As long as he and all Dems focus on hitting vulnerable 'Cons like Ernst on THE ECONOMY, we can look forward to big wins next year. The GOP cuts to Medicare and Food Stamps are an *enormous* hit to the economies of states like Iowa. When most of the 22% of Iowans on Medicare are cut from the rolls, and show up at the ER without insurance, Dems need to drive home that it's the 80% of other Iowans who will pay those costs with increased premiums.
How many rural hospitals will shutter when $2.6bn in Federal Medicare funding goes bye-bye? Specifically *which* hospitals, and in whose districts? Focusing on all the Trumpian policies financially hurting Iowans, is the path to victory.
Whichever one of these fine Democrats wins the primary, I hope they broadcast their political ads from every cemetery in the state, saying something like "Ernst might be thinking only of meeting her lord and savior in heaven, but I'm thinking only about how to meet YOU where you are, right now." Troll her like Newsom does Trump.
It’s sad. The world’s wealthiest country increased taxes on and stripped benefits from the poor—to feed the wealthy. Give heathcare, food, and living wages to everyone and charge it to the wealthy that cannot be satisfied. To what purpose is a $ billion? Hoarding. I made protest signs for your protests. Protesting is now critical for Occupied D.C. There is time to get signs printed for your protest group. Fill the hands of the signless. Where are your signs? It is time to post them so that others can use them. FreeDC!
You nailed it. I'm a minister (Presbyterian, ret.) and what is going on (which you described succintly) is sinful. I live in Tennessee (so MAGA, it hurts) so I cannot vote for whomever runs against her, but I will send a contribution.
I don’t experience this phenomena. The signs are in the link directly above and that does not require a log in for me. I do know Sarah. She says the signs are great.
Great article! Please keep posting about good Democratic candidates for 2026 from the different states. I like to follow them & provide monetary donations to their campaigns when I can, even though they may not be running in my state.
The heartless witch is going to get hammered. I love the blast-from-the-past candidates in Ohio and North Carolina. Maine is in play. Democrats have got to protect Jon Ossoff, but if some of those rubes in Georgia don't understand by now they've been played for suckers by The Grifter, God help them all. Ossoff is a great public servant.
Joni Ernst is a spineless disaster who should by rights, be defeated in the mid-terms. Of course, we are talking about blood red Iowa, so her defeat is not a sure thing. I am gratified to see that four very credible Democrats are contending for the nomination.
You are correct about her defeat not being a sure thing. Colin Allred was an excellent candidate here in Texas, and Ted Cruz still won. Go figure. The joys of living in a red state.
I agree he may be too nice. It's sad that one has to be a predator to get anywhere in politics these days. I am hoping that changes when we lose drumpf.
Ernst is politically vulnerable, but let's not forget Iowa is a state that has enacted harsh voter restriction laws, so it's going to take a lot of volunteer work to get Democratic voters registered and votes counted. A lot of Iowa's voters may be disenchanted with Ernst, but whether they have an opportunity to vote is anoter question. One more point, now that Congress has given Trump the authority to spend money anyway he pleases, I would bet that he will start throwing money at groups like farmers to appease (bribe them).
Don't discount independent voters, either. Trump is further underwater with Indys than with any other group of voters. There's a real restlessness for change in the country. People are sick of being discounted because they're not billionaires, and they're especially sick of the performative cruelty, incompetence, and MAGA worship of Trump.
Joni Ernst went to Washington with no particular plan to do some good for the state she represents. Instead, she has become the anti-empathy candidate - a claim which could be made for all the Congressional MAGAts. If tRump's economics sinks the Economy, the rethugs could be engineering a washout for themselves.
This shows the deep and talented bench of younger candidates the Democrats have. It's time for this new generation to take over - even if the old dogs won't hand off the baton. All of these folks have the fire to serve, to make the changes our calcified leadership is too timid to make, and they're closer and more in tune with our voters. Any one of these great candidates will make Joni Ernst pay for her cavalier dismissal of people's healthcare fears. Go get her, Dems!
