Progressives can either help or hinder Obama’s foreign affairs initiatives by how they treat Senator Grassley. It is one thing to work for candidates who would challenge Grassley’s incumbency. It is quite another to continuously vilify the Senator at public meetings, in the mainstream or social media and in the blogosphere. Since the Republican birds in the senate are flying together, and the progressive trend is towards vilification of Senator Grassley, it augurs poorly for foreign affairs.

Across Iowa, people are talking about Afghanistan. They are also talking about Iowans’ relationship with other countries.  Scarcely a week goes by that farmers do not talk about Brazil, Argentina and Canada. Iowans study China, Russia and India because it impacts their businesses. Des Moines activists are arrested in Palestine for confronting the Israeli authorities. Labor is concerned about prevailing wage because of competition from immigrants. Iowa telemarketing companies set up operations in the Philippines rather than in Cedar Rapids because of lower operating costs. Church groups have active missions in Rwanda, Ghana, Bangladesh and Sudan. The Ugandan Government’s policy regarding sexual orientation has become an Iowa issue.

Iowa has become a cacophony of the world’s problems being discussed at home and in union halls, churches, coffee shops, grocery stores, restaurants and convenience stores. In 2010, these discussions will continue and the best hope for progressives is to understand the meaning of our foreign affairs and work towards tolerance and constructive action to improve the relationships Iowans have abroad. This is partly about influencing our government and it is partly about us.

With the Obama administration, a number of lobbying groups viewed Iowa as a state critical to influencing the outcome of legislation. This is because Senator Grassley was perceived as a moderate Republican whose vote could be influenced by a local grassroots effort. Organizers were hired to influence the 111th Congress on everything from the Child Nutrition Act to Energy Policy to Nuclear Disarmament. The action around the Health Care debate got muddled by the parsing of it into “Health Reform,” “Health Care Reform” and “Health Insurance Reform,” all of which are different, but needed and supported by Organizing for America, an operation of the Democratic National Committee.

After a year of observing and participating in these efforts, what has become clear is that Iowans don’t need Washington lobbyists to tell us how to influence our elected officials. People from all walks of life are actively engaged in matters of foreign affairs and every other activity influenced by our government. We can see for ourselves what needs to be done. As long as we engage in the discussion and the actions generated from them, 2010 will augur well for Iowa.