Iowa Senate race

[DFW]

I talked to Democratic nominee Theresa Greenfield today. She's trying to replace Joni Pigfarmer as Iowa's junior Senator. Very "midwestern," but I like her. She knows where she stands, and she's willing to admit there's stuff she doesn't know if she doesn't know it. That's my kind of legislator. I didn't talk to any of her competitors in the primary, so I can't say if I would have liked any of them better. But Joni Phony has GOT to go.

The Iowa primary is over and done, by the way. So, "you know who," please don't bother even THINKING about it!

I must admit, after all these years of licking McTurtle's and Trump's asses, if she hasn't yet gotten food poisoning, Joni must have some kind of iron stomach, but she is a useless toady of a Senator, and an unthinking right wing rubber stamp. If Moscow Mitch told her to get on her desk on the Senate floor and dance the Nutcracker Suite for five minutes, she'd attempt it.

[alwaysinasnit]

1. Oh, the mental imagery you invoke is too funny.

[leftieNanner]

2. Excellent!

That Lincoln Project ad about Joni Castrate is great. Her big push in her first run 6 years ago was about cutting the deficit and spending. Now?

Crickets.

[jimfields33]

4. Wow. I thought the Lincoln project just wanted trump out

Are they republicans who are now democratic supporters?

[leftieNanner]

5. They seem to be going after all kinds of Republicans now!

Here's the ad.

https://lincolnproject.us/news/crickets/

[DFW]

9. I know nothing about them at all

Here in Germany, they aren't even on the radar--yet, anyway.

[DesertRat]

10. The Lincoln Project formally announced their endorsement of Joe Biden

The Lincoln Project, a collection of former Republicans, formally endorsed Biden shortly after Sanders’ announcement.

“As America contends with unprecedented loss, we need a leader who can steady our ship of state, bind up our common wounds, and lead us into our next national chapter,” said group co-founder Reed Galen. “Joe Biden has the humanity, empathy and steadiness we need in a national leader.”

https://apnews.com/ff4d5bcb568f02e76af1a8945167c8b5

[exboyfil]

3. I thought Franken would have given us a better chance

I personally think Greenfield's resume is pretty light to be Senator. I will enthusiastically vote for her though.

[DFW]

8. Her resume did seem lighter than Franken's at first glance

I must agree with you there. I didn't know much about either, and backed no one, being way out of the loop up to now. The only person I know at all in Iowa politics is my friend Rob Sand, who is now State Auditor, and hopefully the man who will replace Chuck Grassley in two years. Rob is nowhere near decided to get into THAT race, but I am pushing him-probably more than he would like!

But this primary is decided now, and dumping Ernst now supersedes all other priorities.

[Sogo]

6. Well, this makes three of us Iowans on this thread....

I voted for Franken. In a FB post from Franken after the election, he said he just didn't have the $$ to overcome the false ads being run against him in the rural areas.

I will, of course, vote for Greenfield....


My bumpersticker for the Senate race: "Iowa, Joni has not Ernst your vote!"

[DFW]

7. Ironically

"Ernst" means serious in German--the very opposite of what she is.

I know nothing of Franken, although his resumé was indeed impressive. I have no idea why his funding was so light, although EMILY's List can be formidable when they want to. They trashed my friend in NM03's primary race, and she got blown away--a real shame, considering her very elegant voice and first-hand knowledge of savage treatment at the hands of evil-minded Republicans (Cheney and Rove, in her case). But $1 million in dark money showed up against her in the final month, and she got blown away.

[SharonClark]

11. Some anti-Franken and anti-Greenfield ads were

from the Mauro campaign. I had friends in all the camps except Mauro and I liked their choices. I do think Greenfield and Franken were the strongest candidates to take on Ernst.

The repugs are already running really nasty and poorly done ads against Greenfield. I say poorly done because the ads are so obviously hit pieces with unsubstantiated and over the top accusations that it’s hard to interpret them as anything else.

[SharonClark]

12. DFW - May I ask why you were talking

with Greenfield? Don’t you live in Europe?

[DFW]

13. I do indeed

I am a friend of Rob Sand, Iowa's State Auditor. I also am in touch with other Democratic Senate campaigns. They pass numbers around, and they sometimes call asking for advice on positions, asking for contributions, or just an opinion on things. Americans Abroad number about six million, which makes us about the 27th State in terms of population, and we have NO representation in D.C. SOMEONE has to have Washington's ear, and the fresher the face, the more likely they are to listen to us. Russ Feingold WAS going to go to bat for us, but he got cheated out of getting his Senate seat back in 2016.

Theresa called me, I didn't call her, and if it's a Democrat calling that has any credibility with me, I'll listen. There are several that I talk to on a regular basis as well, both in person and on the phone. The world is a lot smaller than geography indicates, believe me!

[SharonClark]

14. I was curious. Thanks for explaining.

[DFW]

15. Not a problem

My wife had the typical attitude of the USA is a nice place to visit, but she doesn't want to live there, and my outfit was very liberal in accommodating my social situation, and authorized my frequent presence in Europe back in the Seventies, when I was recruited. I already spoke five essential languages (English, German, Russian, French, Spanish) for the posting, plus a couple of others, so that eased the way for my ultimate permanent posting here. My wife was more than worth the effort, so here I am.

But I remain the son of a prominent Washington print journalist that I always was. My dad knew EVERYBODY in DC, and took me along to the White House and the Capitol before I was even ten. In the Senate Press Gallery in the Capitol, I remember thinking how weird it was that all of my friends were named Bill, Timmy, Bobby, Mike, etc. and a lot of my Dad's friend has the odd first name of "Senator." I didn't know anybody with a name like that. This is Senator Dirksen, this is Senator Humphrey, this is Senator Javits, etc. etc. When you're seven years old, electoral politics isn't always easy to grasp. But even though my personal path took me far from Washington, I never lost touch. My brother still lives in Northern Virginia, so when I go back to the States, I always swing by and see some friends. Some of them are known names due to the personal connections, but to me, they're friends first. They have friends, too, and after all, Washington is known for being the biggest small town in the country.