Talking to Steve King's Supporters and Opponents in NW IA in 2010

Caption: On left, Jim Conzemius; on right, Maria Houser Conzemius during a bicycle ride.

On RAGBRAI back in 2010, I met a male Democratic attorney (Matt Campbell) who ran against Rep. Steve King (R-Kiron, IA). Campbell, briefcase in hand, was philosophical about his odds of winning. In fact, none of Steve King's supporters who I talked to and none of his enraged opponents (mostly women) had any idea that King had a Democratic opponent running against him.

My husband Jim and I stopped for coffee and breakfast at Misty's Cafe in Moville, Iowa, part of Rep. King's district. A table full of about eight farmers and other rural menfolk was keeping Misty's only waitress plenty busy.

So I said, "I'm wearing a skirt [a bicycle skort]. I'll serve coffee if you want." She did want, so I began pouring coffee into the men's coffee cups. The men already had their breakfasts in front of them.

In a friendly way, I asked their opinion of their representative, Steve King.

The biggest farmer of the group said, "Why, he just says what we all think, don't he?"

One man at the table looked mighty uncomfortable but didn't say anything.

I deduced from our brief conversation that none of them, most of whom seemed to support King, knew that he had a Democratic opponent.

Elsewhere in northwestern Iowa, none of King's furious opponents knew that he had a Democratic opponent, which I found ironic. An informed citizenry is vital to a functioning democratic republic. Maybe Campbell didn't have the money to get his name out.

After years of Rep. King making racist comments, aligning himself with neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and defending misogynistic politicians like then Tea Party Republican Rep. Todd Akin (MO), who attested in his race with former Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) that women's bodies have the capacity to block pregnancy in cases of "legitimate rape," the GOP has suddenly decided to repudiate Rep. Steve King and take away all of his House committee assignments.

Why now? Vox says the GOP smells blood in the water. King only beat his last Democratic opponent, J.D. Scholten, by three percentage points, after previously thumping previous opponents by double digits. Therefore he is weakened; he is no longer a kingmaker in Iowa politics. Though Republican Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds made him a co-chairman of her recent campaign, she, too, only beat her Democratic opponent by three percentage points while her Republican secretary of state erroneously prohibited non-felons from voting. She distanced herself from King after she was elected.

It's interesting that the GOP is concerned about avowed racists in its midst when they lost minorities a long time ago. In fact, with few exceptions, the GOP never had any following among minority voters.

Who are Republicans losing in droves? College-educated suburban women! They had many and they're losing them. I wonder how long it will take for the GOP to repudiate misogyny?

The Brett Kavanaugh hearing, the confirmation of an alleged serial sexual assaulter with an obvious lack of judicial temperament, was a siren call to women to vote against sexist Republican senators who voted for a clearly unqualified judge and enabled him to advance from the Senate Judiciary Committee to the Senate floor for confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court.

California Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye said she's now a former Republican. The judge, who had been thinking of leaving the GOP for two years, said that Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation to SCOTUS was the last straw. She thought of her two daughters when she made her decision. A former Republican friend of mine, now a registered Democrat, also said she thought of her daughter, who watched the Kavanaugh hearing, when she made her decision.

"I was sorry she had to see that," my friend told me. She wrote then Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ), who voted to pass Brett Kavanaugh onto the Senate floor out of the Judiciary Committee, that if he ran for president she would reregister as a Republican and vote against him. She was that angry at his betrayal. Five Republican senators who voted for Kavanaugh's confirmation are considered at risk in 2020: Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ), Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO), and Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC).

Steve King, besides being a racist, is also a misogynist. For now, misogynists are welcome in the GOP. Misogyny and corruption cost Republicans votes in the midterms and will continue to cost Republicans votes in 2020 and 2022.

However, today's Gazette (1/16/2019) quoted Woodbury County Republican Party Chairwoman Suzan Stewart saying that "King will continue to handle congressional tasks in a way that advocates GOP principles.

"'Republicans from the 4th District have come to expect Steve King to champion the district and promote conservative objectives for the district. He can continue to do much of this with or without committee assignments,' Stewart said."

Digging in on racism? I wouldn't be surprised. For some people, "conservative objectives" still seems to include white supremacy. Why else would voters support Rep. King? He hasn't advanced a single bill that has ever become law.