The Des Moines Register: Predictable and Disappointing

Well the Des Moines Register has made their endorsements, and once again they show their bias and inability to do the necessary homework on these candidates. There was no doubt that they would endorse Democrat Becky Greenwald, heck one has to wonder if Greenwald’s communications director works in the campaign office or at the Register. The thing that blows my mind is that they build up Greenwald who’s intellectually weak, out of money, and just another Dem hack running for Congress while they basically ignore the other female candidate, Dr. Miller-Meeks who is also seeking to break the glass ceiling in Iowa.

Both won contested primaries, and both out raised their opponents in the final three months of the campaign, but where Miller-Meeks has an incredible background, and has run a campaign that has taken it to Loebsack, Greenwald has poorly managed her campaign resources, doesn’t have the impressive background that Miller-Meeks brings to the table. Yet the Des Moines Register has kept Greenwald’s campaign alive with free press coverage, like today’s announcement that for the first time in four weeks, Becky is going to be back on TV. Seriously, her month long absence from the airways should have been a bad story for Greenwald, but the Register bails out Becky once again because she’s a liberal Democrat.

Here is what the Register had to say about Greenwald:

“Greenwald has a wide range of experience - from health and human services to agriculture - that could serve Iowa well in Congress. She has studied in Mexico and worked for the American Red Cross, Garst Seed Co. and Pioneer Hi-Bred.”

“A vote for Greenwald is a vote for potential - that she will bring the leadership she's shown in business and civic life to elected office. But to be effective, she'll need to dedicate the time and energy to fully understanding the complexity of federal programs and be an independent thinker who will work across party lines.”

Heck I have potential, everybody has potential, but does that make them a good representative in Congress? No. Their endorsement went on to basically say that she doesn’t have a good grasp of the issues, but that’s to be expected from a new comer.

Now let’s compare the love for Greenwald to their reasons against the other woman running for Congress, Dr. Mariannette Miller-Meeks.

The Register said, “Mariannette Miller-Meeks, a physician from Ottumwa, is also an impressive candidate. She's smart, has in-depth knowledge of health care, has served in the military and has a compelling life story, which includes leaving home at the age of 16 and working her way through school. Like most campaign newcomers, including Loebsack two years ago, her knowledge of many issues is shallow. But her background indicates she'd come up to speed quickly.”

So where they pointed out Greenwald’s individual achievements, they glossed over Miller-Meeks’.

Miller-Meeks’ story is probably the most impressive of any candidate that I’ve seen run for office in Iowa. So while they high light Greenwald’s resume they gloss over Miller-Meeks’. Seriously, this is laughable. Miller-Meeks is a former nurse, 24 year military veteran, emergency room physician, faculty member both the University of Michigan and the University of Iowa, first female president of the Iowa Medical Society, and is an Ophthalmologist in private practice. Heck I heard somewhere that she can speak Korean.

Now if you only read the Des Moines Register you wouldn’t even know that Iowa’s 2nd congressional District has the opportunity to elect the first female to Congress. I believe the Register is going to have a little egg on their face on November 5th when Becky Greenwald is still just a Dem activist, and Miller-Meeks is going to be Iowa’s fist female in Congress.

And just for my own editorial purposes, that’s the way it should be. Miller-Meeks has been breaking the glass ceiling her entire life, she’s a great role model for young women. If anyone is going to break that glass ceiling in this election cycle its Miller-Meeks. We should all help her do it, and make the Des Moines Register look like fools.