What we're talking about here, however, isn't normal employment. It's elected office, which no one owns or has any claim on beyond their terms of office. That includes the leadership positions in a political party. So, no. This isn't a case employment discrimination based on age.
Another spot on column, Jen! Iowans, and the rest of the Midwest, should be feeling the tariffs about now. Farmers especially get a one two punch. No one buying their products and immigrants afraid to work whether they are legally here or not. I hope they do not, once again, vote against their own interests.
Trust me, people are noticing that food prices are skyrocketing. Vegetables are up around 35% in my Midwest area. Meat is getting hard for people to afford. Pocketbook issues are strong issues to run on.
Ernst has said that she's running to support "Trump's fantastic agenda." UGH
Just wait until November rolls around. That's when health insurance rate increases will be announced. Ours is projected up by 27%. How are people supposed to afford that??
It's a Big Beautiful Bill, all right -- but not for working people.
"Ernst has said that she's running to support "Trump's fantastic agenda." UGH"
UGH is right. There is nothing fantastic about it. On the contrary, what it envisions for the country is far from what is good for the majority of us, our rights, democracy, the country and the Constitution.;
Ernst has proven herself to be a terrible person. Iowa has a really great opportunity ahead. Grassley is well past his sell-by date.
Mr. Josh Turek is a complete opposite of what Trump and MAGA represent. DEMs should unite to support him.
As long as he and all Dems focus on hitting vulnerable 'Cons like Ernst on THE ECONOMY, we can look forward to big wins next year. The GOP cuts to Medicare and Food Stamps are an *enormous* hit to the economies of states like Iowa. When most of the 22% of Iowans on Medicare are cut from the rolls, and show up at the ER without insurance, Dems need to drive home that it's the 80% of other Iowans who will pay those costs with increased premiums.
How many rural hospitals will shutter when $2.6bn in Federal Medicare funding goes bye-bye? Specifically *which* hospitals, and in whose districts? Focusing on all the Trumpian policies financially hurting Iowans, is the path to victory.
Trump is now on to gerrymandering to steal representatives. We need red states to vote for DEMs this time.
“Grassley is well past his sell-by date.” Amen to that!
Eventually, everyone is going to die (a political death)
I’d move to Iowa if I could just to vote against Ernst. What a disaster. But, all MAGA is IMO
Whichever one of these fine Democrats wins the primary, I hope they broadcast their political ads from every cemetery in the state, saying something like "Ernst might be thinking only of meeting her lord and savior in heaven, but I'm thinking only about how to meet YOU where you are, right now." Troll her like Newsom does Trump.
We need to troll all of the GOP candidates without mercy or letup. They bring a gun to the fight, we bring a flamethrower.
We would love to have you, Patric!
It’s sad. The world’s wealthiest country increased taxes on and stripped benefits from the poor—to feed the wealthy. Give heathcare, food, and living wages to everyone and charge it to the wealthy that cannot be satisfied. To what purpose is a $ billion? Hoarding. I made protest signs for your protests. Protesting is now critical for Occupied D.C. There is time to get signs printed for your protest group. Fill the hands of the signless. Where are your signs? It is time to post them so that others can use them. FreeDC!
https://hotbuttons.substack.com/p/sign-off-i-call-for-a-sign-off?r=3m1bs
You nailed it. I'm a minister (Presbyterian, ret.) and what is going on (which you described succintly) is sinful. I live in Tennessee (so MAGA, it hurts) so I cannot vote for whomever runs against her, but I will send a contribution.
The signs are great, but they cannot be downloaded without logging in to some person named Sarah Walker. I do want to log in to people I do not know.
I don’t experience this phenomena. The signs are in the link directly above and that does not require a log in for me. I do know Sarah. She says the signs are great.
I just tried it again and had to login with my email address, but then I was able to download it. Very strange.
Great article! Please keep posting about good Democratic candidates for 2026 from the different states. I like to follow them & provide monetary donations to their campaigns when I can, even though they may not be running in my state.
