With recent IA Supreme Court decision, it's clear that Name and Shame is the only avenue for dealing with sexual harassers and predators in elected office, until election day. A thread.
As @LyndaIowa points out, the @iowagop bears substantial responsibility here; I have confidence @iowademocrats will be more transparent. Unfortunately, it is my understanding the minority caucus lacks the ability to oust a Senator, where the majority party can.
Sen. @janet4iowa (among many other Dems, myself included - facebook.com/modestholdings…) has called for @NateBoulton to step down, but she lacks the authority to force an investigation or expulsion, per my understanding.
I can understand why the @IowaGOP might refrain from investigating or dismissing Boulton (as the majority party, I understand it is within their power to do both).
On the one hand, it allows them to continue with their collective heads in the sand as to the unnamed Republican legislator mentioned in the column above.
It also creates problems for us Dems. Boulton, as good of a legislator as he has been, needs to step down. Many folks understand this, though there is, to my eyes, a substantial generational divide here
This is haphazard, but I'd venture the cutoff is about age 45. Folks older than that are more likely to support Boulton remaining, whereas we younger Dems more often think he should resign or be removed.
Coincidentally, as Laura @desmoinesdem has pointed out, Iowa voters skew older, by a substantial margin. Having Boulton around seems likely to me to depress already low youth (in this case, > 45) turnout, which skews Democratic.
In other words: no bueno.
@NateBoulton, I've met you a few times, and I've made my fair share of mistakes. To a fellow straight white dude, you seemed like a nice person. You've been an effective legislator.
But the allegations against you, which you've more or less acknowledged to have some merit, strike many outside observers as credible and sufficient for you to step down.
Your statements have been troublesome and in some cases damaging to your own case. I don't believe you can continue to be an effective Legislator.
So please, in the interests of justice, fairness, and cynically, politics, step down. The stakes are too high. You've got a good gig doing important work in the private sector as a lawyer that can sustain you while you reflect.
Maybe a return to politics is in your future. But, as a fellow Iowa Dem, I must now tell you that politics should not be in your present.
/fin
/fin
