Delaney visits Hiawatha, calls for Democrats to be party of opportunity in 2020

CEDAR RAPIDS - U.S. Rep. John Delaney, D-Md., is the earliest non-fringe candidate in history to announce his run for the White House.

Given the outcome of the presidential election less than a year ago, his timing may be perfect, according Democrats who spent an hour Saturday questioning the third-term congressman about health care, education, veterans' benefits and how he would put together a winning coalition.

'We need to start thinking about the field for 2020,” said Mike McGree of Cedar Rapids. 'We need a good challenger, someone who can reach across the aisle and get some of those Trump supporters.”

Delaney, 54, is quick to talk about his blue-collar roots and his success in starting two businesses. He thinks he can convince voters in red states as well as blue that the Democratic Party cares about what they are care about - jobs, good pay and opportunity for their children.

Anytime Democrats are not talking about those things is a wasted opportunity, Delaney told about a dozen people at the Karma Coffee Café in Hiawatha.

'The thing about our party is that sometimes we are what I like to refer to as a 1,000 flower blooming,” Delaney said. 'We have lots of issues we care about. The reason I'm a Democrat is because I think were right about pretty much all of these things.”

But many voters don't care about all the things the politicians care about, he said.

'They just want to live their lives, be free, be safe, be protected and have good jobs, better pay and more opportunity for their families,” Delaney said. 'That's the message in red states … in blues states … in cities … in rural America.”

He thinks the country is looking for someone to bring the country together. Someone who will restore civility to politics 'so that we can actually begin to have constructive conversations and getting things done,” he said.

In recent years, he said in his introductory remarks, 'we've stopped doing things and we've had such amazing large-scale opportunities right in front of us and some huge challenges, and we're not dealing with any of them.”

So the political debate is about the things people don't agree on rather those things where there is agreement.

'It seems to me the Democratic Party, which is the party that actually believes that government can and should do some transformative things for the American people, should be the party to lead on restoring civility and actually getting things done,” Delaney said.

'The cost of doing nothing is not nothing. For two decades, we really have not done anything or done the things we need to do to prepare the American people for change.”

He may be on to something, Coe College political science professor Bruce Nesmith said after listening to Delaney. People in his field have a theory that 'presidents beget their opposite.”

'So maybe we'll get someone who has mastered the details,” Nesmith said.

However, Nesmith, who said Delaney is the earliest candidate he can recall, cautioned that being first doesn't necessarily guarantee success. Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack was the first declared candidate in the 2008 presidential race, announcing in November 2006. He dropped out fewer than four months later.

Starting early gives Delaney 'a level of visibility above other three-term members of Congress who might be thinking of running,” Nesmith said.

However, he added, it probably won't help if a 'bigger name,” such as Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., decides to run.

In the meantime, Delaney has about three dozen events planned in 10 Iowa counties on this swing through the state.

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