Iowa Republican Joni Ernst’s undying fealty to the Kochs might just be turning around to bite her in the ass. Case in point, this weekend’s debate and her need to defend her call to abolish the EPA, a position that could provide great economic boon to the Koch brothers.
DAVENPORT, Iowa — Republican Joni Ernst defended her call to eliminate the Environmental Protection Agency during an Iowa Senate race debate here Saturday night, saying states should lead the way on ending pollution. […]
Getting rid of the EPA is one of several positions Ernst staked out prior to the Republican primary in this critical and extremely tight Senate race. Facing a slew of attack ads by her Democratic opponent, Bruce Braley, Ernst is now trying to reassure general election voters that her stances are reasonable.
She had to defend her huge support from the Koch brothers, too.
Ernst defended the support she’s receiving from David and Charles Koch by saying that she has never signed any pledge and has promised the brothers nothing. Braley responded by noting that she’s signed a no-new-taxes pledge.
“You attended two secret Koch brother donor meetings in California,” he said. “You called them wonderful at that meeting … The Kochs have seven different organizations attacking me right now.”
“So what?” the pundit crowd which has been insisting that the Kochs are too unknown to be a factor in this election. On the contrary, the Kochs are pretty well known. That goes right along with being pretty unpopular. Check out this nugget from the Iowa poll, which now has the race in a statistical tie.
Yep, 71 percent of respondents know enough about the Kochs to have an opinion on whether they help or hurt Ernst, and 50 percent say they hurt. In every single group—men, women, older, younger—Iowans say the Kochs are bad for the campaign. Even Republicans, by a 36 to 27 percent margin, say the Kochs are a bad influence.
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The Koch brothers are as politically toxic as they are environmentally toxic. Iowa knows it, and apparently Joni Ernst is finding that out.
