By Lockwood Ridge freelancenewsreport@juno.com
On Assignment:Davenport Iowa
The call for the question is drawing near to paraphrase Robert's Rules Of Order. And, the question may not have any clearly defined answers. Iowa voters, despite what fabrications the various polls cite are a diverse group. The results which we are about to receive, may be yet another example how closely splintered our American populace has become do to "politics as usual." The memory of Ronald "Dutch" Reagan, a star swimmer turned sportscaster for WOC in Davenport turned actor, turned politician is still an icon etched in the spirit of Iowa voters. Patriotic, American, Staunchly Anti-Communist and Conservative is the hero Iowans desperately seek without results. American's have a romance with politics, much the same as Britain's have a romance with royalty. You see it everywhere in the amber waves of grain and the waves of red, white and blue trimming. You see it in the faces of the butter carvers, so desperately seeking approval and placement above their peers. A brief sense of validation in a people forgotten until every fourth year. The forgotten farmer, the aging prom queen, they are all here. All clamoring to hear in one way or another that they matter. Candidates seeking their votes clamor the same. Do I matter? Can I count on your vote? America needs you. Ah, they serve a patriotic benefit for the whole country. More validation. But as most dwellers in local diners drinking coffee at six in the morning will tell you, they're not much impressed. One thing we will not see here is the famous "Dutch" Reagan landslide victory over Fritz Mondale. Nope, not here. Doubtfully, nowhere else. Our candidates are a cross section of issues which divide our country's populace further and further as time goes on. Baptist versus Mormon, men versus women, black versus white, gay versus straight. Most here will attest to the fact that as farmers, "if you don't work, you don't eat." Not so in Washington by their take. And due to that fact they remain emotionally resigned. If anything they do not feel that their interests or values are represented at all. A liberal freeloading agenda poured over a plate of hay bales and twine seasoned with a little bit of sweat for those who work for a living. A gesture spitting on the backbone of America that once fed the world. Health insurance? Just another name for a middle man. It's hard enough to get produce to market and make a fair profit with a middle man getting the farmers to cut their throats rather than lose everything they invested their toil in. Retirement? What good is social security if there is no money to cover obligations? And, why has no candidate addressed the fact that the president and congress have a retirement plan markedly different and better than the voter that puts them in office? Baptist, mormon, man, woman, black, white, gay, straight, politics is getting to be like a pie with too many mouths to feed and not enough slices to go around. More coffee please Selma.
This is Lockwood Ridge Reporting
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