We Either Get Rid Of Iowa Fascist Steve King Now-- Or Acclimate Ourselves To Having Him Around Forever

Iowa is a swing state-- and it's about to swing way back in the other direction. Governor Kim Reynolds (R) has a one in six chance of being reelected. Right now, Iowa sends one Democrat and 3 Republicans to Congress. At worst, it appears that in 2019 Iowa will have 3 Democrats and one Republican in Congress. But at best... 4 Democrats and no Republicans. But that's going to take some work. First the good news: that 4th district pits far right bigot and neo-fascist Steve King against former baseball player, progressive Democrat J.D. Scholten.

Now the bad news: Iowa has a statewide PVI of R+3 and Trump's victory over Hillary in the state was 51.15% to 41.74%. But the 4th district, where Scholten is facing off against King, has a PVI of R+11. And in that district, Trump beat Hillary 60.9% to 33.5%. That's a tough district for a Democrat. In 2008 and 2012 Obama won statewide. But in 2008 McCain won IA-04 and in 2012 Romney took the district.

There are other Republicans who vote more frequently with Trump than King does-- but when King doesn't vote with Reump, it's because he's further right than Trump is! Yeah, this is a tough one. And... to put it mildly, the DCCC isn't helping. Quite the contrary of course. The DCCC hates progressives and they hate candidates from the working class. Scholten is both. The most recent poll of the state that includes House districts shows GOP incumbents David Young (IA-03) with a 47-31% lead over mediocre DCCC recruit Cindy Axne. She's just a garden variety Democrat who will never make any waves and will always do what the leadership tells her to do-- the kind of seat occupier the DCCC loves. And so far they've spent a gargantuan $1,733,633 against Young on her behalf (not counting the $906,085 that Pelosi's House Majority PAC has also spent against Young). So... over $2.6 million.

But in IA-04, King's district-- King is only supported by 41% of the likely voters-- so far fewer than Young's 47%. And, like Axne, Scholten had the support of 31% of likely voters in that poll. So it looks like Scholten has a better chance, right? Well, maybe... but... Scholten is a working class progressive and the DCCC don't want people like that busting into their elite little caucus. So how much have they spent on his race? ZERO, of course. Both Axne and Scholten have seriously out-raised their Republican opponents. Axne brought in $3,598,649 to Young's $2,526,493 and she has $1,239,498 left to spend compared to Young's $747,223. Scholten raised $1,434,486 to King's $671,818 and Scholten has $621,708 left to spend compared to King's $160,561. Axne has run a media race. Scholten has run the ultimate grassroots race and has been to every nook and cranny of the district and touched as many people as conceivable. One of the pastors on the Vote Common Good "Flip Congress" tour told me that Scholten was the best candidate they'd worked with and he was so good they set up an impromptu rally in another town the day after they did the scheduled event with him in Sioux City.

And speaking of Sioux City, the daily newspaper there-- which has endorsed King every single time King has run, did something no one ever expected to see: they just endorsed J.D. on Friday! Today, the editors wrote, The Journal "endorses the candidacy of Democratic challenger J.D. Scholten over incumbent Republican Steve King in the race for the U.S. House seat in Iowa's 4th District. Those were not easy words for us to write," they admitted.

In prior endorsements of King, an eight-term representative, we laid out what we respect and admire about our congressman. He is an honest, principled family man who we acknowledge reflects in his votes the positions of many, if not most 4th District constituents.

In spite of the criticisms we also shared in those endorsements, we believed King's strengths were enough to make him a better choice for this district than the Democratic challengers he faced in past elections.

In Scholten, however, King runs against an opponent with many strengths of his own.

Bright, articulate, personable, possessed of deep roots in this district, informed about issues important to the 4th like agriculture, and armed with a willingness to consider all sides of complex issues such as illegal immigration and work across the aisle to identify solutions to problems, Scholten offers appeal for not only Democrats, but independents and Republicans, as well, we believe.

With a candidate of Scholten's caliber on the ballot, we decided we wouldn't overlook, again, the concerns we have shared about King in the past in making an endorsement in this race this year.

We say nothing about King today we haven't said before. Time and again in this space, we have criticized him for what we view as inflammatory or questionable comments and expressed concern about the impact of those comments on our district. Each time King immerses himself in controversy, he holds up this district to ridicule and marginalizes himself within the legislative body he serves, neither of which provides benefit to Iowans who live and work here.

For example, King earlier this month put himself-- and, by extension, the rest of the district-- in an unflattering spotlight with a tweet in support of a candidate for mayor of Toronto described in published reports as a "white nationalist" or "white supremacist." That wasn't the first time King was tied, by his words or actions, to such intolerant ugliness.

In addition, we don't view King as someone who is at all interested in reaching across the aisle to find common ground on immensely complex issues, like illegal immigration. (We want border security too, for example, but we do not believe it is either possible or practical to identify, locate and arrest or deport every individual who entered this country illegally, many of whom hold jobs important to our domestic economy.) Our point is this: We believe compromise achieved by listening and talking to one another is the only way we as a nation will effectively navigate the multiple challenges of illegal immigration.

As we have said before, we would prefer King spend less time trying to "save" Western civilization and making a national name for himself as a conservative leader trying to move the nation to the political right. We would rather he commit to becoming, say, a more influential congressional leader in agriculture.

Finally, we have used this space on multiple occasions to criticize King for not debating opponents and not hosting more public town halls, both of which speak to constituent accountability, but we have seen little to no inclination on his part during this campaign to change.

We aren't suggesting Scholten is a perfect candidate with whom we have no disagreements, but we believe the job of U.S. representative is more than casting votes. As a congressman, we believe Scholten would choose his words carefully, create no national controversies, bring no embarrassment to the district, seek to unite and not divide, focus his time and energy almost exclusively on issues directly impacting the lives and livelihoods of constituents, and hold regular town halls with the public. He represents changes we believe speak to the best interests of this congressional district as a whole.

King is the favorite and ahead in polls. If he wins re-election, we hope he considers the words we have written today.

If underdog Scholten springs an upset, we hope he remembers this remains largely a conservative, Republican district and we urge him to take accordingly moderate positions on issues of the day. Bottom line: We are ready and willing to give him the opportunity to show all of us in the 4th what he can do.

You won't be surprised to read that Charles Pierce took a somewhat different tone towards King, reminding Esquire readers that "the American Republic requires his defeat. Come on, Iowa." Pierce likes what J.D. has to offer the voters, but pointed out that "even if he weren't qualified, even if he were a snaggle-toothed sub-literate employed in a fish house, he would deserve any thinking person's support because J. D. Scholten is not Steve King." What's wrong with a fish house? Pierce just doesn't like fascists. He'd better keep away from Trump rallies. Oh, and by the way, since the DCCC is refusing to put a nickel towards ridding the country of King-- he's good for their fundraising efforts-- please consider helping J.D. with his Get Out The Vote ground game by clicking on the ActBlue thermometer on the right. This is winnable-- not easy-- but possible. Better to be on that winning team than on the DCCC team of mediocrities and GOP-lite candidates.