No doubt this is not news to anyone reading this. Since her selection as the new rising star in the pantheon of Republican stardom Iowa news sources have been all a-twitter and a-flutter about what this means to Ernst and to Iowa which had the uncommon sense to elect her. Note that uncommon does not mean good or smart. More the opposite in this case.

Most have this pegged as meaning that Joni’s star is on the rise and that the poobahs that own the Republican Party have hand picked her as someone who will be a future face of the party. Those owners are Charles and David Koch in particular, but also folks like the DeVos’s, and all the other billionaires that bought the Republican party long ago.

So why would they bet their millions on Joni Ernst? My thoughts are that they did not. Those who have given the so-called Republican response have for the most part slipped in to obscurity. Most folks can name only two who gave the response and them only because it was so awful. They were Marco Rubio and Bobby Jindal. While both of these men will run for president in 2016 – Jindal plans to kick off his run with a huge prayer meeting at the Pete Maravich Center on the LSU campus next weekend – both are still trying to downplay the notoriety gained in their laughable performances in their “responses.”

Joni Ernst was probably picked for many reasons. First she is not up for re-election soon. Therefore a crappy performance Tuesday will hopefully not haunt her for 6 years. Second she brings the face of one of the groups that Republicans continue to lose – women. Not the voice of women, mind you but just a face. No, she will be yet another voice spewing the lies of the wealthy that own her party.

Finally Ernst will conjure in many minds the image that thrust her into the national spotlight to begin with – that of the woman who castrated hogs on the farm and promised to bring that expertise to Washington politicians.

Considering that those who gave response in the past have had about 5 minutes of fame followed by a lifetime of obscurity, I say it couldn’t happen to a nicer person.

And now let’s hear from the Iowa Democratic Party:

Fw: Statement on Ernst Delivering the State of the Union Response
For Immediate Release:

January 15, 2015

Contact:
Christina Freundlich
314-302-0602

Statement on Ernst Delivering the State of the Union Response

Des Moines – Iowa Democratic Party Chair Scott Brennan released the following statement on Joni Ernst giving the Republican response to President Obama’s State of the Union Address:

“What a disappointment it is to see that the GOP has chosen Joni Ernst as the new face of the Republican Party. Joni Ernst ran on stripping the rights of women to make their own health care decisions, eliminating the EPA and Department of Education, nullifying laws passed by the federal government, and arresting federal officials who are working to expand access to healthcare. If the GOP wants to spotlight someone who is open to impeaching President Obama and went so far to call him a ‘dictator,’ then the new bipartisan outlook of Congress just vanished into thin air.”

HUFFINGTON POST: Senate Candidate Joni Ernst Endorses Federal Personhood Bill For Fetuses. Iowa Republican Senate candidate Joni Ernst said she would support a federal bill that gives legal personhood rights to fetuses from the moment of fertilization, effectively wiping out legal abortion in the United States. Ernst voted for a fetal personhood amendment in the Iowa State legislature in 2013, and she told the Sioux City Journal editorial board on Wednesday that she also would support a federal personhood measure if she were elected to the U.S. Senate. “I will continue to stand by that. I am a pro-life candidate, and this has been shaped by my religious beliefs through the years,” she said. “So I support that.” [Huffington Post, 10/16/14].

POLITIFACT: “Does Joni Ernst Want To Abolish The Education Department And The EPA?” “True.” In June 2014, Politifact reported, “A new ad from a coalition of environmental groups tries to paint Iowa’s Republican Senate candidate Joni Ernst as too extreme. The groups, which include the League of Conservation Voters, the Sierra Club, and the Environmental Defense Action Fund, kicked off a nearly $1 million campaign with a 30 second TV spot on June 23, 2014. The ad raises concern over Ernst’s promises ‘to shut down the Department of Education and abolish the EPA.’ It claims that these promises are ‘why extremist Sarah Palin and the billionaire Koch brother want Ernst in Washington.’ All in all, the ad concluded that Ernst is ‘Too extreme for Iowa.’ It’s not unusual for political ads to distort candidate’s positions. Does Ernst really call for the abolition of the U.S. Education Department and the Environmental Protection Agency? Our research showed that the ad was right on track. Ernst called for the closure of both agencies in April.” [Politifact, 6/27/14]

TALKING POINTS MEMO: GOPer Ernst Backed Arresting Feds Over Obamacare in 2012 Survey. State Sen. Joni Ernst, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Iowa, once said she would support legislation that would allow “local law enforcement to arrestfederal officials attempting to implement” Obamacare. Ernst voiced her support for that, as well as supporting legislation that would “nullify” Obamacare in a Iowa State Legislative Candidates survey for Ron Paul’s libertarian-aligned Campaign for Liberty in 2012. [Talking Points Memo, 10/4/14].

RADIO IOWA: Video shows Ernst discussing impeachment, calling Obama a “dictator” “A video has surfaced from a January campaign event in southwest Iowa, showing Republican US Senate candidate Joni Ernst suggesting Republicans in congress should hold President Obama accountable for executive overreach.” [Radio Iowa, 7/8/14]