Iowa Republican Steve King On The Attack Again-- Except This Time His Target Is The GOP House Leadership

It's almost as though King has a political death wish. His House district has been redrawn and while still the reddest seat in Iowa, it isn't nearly as safe as it once was. The PVI is R+5, Romney beat Obama 53-45% and King himself had a relatively close call, alos winning just 53% of the vote against Christie Vilsack. Vilsack beat him in 7 counties, including two of the three big ones, Cerro Gordo and Story. King spent $3,815,765-- even more than he was able to raise. His seat is on the DCCC's radar and he has a strong opponent next year in Jim Mowrer, a Boone farm boy who served in Iraq for two years as an intelligence analyst.

But instead of taking a conciliatory path in his more purplish district, King only knows how to tack hard right. He's been making a lot of national headlines lately hurling racial epithets at Hispanic immigrants and denouncing anyone trying to solve America's immigration mess in any way that doesn't involve deporting 11 or 12 million people living here. He's gone beyond just being the punch line for late night TV hosts and a national consensus seems to have formed that Congressman Steve King is plumb insane and shouldn't be anywhere near Congress.

And now he's turned his hatred and anger on his own party leaders. Instead of going back to Iowa to consult with his own constituents, he was in Virginia, menacingly close to GOP Majority Leader Eric Cantor's district, hurling accusations at Boehner and Cantor over immigration policy. He asserted they "have had a spell cast over them... A year ago, almost everybody in my conference agreed with me. There's been no spell cast over me." He's also been running around claiming that when there are no journalists around, all the Republicans agree with his racist and bigoted rants against Hispanics and they only make believe not wanting to deport them all in public. He's doing his best to stir up anti-immigrant violence among low-info Hate Talk Radio and Fox News listeners.

Republican leaders have roundly condemned King for his overt racism at a time when many Republicans realize they'll never win a national election again if they turn the fastest growing demographic group implacably against the party. GOP leaders were especially mortified that King has singled out DREAM students and the American-born children of immigrants for his vitriol. Absurdly, he insists that the majority of Dreamers are engaged in drug trafficking.

"For everyone who's a valedictorian," King said, "There's another 100 out there that weigh 130 pounds and they’ve got calves the size of cantaloupes because they're hauling 75 pounds of marijuana across the desert. Those people would be legalized with the same act."

On Tuesday, Republican leaders sought to distance themselves from King's controversial remarks. "What he said is wrong," House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said in a statement on Tuesday. "There can be honest disagreements about policy without using hateful language. Everyone needs to remember that."

“I strongly disagree with his characterization of the children of immigrants and find the comments inexcusable,” Republican House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said in a similar statement.

Asserting that the current congressional push for immigration reform is nothing more than "Amnesty," a key Hate Talk Radio racist dog-whistle, King blasted back at Cantor in his own backyard, thundering at a small rightwing rally that even allowing a vote on immigration would "benefit the elitists, political power brokers, employers of illegals.” The racist Know Nothing who invited King, Roy Beck of NumbersUSA, brags that the rally was a warning to Cantor. “We’ve got to make sure that Eric Cantor pays attention to the wage earners-- that's why we're here looking over his district as we talk tonight,” Beck said.

Calling it the "always is, always was and always will be Amnesty Act, " King warned his listeners that his growing crew of anti-amnesty House colleagues may not be able to delay a floor vote on a yet-to-be-seen House bill.

“We have a group that is counted in dozens and scores… now we are strong and have at least delayed this immigration legislation in the House…  getting through October is going to be the tough part because there's more legislative days,” King said.

Several times in the speech, King emphasized his deeply rooted opposition to granting citizenship to individuals who defied the U.S. “rule of law” to remain in this country.

Asked if he had ambition for higher office, he laughed off the question.

Still, King raised eyebrows recently when it was reported that he planned to make a stop in the key presidential nominating state of South Carolina. 

Though he wouldn't rule out a presidential run, King told The Hill that he wasn't "actively seeking" it either.

Jim Mowrer-- The Democrat Running For The Iowa House Seat Currently Occupied By Steve King

Perhaps you just read the news that Iowa populist Democrat Bruce Braley is way ahead of all the Republicans running for the state's open Senate seat. 2014 is shaping up well for Iowa Democrats. Braley's margins must seem daunting for the GOP now. He leads Matt Whitaker 43-34, Joni Ernst 45-33, Mark Jacobs 44-32, Sam Clovis 43-31, and David Young 45-32. And PPP summed up there report by reminding readers that "although Iowa Republicans may not have a top tier contender in the Senate race, they're still better off without it being Steve King. Only 29% of voters in the state have a favorable opinion of him compared to 44% with a negative one." That said, we asked the Democrat running against King in the House race, Jim Mowrer-- that's Jim and his family above-- to introduce himself to DWT readers.

Guest Post by Jim Mowrer

I am writing today to introduce myself. My name is Jim Mowrer and I am running for Congress in Iowa’s 4th District against Steve King. Steve King isn’t just a Republican-– he’s the last of the radical Tea Partiers, and he has made it his mission to obstruct anything from getting done in Washington.

He doesn’t share our values, not even a little bit. Over the last few years, Democrats have been successful in defeating the Tea Party’s worst, from Allen West to Michelle Bachmann. Steve King is the new leader of the Tea Party and I need your help to defeat him in 2014.

The 4th District in Iowa needs someone who goes to Congress and represents their values, and doesn’t spend all their time in Washington on Fox News or shouting from the Capitol steps. This doesn’t accomplish anything and makes all of us Iowans look bad.

I have a proven record of serving Iowa and this nation, a record of results I was deployed for 23 months with the Iowa National Guard defending our country in Iraq and then I went to the Pentagon and worked to make it more efficient. What has Steve King done? What committees does he chair? The answer is, with over a decade in Washington, he hasn’t chaired a committee and he hasn’t passed a major piece of legislation.

You and I share some very important values, the values of shared prosperity and equality for all, and we need someone representing Iowa’s 4th District with these values.

I want to get personal with you for a minute. When I was just seven, my father was tragically killed in a farming accident. My mother Susan was left to raise my sister and me by herself. The only reason we survived was because of the Social Security Survivor Benefits she received. I have felt firsthand the benefits of America’s social safety net and I will do everything in my power to protect it for future generations.

Unlike Paul Ryan, who claims to have grown up on social security, I have not forgotten where I came from. I do not support Chained CPI and would not support a measure like this in Congress. It is time for Steve King to go. Iowa and our nation deserve better-- a person who shares their middle class values. I am that person and I am ready to serve. I hope you will join this fight. With your help, we will win. Join our campaign today at MowrerforIowa.com-- I look forward to joining you to defeat the last of the Tea Party.