get it. Again, it’s their obligation.
D.C. is also not Des Moines. Dysfunction doesn’t seem like a strong enough word to describe what we have witnessed in Washington, D.C. in recent years. Congressional Republicans blast President Joe Biden for the southern border mess. But they refuse to do anything about it. Their priority is to instead use it as a campaign issue. They, too, will also become complicit if the situation doesn’t improve.
Democrats will again campaign on issues like raising the minimum wage, increasing taxes on the wealthy and big corporations, and banning assault weapons. They could have done those things when Biden took office in 2021. They didn’t.
There are things happening at the Iowa Statehouse on taxes, education, health care and more. Voters will decide in November if the actions that Republicans have taken with their super majority is too much…too far to the right or it’s exactly where people want to see this state move for the future.
Voters can decide whether Republicans have passed changes that make the state more appealing so young people stay here, so others want to move here, so businesses relocate or start here and so that smaller communities stop getting smaller.
My focus in the column last week was more about providing additional attention on those in our neighborhoods besides the politicians.
I just wonder if it will be non-politicians who drive the push for thinking about the longer term, not the next election. Individuals, non-profits, faith communities, philanthropists and civic organizations don’t get enough of the spotlight.
Lately, I’ve been feeling like the media overall need to find a way to do that more. I don’t have the answers for this. But I’ve been thinking about it a lot. More later…
Party First—I got a lot of pushback on Twitter for tweeting about Governor Kim Reynolds’ endorsement of Donald Trump. “Captain Obvious,” one person mockingly called me for pointing out the change.
Reynolds, Iowa Senator Joni Ernst and outgoing Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell all endorsed Trump over the past week. All have criticized Trump’s behavior and character.
After she endorsed Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for president before the Iowa Caucuses instead of Trump, Reynolds said that Trump makes everything about himself and that he can’t win against Biden. But she backs him now.
Ernst has called out Trump numerous times for ripping or mocking service members. Trump supposedly had bone spurs in his foot that prevented him from serving in the military. Although, he could not say which foot. Ernst wants Trump to stop belittling military members. But she supports him for president.
And McConnell previously ripped Trump for his role in fomenting followers with falsehoods about the 2020 election before they attacked law enforcement at the U.S. Capitol Building in one of the most violent acts against our Democratic Republic in modern times. But he endorses Trump for the job again.
All three decided to publicly support Trump in this November’s general election. Do yesterday’s words not matter today? Is it hypocritical? Or do they simply believe that Biden is worse, no matter what Trump has said or done?
State of the Union — It had it all, didn’t? Marjorie Taylor Greene showed up for a campaign rally. The president may have given her one, just not the kind that she wants. Biden’s speech seemed to fire up Democrats who wanted to see him show some spunk. He called out Trump numerous times, tried to box in Congressional Republicans on not extending tax cuts for the rich and pointed out how they refuse to do anything about the border.
But Republicans also found moments. When MTG repeatedly yelled out for Biden to acknowledge the name of the Georgia nursing student killed by a man authorities believe may have been in the country illegally, the president reacted. What could have been a powerful moment for him instead became fodder for critics who contend that he has slipped too much. In one response, Biden aggravated both the right and the left in one response.
He referred to the murdered woman as “Lincoln” Riley (her name was Laken). Republicans ridiculed him. Biden also said that she was killed by an “illegal.” Democrats reminded him that he should not use that term to describe a person.
In the end, the speech may have helped Biden more than it hurt. And convincing skeptical Democrats that he is up for another term is imperative.
However…why not acknowledge the pain of inflation? Sure, Republicans overdo the blame game. No, Biden is not solely responsible for inflation. Did Biden cause inflation that remains higher in other major countries, too? Also no.
While inflation is roughly a third as high in this country as it was in 2022, it is still uncomfortably high for too many people. Couldn’t Biden have acknowledged the strain, pointed out how wages have outpaced inflation for more than a year and explained why he believes that things are getting better?
Couldn’t he have also announced some new action regarding the border? He established that Republicans in Congress aren’t going to do anything. But should that stop him from taking action of his own?
Inflation and the border could be two big issues swing voters will consider when they vote for the next president.
Republican response — How many of you watched Alabama Senator Katie Britt deliver the Republican response and thought that you just watched the first segment of this weekend’s Saturday Night Live? Sure enough, SNL did spoof the widely mocked performance by Britt.
Giving the response isn’t easy. Ask Marco Rubio and Bobby Jindal how it went for them.
Maybe Britt was exceptionally nervous and that led to the awkward performance? That could be possible. What was more difficult to understand was her claim of going to the southern border and meeting a woman who had survived awful, prolonged abuse at the hands of sex traffickers.
Britt blamed Biden.
Numerous reports show that the woman’s story, while sadly true, was actually two decades old, happened when George W. Bush was president rather than Biden, and happened in Mexico and not the United States.
Did any Republican leaders or staff look at the speech beforehand? How did this happen? And I wonder what Britt is thinking now that the criticism has been so severe.
What a night.
Something else — I talked with Senator Ernst about her Trump endorsement and what she wants to see out of him before November. She also explains why the moment that her Republican colleagues would support a border security/immigration bill has passed.
Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart also talked to me about what we might expect as part of the 2028 caucus plans, as well as the challenge for her party this year if Biden stays away and Democrats don’t provide much national support.
Both interviews are part of my weekly segment, “Inside Iowa Politics.” Watch that here.
I also had a conversation with Robert Carman. He helps lend money to hog farmers, travels the state to meet with them and has felt their pain over the past year. Find out why he is more optimistic about 2024 versus what the industry endured in 2023. Watch that interview here.
Thanks for reading. Thanks for watching. Thanks for your feedback and thanks for your support.
I write this column as part of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative, a group of independent columnists. Please check them out and help spread the word.