Perry Democrats rally around candidates Saturday

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Picture-perfect fall weather greeted Perry-area Democrats Saturday morning as about 150 of the enthusiastic partisans rallied in Pattee Park for the federal, state and local candidates on the November ballot.

Picture-perfect fall weather greeted Perry-area Democrats Saturday morning as about 150 of the enthusiastic partisans rallied in Pattee Park for the federal, state and local candidates on the November ballot.

Democratic incumbent Congressperson Rep. Cindy Axne of West Des Moines, Iowa’s Third Congressional District member of the U.S. House of Representatives, was joined at the rally by fellow Democrats Warren Varley of Stuart, candidate for Iowa Senate District 10; Larry Lyon of Waukee, seeking a seat on the Dallas County Board of Supervisors; and Michael Kern of Waukee, Democratic candidate for Dallas County Auditor.

“There’s nothing more important than what’s going on right now,” Axne said to about 150 voters in Pattee Park. “Health care is on the ballot this fall. Just a few days after the election, the Supreme Court will take up dismantling the ACA (Obamacare), something my opponent and those the folks here are running against believe should be privatized, shouldn’t be something that every single person in this country gets. They believe that we should be cutting Medicare. They believe that we should be cutting Social Security. Why? To pay for the wealthy, so that they don’t have to pay as much in taxes, to make sure the corporations, the largest among us, don’t have to pay a dime. They’d rather put that on the backs of all you hard-working Iowans at the expense of your families and your opportunities.”

Axne said that “democracy is on the line” in the election, with big implications not only for affordable health insurance but for the future survival of struggling small-town economies like Perry’s, for the nation’s public school systems now in crisis and for the many farmers facing ruin from a disastrous trade war.

“We know we’re a great country,” Axne said. “We didn’t need this president to tell us that we need to make it better. He only made it worse. We’ve got to get back on track, get out there and elect Democrats from local to federal, and get this job done.”

Almost everyone attending appeared to share Axne’s opinion, and many people in the crowd took the stage in one or more of the nine groups who stood up and spoke in support of the presidential ticket of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. There were Farmers for Biden, Educators for Biden, Grandmas for Biden, Coffee drinkers for Biden, Latinxs for Biden, Independents for Biden, Chucks for Biden, Veterans for Biden and Students for Biden.

One person whose opinions probably differed from the crowd’s was a man named Tom, who declined to identify himself by last name to ThePerryNews.com. Tom was filming the morning’s proceedings as a “tracker” for America Rising PAC, a Republican Party-financed political action committee that produces opposition research on Democratic Party members.

According to its website, America Rising PAC’s “sole purpose is to hold Democrats accountable and expose any hidden hypocrisy.” Tom the tracker declined to explain what the phrase “hidden hypocrisy” even means or to identify which Republican campaign was financing his surveillance, whether Axne’s opponent’s, Van Meter Republican David Young, or the Republican incumbents, Iowa Sen. Jake Chapman of Adel and Dallas County Supervisor Mark Hanson of Waukee.

“The republic will prevail,” Axne told the crowd in closing. “Our democracy will stand if you all continue to do the hard work that you’re doing from here until Nov. 3. We will see a brighter future not just for the great people here in this community but for our incredible third district and for the great state of Iowa. Thank you so much for all you’re doing. God bless you. Let’s go win this thing!”

A clever advertisement by the Axne campaign shows Republican David Young as Cavity Sam in the children’s game Operation, an allusion to Young’s opposition to Obamacare.

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