Iowa – you are probably very lucky you passed on this guy. Maybe I am overly sensitive to the Republican dog whistles that they seem to sneak into every speech, but when Lahn mentions “defend our culture” my hackles went up immediately. Remember he is a product of the Koch brothers and as such probably in reality has little care or regard for Iowa except for what he can extract from us. 3 minutes:

Lahn is just an example of the poor quality of candidate that Republicans drew across the state and the nation at all levels. You only have to move one square from Zach Lahn to get to Derek Wulf as a major illustration of the candidate quality that the Republicans put up and apparently are satisfied with. A carpetbagger and a guy one step ahead of the law

Starting at the top is the worst president ever. This is a man convicted of 34 felonies. This is also a man who is using the presidency to enrich himself much as tyrants of old. One thing Trump demands is unquestioning loyalty and he got it in spades from candidates such as Ashley Hinson, Miller-Meeks, Zach Nunn and Brenna Bird.

As Trump’s behavior and utterances became more and more extreme candidates such as mentioned above had to compromise any semblance of integrity because loyalty to their leader was much more important than their morality. Candidates who are thus compromised will eventually be outed.

Iowa also had an incumbent for Attorney General (Brenna Bird) whose mission seemed to be based on MAGA demands with little thought of the effects on Iowans. Iowans paid close attention when the Democrat ( Nate Willems) said that he would use the office to help the common Iowan. Bird must’ve thought that to be a very novel concept.

At the US congress level, Republican candidates couldn’t cozy close enough to Trump until suddenly this summer they couldn’t remember Trump’s name. When one and all tried to trumpet their legislative accomplishments it was like Mother Hubbard – the cabinet was empty. The only thing Republicans did in two years was to give huge tax cuts to the rich paid for with punishing policies for the average Iowan. That’s a pile of poo that was really hard to sell.

Of course Iowa’s story was a story that was repeated over and over throughout the country. Republicans had more than one candidate that was just a step ahead of the law. Most of their candidates were so out of touch with their constituents that they seemed to think taking food and health care from children – FROM CHILDREN! – was what the people wanted.

So you combine really lousy, out of touch leadership with really lousy candidates, some of whom are a step ahead of the law and add in terrible policies that include tariffs based on whims, foreign policies that favor right wing oligarchs and domestic policies that punish citizens while greatly favoring the wealthy and add in a large dose of racially biased legal and immigration system and you have a stench of a brew to sell the public. Thank goodness the public ain’t buying.

What they were buying were candidates who stand for the rule of law, that stood for decency and respect for all Americans and stood for returning our economy to a level playing field.

Now we have lots of problems to fix as the opposition will continue to use their money and power and their ownership of the media to do all they can to obstruct a country that they have wrecked and molded into a country that greatly favors the 1%. Expect a tough fight and expect the media to be very biased toward the wealthy.

A great start will be to root out the most corrupt government ever.

But we can and must win. Be prepared to get involved as we prepare for 2028. The race is on already. Dems must win in 2028 to finish what they start in 2027.

We’ve Only Just Begun (3 minutes):