116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
John Fetterman advocates for party unity, backing Biden in 2024 at Iowa Democratic Party fundraiser
Fetterman rallies Iowa Democrats at Liberty and Justice Celebration
Nov. 5, 2023 9:55 am, Updated: Nov. 5, 2023 11:28 am
ALTOONA — Dressed in his signature gym shorts and a sweatshirt, Democratic Pennsylvania U.S. Sen. John Fetterman advocated Saturday for party unity and made the case for backing President Joe Biden in 2024.
“We have to come together and re-elect Joe Biden,” Fetterman said to a sold-out crowd at the Iowa Democratic Party’s annual Liberty and Justice Celebration fundraiser at Meadows Event Center in Altoona. “He is your president. He’s my president. He is our guy.
“ … I’m here to tell you, you know, he is a strong, decent, committed dude,” Fetterman said of Biden, which the crowd stood to applaud.
Fetterman headlined Saturday’s event.
The annual fundraiser has in the past been a place for Democratic presidential candidates to garner support ahead of the first-in-the-nation caucuses. Iowa Democrats lost their spot in the national party’s nominating calendar earlier this year. The party approved a new system that will have Democrats announce the results of a mail-in presidential preference process on March 5, Super Tuesday.
Minnesota U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips, a moderate Democrat and businessman serving his third term in Congress, recently launched a primary challenge to Biden, motivated by concerns over Biden's electability given Democrats' apprehensions about the president's advanced age (he'll be 81 in November), poor approval rating and early general election polls that may foreshadow a difficult race against Republican front-runner and former President Donald Trump.
Phillips has cited a number of state and national polls that show Biden trailing behind Trump — even though the former president faces multiple criminal charges. A Suffolk University—USA Today poll shows Biden and Trump tied at 37 percent and Biden's approval rating at just 39 percent. Voters in seven key swing states: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin say they trust Trump significantly more than Biden on the economy (49 percent to 35 percent), according to a Bloomberg News — Morning Consult poll.
Phillips' move came nearly three weeks after primary contender Robert F. Kennedy Jr. dropped out of the Democratic primary to run as an independent. While 2020 presidential candidate Marianne Williamson is also running, Phillips quickly moves to the front of the line as Biden's most notable opponent within his own party.
Fetterman also criticized California Gov. Gavin Newsom. Newsom has said he will not be making a 2024 presidential run, but has been viewed as running a shadow campaign for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination.
“Let me say something that might be uncomfortable,” Fetterman said at the Iowa Democratic Party fundraiser. “Right now there are two additional Democrats running for president right now. One is a congressman from Minnesota. The other one is the governor of California. … But only one had the guts to announce it.”
Fetterman continued: “If you are a Democrat that wants to criticize and go after Joe Biden, our president, just go ahead and write a check for Trump.”
He took specific aim at well-known Democratic strategist James Carville, who has warned his party that Biden could lose to former President Donald Trump in 2024.
“Respectfully, respectfully, from one ugly bald guy to another, shut the eff up!” Fetterman said to applause. “ … If anyone questions his ability, he’s in the White House. Donald Trump is in how many courtrooms?"
Fetterman said Biden “deserves another chance to make sure to take Trump out with the trash for good.”
Fetterman also shared his experience battling depression and seeking treatment. Fetterman, who had a stroke in May 2022, said his depression worsened after he was elected to the Senate in November.
“So long as I have this platform, I’m always going to talk about that to anybody. Until there’s an audience of one, I’m going to talk about it, because I want everyone to hear how important it is to make sure that you do not have to suffer,” he said. “Do not spend an extra day of suffering and get help.”
Hart: Iowa Democrats ‘are on the road to a comeback’
Iowa "reminds me of a red county in my state of Pennsylvania," Fetterman said, thanking Iowa Democrats for doing "the hard work" as they aim to retake seats in the statehouse and on Capitol Hill after a disappointing 2022 election cycle.
Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart said Fetterman’s well-earned victory in his Senate race last year is proof that Democrats can win rural voters as well as urban ones by sticking to the party’s values.
The party is looking to bounce back from several consecutive poor showings in recent election cycles.
Iowa Republicans now occupy all six seats in the state's congressional delegation, the governor's office, all statewide offices save for one and gained historically large majorities in the Legislature.
Hart said she sees glimmers of hope for Democrats. She pointed to Warren County voters who in August ousted a GOP-appointed auditor who had previously made social media posts that questioned the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election. Democrat Kimberly Sheets won with more than 66 percent of the vote in a county Republican former President Donald Trump carried by nearly 17 points in 2020.
Hart has been traveling across the state since becoming party chair in February talking about the challenges Iowa Democrats face and working to build local county party infrastructure from the ground up.
“We are on the road to a comeback,” she said, noting the party has formed a steering committee that includes herself, Democratic leaders in the Iowa House and Senate, State Auditor Rob Sand — the lone Democrat to hold statewide office — and members of the party’s State Central Committee to direct party operations and election activities “to ensure that our party and our leaders are working in sync.”
She said party leaders and activists “are filled with resolve to change the direction of this state.”
“We will work every day to turn out the Democratic vote,” Hart said. “Two thousand and twenty-two was particularly tough, because way too many Democrats simply did not vote. Tens of thousands of voters did not turn out in Iowa. So we’ve got to do something different there. Second, we will hold Republicans accountable.”
She said the party has worked to rebuild its finances to build a team that’s focused on organizing and a communications team “ready to take on the GOP in print, online and on TV.”
“We’re going to keep telling the story of Iowa Republicans’ shortfalls and amplify our Democratic candidates to elect more Democrats up and down the ballot,” Hart said.
Konfrst: ‘Iowans deserve balance’
Iowa Senate Minority Leader Pam Jochum, D-Dubuque, said "It will not happen overnight," laying out a plan for Democrats to retake the state Senate by picking up "nine new seats by 2029" and taking control by 2030.
Hart and other speakers roundly criticized Republican priorities and policies on abortion restrictions, private school scholarships and measures that restrict teaching about LGBTQ topics and prohibit publications that depict sex acts.
“Iowans deserve better. And Iowans deserve balance,” Iowa House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst, D-Windsor Heights, said.
Konfrst said House Democrats will continue to push forward their four-part policy agenda of lowering costs for Iowans, investing in public schools, protecting reproductive freedom and legalizing marijuana for recreational use.
“They’ve gone too far and we’re going to hold them accountable. They’re gonna pay for that vote,” Konfrst said of Gov. Kim Reynolds and fellow Republican state lawmakers passing a law that would ban abortions as early as six weeks of pregnancy.
Iowa Democrats back Biden
Carl Wiederaenders, 65, and Cathy Jury, 68, both of Des Moines, said they feel optimistic about the direction and future of the Iowa Democratic Party, and agree that Democrats need to unify behind Biden.
“I think this group is united in terms of Joe Biden,” Jury said. “They want Joe Biden to be president again.”
Wiederaenders called Fetterman’s remarks “uplifting.”
“I think President Biden has been one of the greatest presidents,” he said. “He has passed so much major legislation” with a narrow Democratic majority in the House and Senate to lower the cost of health care for millions of Americans, fight climate change, invest in rural America and rebuild America's crumbling infrastructure.
“And when you sit back and actually analyze what has been accomplished, I think it’s fabulous,” Wiederaenders said.
Alec, 29, and Eleanor Hart, 28, both of Urbandale, said they feel good about Biden’s record.
“I think no other president has done more for us and our generation and things that are going to make a lasting impact,” Eleanor said, citing the Inflation Reduction Act — the climate, health care and tax package pushed by President Biden and passed by Democrats last year.
“It has brought so much to Iowa and just been a really positive thing to pass, especially coming of the wave of COVID,” she said.
Comments: (319) 398-8499; tom.barton@thegazette.com
Daily Newsletters