Earlier today I wrote about a brilliant monologue by Tucker Carlson that appeared on Fox News the other night. He absolutely nailed the problem with the Republican Party — both here in Iowa and in America.
It doesn’t boldly lead on the issues that it supposedly is built upon.
Ask yourself, do you know anyone who actually goes to the polls to vote based on things like the USMCA, how the feds are handling COVID for poultry producers or how much of the CARES Funds Gov. Kim Reynolds directs into the unemployment trust fund?
Seriously.
Here’s the problem, though. The big GOP donors do not share the values and priorities of the GOP base. So, when figuring out messaging and who to take care of most, it’s no surprise that the conservative base of the GOP often is given scraps while elected Republicans take care of their major donors.
Carlson highlighted his interview with U.S. Sen. Mike Braun (R-Indiana). It’s a painful exchange in which Braun gets exposed for being a weak Republican who essentially capitulated to the Black Lives Matter crowd.
Tucker’s assessment? “Braun’s just weak and he doesn’t really believe in anything. He’s definitely not alone in that. An awful lot of Republican officeholders look very much like Mike Braun right now. Probably most of them. That’s a problem. In a moment like this, it is a severe and dangerous problem.”
A Democrat win in 2020 over President Trump, combined with retaining the House and perhaps gaining control of the Senate, would leave Republicans in America extremely vulnerable.
The only political institution that can protect the country is the GOP.
And, Carlson added, the GOP is going to be new eventually. He predicted that when Trump leaves, the GOP will proclaim it lost because they were “mean and intolerant, just like Donald Trump.”
For this Fourth Congressional District conservative, it sounds like the second verse of a song I’ve heard at least once before.
But instead of blaming Donald Trump, they blamed Congressman Steve King in the opening stanza.
It was King who was mean, racist, bigoted, intolerant and suffered from every phobia the Left has invented in the last 10-20 years.
It was King who hampered Republicans in 2018 (despite Republicans being hampered all across the state.)
It was King who, according to Gov. Kim Reynolds, needed to figure out if he wanted to represent the Fourth District or find something else to do. She even had it written on a fancy note card for a media interview. Crazy how a question came up and presented her the opportunity to use the exact line that was written on that card for her.
Coincidence.
Carlson said the idea that the GOP will lose control because Trump is mean and not inclusive is a lie.
“Republicans are failing for a much more obvious reason, a more fundamental reason — they’re failing because they haven’t done much that is worth doing. They haven’t tried very hard to improved your life. When the crisis came, they fled. They did nothing to defend you, they did nothing to defend the country. They were paralyzed. Their so-called principles turned out to be bumper stickers they wrote 40 years ago. They had no clue what to do. So, from this day forward, it’s very simple, we’re going to have to tell them what to do. And that will work.”
Carlson said politicians will head to where the votes are. And, he added, GOP voters should demand three things from candidates:
- Vigorous defense of total equality under the law;
- Defend our freedom of speech;
- Never forget that the Republican Party exists to serve the interests of normal people — ordinary people.
Do you know who has always checked those three boxes — and I mean always?
Congressman Steve King.
Nobody in American politics has defended our heritage and our nation’s founding like Congressman King. Nobody in Congress has been willing to both take on the radical, liberal Left while also offering needed criticism of GOP leadership.
In this moment, Iowa (heck, America) needs more Steve Kings, not less.
Look around, folks. Visit the social media pages of the four Republicans running for Congress in Iowa. Find their posts and statements about Black Lives Matter, law enforcement, etc.
I looked through Randy Feenstra’s, who unseat King in the primary. Nothing.
I looked through David Young’s twitter, and he had a post about Juneteenth, but nothing about the recent events at the Capitol.
I looked through Mariannette Miller-Meeks’ twitter. Again, just a post about Juneteenth. Nothing about BLM or their riots.
I looked through Ashley Hinson’s twitter. She tweeted out support of Gov. Kim Reynolds’ plan to sign an executive order restoring voting rights for felons. Reynolds announced her decision after she met with Black Lives Matter — twice.
Meanwhile, state legislators throughout Thursday shared a statement from legislative leadership defending Capitol police. Three of the four GOP congressional candidates serve in this legislature. None of them shared it.
And for the record, we’re still waiting on condemnation of Black Lives Matter from Gov. Reynolds regarding the events at the Capitol this week (to my knowledge). Again, a search through her social media yielded nothing.
King has posted in defense of law enforcement. He’s been a champion for America all along. He has honored our history, our heroes and our heritage.
King has literally been THE type of Republican that Tucker so perfectly pointed out America is in need of at this moment.
And Fourth Congressional District primary voters voted him out.
It shows the importance of money in a campaign. It shows the importance of actually researching candidates and not basing a vote off a TV commercial.
And it also shows the danger of actually taking a stand on something that may be controversial.
Say what you will about King, he was willing to engage in the discussion. He took the arrows. He stood up for what he believes and he did so boldly and vocally.
In short, he led.
Whether it was popular or not, he spoke out.
And while there may be other elected Republicans who share not just King’s convictions, but his boldness, they will undoubtedly be far more timid and far more silent because of how the media, the Left and the GOP establishment were able to execute Rule #13 of Saul Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals.
13. “Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.” Cut off the support network and isolate the target from sympathy. Go after people and not institutions; people hurt faster than institutions.
So, the question is, who is going to step up and replace King as the conservative champion in Iowa? And what are the odds that champion is on the ballot this fall as a congressional candidate?
Initially, it doesn’t look good.
