Complete Campaign Incompetence

While I am skeptical of Democrats winning in lily white Iowa anytime soon, Abby Finkenauer should be a great choice to take on Old Man Grassley. Except that her campaign is staffed by complete incompetents and it might lead to her being thrown off the ballot.

Former Rep. Abby Finkenauer (D-IA), Democrats’ current leading contender to take on Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) in the fall, is already fighting for her political life — and that’s just to get on the ballot.

Two Republican voters challenged a slew of the Finkenauer campaign’s signatures in a throwing-spaghetti-at-the-wall strategy. Officials ultimately winnowed the list down to focus on scrutinizing just three signatures with either the incorrect date or no date at all. If those three got tossed, Finkenauer would only have the necessary 100 signatures in 17 counties — not the required 19 — disqualifying her from making the primary ballot. The State Objection Panel — composed of the Democratic state attorney general and auditor and the Republican secretary of state — ruled two-to-one along party lines that the signatures counted, greenlighting Finkenauer to make the ballot.

The Republican voters appealed, sending the case to a district court. There, Judge Scott Beattie, appointed by Gov. Kim Reynolds (R), ruled in favor of the Republican voters. “The Court takes no joy in this conclusion,” Beattie wrote. “The Court should not be in the position to make a decision to make a difference in an election, and Ms. Finkenauer and her supporters should have a chance to support her candidacy.” 

Say this is Republican partisan hackery if you want. It is. However, Iowa has an absurd 99 counties. You need 100 signatures from 19 of them? And they were so lazy to barely bother with this, enough that they risked the entire campaign? This is just sheer, unabashed incompetence and it’s far too common among Democratic insiders who seem to forget that they are going to ratfucked at every possible opportunity. Christ.