Democrat Ryan Melton on the campaign trail

Good on Iowa Press for letting it be known at the start of last weekend’s episode that republican Randy Feenstra declined their invitation to be on the program with his opponent democrat Ryan Melton. Instead they spent the entire time with Melton. They didn’t however mention that this was a repeat performance by Feenstra who didn’t show up to debate the first time Melton challenged him in 2022.

You would think that a duly elected representative shirking his responsibility to the public by refusing to appear for a debate with a legitimate opponent on Iowa’s only statewide broadcast would be risky. As it turned out, the panel helped him out by acting as his proxy.  No surprise there.

The IP panel did their usual thing, speaking for the absent republican, repeating for the audience what his best issues are and reminding us all of his popularity.  They might have expressed disappointment that he did not accept their invitation or they could have pointed out that elected officials owe the voters and the people of Iowa accountability by a public debate. But no, that was never going to happen and Feenstra knew it.  Avoiding the media is a thing among republicans now. And I have yet to see a shred of push back or negative consequences for it.

I hope this appearance on the show helps Ryan Melton. The Iowa Press panel in their usual and customary fashion basically called him a sure loser at the top of the program. They give this same treatment to every democrat who appears on the program. It’s like they think all of Iowa consists of only republicans.

Watch the program regularly, and you can see how democrats make the Iowa Press panel bristle. On this episode, moderator Kay Henderson couldn’t help herself from interjecting points of emphasis during other panelists’ questioning for no apparent reason. She does this as Murphy was launching the first of several “resistance is futile” type questions of the democrat.

Here’s one example of what I’m talking about.

“Murphy: So, what do you consider a successful campaign then knowing that victory is a long shot? In 2022 your competitor, Congressman Feenstra, won by more than 102,00 votes, 36 percentage points.

Henderson: Ahead of you.”

Why didn’t they just say hey loser, what is the point of running, you can’t win? Voters may as well just turn off the TV. Defeat has been declared.

And yes Kay, as for that add-in “ahead of you,” I believe Melton knew Erin meant Feenstra was ahead of him in votes and percentage points, not behind. Not sure what Henderson was trying to do there. Rub it in, I guess. Making sure the democrat got their point as if anyone could possibly have missed the point.

Example 2 after a thoughtful, nuanced answer about the middle east:

“Murphy: …whenever people give an opinion like that you hear the pushback that anything less than a full-throated endorsement of Israel and full backing of Israel —

Henderson: And its right to exist…

Murphy: — and its right to exist — is unacceptable and a betrayal of an ally of the U.S. ..”

Henderson apparently doesn’t think Erin Murphy asks questions good enough.

She jumped in for no apparent reason another couple of times. You’ll just have to watch.

Every time a democrat is on the program without a republican, which is hardly ever, the panel seems to rely solely on republican talking points as their primary (only) source for questions. There are so many other questions that could be asked that it boggles the mind. They totally give the program over to republican talking points and horse race questions.

One positive note: the word “greedflation” made its way into the dialogue thanks to Ryan Melton who did a fantastic job in a hostile environment. But Kay was swift to correct the democrat that the term is “inflation” not “greedflation” and also that the republican candidate who was not present on the program is also the winner on that issue.

“Henderson: You mentioned greedflation… inflation has been something that your opponent, Congressman Feenstra, has been talking about. He’s an advocate of a balanced federal budget. Do you think the federal budget should be balanced?”

Another:

“Henderson: Speaking of questions —

Murphy: Yeah, so the Register’s Iowa Poll found that Iowans consider immigration a top issue in this election. Your opponent, Congressman Feenstra, says immigration is his top issue. What conversations are you having with voters about immigration? What do you think needs to be done?”

They may as well have chanted, na-na-na-na-na, Iowans’ fav things are taxes and immigration, our guy is better than you, what d’ya say about that, loser?

The Iowa Press panel never fail to rub it in to democrats every chance they get how futile it is to run against the impossibly popular, eternally powerful republicans in Iowa. Gruber-Miller even admits here that it was the second time this question was asked.

“Gruber-Miller: So, as we mentioned, it’s a conservative district. There are about 107,000 more registered republicans in the district than there are democrats. How do you talk to those voters and earn their support? And how do you make the case that you would be a better candidate to represent their values than the republican you’re running against?”

Because they as members of the media, couldn’t possibly be the ones to inform voters, so don’t expect any help from the press. You are on your own.

They did touch on other topics including CAFOs, clean water, carbon capture pipelines,  abortion.

If you live in IA-04, watch the program and give Ryan Melton a look.  Do yourself a favor and hit the mute button during the questions and just listen to what Ryan Melton has to say or read the transcript.  He’s a smart guy who cares about Iowa and cares about democracy. He will actually represent you in congress. He will not hide from the press or his critics.  Check out his website where you can sign up for his informational newsletter.  You can follow him on Instagram Twitter and Facebook.

Democrats aren’t perfect but they’re a helluva lot better than the alternative.

Click here to watch Ryan Melton solo last year’s non-debate with Feenstra.

Upcoming debates on Iowa Press.