The DCCC Is Ignoring Steve King Again-- But Iowa Democrats Aren't

In 2008 Obama had a hefty win in Iowa-- 54-44% against McCain. 4 years later Obama beat Romney 52-46%. Then 2016 was a catastrophe in this once-blue-trending purple state. The Republicans started winning everywhere. The DCCC, tone def as always backed a wealthy "ex"-Republican pile of EMILY's List dung as the congressional candidate in the bluest district. The whole party fell apart. There couldn't have been a worse candidate than Monica Vernon. Except for the one the Democrats ran for president-- the polar opposite of what Iowans wanted as President. With a little caucus manipulation Wassermann Schultz and her local cronies made it look like Hillary tied Bernie but everyone knew it was all smoke and mirrors. When the general election campaign kicked into gear, Hillary never even bothered seriously contesting Iowa. Trump slaughtered her-- 800,983 (51.15%) to 653,669 (41.74%). Today both Iowa's U.S. senators are Republicans, as is the governor. The state Senate has 29 Republicans and 20 Democrats and the state House is 59 Republicans, 41 Democrats. Although Dave Loebsack has managed to hold onto his congressional seat, the other 3 Iowa congressmen are Republicans: Rod Blum, David Young and the odious Steve King. The statewide PVI is R+3 and the PVIs in all 4 districts have gotten worse for Democrats since 2015. The first district went from D+5 to D+1 (thanks to the DCCC's decision to force Vernon down everyone's throat). IA-02 went from D+4 to D+1. IA-03 went from EVEN to R+1 and the 4th district from a somewhat competitive R+5 to a horrifying R+11. But that R+11 isn't frightening off an Iowa populist ready to take on Steve King.

The DCCC mostly ignores IA-04 and Steve King. They use his crazy statements too raise money for themselves and spend none of it in Iowa. But in a year like the one shaping uo in 2018, King may be vulnerable-- if the Democrats run an authentic populist candidate and not another "ex"-Republican shithead. There's a great populist candidate, Austin Frerick, running in IA-03 and J.D. Scholten sounds exactly like the right kind of Democrat to put up against King in the 4th district. Both have great issues pages on their websites-- Frerick's; and Scholten's. This week we spoke with Scholten about the tougher of the 2 races. He jumped in when Kim Weaver, threatened by King's neo-Nazi supporters backed out. She has since endorsed Scholten. I asked J.D. to introduce himself to DWT readers by writing about the issue he spoke most passionately about.


Why I Support Medicare For All
by J.D. Scholten

I am a fifth-generation Iowan who comes from a long line of farmers and educators. My father was a college baseball coach for a small liberal arts school and my mother worked in public health. We were a solid middle-class family.

My parents had good health insurance and I was able stay on it until I was 26 (pre-Obamacare). That allowed me to chase my dream of playing professional baseball. However, when I turned 26 I had a decision to make: do I continue to play baseball knowing I couldn’t afford health insurance, or do I end my dream to pursue a job that pays better so I can afford health insurance? I chose to chase my dream. In doing so, for several years I was on and off insurances depending on when I had the money. It was extremely risky for a professional athlete to tax their body to the limits, especially when my only health insurance was praying that I didn’t get hurt.

I think about my friends who wanted to start a business but were hesitant to do so because they don’t want to lose their health insurance. And the girl I grew up with who filed bankruptcy due to insurmountable bills from a bad bicycle accident when she was uninsured. And the donation boxes I see at gas stations all over the state to help pay for the health care costs of a sick child, someone with cancer, or someone who had a tragic accident. The richest country in the world shouldn’t have to crowdsource its health care.

That’s why I want to fight to ensure that Americans never have to worry about health care as a barrier to living free, productive, and successful lives. That’s why I am an advocate for Medicare for All.

The United States spends more money per person on health care than any country in the world—and without better outcomes: out of the 12 wealthiest countries, the U.S. is 12th in life expectancy. We’re not getting a lot of bang for our buck.

The time is now for us to declare that health care is a right. The time is now for us to have a health care system that is focused on patients, not profits. We need a system that ensures that every American in every state has quality health care, no matter their income.

Americans shouldn’t have to decide between going to the doctor or paying rent. We have an opportunity right now to dramatically improve people’s everyday lives. As Paul Wellstone, a hero of mine, often said, “Politics is about improving people’s lives.”

That’s why I am running for Congress. That’s why I am relentlessly doing everything I can to defeat Steve King, someone who's “rip it all out” attitude toward health care would massively increase insurance premiums, send 3 million jobs up in smoke, and result in 32 million people losing their insurance in the next 10 years.

Profiting off of the sick should not be an American value. It’s not who we are, and it’s time for fundamental change in our health care system.