I am worried about the state senate

[rurallib]

Branstad + both chambers then Iowa = Kansas in two years.

Chris Brase (dist. 46) is a real concern. Chris is an outstanding person. His opponent is about as bad as they come. Chris has been one of the real movers in keeping the Dems centered.
He had a real force door knocking over the weekend including several senators. here's hoping.

[madaboutharry]

1. I don't get what is happening in Iowa.

Is there something in the water?

[rurallib]

2. The state feels like it has changed so much since Branstad was returned as governor

Repugs seem to have an attitude that they own the state now.
Branstad acts like a king. His appointments to the Court have been loyal repugs. He has ruined our universities with his Board of regents. And our media is compliant and docile as can be.

I used to be so proud to live here because we were common sense people. Now so many are sheep fearful of their own shadows.

[Cairycat]

3. I attribute it to a perception

that good jobs here are going, going, gone. And that's not entirely untrue - look at the layoffs from Deere a couple months ago. In Marshalltown, Lennox and the UAW reached an agreement - but judging from how tight-lipped union officials were about it, it wasn't very good for the workers.

I think while basically Iowa's unemployment rate is not bad, living wage jobs are becoming scarcer. And people would much rather blame the fast food worker not satisfied with $7.25, than the greedy ass corporations who suppress wages, among other nefarious things. Why people aren't smart enough here to follow the money, I don't know, but there it is.

[rurallib]

4. They don't follow the money because the media either helps or allows

repubs to create the story of what happened.

You may remember that for the past several years that Iowa media simply reports the labor numbers that the Branstad admin gave them with little or no analysis. Branstad's admin was giving out only new jobs and not subtracting lost jobs. Branstad claimed to "create" 100.000 new jobs while in reality the net plus was @ 20,000 and most of those simply due to a better economy under Obama.

That was just an example. The national media is horrible and Iowa's even worse.