Thread by @Pinboard

Starting the political day with the Scholten campaign in Breda, Iowa. The last time I was in this part of the state was a million years ago, to see a Buttigieg rally

Paid a visit to Trophies Plus in Breda, a family business with 20+ employees that makes medals, plaques and trophies for school sports teams nationwide. Covid has hit them hard

Globalization pops up in the oddest places. Almost all chenille patches for varsity letters, for example, are now made in the Dominican Republic. Trophies Plus proudly makes them in Iowa—on Japanese sewing equipment

On to this fantastic lunch at Darrell’s Place in Hamlin. Politics demands snackrifice

The harvest is starting in Iowa. Corn prices are so low that many farmers can’t make the cost of production

Pretty great name for a hair salon in Exira

Community event with J.D. in Exira. Most of the attendees by show of hands are farmers, farmer’s wives or daughters

Scholten campaigns on the 1921 Packers and Stockyards Act, which a Republican introduced back when five companies controlled 45% of the livestock market. Today 4 multinational companies control 70% of hogs and 85% of cattle

Scholten, a former pro baseball player, hands out these campaign baseball cards at events. Please help him print more by contributing through the Great Slate! secure.actblue.com/donate/great_s…

Next event is Audubon, Iowa. Social distancing means political events resemble 200 years ago—in the town square, speaking without amplification. Local Democrats are leafleting to hold Sen Grassley to his July promise on Supreme Court nominations

Lot of questions here in Audobon about Medicaid reimbursements. Iowa privatized Medicaid under republican rule, and there’s fear that covid will be treated as a pre-existing condition

Albert the bull, ladies and gentlemen

Operation t-bone flag flies at half mast in memory of billions of Albert’s fallen brethren

Onwards to Coon Rapids, which has two of my favorite small town features—a “we don’t need no stinking architect” American Legion and a bank trying desperately to look like it was built for the ages (with pasted on logo of latest owner)

Campaigning in the time of COVID. @JDScholten talking to a drive-in crowd in Carroll over an FM radio microphone. The cars honk in lieu of applause

Q/A is done by drivers texting questions to JD’s staffer. First question is about COVID medical costs.

Someone just honked for a mention of the 1921 Packers and Stockyards Act that broke up the meatpacking trusts. I wish @matthewstoller was here

Again, the reason that Scholten can pursue this mad project of visiting all 374 towns in his district (he's halfway through!) is because your donations to the Great Slate have helped free our candidates from hours a day of fundraising phone calls. secure.actblue.com/donate/great_s…

In Coon Rapids, we met with Community Coordinator Katie Mason. Her job is to help revitalize the town after the loss of the Garst Seed Company, which was founded in Coon Rapids in 1931 and once employed 300. Garst was acquired and shut down by Syngenta, a Swiss multinational

One big project Mason is helping on is revitalizing Main Street. Already seven new businesses have opened, but three of them can only do so part time, because the local entrepreneurs need to keep their regular full-time jobs to stay on their health insurance plan.

Coon Rapids is home to Frohlich's Super Valu, a family-owned grocery store that's been in business for 100 years. Dollar General just moved into town and immediately cut their business by 65%. It's only thanks to covid-19 (which has boosted grocery business) that they stay afloat

A place like Frohlich's is deeply involved in the community. Dollar General is an extractive business that siphons money to Wall Street, leaving behind minimum wage jobs and food deserts. It's become a vampire sucking the life out of small-town grocery stores across rural America

This fits a larger pattern of local business being eaten by giants like WalMart, local journalism being bought up by conglomerates, and schools and hospitals being hollowed out. This is why the Democratic Party can't abandon rural America, even if it's harder to run here.