Ok, I have a rant here. About Ernst and her bullshit.

[Bluzmann57]

Joni, I am a lifelong Iowan, although I come from the better side of the state. And my dad was a simple working man who did not graduate high school but later got a GED because 1- he wanted to help himself, and 2- he wanted to set a good example for his children.
He worked his ass off in a manufacturing facility so his family would never be left wanting. We did not have everything, but we had a house, clothes, and decent food. And he and my mom taught us honest to goodness VALUES as well. Values like caring for people who are less fortunate, not telling lies, not stealing, and so on.
It's too bad that Ernst, who most certainly did not grow up poor, doesn't have the same sense of values and hard work that most of us Iowans live and breathe.
I worked at a restaurant among other things when I was a kid, and so did my sister. We were taught about the value of hard work, honesty, and the dignity of hard work while making a decent wage.
I have (distant) relatives who live in Red Oak, and while they voted for Ernst, they know damn well that she wasn't a poor person while growing up.
Sorry about the length and probable incoherence of this post, but Ernst just pisses me off. Thank you for indulging a simple Iowa guy, although I certainly am not a farmer. I do like to eat, so I guess that farmers and me have that in common.

[cyberswede]

1. Good post, fellow Iowan

[onecaliberal]

2. I agree she wasn't poor.

I can't fathom how anyone could vote for that person.

[djean111]

3. Good post, and refreshing to see it was about her politics, and not bread bags.

Thanks.

[Itchinjim]

4. As a fellow Iowan and grandson of farmers, let me just say,

Bread bags go inside the shoe, and no self respecting farmer is afraid of getting cow shit on their boots. Joni is a feed lot full of bullshit all by herself.

[CoffeeCat]

5. self delete

[Orsino]

6. She is not the first to use humble origin stories...

...as a smokescreen to hide her party's agenda of oligarchy.

[underpants]

7. Wonder woman

[madaboutharry]

8. Wonder Bread Woman is a better name.

I think, at best, the "bread bags on the shoes" story is an embellishment.

[moondust]

9. GOP identity politics.

My suspicion is that somebody in the GOP told her to go big on the down home farm identity stuff like castration and bread bags because it would get a lot of attention and make a lot of Iowans defensive about the farm culture, prompting them to go to the polls to defiantly support their farm girl--regardless of what she stood for or advocated or who financed her campaign.

[FSogol]

10. Well said. K&R. n/t

[Skidmore]

11. Well spoken. This Iowan understands and agrees with you.

I was thinking about something as I was reading your post. Ernst attended Columbus State University in Georgia. Out of state tuition is not cheap anywhere.