The Humility of Rod Roberts

I want to piggyback on what Craig Robinson of The Iowa Republican wrote about Rod Roberts speech at the Iowa Republican State Convention on Saturday, as well as what Jeff Jorgensen wrote here.

As some of you know Rod was nominated for Lt. Governor on the floor of the convention by Linda Harrington of Lee County.  That was seconded.  Prior to that the Lt. Governor nominee, State Senator Kim Reynolds was nominated by Congressman Steve King and Bob Vander Plaats was nominated by Representative Dwayne Alons (R-Hull).

All three were called behind the stage to determine whether or not they accepted the nomination and all three were given the opportunity to speak.  Rod was able to speak first and he said that on June 8th the voters made their decision and they chose former Governor Terry Branstad, he then said, “I respect that decision. Branstad has the right to choose his own lieutenant governor. I endorse both Terry Branstad and Kim Reynolds. I respectfully decline the nomination.”

That demonstrated that he is a statesman.  This shows that he is a man of integrity.  This is a mark of humility, which is an attribute that I would readily ascribe to Rod Roberts.  He is meek, which is something a Christ-follower should be.  That isn’t the same thing as weakness.  When I read Philippians 2:3-4 which says:

Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.  Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others, (ESV).

Rod Roberts embodies that.  That is not something I say lightly, there are very few people that I can say that about – especially those involved in politics.

He respected the outcome of the race, and believes as I do, that the Gubernatorial nominee should have the right to select his own running mate.  Which is why the Rod Roberts for Lt. Governor campaign focused on encouraging Governor Branstad to place him on his ticket, not to force him to do so at convention.

I have seen talk from some who claim this move was a Branstad staged event to show “how a loser is supposed to act.”  I would imagine the same people think that Roberts was in to provide cover for Branstad, both are not true.  I spoke with Rod before and after.  There was no organized plan to have Rod nominated at Convention either by the Branstad campaign or the campaign I was involved with prior to Governor Branstad announcing his choice for Lt. Governor.  Afterwards, Ms. Harrington, went up to Rod and apologized because she didn’t know he didn’t want that.

He said he was thankful for the opportunity to speak, but didn’t want to be added to the ticket that way.  Some may be surprised by this, but those who know him were not.