Iowa’s Senate race primaries have decided; former 3 Star Admiral Mike Franken, a Democrat, now faces Senator Chuck Grassley, the incumbent Republican.
Republicans voted for Grassley out of habit for decades, much the same way Grassley (age 88) has filed every six years for another round of government paychecks in exchange for being Mitch McConnell’s water boy in the Senate.
Much the same way, Iowa political pundits routinely crank out “Grassley’s going to win again” columns. Admittedly, they have another motivation: it’s easier than reporting on the race. They don’t have to put shoes on in the morning to write those columns. They can finish that stuff before they finish breakfast. There are decades of identical columns for them to recycle. It sure beats actually talking to voters.
I’m here to tell you they are wrong. Franken can win this thing, and I believe he will. Here’s why:
- First, while Putin is waging war, it would be good to put a thoughtful, experienced, informed, high-ranking military person in the Senate – an admiral especially!
- Second, most incumbents who are not on the ballot this year are mighty glad they are not. This is shaping up to be a “throw out the bums” year,” and that was well before Roe v. Wade entered the picture.
- Third, Grassley played a key – some would say central – role in stealing a seat on the Supreme Court for Neil Gorsuch by, on Mitch McConnell’s orders, refusing even to convene a judiciary hearing on President Obama’s Supreme Court Nominee, even though Obama had the right and duty to select the late Justice Scalia’s successor. Grassley ran the clock out for the better part of a year, allowing Trump to appoint Gorsuch. As chairman, he was again there to blindly accept Brett Kavanaugh’s lies about Roe v Wade.
- Fourth, there is also the matter of Grassley’s age and the absurd length of time he’s been in public office. He’s 88 now. In six years, he’ll be 94! The man ran out of ideas long ago.
Now, Grassley is in the center ring in a bad way, on the biggest and hottest issue facing voters this Fall. Grassley was a loyal Trump supporter, but I’m not sure that is going to be as helpful as Grassley thought it might be, now that the extent of Trump’s treachery and treason on January 6 as well as before and after, is being revealed.
When Grassley cashed his first paycheck as an Iowa legislator,
- Hawaii was not a state
- Richard Nixon was Vice President, and John F. Kennedy was a senator from Massachusetts
- Dwight Eisenhower’s famous Farewell Address, in which he warned about the dangers of the military-industrial complex, was more than a year away.
- Alaska had only days before becoming a state, and most flags flying on Grassley’s first day in public office still had 48 stars.
- Automobiles manufactured in 1959 – the year Grassley first entered public office – are now shown and sold at vintage and antique car shows.
- Fidel Castro came to power in 1959, and the St. Lawrence Seaway was completed that same year.
- Not a single American astronaut had flown to space – in fact, NASA didn’t even have astronauts until April 1959, four months after Grassley first entered public office.
Is there any wonder why Grassley is out of ideas and spends his days serving as a boot-licking lackey for Mitch McConnell? The world has changed, and who sits in Iowa’s Senate seat – that’s Iowa’s Senate seat, not Grassley’s Senate seat – needs to change too.
What a refreshing new start Mike Franken would provide. Send him a contribution. He can – and I predict will – win.