SULLIVAN'S SALVOS
February 2, 2023
Sullivan’s Salvos 2/7/23
In this edition:
*Iowa City Federation of Labor Annual Chili Supper
*Iowa Democrats in Disarray, Part One
*Iowa Democrats in Disarray, Part Two
*Did You Know?
*Iowa City Federation of Labor Annual Chili Supper
It's chili supper time!
WHEN: 5-8 pm, Thursday, February 16th
WHERE: Old Brick, 26 E. Market St., Iowa City
WHO: Open to all local union members and friends of labor
WHAT: Food, friends, music, and solidarity! Delicious chili provided (meat and veggie options); bring a side dish if you like
WHY: Celebrate worker victories from the past year, honor contributions of local labor leaders, (re)connect with labor siblings, and prepare for the struggles ahead.
Featuring music from local musicians Pigs and Clover (Jamie and Matt Kearney).
Help spread the word to union members and friends using the attached flier, or share our Facebook event here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1220769265519418
*Iowa Democrats in Disarray, Part One
I really like Rita Hart. I got to know her and her husband Paul during her run for Lieutenant Governor, and even better during her run for US Congress. She is a genuinely good person. So I was glad to see her elected as Chair of the Iowa Democratic Party.
But the really important thing that the Iowa Democratic Party did at their recent meeting was to create an Executive Committee. This smaller group can get things done, and develop ideas for the whole State Central Committee (SCC), which has grown to about 60 people.
To illustrate how hard it is to get something accomplished at SCC, look no further than the creation of the Executive Committee! The meeting took 11 HOURS to complete! 11 HOURS!
Sometimes small steps are important. That was the case here. Congratulations to all involved.
*Iowa Democrats in Disarray, Part Two
I wrote this after the 2016 election. A bit of it is out of date; most seems still very relevant.
Iowa Democrats have a difficult time defining our problems. Why? We want a silver bullet. We want there to be one thing we need to fix. We refuse to recognize that multiple things can be true at once. Until we recognize this, we will not improve our performance.
Nationally, places like Georgia, North Carolina, and Arizona look promising. Demographics in those places are moving in the favor of Democrats. Iowa? It is pretty much the opposite. So how do Iowa Democrats move forward?
I do not pretend to have all the answers. But I do have a few ideas. Like I noted earlier, nothing I say here is a silver bullet. But I do think some of these things will help. So here it goes – a Letterman-style Eleven Things Iowa Democrats Should Do:
1. As I noted above, multiple things can be true. Do we need to capture more of the rural vote? Yes. Do we need to champion policies that support African Americans? Yes. Can you do things to help both rural and urban residents? Yes. Multiple things can be true at once.
2. There is going to be a lot of discussion about whether Democratic candidates need to be more moderate or more liberal. I actually don’t believe that is the main issue. I think Iowa Democrats need some candidates with some pizzazz!
I felt really good about both John Norris and Diedre DeJear, neither of which was a candidate of the far left. But they were fun and exciting, and made it feel important.
We need candidates who are less scripted by DC and more genuine. I don’t think you have to be a leftist to call out Kim Reynolds’ mishandling of the pandemic. But it SHOULD piss you off! Almost two thousand Iowans are dead! (Update: Now 10,600.)Let’s put forth a candidate who feels something about that!
3. Weed. The Democratic Party needs to grow a set and embrace legal marijuana. Yes, there are downsides for a certain percentage of people. But those are more than offset by the benefits that accrue to many others. This issue alone will win a swing district, but Democrats only tiptoe around it.
4. You can’t “outfarm” Rita Hart. She couldn’t be more of a farmer. Other than a few years at college, she has lived and worked on the farm her entire life. Yet she lost the farm vote to an ophthalmologist. 90% of farmers are not going to vote for Democrats. Period. But most rural residents are NOT farmers. We need to talk to rural residents and find out what matters to them. It may not necessarily be at odds with the desires of urban voters.
5. Door knocking still matters. I understand why Democrats from top to bottom did not knock doors. But the strategy hurt badly. Look at Johnson County. Rita Hart got about 68% of the vote. Joe Biden got 71% The difference between those two numbers is about 2000 votes. That puts Hart in Congress. Granted, there is always drop off. But I am convinced that one reason she failed to get those 7 votes because she was not allowed to meet people.
6. We need to move to texting rather than calling. I made literally thousands of phone calls this year. Literally 90% of those calls did not lead to a conversation. When I talk to younger people about this, they look at me as though I am from Mars. “Of COURSE you text!” they say.
7. Let’s get back to the basics. Let’s get County Democratic Central Committees involved in hyper local races. Recruit and run candidates for city councils, school boards, and township trustees. Most of these races are uncontested in small towns. Let’s contest them!
Go even one step further down the ladder and recruit people to serve as volunteers on local P&Z commissions, library boards, and other appointed positions. This is how people gain experience. This is where candidates come from. This work is not “beneath” us. We MUST do it.
8. Similarly, run candidates for courthouse offices. Joni Ernst was a County Auditor. Kim Reynolds was a County Treasurer. Recruit good candidates, help them with voter contact, and help fund their campaigns. (They MUST be good candidates!) $500 just might win the County Recorder seat in a small county. Again, too many of these races go uncontested.
Also, these candidates and their teams will be out knocking doors! A Democratic candidate for Recorder can drop off the lit for the Democratic candidate for Governor. I repeat: this is how people gain experience. This is where candidates come from. This work is not “beneath” us. We MUST do it.
9. The people in charge at the Iowa Democratic Party need to talk to the people who already hold office. I have received about a quarter million votes during my time in office. Nobody from the IDP has ever asked me my opinion about anything. Sure, I have nagged them about things and on some occasions, they have assigned a staff person to hear me out. But I wish I was viewed as an asset and not a liability. Instead of writing off Johnson County and its elected officials as anomalies, perhaps the IDP could engage us. I cannot even imagine what it would be like to have the Chair and Executive Director invite a person like me to lunch. I would love to be taken that seriously.
10. I hate this, and you hate this, but the truth is, we cannot win statewide (or Congressional) races without money. Lots of money. A great candidate with no money cannot win one of these races. If that changes our calculus to focusing on lower-cost races, so be it. Just know that without money, everything is harder.
11. Finally, we need to be decent to each other. Moderates need to lay off progressives and vice versa. We cannot move forward as a team until we buy into the fact that we are a team. Respect each other. Be kind.
Most of these fixes are not short term. It will take a great deal of investment and patience before it bears fruit. This is all going to take a long, long time.
That was written in late 2016. I feel as though it still has merit today. Unfortunately, I do not hear many people talking about this stuff.
*DID YOU KNOW? In 2008, all 5 Johnson County Supervisors caucused for different candidates: Pat Harney for Chris Dodd, Larry Meyers for Joe Biden, Sally Stutsman for Hillary Clinton, Terrence Neuzil for John Edwards, and myself for Barack Obama. In 2020, all 5 Supervisors caucused for Elizabeth Warren.
Anyone interested in learning more about County government should take a look at the County website-
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---Rod
posted by Rod Sullivan @ 12:50 PM
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