Tea Party Congressman Steve King (R. IA-4) bragged about running his 2012 re-election campaign on wedge issues like abortion and gay marriage at CPAC. This may have been his way to tell Karl Rove and group that he can win the Senate seat of retiring Senator Tom Harkin (D. IA) in 2014:
http://www.salon.com/...
” I didn’t run on jobs and the economy,” King told CPAC, adding that he “stood on life and stood on marriage,” unlike some of his colleagues in the House. “A bunch of people who have backed away from these challenges don’t realize that I’m still here standing.”
“Our job is to step up and defend our values and the full spectrum of constitutional conservatism,” he said. - Salon, 3/16/13
Rove's new Super PAC, Conservative Victory Fund, was trying to discourage King from running because of extreme views, making him an unelectable candidate like other failed Tea Party backed candidates, Todd Akin (R. MO) and Richard Mourdock (R. IN). Rove's threats are only tempting King to jump into the race.
King brought the full crazy to the CPAC crowd. He said that any Republican supporting comprehensive immigration reform, including a pathway to citizenship, would be political suicide:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/...
"Even Republicans seem to think that these undocumented Democrats could be made [GOP] voters," King said, "and what happens is that two out every three that would be legalized [and] become Democrats. And it's not 12 million. It's more like 20 million."
"But it isn't just the equation of 2/3 of over 20 million that will vote for the guy who opposes our conservative candidate whoever that might be, but it's also those who will leave us if we fail them," King said, adding, "We have to go back and tie together and restore the pillars of American exceptionalism and the rule of law is is essential." - BuzzFeed, 3/16/13
No CPAC speech wouldn't be complete without some form of adulation for Ronald Reagan. King not only praised The Gipper but even went to the right of the former President and conservative savior:
http://www.nationaljournal.com/...
King played to a CPAC crowd that had booed lustily when an earlier speaker referenced a Karl Rove-backed push to oust "unelectable" candidates. Making his pitch to the GOP's grassroots, King positioned himself even to the right of the man whose image loomed largest on the stage's backdrop -- Ronald Reagan. The 40th president "only let me down a couple of times in eight years," King said, recalling immigration as one of those times: "I still have the dent in my filing cabinet that I kicked it after I heard the news that he had signed the amnesty act of 1986." - National Journal, 3/16/13
I would be surprised if King decided not to run for the Senate. He's crazy enough to think he has a chance of winning Harkin's seat. Luckily for us, we have a great candidate to succeed Harkin in Congressman Bruce Braley (D. IA-1):
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/...
Iowa’s largest public employee union, AFSCME Iowa Council 61, has endorsed him, Braley’s campaign said in a news release today. Two other unions, the Iowa State Council of Machinists and the Great Plains Laborers’ District Council, had endorsed him earlier this year.
“To know what Bruce Braley works for, just take a look at where he’s come from,” AFSCME Iowa Council 61 President Danny Homan said in the statement. “His mom is still teaching in Brooklyn, Iowa, and his dad worked at a grain elevator. Bruce learned by their example early in life how to work hard, and he’s been a fighter for the middle class in Congress.” - Des Moines Register, 3/13/13
If you'd like to get involved with or donate to the Braley campaign, please do so here:
http://www.brucebraley.com/