Hubbell Won 55.6% and Progressive Sulking Has Already Begun

Those who don't remember history are bound to repeat it. Is it so hard to remember two years ago, the year that Donald J. Trump won the presidency in 2016? Purists and sexists couldn't accept Hillary Clinton as the Democratic candidate. So they pouted. They voted for candidates, including Jill Stein, who were unlikely to win and who turned out to be consorting with the Russians, just as Donald Trump and his aides were doing.

Now I see on Facebook that some progressives who favored Cathy Glasson, the most progressive candidate of all of the Democratic candidates for governor, are sulking and threatening to stay home because Fred Hubbell, the Democratic winner of the Iowa primary, won with 55.6% of the vote. He had the most money and spent the most money. He's a multi-millionaire and had a lot of name recognition. His family even has an avenue named after them. I figured he'd win 35% but not 55.6%.

Those who are unhappy with the vote count need to fight the U.S. Supreme Court's Citizens United decision which decided that "corporations are people, my friend" and money is speech, not turn away from the voting booth. There's a lot at stake. Any Democrat out of the current field of candidates is better than the current Republican administration, which is a clone of the last Republican administration.

Former Gov. Terry Branstad (R-IA), his sidekick, Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds, who has never been elected as governor in her own right, and their fellow Republicans in the legislature have done a lot to hurt this state, including eliminating the right of public employees to collectively bargain -- although Republicans were smart enough to divide and conquer. They allowed some law enforcement and all firefighters to collectively bargain as usual though not public school teachers and other public employees.

Republicans privatized Medicaid, which operated efficiently when the state administered the program, for the benefit of for-profit corporations and to the detriment of Medicaid patients and their medical providers and caregivers, who are jacked around like you wouldn't believe. Yes, your loved one is covered. No, she isn't. Yes, she is. By the way, you're getting a new case manager, rinse, and repeat.

Voters who are increasingly required to prove they are who they say they are even though instances of voter fraud are nearly nonexistent. Voter fraud is a myth invented and repeated by Republicans until a surprising number of voters believe it!

Former Gov. Terry Branstad (R-IA) and his fellow Republicans rolled back the minimum wage to the federal wage of $7.25 an hour in the four (Polk, Johnson, Linn, and Wapello), nearly five counties (Lee County) that raised or was about to raise the minimum wage to something closer to a living wage. In Johnson County it was $10.10 an hour when it was rolled back. Since then, in March 2018, Johnson County supervisors symbolically raised the minimum wage to $10.27 an hour. Although the raise is legally unenforceable, over 160 businesses have promised to honor the raise.

Reynolds has continued to privatize Medicaid while refusing to release any figures on whether she's saved the state any money by doing so. Saving money is almost beside the point. Government is supposed to efficiently provide for needy citizens, not flush them and let them die whenever possible. Privatized Medicaid has refused to provide medical services even when citizens have won on appeal. Deny, deny, and deny services is their mantra. That's corruption and heartlessness, and not the only instance of corruption in the Republican administration, both nationally and in Iowa.

A Selzer poll showed that Democrats are most worried about cuts to education; specifically, Iowa Republican lawmakers' drastic cuts public education in k-12, community colleges, and public universities, especially the University of Iowa and Iowa State University.

Kim Reynolds has given millions of taxpayer dollars to private industry, which doesn't need the money. Apple is doing fine, Gov. Reynolds. What Apple, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, John Deere, Rockwell and other corporations you've given money to need is skilled labor, and education produces skilled labor. You've got your priorities backwards.

So progressive crybabies, think twice before you stay away from the polls. Remember how by staying home or voting for unelectable candidates you helped elect Trump, who won in Iowa by 9.8% over Hillary Clinton.