Justin Reynolds
Newton
I am amused at Aaron Gunsaulus’ recent letter in which he gives the Jasper County Democrats advice on what he thinks is best for the county party. If you didn’t know better, you would think he was county chair, and had taken time off from door knocking for Hillary Clinton to talk about his friends Doug Bishop and Chaz Allen and Dennis Parrott, all Democratic officeholders.
But something else is at work. Gunsaulus is a well known, deeply conservative activist, something he’s very proud of. And just a few days ago, a Confederate sympathizer, no friend to Democrats, also chimed in about the state of Jasper County Democratic politics.
These men are free to write any letter they choose. But I am in no mood to let them go unchallenged. Two of our elected Democrats, Treasurer Doug Bishop and Senator Chaz Allen are aligning themselves with uncommonly right wing activists who are out of the mainstream. I voted for Doug and Chaz in spite of my misgivings. I should have known better after Chaz endorsed Terry Branstad for governor. I wanted to give them a chance. I wish I hadn’t.
Having said that, I wish Chaz and Doug good luck in their future efforts as Jasper County Republicans, in spirit if not in name. I am sure they’ll formalize their jumping ship soon enough. In the meantime, we have a caucus to organize.