IA-Sen: Bruce Braley criticizes Grassley as ‘a farmer from Iowa’

[Indy Texas]

Really horrid comment. Subtle disdain for those who aren't well-educated and urbane is the guilty pleasure of the Democratic Party. Only they don't give in to that pleasure nearly as often as Republicans give in to theirs - brazen disdain for those who aren't white Christian men with a net worth of at least seven figures.

[Lief 🗽]

I mean, he's right. What the hell is a farmer doing in Congress? But you're obviously not allowed to say that.

[Del Tachi]

Funny thing is...there probably are more lawyers than farmers in Iowa. 

[Ichabod]

Wikipedia says Grassley studied a Ph.D. in Political Science. Maybe the guy is not a lawyer, but it is hardly just a farmer.

Pretty stupid comment.

[DrScholl]

Just when we thought it got a tad risky for Democratic chances here, Joni Ernst, the Republican front runner for the nomination gives Mitch McConnell a run for his money because she released one of her first ads stressing how she wants to repeal Obamacare and castrates pigs for a living. She's also being endorsed by Mitt Romney himself who can be connected to Braley for their "secret" video tapes, so yeah....I'm keeping this at likely D then.

Only an idiot talks about castration in an ad and compares it to going to Congress. If this is a powerhouse candidate, I would hate to see a bad one.

[Reginald]

Is Braley in any danger due to the comment?  Nope.  A Ken Buck moment this is not.

This is true (though obviously still not the most helpful comment), but don't be surprised if media outlets equate this to the Akinesque stuff anyway.

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

I mean, he's right. What the hell is a farmer doing in Congress? But you're obviously not allowed to say that.

What the hell is a lawyer doing in Congress?

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

I mean, he's right. What the hell is a farmer doing in Congress? But you're obviously not allowed to say that.

You're not allowed to say it because it's ridiculous. Are all farmers unsuited to service in Congress because they're farmers? That's flagrantly ridiculous. If not, what the hell does asking that question even mean?

Braley isn't wrong that Grassley's an odd choice for his Judiciary Committee position, but this is still a really stupid, awful sort of thing to say.

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

I mean, he's right. What the hell is a farmer doing in Congress? But you're obviously not allowed to say that.

You're not allowed to say it because it's ridiculous. Are all farmers unsuited to service in Congress because they're farmers? That's flagrantly ridiculous. If not, what the hell does asking that question even mean?

Braley isn't wrong that Grassley's an odd choice for his Judiciary Committee position, but this is still a really stupid, awful sort of thing to say.

I think his point is that you should have some knowledge of law if you're in government, but it's certainly ridiculous to assume that a farmer has no knowledge of law or politics or that this somehow disqualifies them from holding office.  Is it not completely obvious, at this point, that having a degree in anything doesn't mean s**t if your heart is in the wrong place and your judgment is clouded?  Moreover, would a person like Lief vote for, say, Ted Cruz over a farmer based on difference in past occupations?

[badgate]

Hopefully his donors are making a ruckus.

[Tender Branson]

What an elitist idiot.

Republicans will play this thing 24/7 until the election.

Another competetive race, because Braley's favorables will drop and the eventual Republican candidate will become better known over the next months.

The Republican outside-groups will do the rest to make it competetive.

[Keystone Phil]

What was that about Republicans making stupid comments to make safe-ish seats into competitive races?

[DrScholl]

This is hardly the same thing as legitimate rape, babies through rape are a gift from God or something like that. Republicans will go on and on about it, but the context of it is too confusing for most voters to really get outraged about, the whole committee hierarchy is virtually unknown to the average voter.

Plus, it's not like Republicans can just stick an average farmer in a commercial and have them make a statement that they could chair the judiciary committee just as well as anyone else.

[windjammer]

What was that about Republicans making stupid comments to make safe-ish seats into competitive races?

Oh please Keystone Phil, Bruce Braley has been extremely stupid with this comment, and this comment will hurt him but this isn't an Akin scandal yet. The party who makes awful comments on gays, women, immigrants, poors,... It's still mostly the Republican Party.

