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Political Mercury

Takeaways from the Iowa Democratic Party State Convention

7/6/2022

Democratic candidate for governor Deidre DeJear and the candidate for lieutenant governor in the party, Eric Van Lancker, the Clinton County auditor, talk with the media at Hy-Vee Hall in Des Moines Saturday, June 18. Photo by Douglas Burns.

Deidre DeJear can win the governor’s race.
Cocooned in angry social media corners, divided by geography and race and tribal fractions large and small, most Iowans, either consciously, or in spite of themselves, know this ugly brew we are collectively stirring is as exhausting as it is unsustainable.

They long for optimism, an Iowa they remember, or never knew. This optimism, a forward-motion default personality setting, is a shared trait Deidre DeJear and Eric Van Lancker bring to the Democratic gubernatorial ticket.

Yes, they come to the political partnership with decidedly different backgrounds, experiences, but they are hard-wired in the same way — and it is in this way: both DeJear and Van Lancker assume they are meeting people at their best during stops around the state, whether formal settings or in chance conversations.

Entering Hy-Vee Hall in Des Moines early Saturday morning (June 18) I noticed everyone in masks — something we haven’t seen in some time. 

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The reason: the party imposed a mask requirement, and some attendees were intent on enforcing it, even in unofficial capacities, as a fellow member of the media was scolded for not getting a mask back on quickly enough after drinking his coffee.

The party, of course, has the right, and yes, even evidence, perhaps, to institute the mask mandate, but it came across, as much of what the Democratic Party does in Iowa today: disconnected.

The nomination of Deidre DeJear as the first Black candidate for governor of a major party in Iowa is a historic moment for all Iowans. 

The attendance at the convention (400 delegates) did not meet that moment — with as many empty chairs as you’d see at a kid’s dance recital where all the step moms and step dads (who don’t really want to be there) were given a pass. Many counties sent paltry numbers to the convention. DeJear addressed it herself with class at the beginning of her remarks.

“Let’s talk about those folks who aren’t here today, but let’s not throw dirt on their names; let’s not shame them,” DeJear said. “Let’s talk about how we can do a stronger job of making sure they are seated where we are in the future.”

We hear a lot of high-mindedness from Democrats on race. I guess it’s easier for many, in the chase for those “likes,” to fill their social media feeds with “ally” comments than show up for the convention where DeJear would have benefitted from a larger supporting audience — one she deserved. Several key officeholders in the Democratic Party were noticeably absent. Do they not want to be photographed around people with masks? Or are they considering a triangulation strategy — running as Democrats, but not getting too close to DeJear?

It’s hard to reconcile the thinking of people in the party who stand for Juneteenth but were not sitting in the chairs for the convention.

The retirement of Tom Harkin, a liberal lion of Iowa politics and the U.S. Senate itself, looms large. The party has been searching for the next Harkin since he left the scene in 2014, the year U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Red Oak, won her first election.

Harkin had an instinctive connection to working-class Iowans. At the ground-breaking for his Harkin Institute in Des Moines, well after his retirement from public life, I watched as Harkin stood and talked to two working people, shovels in hands, about their families, the project — a genuine conversation with no political gain, no photos — as well-heeled community leaders and prominent Democrats walked across University Avenue for a gala in a Drake University library. Harkin followed them 10 minutes later, after he talked to the working people, making his way across the street alone.

That’s why Tom Harkin is Tom Harkin. Anointing a successor is a fool’s errand, a ridiculous reach for a comparison that can never be made both because of the man himself — and the times in which he served. We hear echoes of Harkin in other politicians. J.D. Scholten comes to mind. But in this cycle, the candidate with perhaps the firmest grip on the Harkin mantle is Christina Bohannan.

“One of the happiest days of my life is when we went from our single-wide trailer to a double-wide,” Bohannan said in fiery speech as an Iowa Democratic congressional candidate with references to her hard-scrabble youth.

She has the biography and the instincts to connect with working people in the state. It should help her in the 1st District.

What’s the deal with Eric Van Lancker’s bow tie? 

Many newspaper editors (think Art Cullen) have worn bow ties. That goes back to the older days of American journalism when editors didn’t want long ties getting caught in the ink and machinery of publishing. After a media gaggle, I chatted a few minutes with Van Lancker. “What’s the deal with the bow tie?” Van Lancker said he and his daughter both enjoy selecting and talking about clothes. That they bond over it. His daughter persuaded him to wear a bow tie once, and it just stuck, became a fun, father-daughter routine.

Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate Mike Franken, a retired admiral from western Iowa, delivered a powerful line on the insurrection at the capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

“Jan. 6 was an assault on democracy,” Franken said. “Senator (Charles) Grassley needs to come clean, and I believe this state deserves someone who would sit in that Speaker’s chair on Jan. 6 and not leave, stay in the chamber.”

Congresswoman Cindy Axne is the lone voice for Iowa Democrats on Capitol Hill.

“We have one federal Democrat left in Iowa — you’re looking at her,” Axne said.

Axne joined one Iowa Republican — Grassley — in supporting the federal infrastructure package. She will have ample projects to spotlight.

Axne is as skilled as any politician I’ve covered at explaining the inner workings of Congress, actual legislation. She makes it understandable and connects legislation to Iowans’ lives in a way that sticks. That ability was on full display in a convention speech Saturday. She will need it in a tough fight for the 3rd District. ♦

Douglas Burns is a fourth-generation Iowa newspaperman. He and his family own and publish newspapers in Carroll, Jefferson and other neighboring communities.

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