In American politics, there is a tradition in the mid-terms to punish the party that won the last election because they didn't deliver as promised. For the record, I think that is as good a reason as any to replace those who need replacing, but there are no guarantees that things will get better as a result. You see, throwing the bums out often means bringing new bums in. And it also means awarding "points" to the other side that they didn't earn and may have helped cause through voting and working in opposition of the presiding party's policies.
Concretely, when the Republicans sat out on things like Build Back Better, they cut off their noses to spite their faces, because economic development generally is one of their chief jams. However, because inflation is on the rise, they are likely to get a pass and be rewarded because of people voting with their wallets. They did nothing to help people get better jobs, but they didn't "cause" inflation--therefore it is all the other party's fault. Do you see how that works?
Now, in Iowa, we have Republican leadership, and, given that inflation is also rampant in Iowa, shouldn't that leadership be flailed in the next election? That same leadership that is underfunding schools and their teachers, is more focused on transgender kids not playing sports. The same leadership who shortened unemployment benefits for Iowans by 10 weeks and is almost forcing Iowans to take less well-paying jobs believes they should be rewarded for it. The same leadership that sent highway patrol officers to guard the US border to keep immigrants out but kept meat processing plants open while many immigrant workers died believes it earned the right to keep doing more of the same. Bum-like decisions, if you ask me.
There are bums and then, there are bums. Both sides have got 'em. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Synema are bums by holding up things like voter's rights. Majorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz are bums because of the nationalistic fomenting. Predatory Matthew Cawthorn would continue being one had he not been beaten in his primary. Kim Reynolds and Chuck Grassley are bums. Kim Reynolds wants to push out someone from her own party because they don't want to do school vouchers in their district. Chuck Grassley wanted to hang Joe Biden about the shortage of baby formula when he voted for the USMCA that added tariffs for imports and lessened the supply of it. Pretty bum-like behaviors, wouldn't you say?
At this time, when people are working harder and losing value on the money they are earning, we need better than the present group of bums. In Iowa, there is a primary coming up. The Democrats have three people who want to replace Chuck Grassley in the senate--the DNC would love for their candidate to be the choice (for those of you who remember how that went last time when Bruce Braley ran with their blessing, it wasn't pretty). This time the quality choice might be a retired Navy admiral who is right on the issues and does not have the baggage of winning and then losing a seat in Congress. In many parts of the state from the Board of Supervisors on up, there are competitive races that could well decide how this state is run for the next several years. It is actually a really good time to both be an educated voter and active in turning out the vote.
Turning things around doesn't happen overnight, but as the last presidency assures us, a lot of damage can be done in four years with the wrong bums. If we are going to be in the business of throwing out the bums, shouldn't we at least aim at throwing out the right bums?
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