Iowans have the chance to lead political renewal

By Michael Richards

The New Year is a time of renewal. The integrity of Iowa citizens makes this the best place in the USA for political renewal. You can't buy Iowa voters. They're too smart to fall for dirty politics. Two recent elections illustrate this.

In the bid of southeast Iowa Republican Steve Burgmeier for the Legislature, outside interests funneled in cash to make moral wars his main issue.

Iowa voters made it clear this is not their main issue. Even with big bucks, Burgmeier lost.

Another example was the defeat of Cedar Rapids Councilman Jerry McGrane. Special interests filled the largest campaign coffers in City Council history. Even with high-profile endorsements from The Gazette, the Chamber and our new mayor, voters could not be bought off. McGrane took his wad of cash and waded into the gutter with false statements about his underfunded political opponent.

There are historic precedents for Iowa leadership of renewal on the national scene. The Republican Party grew out of the Free Soil Party that sent rural Iowa's James Harlan to the U.S. Senate in 1855. Free Soil advocates knew that civilization advances with an economy based on healthy soil and the liberty of citizens.

Basic Midwestern values are what's needed now to reset the course of our national political detour into dismal dysfunction.

Everyday Iowans can be the source of political renewal in our current history. We can't be bought and sold. Unfortunately, the opposite is true of most politicians.

Recall: Without official direction, more than 1,200 citizens of all ages responded to save the public water system of our city during the 2008 flood. Disaster response provides a model for effective daily civic action and political renewal. People are often at their very best when external circumstances are at the very worst.

Common citizens will be the source of political renewal.

Republicans are without real leadership. The Democratic Party thinks we can spend our way out of an economic slump. Both parties become more irrelevant each day. A rebellion is brewing among common citizens who finally realize they've been used by special interest-controlled politicians. Iowans can lead real renewal.

There's a political conundrum in Iowa. Most Iowans are guided by basic conservative values. This natural conservative ethic was confirmed by a recent Iowa Poll in the Des Moines Register. Iowans are fiscally responsible. We have practical skills. We know families, communities and local businesses solve problems more effectively than the Big Government approach of the Democratic Party.

At the same time, most Iowans can't buy into the angry, divisive politics of the Republican regime. Neither party honors the core values of decent Iowa citizens.

In 1901, President Theodore Roosevelt observed: “The parties are husks, with no real soul within either, divided on artificial lines, boss-ridden and privilege-controlled, a jumble of incongruous elements, and neither daring to speak out wisely and fearlessly on what should be said on the vital issues of the day.”

Right you are, Teddy, and not much has changed in 100 years. Our best choice is to renew the political process at the grass roots level. We can accomplish this at the state level - and indeed we will.

Michael Richards, a Cedar Rapids grass roots activist, is president of Soyawax International and author of “Sustainable Operating Systems/The Post Petrol Paradigm.”