Even though the Iowa caucuses took place 1,700 miles from California (and the temperature was much colder here), the Golden State, its elected leaders and its policies were a constant target in the run-up to the first race for the nation's presidential nomination on Monday.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) could be a “hedge fund expert,” given the amount of money she made in the stock market while in office, the governor said of Florida, Ron DeSantis, to Iowans. He accused Republican rival Nikki Haley, a former UN ambassador, of telling more lies and being “more liberal than Gavin Newsom.” Haley said she is as afraid of a Kamala Harris presidency as she is of another term by former President Trump.
Attacking California, one of the most liberal states in the country, is a great tradition in the Republican Party. But Republican presidential candidates may be targeting the state and its politicians more this cycle because they are a better target than President Biden.
“Biden is not as motivational a villain as other Democrats might be. So the Republican candidates are essentially running a negative campaign against California,” said Dan Schnur, a politics professor at USC, UC Berkeley and Pepperdine.
He pointed to DeSantis' attack on Haley during a debate last week as evidence.
“The worst thing Ron DeSantis could think of to say about Nikki Haley during the debate was that she might be more liberal than Gavin Newsom,” Schnur added. “For an Iowa Republican, or any Republican, that is an absolutely terrifying concept.”
California was once a Republican stronghold, launching the political careers of Presidents Nixon and Reagan. But conservative attacks on the state have increased in the decades since Reagan left office.
In 2002, former President George HW Bush even apologized for referring to American Taliban fighter John Walker Lindh as “a wayward Marin County hot tub.” In 2012, California was the most unpleasant state in the country, according to a survey of Americans by Public Policy Polling. About 44% of respondents said they viewed the state unfavorably.
Today, GOP fundraising appeals talk about the state's residents (especially Hollywood celebrities and tech billionaires) fueling Democratic campaigns, even though the state also provides an enormous amount of political donations to Republican candidates.
This election cycle, DeSantis compared Haley to Newsom, whom debated in Novemberat a CNN showdown in Des Moines last week.
DeSantis mentioned Pelosi while lamenting the lack of rules for members of Congress while campaigning at Jethro's BBQ in Ames.
“I just think we have a problem with Congress…they are almost disconnected from the people. They live by different rules,” he said, adding that he has not traded stocks since he was elected to office and compared himself to Pelosi. “They make a lot of money in the market… and I don't think congressmen should be able to trade stocks. “I think we need to reform that.”
Haley raised questions about Harris, the current vice president and former U.S. senator and state attorney general, as she discussed why she believes Trump should not be re-elected president.
“Everyone knows, chaos follows him. And we cannot be a country in disarray and have a world on fire and go through four more years of chaos because we will not survive,” he told his followers at an event space in Ankeny. “Democratic chaos is not defeated with Republican chaos. And another thing we need to think about: We will never be able to afford a president, Kamala Harris.”
California should review its fiscal situation and policies before questioning why Iowa should play such a large role in selecting the nation's presidential candidates, said former Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, who has family connections to California and has been through a lot time in the state.
“Maybe you should get your house in order. “California has the largest deficit and California is moving in the wrong direction,” Branstad said in an interview. “California has a lot to offer. It's a beautiful state, it's got fantastic weather and all that. But now people are leaving because of the tax burden, the hostility and all the regulations.”