The heartless witch is going to get hammered. I love the blast-from-the-past candidates in Ohio and North Carolina. Maine is in play. Democrats have got to protect Jon Ossoff, but if some of those rubes in Georgia don't understand by now they've been played for suckers by The Grifter, God help them all. Ossoff is a great public servant.
Joni Ernst should be concerned.
Joni Ernst is a spineless disaster who should by rights, be defeated in the mid-terms. Of course, we are talking about blood red Iowa, so her defeat is not a sure thing. I am gratified to see that four very credible Democrats are contending for the nomination.
You are correct about her defeat not being a sure thing. Colin Allred was an excellent candidate here in Texas, and Ted Cruz still won. Go figure. The joys of living in a red state.
I don’t think that Allred ran an effective race. He may be too nice for today’s political climate.
I agree he may be too nice. It's sad that one has to be a predator to get anywhere in politics these days. I am hoping that changes when we lose drumpf.
Ernst is politically vulnerable, but let's not forget Iowa is a state that has enacted harsh voter restriction laws, so it's going to take a lot of volunteer work to get Democratic voters registered and votes counted. A lot of Iowa's voters may be disenchanted with Ernst, but whether they have an opportunity to vote is anoter question. One more point, now that Congress has given Trump the authority to spend money anyway he pleases, I would bet that he will start throwing money at groups like farmers to appease (bribe them).
Don't discount independent voters, either. Trump is further underwater with Indys than with any other group of voters. There's a real restlessness for change in the country. People are sick of being discounted because they're not billionaires, and they're especially sick of the performative cruelty, incompetence, and MAGA worship of Trump.
Start defeating all Republicans by supporting;
Mikie Sherrill for Governor of New Jersey and Abigail Spanberger for Governor of Virginia, Nov.4,2025.
Yes! And Zohran Mamdani for Mayor of NYC!
Writing post cards for Mikie today!
Joni Ernst went to Washington with no particular plan to do some good for the state she represents. Instead, she has become the anti-empathy candidate - a claim which could be made for all the Congressional MAGAts. If tRump's economics sinks the Economy, the rethugs could be engineering a washout for themselves.
This shows the deep and talented bench of younger candidates the Democrats have. It's time for this new generation to take over - even if the old dogs won't hand off the baton. All of these folks have the fire to serve, to make the changes our calcified leadership is too timid to make, and they're closer and more in tune with our voters. Any one of these great candidates will make Joni Ernst pay for her cavalier dismissal of people's healthcare fears. Go get her, Dems!
Age as a determining factor in employment is ageism, pure and simple.
If the next generation cannot win a district or race, why should rigging the election by excluding an alternate candidate be the answer?
We condemn it when the Republicans do it. It is just as wrong if Democrats do.
What we're talking about here, however, isn't normal employment. It's elected office, which no one owns or has any claim on beyond their terms of office. That includes the leadership positions in a political party. So, no. This isn't a case employment discrimination based on age.
I always enjoy a course of just desserts. Thank you, Jen!
Clever!
Another spot on column, Jen! Iowans, and the rest of the Midwest, should be feeling the tariffs about now. Farmers especially get a one two punch. No one buying their products and immigrants afraid to work whether they are legally here or not. I hope they do not, once again, vote against their own interests.
Trust me, people are noticing that food prices are skyrocketing. Vegetables are up around 35% in my Midwest area. Meat is getting hard for people to afford. Pocketbook issues are strong issues to run on.
Ernst has said that she's running to support "Trump's fantastic agenda." UGH
Just wait until November rolls around. That's when health insurance rate increases will be announced. Ours is projected up by 27%. How are people supposed to afford that??
It's a Big Beautiful Bill, all right -- but not for working people.
"Ernst has said that she's running to support "Trump's fantastic agenda." UGH"
UGH is right. There is nothing fantastic about it. On the contrary, what it envisions for the country is far from what is good for the majority of us, our rights, democracy, the country and the Constitution.;
Wow, such good democratic candidates for the challenger to Ernst! Ernst is a disgrace and Iowa needs to vote her out!!!
I only wish we have more candidates in Maine against Susan Collins.....
Don't discount Graham Platner. This guy's Got one hell of a message. Watch his video.