Miller-Meeks sullies her reputation. And ours.
She should hang her head in shame
In her decade-long pursuit of a seat in Congress, Mariannette Miller-Meeks presented herself as a moderate.
A Republican, sure. But not too hot. Not too cold. Just right for a district that for at least 50 years has largely demonstrated a history of ideological temperance; a district that has been ably represented by moderates of both parties, like Jim Leach and Dave Loebsack.
That posture has left doubts about Miller-Meeks’ true principles in a way that never attached to Leach or Loebsack.
The left doesn’t trust her. That’s to be expected. But much of the right harbors serious doubts, too.
Take abortion. Critics on the left call her an extremist. But on the right, she’s been accused of trying to have it both ways, of being a pretender. Miller-Meeks’ own words have muddied the waters. She called herself “pro-choice” at a public forum in 2018. Her campaign later said she misspoke. In 2022, she co-sponsored a bill to enact a nationwide ban on abortion at 15 weeks even though she’s also said the states should be the ones to act.
More recently, she’s tried to walk the tightrope on in vitro fertilization in order to support the popular practice and still appeal to voters who think it leads to the murder of unborn babies.
When it comes to Donald Trump, she’s been equally confounding.
She made excuses for the Jan. 6 rioters who tried to overthrow the 2020 presidential election. Then she voted to back an independent commission to investigate, only to try to smooth things over with Republican critics by claiming, inexplicably, that it would help Donald Trump, the instigator of the insurrection.
Then, after the effort to create the commission failed, Miller-Meeks turned around and voted against the committee the House eventually created.
The congresswoman tries to sell the idea that her record demonstrates independence. But what is undoubtedly true this this: It’s a record that bears a strong whiff of opportunism.
This week, the odor putrefied.
Iowa’s 1st district congresswoman went on Fox Business and pushed the idea that President Biden will be on drugs during Thursday’s debate with Trump.
Miller-Meeks told the Fox host, “we anticipate that for this debate that he will be on something.” She also pushed the idea that during the State of the Union address, the president was on Ritalin or steroids.
Can you imagine Jim Leach peddling this crap?
Of course not.
Lauren Boebert, yes.
Marjorie Taylor Greene, sure.
But the person who represents our district?
Dave Loebsack? Never.
Trump uses more disgusting language than Miller-Meeks but make no mistake, they’re selling the same poison.
Trump calls Biden “jacked up.” Miller-Meeks uses the words, “amped-up”
Republicans are in a bind.
They’ve argued for years that Biden can’t tie his shoes or string together two sentences. They’ve augmented that image with carefully curated videos.
Now, they face the chance that a good Biden debate performance—like the State of the Union—might sway voters away from the caricature they and their media allies have created.
Yes, Biden is old. It’s clear. We all see it. It shows in his walk. And, at times, in his speech. Still, anybody who has listened to him speak, unfiltered and unedited, can see that the caricature is false.
Does anybody think he would want a 90-minute debate if he was in “significant cognitive decline,” as Miller-Meeks claims?
Of course not. And Biden challenged Trump to two debates. Even as he does the hardest job in the world.
Thus, the Republicans’ fear—and their sudden demand that Biden take a drug test.
A better idea would be for Miller-Meeks to take a character test. (I should note here the guy she supports is a recently convicted felon who still is awaiting three other criminal trials.)
It’s not surprising that Trump would push this, nor others who have turned Congress into a circus with an approval rating that’s barely in double digits. But the person who represents us? A district that’s proved it rewards people who reject the idea of debasing themselves to curry favor with presidents, party leaders and the extremes on either side of the political divide.
Maybe Miller-Meeks is playing a role, or maybe she’s scared.
In the Republican primary this month, her radical right opponent, David Pautsch, got 44% of the vote.
Even with a low turnout, her weakness surprised a lot of people.
Pautsch even won Scott County, the most populous county in the district. If he runs again, who knows what might happen?
Clearly, it doesn’t take much to shake the Republican base’s faith in Miller-Meeks.
So, what does she do? She goes full-on MAGA. She makes up garbage about the president of the United States being on drugs and peddles it on a cable network that laps it up. Then, she puffs up her medical credentials as an eye doctor to pretend she has some special insight into Biden’s cognitive abilities in order to appeal to extremists.
But in her self-serving plea, Miller-Meeks has done something else: She’s dishonored our district’s traditions. She’s smeared us all with her bile.
If she had any character left, she would hang her head in shame.
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Great post. It's sad but not surprising, given how Mariannette Miller-Meeks has pandered to January 6 and COVID deniers.
Biden's gait has been affected by arthritis in his spine and a broken foot in late 2020. I destroyed my ankle two and a half years ago, and the injury has permanently affected my gait--but not my cognitive abilities.
As Mariannette Miller-Meeks surely knows, Biden has had a stutter for almost his whole life and that is related some of the clips Republicans play to make the president appear to be senile.