Kim Reynolds is an exceptionally skilled politician
That's good for her, not us
You may have heard that the publication Governing just listed Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds in its fall magazine as one of the nation’s public officials of the year for 2024.
The magazine says of Reynolds:
She’s turned out to be one of the nation’s most ambitious governors. There’s an old saying in state government that governors can get anything they want, but not everything they want — but Reynolds has come close, says David Oman, a former state GOP co-chair. “In the ranks of Iowa governors, she is already a historic governor,” he says.
What Governing is recognizing is what Iowans already know: That Kim Reynolds is an immensely skilled and successful politician.
The article about Reynolds doesn’t pass judgment on the wisdom of her legislative successes. It doesn’t characterize these victories as wins for the public, even though Reynolds does so. No, the magazine simply—and accurately—recognizes Reynolds has led a stark transformation of state government’s priorities.
She sharply slashed income taxes, transferring most of the benefits to the wealthy, while endangering our state’s long-term fiscal health. And now, she wants to go even further.
She’s also kept a tight lid on public school funding, even as she’s pushed into law an aggressive new program to divert hundreds of millions of state tax dollars to a relatively small number of Iowa families to reimburse them for their private school tuition expenses, which one study said went up in response.
Reynolds did sign a law that sharply raises beginning teacher pay, but it only came after years of Republican neglect that put Iowa in the bottom third of states nationwide in that category. She also signed a strict new abortion ban that is opposed by a majority of Iowans. Meanwhile, her reshaping of the state bureaucracy and boards and commissions has lessened the influence of everyday Iowans while—not coincidentally—consolidated power in the governor’s office.
If these are wins for Iowans, a shrinking number apparently think so.
Reynolds’ approval rating went from 50% in June to 45% in September, with 50% disapproving, according to the Iowa Poll. That’s the first time since she took office that half of Iowans have disapproved of her performance. Still, her approval rating is relatively healthy, and if the governor decides to run for re-election, she will be difficult to defeat. Especially if Democrats don’t come up with a competitive alternative.
Still, amid Reynolds’ political successes, Iowa’s waters remain fouled; rural health care is in decline; our population stagnates as we struggle to keep young people from leaving the state; disabled Iowans have been waiting for years to get basic care; and finding affordable childcare and maintaining an adequate workforce continue to be problems that befuddle state policymakers.
We also have gone from a state that values public education to one that, on Reynolds’ watch, is banning books, thousands of them.
Governing magazine recognized what Iowans already know: Kim Reynolds is an immensely skilled and successful politician. She has transformed the moderate, commonsense state government of Iowa’s traditions into one that is now at the forefront of the rightwing political and cultural wars. The price, however, is that the state now is clearly confronted with deep challenges to its ability to support our long-held values.
That may be good for Kim Reynolds, but it’s not good for Iowa.
Our weekly politics podcast
If you get a chance, please give a listen to the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative’s Iowa Down Ballot podcast. I didn’t participate this week, but my colleagues in the collaborative, Dave Busiek, Art Cullen, Laura Belin, Dennis Goldford, Barry Piatt and Bob Leonard weighed in on a range of topics, including this week’s vice-presidential debate between JD Vance and Tim Walz.
These topics also are included in the discussion:
How Donald Trump’s promises of mass deportations are playing out in rural Iowa.
The proposed state constitutional amendments that will be on the ballot this fall in Iowa.
The use of taxpayer funds by US Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks for “official” communications that look a lot like campaign advertisements. Miller-Meeks, a Republican, is in the middle of a tough re-election fight for Iowa’s 1st District congressional seat with Democrat Christina Bohannan.
The Farm Bill that remains stuck in Congress.
It’s a good discussion with knowledgeable people.
A succinct take on the VP debate
Every week, I look forward to receiving David French’s online newsletter in my email inbox.
French, a conservative opinion columnist for the New York Times, is one of the most trenchant, thoughtful, principled political observers of our time. And for all the analysis I have read about the vice-presidential debate, I found a single paragraph in French’s latest newsletter to be the most illuminating.
Vance was widely credited by media pundits with being the winner of the debate over Walz, of being able to smoothly articulate the vision of Trumpism, even if he wasn’t particularly honest along the way. (Vance claimed Trump improved Obamacare rather than try to destroy it, when in fact Trump repeatedly tried to kill it. He also tried to whitewash the Jan. 6th insurrection by claiming Trump actually agreed to a “peaceful” transfer of power.)
Still, the most important part of the debate was toward the end when Vance—who has previously said that he would have agreed to Trump’s fake elector scheme four years ago—refused to answer Walz’s simple question: Did Donald Trump lose the 2020 election?
As David French wrote:
“…. Tuesday night, voters learned exactly why MAGA loves Vance so much. He’s a talented communicator. He has a compelling life story. He can make the ideological and policy case for Republican populism better than any other politician in America. And he’s no Mike Pence: He would wreck the Republic for Donald Trump. “
By the way, if you missed the debate, don’t feel bad. You were in good company. Viewership this year was the lowest in years, according to CBS. Only 43 million viewers watched the debate between Vance and Walz. That is sharply down from the 58 million who watched Mike Pence and Kamala Harris in 2020. And since 2008, it was the second least watched VP debate. Only the 2016 debate between Tim Kaine and Mike Pence was worse. It only attracted 37 million viewers.
Wait ‘til next year
You may have noticed this column is publishing on a Saturday, instead of when it usually does, during the work week.
I have to confess that part of the reason is, I spent an inordinate amount of time watching the baseball playoffs.
If you’ve been reading this newsletter from the beginning, you know I’m a huge baseball fan. More than that, I’ve been a Baltimore Orioles fan for more than 50 years. As I wrote the spring before last, I eagerly anticipate each Opening Day in the hopes that, finally, my beloved Orioles will make it to the World Series. Our last appearance was in 1983.
My hopes of making it to the Fall Classic were dashed this week, however. Even though the Orioles made it to the playoffs for the second consecutive year—the first time that’s happened in about a quarter century—they were swept by the Kansas City Royals.
This was greatly disappointing to me, and I spent more time than I should have this week watching my team lose and, afterward, lamenting its early exit from the post-season.
I hope you will accept this excuse for the unusual weekend publication of Along the Mississippi.
The good news is this probably won’t happen again any time soon. I don’t really follow football.
Along the Mississippi is a proud member of the Iowa Writers Collaborative. Please check out the work of my colleagues and consider subscribing. Also, the collaborative partners with the Iowa Capital Dispatch, which provides hard-hitting news along with selected commentary by members of the Iowa Writers Collaborative. Please consider making a donation to support its work, too.
“Whenever you have an efficient government you have a dictatorship.” ~~ Harry S Truman
If she were really a good politician she would read the state much better than she has ever done. I think she is a smooth talker when it comes to encapsulating right wing talking points and little more.