Editorial: Try Iowa Nice

Western Iowa is not exactly a magnet for people. Rural counties have been losing population for generations, which erodes prosperity for everyone. The least we can do is to be welcoming. To conjure some of that Iowa Nice. To be friendly neighbors where everyone is treated equally. That and clean air and water. Those things will take you a long way.

That’s not the signal we’re sending. The governor just signed a raft of bills that are anything but welcoming to, say, gays and Blacks. She just ordered Iowa National Guard troops to the border to reinforce the message that we are tough on immigrants.

One would think that if you want to grow, you invite everyone into the enterprise. The places that are growing welcome all stripes. Storm Lake is something of an anomaly in rural Iowa because it is flourishing, thanks to its embrace of different people.

Rural Iowa doesn’t have many amenities or distractions. Our water and air could be better. So we have to work harder at not running people off. The maddening part is that the governor is a product of rural politics, and so is the legislative power cabal. They should have a better understanding of what we’re up against. Yet a certain meanness has set in to our politics that shoves certain people aside. That is not becoming of a place that is having a hard time selling itself to young people especially. We need an attitude adjustment.

We need people — gays, Blacks, immigrants, young women, college graduates, eccentrics and rednecks. You can’t draw them in by keeping them out.