Iowa Lawmaker's Brashness Earns NoticeTuesday, September 26, 2006
SIOUX CENTER, Iowa — He's described torture at Abu Ghraib as"hazing,"argued that living in Iraq is safer than in Washington and dismissed President Bush's guest worker immigration program as amnesty.
Two-term Republican Rep. Steve King doesn't shy from controversy, and his perspective has earned him praise from conservatives _ and disdain from those who consider him outlandish.
"He says so many idiotic things. I just see him as a wacko,"says Suzanne Ryan, one of King's constituents in his rural, western Iowa congressional district.
Still, King remains popular, and his penchant for brash, and some say offensive, sound bites has helped the 57-year-old construction company owner become something of a national spokesman for his party's far-right wing.
"At the FRC (Family Research Council), he's a good friend to the family,"says Tom McCluskey, the vice president for government affairs of the conservative group."Steve King is right out front. He's one of the most articulate and one of the most willing to speak up."
Among King's notable comments:
_He argued that the media exaggerated the story of abuse at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison.
_After compiling what he called an accurate civilian violent death rate for Iraq, he said living there was safer than in some U.S. cities, including New Orleans and Detroit.
"I have a feel for the rhythm of this place called Washington, D.C., and my wife lives here with me,"he said on the floor of the House."I can tell you, she is in far greater risk being a civilian in Washington, D.C., than an average civilian in Iraq."
_He called Bush and Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., an amnesty coalition and said"amnesty mercenaries of the Senate"should have a"big, bright, scarlet letter'A'branded on their robes."
King also led a rebellion of 80 House Republicans who opposed renewal of the Voting Rights Act because of a provision that required state and local governments to print ballots in foreign languages or provide interpreters.
Some see King's rhetoric and hardline views as bombast, but his methods have opened new avenues for his political ambitions, which may include a run against four-term Sen. Tom Harkin in 2008. King also has raised the profile of his district, a sprawling farming region with only two sizable cities _ Council Bluffs and Sioux City.
"He is a showman,"says Teresa Wolf, a Democrat from Sioux City who doesn't plan to vote for King this fall."He wants attention and he delivers messages in such outlandish terms that it gets him a lot of publicity. Which is apparently what the man wants."
In an interview, King owns up to wanting attention.
"I sometimes use flowery language to make a point,"he says."It's usually a way to start debate."
But he quarrels with the notion that he is flippant, that he doesn't think before he speaks.
"That wasn't an off-the-cuff remark,"he says of his comments on Abu Ghraib, the Baghdad prison where abuse of prisoners by U.S. soldiers led to an international scandal."I looked up the word'hazing'before I spoke."
In his district there are many, like Madeline Meyer, who think King is just what the country needs.
"He's got a true feel for issues that don't work well in the national media,"says Meyer, a self-described 60-something from Odebolt, a sleepy town just a few miles from King's home in Kiron.
She supports King's efforts on immigration and establishing English as a national language, calling him an adept politician with a particular feel for voter concerns."He gets along with everybody,"she says."He listens."
Others don't share this sanguine view.
On the Internet, at least one Web site _http://www.kingwatch.org_ is dedicated to bashing King. The site is run by an anonymous group that claims to comprise residents in Iowa's 5th Congressional District.
King's opponent in November's election, Democrat Joyce Schulte, likewise has a hard time being diplomatic when she talks about him.
"I don't know if I have enough words in the English dictionary for this,"she says."It's unbelievable how he wastes the job."
King tends to ignore the critics and stands by what he says, even the crisp one-liners that make liberal groups howl.
A notable exception came earlier this year when King apologized to 86-year-old White House correspondent Helen Thomas. King had told a group of Republican Party activists days after the death of terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi,"There probably are not 72 virgins in the hell he's at. And if there are, they probably all look like Helen Thomas."
Copyright 2006 The Associated Press.
After my last King bashing column, one reader (who threatend to become a former reader) was very offended that I exhorted Republicans to regain their self-respect by not re-electing King, and proceded to write a glowing pro-King letter to the editor. I am all for using newspapers as a public forum, so her response was completely appropriate, but it certainly didn't persuade me to become a King fan. What's more, while hyperbole and sarcasm are the stock and trade of political columnists, I genuinely meant it. I didn't mean to be mean to Republicans, just to King. Gerald Ford and Barry Goldwater are great examples of Republicans who deserve everyone's respect because they could manage to be civil, bipartisan and practical when they needed to be. Heck Reagan and Schwarzenegger deserve infinitely more respect than Steve King. Believe me, some of my favorite people in this world are Republicans, I LOVE, respect, and care about many Republicans, so believe me when I tell you that Steve King makes Republicans, and Iowa look really bad.
2008 is a long way away, but it's never too soon for Republicans, Democrats, and Independents in our district to start looking for King's replacement. I would love to see Clarence Hoffman run, I might even vote for him. I'd love to see somone get up the gumption to start a recall campaign- can Congressmen be recalled? Arizona had a governor once, (Evan Mecham) who was as egotistical, anti-intellectual, racist, and corrupt as King and they got enough voter signatures to get him removed from office. SURELY, is we are such a red district, the Republican party can come up with somone to challenge this yahoo.
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