Grassley, Ernst don’t represent core values

In 2013 Sen. Chuck Grassley and five other Republicans on the Judiciary Committee voted against the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act. It passed without their support.

In 2018 Grassley supported U.S. Rep. Steve King's reelection and said he will back Donald Trump in 2020. Grassley won't welcome Trump challengers, and believes King is great for Iowa, although the National Republican Congressional Campaign denounced King and dropped its support.

In 2018 Sen. Joni Ernst went to Mississippi to support Cindy Hyde-Smith, who wore a confederate hat and told a supporter she would sit on the front row of a public hanging. There's a lot to be done for Iowans, but Ernst was in Mississippi - shaking hands, smiling, following Hyde-Smith in pictures in the media.

I used to think Grassley was balanced and mostly fair. I had hopes for Ernst. Neither represents my core being. Neither represents my core values. Both have done some good things, but that does not make up for lack of character. Both are politicians at their worst and I look up to neither for leadership, honesty, or a good future for Iowa or the nation.

It has been an icy winter. Not much beautiful snow to cover our muddy fields in northeast Iowa. The daylight is short; the darkness comes early. I am trying to pull out something hopeful but am awash in damaging language, lies, and deceit from those who represent me. I await spring. Maybe something different will come.

Nancy Eldridge

Decorah