What’s Wrong With Being Political?
Gov. Kim Reynolds is running for re-election this year, and not long ago was at a campaign event. As she spoke to the party faithful, she also gave a shout out to a couple of Republicans running for statewide offices that are currently held by Democrats. She noted that she really needed a Republican attorney general, and said she wanted a Republican state auditor so she didn’t have to worry about getting sued all the time…or words to that effect.
The response from those on the left was interesting. Some called the governor out for—get this—making the election political.
To my knowledge, she did not call out the incumbent Democrats by name, merely by office. And besides, when a member of a political party is at a campaign event, don’t we expect that candidate to urge everyone to vote for candidates of the same party, up and down the ticket?
More recently, the governor—very clearly in her role as a candidate, through campaign staff and email accounts—has announced endorsements of certain Republicans in contested primaries. In other words, she’s taking sides in a partisan primary. That has gotten some people’s noses out of joint.
In particular, she’s opposing some incumbents who did not side with her on certain issues, particularly with the private school scholarship bill that could not pass the Iowa House despite there being 60 Republicans out of 100 in the chamber.
Again…I’m not sure I understand the outrage. She wants like-minded people on her team. She’s the top elected official in the state, with an agenda she’d like to see enacted. So there’s a problem when she suggests who she wants to work with?
Or is it…as has often been the case…a matter that no matter what she does, she’s going to draw criticism. Support your favorites, and you’re choosing sides…not being able to work with who gets elected, and you’re seen as weak and ineffective.
Politics is not for the faint of heart. And unfortunately, supply chain shortages have not affected the large amount of fake outrage seen this election season.
