Which GOP Iowa? Ray or Trump?

Rumors of an earthquake near Des Moines are false. There were tremors recently, I believe, but they were simply the late Republican Gov. Bob Ray, spinning in his grave. I guess he had received a report, somehow, on Kim Reynolds.

Ray brought honor to himself, his Republican Party, and our state by simply being a compassionate and creative Republican. He was elected to five terms.

He was a busy governor. He issued executive orders on civil rights, energy conservation, and created the Iowa Council on Children, and a Commission on the Status of Women.

The Des Moines Register summed up his career. “Gov. Bob Ray brought out our best, made us proud to be Iowans.” Rare, but not alone, Gov. Ray has not been the only Republican to serve us with distinction, leaving us a legacy of inspiring accomplishments.

Jim Leach served for 30 years in the U.S. House. From the beginning to the end, he was a Republican, a creative force for a better America. When he left the Republican Party papers reported, “He said the switch was prompted by a Republican Party that he described as lurching to the right by its support of Donald Trump, leading up to and after Jan. 6.”

Two guys of remarkable character served country, our state and their party with more than just distinction. Unfortunately, the Republican Party of Jim Leach and Bob Ray was nowhere to be seen on a recent PBS show, reflecting today’s Republican Party. Judy Woodruff interviewed eight Iowa Republicans about Donald Trump and the 2024 election.

One question was “If Trump were charged and convicted for taking Secret documents with him would you still support him and vote for him?” A unanimous vote: “Yes.”

The one person who said he wished Trump would move on, would nonetheless vote for him. Their other responses were not new, and not really responses. “What about Hunter Biden?” “The media is out to get him.” “And so is the Justice Department.” ”He accomplished a lot.” “How about Hillary?”

The chosen eight are Republicans who look OK, healthy, well groomed, able to sit upright, and whose noses aren’t running. No one drools. It goes downhill, however, from there when they speak.

They aren’t in the Leach and Ray tradition of responsible Republicans. They all raise their hands when asked if they would vote for Trump in 2024.

Reasonable Republicans, but none from Iowa as best I can tell are beginning talking truth. Mike Pence, John Bolton, Trump’s National Security Adviser and Bill Barr, his Attorney General have spoken out about his narcissism and unfitness for being president. They see him as sowing chaos and doubt.

William Galston of the Brookings Institution., sums up my fears. ”If you have fundamental doubts raised about those institutions, then constitutional democracy is as a whole is in trouble.”

We know how Jim Leach will vote. If Bob Ray were here, I think we know how he would vote. They should be the guides for all Iowa Republicans, not just how they vote, but how they think.

Norman Sherman of Coralville has worked extensively in politics, including as Vice President Hubert Humphrey’s press secretary.