Editorials: Restore the caucuses

After the drubbing it took this cycle, the Democratic National Committee should restore the Iowa Caucuses to prominence on the nominating calendar. After Joe Biden and Kamala Harris ended up among the also-rans in the 2020 cycle, the DNC left Iowa by the wayside and went on to abandon rural America.

Meanwhile, the Republican Party put Iowa first and is no worse for it, certainly. They are comfortable with Iowa. Too White? Latinos supported Trump. Black men stayed home. Trump won Iowa by double digits and swept the swing states.

“We can’t survive as a viable political party when the map of America is solid red except for a strip on the west coast and a few states on the east coast,” former senator and Iowa Democratic patriarch Tom Harkin told us. He agrees that Iowa should be upfront along with other rural red states “to set a different tone.”

If you understand the past 40 years of frustration in places like Ottumwa or Early, you might be able to shape a message that wins back White working-class folks and Latinos. To understand, you must campaign there and listen.

The DNC doesn’t like Iowa in part because Bernie Sanders kept running at the front of the caucuses with a populist message that had great appeal in rural quarters like ours. He attacks corporate greed and demands access to health care. That scares an Establishment  eager to sidle up with corporate donors. Kamala Harris had a billion dollars but not the ear of Storm Lake’s second precinct.

We are sentimental, but we wish Howard Dean ran the DNC again. He declared that Democrats must campaign in all 50 states and cede no ground. Barack Obama took a hint and organized his primary campaign everywhere. Once he won, the apparatus folded up and rural progressives were left to their own devices. After Harkin retired, the state party fell apart. It has been left for dead.

Putting Iowa back where it belongs in the nomination process — a savvy, informed caucus crowd in charge of how things are done, and not the national party — would help to rebuild the two-party system. It would force candidates to confront working-class, rural voters. It would help launch viable candidates like Barack Obama, and even Bernie Sanders if the corporate cronies would allow. You might see Democrats start to take anti-trust and climate change seriously. We might be talking about how to lift wages in a stagnant rural economy.

If Democrats were talking about those issues, Iowa could have a competitive political system again. If Democrats could compete in what was a moderate, purple state eight years ago, they might not lose the White House to a candidate with 34 felony convictions.

Avian flu spreads

A teenager from British Columbia was in critical condition this week with avian flu, which should raise a bright red flag. The teen did not have contact with livestock or birds, but did have contact with pets. This flu, which has been present in BV County for a decade or more, has morphed into the human population.

It was first detected in dairy workers in Texas with conjunctivitis, an eye irritation. The Canadian teen reported to an emergency room on Nov. 2 coughing.

Meanwhile, studies show that the avian flu is fatal to ferrets, suggesting that it could have major impacts on humans.

Another pandemic could be in the making, unless we take the steps necessary to prevent it.

First, we must make sure that livestock workers are protected with proper equipment. This virus could spread among humans. We should take every precaution. We trust that public health authorities at the state and local levels are helping livestock producers protect workers.

Second, we know that livestock vaccinations are effective but are opposed for commercial reasons. It is doubtful that a comprehensive vaccine program can be mounted with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., directing that arena for the White House. There also is a push to ship raw milk across state lines. People not familiar with science believe that milk infected with flu is safer than pasteurized milk. One of the dairy workers was infected by raw milk from a cow teat.

We need more on-farm testing. We need vaccination. We need strong biosecurity. We need protective gear for workers that is used. We need ramped up research through the USDA. We need vigilance at every level.

This disease is mutating and spreading rapidly. We should be deadly serious about it.