Fair shot or long shot?

As soon as Montana Gov. Steve Bullock signed the last bill of the year compiled by his home state legislators, he officially announced his bid for the 2020 presidential campaign and almost immediately booked a plane to Iowa.

One of his first stops happened to be in Jasper County.

Surrounded by a gaggle of reporters, photographers and camerapersons recording his every move Friday morning, Bullock arrived with a special guest at Uncle Nancy’s Coffeehouse & Eatery in Newton, which has now hosted two of the 22 or so Democratic 2020 presidential candidates this year.

Bullock was accompanied by prominent Democrat Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, who announced his endorsement of the six-year governor one day earlier.

Miller referred to Bullock, who once served as attorney general of Montana, as a friend of 10 or more years, describing the candidate as a Democrat more closely related to former President Barack Obama as opposed to being a moderate or “where Bernie (Sanders) is.”

The acting Iowa attorney general added he is “very comfortable with where (Bullock) is at on the issues,” while also commending his ability to connect with people. Cheers and claps of approval from the largely Democratic crowd at the Newton coffee shop certainly seemed to back up that notion.

As referenced by his campaign materials and opening speech, Bullock seems aware of his chances or knows the odds are stacked against him, but he concedes he wants a “fair shot” nonetheless.

Apart from the mainstay health care and climate change issues talked about extensively by just about every candidate at this point, Bullock’s message of putting an end to the corrupting influences of “dark money” in politics seemed to resonate with the Jasper County crowd.

As did his stance against President Donald Trump, a subject most Democratic candidates share the same feelings toward, albeit with varying degrees of genuine hostility.

Although it wasn’t a consistent crutch in Friday’s conversation with voters, unlike John Hickenlooper’s visit to Newton the week before, Bullock certainly made it known he wanted Trump to be a “one-term president.” The crowd applauded him early for that bit of information.

But, he stated, that is probably not the only reason why a very small chunk of the Jasper County electorate were there that morning. For some it was to seek out answers to fixing what Bullock described as a “broken economy,” for others it may have been insight into repairing a fragmented political system “that isn’t giving people a fair shot.”

Or, as one woman described, a “humanitarian crisis” on the border of the United States of America and Mexico in which immigrant children were forcibly separated from their families. Bullock said the problem is less so about a wall and more so about creating “an orderly path for immigration.”

A representative from Renewable Energy Group’s biodiesel plant in Newton asked if Bullock was in support of biodiesel fuels and renewing the tax credits, which the company in the past has said will help “encourage growth and expansion” and lead to more projects benefiting the biodiesel industry.

Bullock said he stands for continuing the tax credit, relaying his home state’s experience working with a local college to find different ways to make biodiesel jet fuel.

An issue directly affecting Jasper County citizens, and is frequently addressed at gatherings of both Democratic and Republican politicians alike, is the United States’ tariff war with China. Places like Iowa and Montana, Bullock said, are “dependent on being able to have access to markets.”

However, Bullock said he fundamentally believes the United States “should be tough on China” and must also build allies across the world. Regardless, the candidate said he “wouldn’t be going down the tariff route.”

Bullock added, "But any producer that says, 'Alright, a little bit of money from the Department of Agriculture is going to take care of this'? Guess what! Those markets are going to be gone. Brazil and others will take it. So you can be tough on trade but you don't do it alone."

The Newton Daily News asked the governor for further clarification regarding a tough stance on trade after he finished mingling with constituents. Bullock said “going tariff to tariff isn’t going to change China’s behavior.”

Bullock added, “The notion that you’ll compensate your farmers and ranchers for what’s lost because of the tariffs ... it’s hurting the farmers immediately and will hurt them long term because we’re going to lose our market share.”

Contact Christopher Braunschweig at 641-792-3121 ext. 6560 or cbraunschweig@newtondailynews.com