If Fred Hubbell Is Smart, He'll Let Cathy Speak at the Convention

1. On left, Cathy Glasson, former Democratic gubernatorial candidate for governor and president of the Service Employees International Union, and a longtime friend from SEIU.

Cathy Glasson, second-place finisher in the Democratic gubernatorial primary, finished with nearly 21% of the vote. Fred Hubbell, who had millions of dollars, much of it his own money, won 96 of the 99 counties in Iowa and won the nomination with over 55% of the vote. So he's the nominee, but don't think the progressives are coming along quietly.

If Fred Hubbell is smart, he'll let Cathy Glasson speak at the convention for 45 minutes as she's asked to do. It may be unprecedented, but he needs the votes that the progressives are threatening to withhold in a giant pout fest. Some have even made the outrageous claim that Fred Hubbell is no different than Republican Kim Reynolds. That is just not true.

First, Fred Hubbell has promised to restore Medicaid to public workers to manage. Former Republican Gov. Terry Branstad privatized Medicaid and gave taxpayer funds to private, for-profit companies to dole out to Medicaid patients and Medicaid health care providers as they see fit. Of course the best way to make a profit is to deny care and to delay payments to providers, which is exactly what they've done, even after patients have won the right to care on appeal. The results are catastrophic, but Gov. Kim Reynolds lies, smiles, and says all is well.

People will stop dying from denials of needed medical care if Fred Hubbell is elected. Health care providers denied payments or have had payments delayed will stop going out of business.

Planned Parenthood would have another lease on life if Fred Hubbell is elected. He's on the board of Planned Parenthood. The current Republican legislature has passed and Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds signed the most restrictive anti-abortion legislation in the nation, the six-week fetal heartbeat law. At six weeks, most women don't even know they're pregnant. Even if they do, they might not have had time to schedule an appointment with a medical care provider. Planned Parenthood and the ACLU are suing the state on the basis of the state constitution and a judge has filed a temporary injunction until the case is decided by the Iowa Supreme Court. It was supposed to be enacted July 1, 2018.

Just because Fred Hubbell is rich doesn't mean he's evil. Yes, he gave his campaign $3 million. Yes, he bought a lot of TV ads and I certainly received a lot of mailers from him. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was born rich and so was Theodore Roosevelt. They were both good presidents. FDR bailed America out of the Great Depression and Theodore Roosevelt signed the anti-trust laws that are being ignored today. JFK and RFK were both born rich. They still cared about people less fortunate than themselves.

What alienates me about Cathy's organizers and progressives in general is that they voted to strip all U.S. aid to Israel in the Second District Democratic Convention in Fairfield, IA. They believe in the Palestinian self-inflicted portrait of themselves as victims. Hamas has ordered Palestinians to be the aggressor/victims in a lunge toward the border fence separating Israel from Gaza. What kind of society tells a child that their only value is as a martyr for the sake of jihad?

Another thing that alienates me about Cathy's organizers is that one of them asked me if I would consider giving up the gender equality rule that currently governs important committees like Rules and Credentials in the state Democratic Party, which is currently four men and four women. Ideally, she said, the party would ask delegates to have LGBTQ delegates come out of the four men. But, she said, since the men probably wouldn't like that and might vote against it, would I be willing to vote for a no-gender rule and eliminate the four men/four women rule to make room for LGBTQ?

In other words, would I be willing to step aside and give up my rights to equal representation to accommodate LGBTQ in case it were necessary to appease the men?

I briefly considered the idea and said no, and explained why. The #MeToo and #TimesUp movements have barely begun, and I'm being asked to give up equal representation to appease possible opposition from male delegates?

Women's rights and LGBTQ rights, which I am in favor of, should not be presented by anyone as an either/or situation. It should always be a both/and. I'll be damned if I'll set aside my rights as a woman delegate to appease anyone. Someone will always think that their rights are more important than women's rights and -- oh sure, they'll catch us up later. Sorry. #TimesUp.