[Joshgreen]

What an elitist idiot.

Republicans will play this thing 24/7 until the election.

Another competetive race, because Braley's favorables will drop and the eventual Republican candidate will become better known over the next months.

The Republican outside-groups will do the rest to make it competetive.

You guys are delusional if you think this comment will make the race competitive. It's March and no one is paying attention. As someone said, there are more lawyers than farmers in Iowa and every urban dweller secretly likes these comments because it sticks it to the rurals.

[Tender Branson]

What an elitist idiot.

Republicans will play this thing 24/7 until the election.

Another competetive race, because Braley's favorables will drop and the eventual Republican candidate will become better known over the next months.

The Republican outside-groups will do the rest to make it competetive.

You guys are delusional if you think this comment will make the race competitive. It's March and no one is paying attention. As someone said, there are more lawyers than farmers in Iowa and every urban dweller secretly likes these comments because it sticks it to the rurals.

Let's hope then that I won't have to bring up your quote again in Aug./Sep./Oct. ...

The next polls will show what impact it had. But I stick with it: This race could become highly competetive over the summer.

[Joshgreen]

What an elitist idiot.

Republicans will play this thing 24/7 until the election.

Another competetive race, because Braley's favorables will drop and the eventual Republican candidate will become better known over the next months.

The Republican outside-groups will do the rest to make it competetive.

You guys are delusional if you think this comment will make the race competitive. It's March and no one is paying attention. As someone said, there are more lawyers than farmers in Iowa and every urban dweller secretly likes these comments because it sticks it to the rurals.

Let's hope then that I won't have to bring up your quote again in Aug./Sep./Oct. ...

The next polls will show what impact it had. But I stick with it: This race could become highly competetive over the summer.

Don't worry, you won't.

[DrScholl]

The NRSC is sending out emails comparing Braley to Todd Akin. Rehashing Akin is a big negative for Republicans, so I don't know why they are bringing him up.

[Joshgreen]

The NRSC is sending out emails comparing Braley to Todd Akin. Rehashing Akin is a big negative for Republicans, so I don't know why they are bringing him up.

The NRSC has never been know for sound electoral strategy...

[Miles]

Ugh...

[Tender Branson]

And (at the bottom):

[Zioneer]

What are the political leanings of those newspapers?

[CatoMinor]

... Do the Dems just not want to win this November? This is a gaffe I would expect from the GOP.

[Maxwell]

Not to mention that Grassley just owns a farm. It's not like he decided one day to run for congress after a long career of farming: he ran for election almost as soon as he got out of college (Iowa House of Rep in 1959). He has a P.H.D., and to characterize him as just a "farmer" is pretty ignorant of the facts.

And that's probably the last time I'll come to the defense of Chuck Grassley.

[LeBron]

Just when we thought it got a tad risky for Democratic chances here, Joni Ernst, the Republican front runner for the nomination gives Mitch McConnell a run for his money because she released one of her first ads stressing how she wants to repeal Obamacare and castrates pigs for a living. She's also being endorsed by Mitt Romney himself who can be connected to Braley for their "secret" video tapes, so yeah....I'm keeping this at likely D then.

Only an idiot talks about castration in an ad and compares it to going to Congress. If this is a powerhouse candidate, I would hate to see a bad one.

Oh I'm not done though! I just found out that Sarah Palin endorsed Ernst today saying, "If Nebraska’s Deb Fischer can see through the bull in Washington, then Iowa’s Joni Ernst can help her cut through the pork." And she's likely to be the nominee, to. Schaben's, Clovis' and Whitaker's chances are low and have failed to gain traction and her only real competition will be against well-funded and wealthy Mark Jacobs, so he's their only hope for the GOP not to screw up this race here. The problem for Jacobs is if this primary goes to convention, Ernst will get nominated for sure and we can keep this in the Democratic column despite the gaffe.