Congressman Bruce Bayley of Iowa Will Fit Into the Senate - Too Snugly!

Congressman Bruce Braley, Iowa Democrat of the First Congressional District, is seeking the open Senate seat. The Congressman won an open House seat eight years ago and was the early favorite to retain the democratic seat, but he is suffering from diarrhea of the mouth. He is from a farm family, but he left the farm to be a trial lawyer. He spoke in Texas before his fellow trial lawyers last January. Politicians should be wary of what they say, even in closed appearances, especially after the 2012 Presidential election. He warned the trial lawyers that if the Republicans retake the Senate, then Iowa Republican Charles Grassley would become Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee. He called Senator Grassley ‘a farmer who never went to law school.” Iowa is a farm state. His statement dissed farming and the highly popular Senator Grassley. Congressman Braley’s poll numbers dropped. I remember a “lawyer joke” from my three years teaching law at Ohio Northern University in the farm town of Ada, Ohio. Ada is situated in rural northwest Ohio. The joke is about the relationship between farmers and lawyers. “Farmers farm the land, and lawyers farm the farmers.” He stepped in it further last Friday, the 4th of July. He was walking along a 4th of July Parade in Iowa City, Iowa, when a woman yelled out “We’re farmers.” He responded “So am I.” She then said “So is Grassley,” to which he again replied “So am I.” The audio is very clear. He may have farming roots, but he is a trial lawyer who owns no farmland and has no farm income. He’ll fit right in the Senate with Senators Blumenthal D. Conn.) and Mark Kirk (R. Ill.) who misrepresented their military background when there was no need to do so. We also have Senator Elizabeth Warren (D. Mass.) who clearly claimed to be American Indian, to take advantage of affirmative action, when she has no Native American ancestry. The 4th of July remark was caught on tape by America Rising, a conservative organization following his campaign in hopes of getting that one “gotcha moment.” They succeeded. Congressman Braley has other issues. He is one of several Democratic members of Congress who sign a letter on March 26, 2012 to IRS Commissioner Douglas Schulman to investigate the conservative political groups. He has received $7,000 in campaign contributions since 2007 from The National Treasury Workers Union PAC. He voted for the Keystone Pipeline in 2012, but now opposes it. The $100,000 million Tom Steyer of California is offering Democratic candidates to oppose Keystone has apparently affected his judgment. Steyer is the main backer of the Senate Majority PAC, which has contributed $550,00 to his Senate campaign. Congressman Braley accepts Steyer funds, but has won scores of messages against the Koch Brothers. The Congressman has been in Washington for 8 years and fits in. His Republican opponent is state senator Joni Ernst, a true salt of the earth farmer and Lt. Colonel in the Iowa National Guard. She ran an ad talking about her past castrating pigs, which prepared her for cutting pork. D.C. and Iowa need Joni Ernst in the United States Senate.