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IOWA CITY — The wet, gray and slightly rumbling skies above Republican demonstrators on the University of Iowa campus Wednesday night did not detract, but served to mirror the mood of those in attendance.
Although College Republicans provided a stack of pre-made signs to those attending a GOP rally Wednesday night in Iowa City, some participants came equipped with their own. (Photo: Lynda Waddington/The Iowa Independent)
“Tonight isn’t about Democrats. It isn’t about Republicans, or even independents. It’s about all Americans,” said Matt Strawn, chairman of the Republican Party of Iowa, at the beginning of the event. “It is about people standing up for what they know is right. … It is up to us to show America that this is not freedom.”
The “this” referred to by Strawn is recently passed health care reform legislation, although those in attendance rarely, if ever, referred to it by name. Words such as “socialism,” “government take-over,” “Obamacare” and “unconstitutional” were understood to be both the subject of immediate consternation as well as the overriding reasons why government needs to be reclaimed by a Republican majority.
“I know, even from this vantage point in Washington, that the passage of this government take-over of health care was a blow,” said U.S. Rep. Mike Pence, an Indiana Republican who made remarks to the rally via Skype. “It hit hard on those of us who cherish freedom and limited government and conservative principles. It was a blow to our freedom.”
Pence was the only scheduled speaker of the night to even briefly touch on the crowd’s sense of disappointment that, despite their efforts to prevent passage of the current reform bill, it had been passed and signed into law.
“This is not democracy. This is tyranny,” said Dane Nealson, chairman of the Iowa Federation of College Republicans. “We need to send a message to [U.S. Reps.] Dave Loebsack, Bruce Braley and Leonard Boswell that this is not what Iowa believes.”
Christopher Reed, one of four people battling for the Republican nomination in the 2nd Congressional District, said that members of his party can no longer “waste time debating with liberal Democrats,” and that those in Washington need to understanding that, just like the attack on Pearl Harbor, the signing of this reform legislation had “awoken a sleeping giant.”
Loeback, the Democratic incumbent in the 2nd District, didn’t listen to the people of Iowa, said to Rob Gettemy, another Republican 2nd District hopeful, but instead listened to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and President Barack Obama.
“They used a legislative bag of tricks to impose this on us,” he said.
Democrat David Smithers of Wellman was one of a handful of individuals who counter-demonstrated during the rally. His stance, however, was not favorable to the reform legislation or either political party. (Photo: Lynda Waddington/The Iowa Independent)
Brenna Findley, a staffer for U.S. Rep. Steve King now running for Iowa Attorney General, called for Tom Miller, the state’s current attorney general, to “lay down the law, stand up for Iowans and stand up against the unconstitutional mandates in the government take-over of health care” and join with the attorneys general in 13 other states who have filed suit against the legislation.
“I’ve listened to all of this baloney about a year ago [from Obama] about this not being about a red state and not being about a blue state, but the United States of America. Well, let me tell you something. He is about to find out what kind of country this is,” said Steve Rathje, who is also seeking the 2nd District GOP nomination. “I’m tired of all of this. I’m sick and tired of all of this. It is time to put people into office that know how to get something done.”
Those who touted the passage of health care reform as a victory failed to identify exactly who or what it was a victory against, said Mariannette Miller-Meeks, the only woman seeking the GOP’s nomination in the 2nd District.
“They said that Obama won this fight, which was 100 years in the making,” she said. “Was it a victory over Republicans? No, it was not. Was it a victory over conservative thinkers… ? No, it wasn’t. It was a victory over we, the American people. It was a victory over our right for self-determination. It was a victory over our right to create our own destiny.”
Although those attending the rally in Iowa City were vocal throughout remarks by scheduled speakers and were openly angry at Democratic leaders for approving a bill deemed as unconstitutional and “a path to socialism,” the only violence advocated by the group, unlike in other parts of the U.S., was for the immediate killing of the bill.
The GOP rally was organized in advance of a return visit on Thursday by President Barack Obama to the University of Iowa — the location where he first announced his vision for health care reform in May 2007.
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