In an interview with Missouri political activist Jess Piper, Iowa journalist Doug Burns captured this statement:

“I specifically don’t talk about Biden because all he’s doing is delivering roads and that sort of thing, but they need to talk about who’s really impacting their life and that’s people in the Statehouse,” Jess Piper, the executive director of Blue Missouri and the host of the “Dirt Road Democrat” podcast, said in an interview with The Iowa Mercury.

The Iowa Mercury Substack by Douglas Burns, March 31, 2024.

What in the bleeding hell? Maintained roads, bridges, airports and the like don’t impact people’s lives?

Where to begin?

Piper was in Des Moines to speak at a Progress Iowa meeting celebrating the organization’s 12th birthday. Her statement is an example of “one size fits all” political advocacy. She denies complex realities of modern campaigning and should be rejected out of hand. It is possible Burns took her out of context, yet I doubt it.

The kernel of truth in the statement is voters just expect that government will take care of infrastructure without making a big to-do about it. For example, in August 2023, as the the intersection improvements at Interstates 80 and 380 neared completion, there was a photo opportunity for local elected officials to celebrate the five-year project. No one gives two hoots in a holler that politicians were there at the end of the $387 million interchange project. Sure, the money for the project came from government. The government was doing what it is designed to do. Does the new interchange impact my life? It certainly does, contrary to Piper’s statement.

Here’s the rub. While the Biden Administration gets full credit for promoting and working with the Congress to pass the Infrastructure and Investment Jobs Act, it was needed because of decades of bipartisan neglect of our roads, bridges, airports and railways. Biden exercised his power and influence to convince a do-nothing Congress to do something in the real world. The need was so obvious, even Republican Chuck Grassley broke ranks with Iowa Congressional Republicans and voted for the bill. That is something positive about Biden. Why wouldn’t we mention it? Chuck Grassley certainly does when funds from the new law hit Iowa.

What should Democrats be saying to voters?

Let’s start with elections 101: voter registrations. On April 1, the Iowa Secretary of State reported 1,521,112 active, registered voters in the state. Of those, 460,253 were registered Democratic, 608,383 Republican, and the remaining 452,476 No Preference or Other. With a diverse electorate, at 30,000 feet, “one size fits all” is preposterous.

What about something that matters more: the constant barrage of lies, misrepresentations and disinformation originating in the governor’s office? This week, Governor Reynolds released a press release supporting the Iowa Attorney General’s lawsuit against the Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC is implementing a Greenhouse Gas Disclosure Rule and Iowa Republicans don’t like it. Here is the governor’s statement:

Joe Biden has become a radical climate alarmist, seeking to transform every agency, including the SEC, into his personal EPA. The SEC is not a climate regulator, and the Greenhouse Gas Disclosure Rule is not constitutional. I appreciate Attorney General Bird taking the lead on this lawsuit, taking Biden to court yet again. It has become increasingly clear that the Biden Administration wants to destroy America’s energy independence, trounce on the sovereign rights of states, and cripple the livelihoods of American workers.

Press Release: Gov. Reynolds Statement on Iowa AG Lawsuit Against SEC, April 3, 2024.

Why is Reynolds making an issue of this? The press release is intended to enhance her political standing. Anyone who met and knows Joe Biden also knows he is far from being a “climate alarmist.” If anything, he could make further improvements to protect our air, water, and land. That phrase comes from conservative talking points handed down with fossil fuel money like that provided by Charles Koch. His organization, Americans for Prosperity, is a constant presence inside the state capitol, and Koch’s Heritage Foundation is a prime driver of conservative political initiatives in the state. Climate alarmist? Give me a break.

In the last sentence of her statement Reynolds denies the reality that under Biden, America has become a net exporter of petrochemicals and improved our energy independence. Far from “trouncing state’s rights,” Biden uses the authority of the federal government to make positive change when the states will not. I trust he will step in over Iowa’s failure to regulate agriculture to reduce pollution of our air and water. Iowa Republicans won’t like that either. Biden cripples American workers? Poppycock! Governor Reynolds, work with your colleagues in the legislature to raise the minimum wage, improve workplace safety, and put real teeth in state regulations that affect workers. This sentence, along with the entire press release, is intended to distract Iowas from real issues that impact their lives. I submit there is plenty to talk about here. In a time of misinformation and disinformation our governor is leading the pack. Democrats can’t allow her statements to exist in a vacuum.

Democrats will never get away with saying only that Joe Biden is great. What we should add to our political discussions is correcting the lies and disinformation coming from the state’s highest officials on a daily basis. We also need to be talking up what Joe Biden has done for Iowans. He is doing what Iowa Republicans have not and they seem to be bristling under his achievements.

Jess Piper appears from her public presence to be a good person, a solid progressive. Iowa politics requires a difference approach from what she is using in Missouri.