A 27-year-old Iraq veteran, Jim Mowrer (D-Boone), is the first Democrat to seek to challenge Congressman Steve King (R-Kiron) in Iowa’s 4th Congressional District. Today he launched his first campaign video to start a three-day kickoff with his first stop today in his hometown of Boone.
The video is benign and lacks partisanship and frankly is rather vague. Mowrer, who was a civilian employee in the Pentagon, said that he saw first hand what a broken Congress can do. He doesn’t specify, but I’m sure he will as the race goes forward. Looking at his “why I’m running” page you can definitely see his strategy – run as a centrist, and actually he seems to position himself as a “Blue Dog Democrat.”
In Congress the job isn’t getting done. Too many politicians on both sides of the aisle aren’t doing anything to protect middle class Iowa families like the one I grew up in. Instead too many are pushing sound bytes to please the extreme parts of their party and score political points for partisan gain.
Here in Iowa and America it really is just about us. It’s our country – if we don’t maintain it and fix our problems, no one else will. There is no backup coming to the rescue. We have to take responsibility for the future of our nation. We complain about Washington and Congress and here in the 4th District we only get one Representative and if we don’t get it right then we are the ones responsible. We need the best person in Congress and I know if you elect me, I will work everyday to be the best for you.
I have a proven record of serving Iowa and this Nation, a record of results. I was deployed for 23 months with the Iowa National Guard defending our country in Iraq, returned to Iraq as a civilian to help finish the job and then I went to the Pentagon to make it more efficient. I believe our government needs to give the people their moneys worth and that’s why I’m proud of my record of fiscal discipline and governance reform.
I have to ask that at age 27 what record of fiscal discipline and governance reform does he have? He holds a master’s degree so that tells me that he has spent much of adult life in school. He’ll need to explain that.
He seems to have learned from Christie Vilsack’s mistakes. You don’t launch your campaign with a “listening tour” to try to figure out Iowa values. You speak to them and they are a part of who you are. Also having grown-up in the district, albeit having lived in the Beltway for a short-time working for the Pentagon, he can avoid the “carpet bagger” label that Vilsack carried. She didn’t seem like she fit with the district; I get the sense that Mowrer will resonate better. The fact that he farmed will also be a plus for rural voters.
He lacks the name ID that Vilsack had, but he seems to be off to a better start. Congressman King could have a strong challenger in 2014, but Mowrer will still need to overcome a large voter registration advantage that Republicans have in the district.
Shane Vander Hart
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