Joni Ernst wants to be the next US Senator from Iowa, and the knives are out, as it were.
She made her feelings quite clear in this unique political ad embedded below:
“I grew up castrating hogs on an Iowa farm, so when I get to Washington, I’ll know how to cut pork. My parents taught us to live within our means. It’s time to force Washington to do the same — to cut wasteful spending, repeal Obamacare, and balance the budget. I’m Joni Ernst and I approved this message because Washington is full of big spenders. Let’s make ’em squeal.”
According to National Review , the Joni Ernst TV ad contains the greatest opening line in the history of campaign commercials.
Joni Ernst is an Iowa state senator and Lt. Colonel in the Iowa National Guard and former US Army Reservist who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom. She is one of several Republicans running in the June 3 GOP primary for the open seat being vacated by the retiring Sen. Tom Harkin.
Sarah Palin has endorsed Joni Ernst’s candidacy in a posting on her Facebook page: “If Nebraska’s Deb Fischer can see through the bull in Washington, then Iowa’s Joni Ernst can help her cut through the pork… She’s been a fighter for freedom both in and out of uniform. Iowa — come together and send this Midwest Mama Grizzly roaring to Washington on her Harley.” Palin’s endorsement of Deb Fischer helped Fischer get elected to the US Senate in 2012.
In a statement accompanying the new ad, Ernst explained that “As a mother, I want to make sure that we pass along to my daughter and her generation the same great nation we inherited. To do that, we will have to get Washington to stop borrowing [40] cents out of every dollar our government spends, and repeal and replace Bruce Braley’s Obamacare with common-sense, market-driven solutions.”
Whoever wins the GOP primary will likely face Democrat Braley, a well-funded trial lawyer and Member of Congress. Braley got himself into a mess, however, with recent comments criticizing Charles Grassley, Iowa’s well-respected senior US Senator, for being a farmer. Is bashing someone for a farming background in Iowa of all places a particularly good campaign strategy?
In a campaign fundraising trip to Texas, Braley bemoaned the fact if the Republicans take the Senate in the upcoming 2014 election, Grassley would become chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, someone he assailed as “a farmer from Iowa who never went to law school, who never practiced law…”
Grassley (or any politician) being a non-lawyer is probably a huge plus in the minds of voters in the attorney-heavy Congress.
In an attempt at damage control, Braley has since apologized to Grassley and anyone that he offended and stressed that he is from a farming family and has “tremendous respect for Iowa farmers.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9Y24MFOfFU
During the government shutdown, Bruce Braley got into hot water for complaining about the lack of towels in the House gym.
Is experience castrating hogs good preparation for a career in Washington?
It remains to be seen if this campaign commercial will allow Joni Ernst to cut through the crowded GOP primary.