Rep. Bruce Braley, a former head of the Iowa Trial Lawyers Association, has since his election been perhaps the most diligent advocate of Litigation Lobby interests in the House of Representatives. He had also been considered the front-runner for the Senate seat of departing Iowa Senator Tom Harkin, until a covert video leaked out of Braley apparently fund-raising at a trial lawyer gathering in Texas [Des Moines Register]:
To put this in stark contrast, if you help me win this race, you may have someone with your background, your experience, your voice, someone’s who’s been literally fighting tort reform for 30 years in a visible and public way on the Senate Judiciary Committee or you might have a farmer from Iowa who never went to law school, never practiced law, serving as the next chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Because if Democrats lose the majority, Chuck Grassley will be the next chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Almost nothing about the remarks — including the slighting tone toward Grassley, senior senator and a popular figure in the state — is likely to increase Braley’s appeal to Iowa voters. Dan McLaughlin writes:
As a lawyer myself, I like the idea that we should have some lawyers on the Senate Judiciary Committee and on its staff, but the whole point of democracy is that the common man gets a say in how he is governed, not just the experts. Relatedly, Braley’s stress on “your background, your experience, your voice” just emphasizes how he sees the voice and interests of trial lawyers as one that will be very different from that of farmers. …
he manages to sneak in the fact that he’s been a longstanding opponent of tort reform, and doesn’t even bother to come up with some focus-group-tested euphemism for reform. He’s bluntly telling the trial lawyers in the audience that he’s for their interests – not like those Iowa farmers.
A Grassley spokeswoman said that if it was somehow improper for a non-lawyer to lead a committee on legal matters, “a trial lawyer shouldn’t be involved in policy making about agriculture, or energy, or health care.” Per the Washington Post, “Over the course of his legislative career, Braley has raised $3.5 million from lawyers and law firms.”
And Twitter was kind of brutal:
I stand by Bruce Braley's comments…farmers are a menace and should be considered as such, I, however, am not running for election in Iowa.
— Ben Jones (@aspirationalbob) March 25, 2014
Quick response. @IowaGOP @AJSpiker @ChuckGrassley @BruceBraley pic.twitter.com/U1ACo8oH0W
— JR Schueller (@schuellerj) March 25, 2014
Once or twice a cycle, tracking footage destroys a candidate. Democrat Bruce Braley found out the hard way. http://t.co/DzWXPpWBwO #IAsen
— Brad Dayspring (@BDayspring) March 25, 2014
More: James Taranto, WSJ (“So God made a lawyer”). And here’s a flashback clip where Braley badgers well-known health policy expert Sally Pipes over whether she has an advanced degree.
3 Comments
I can hardly wait to see the compare and contrast ads that can be done using the video of Braley’s speech to those of another candidate for US Senate from Iowa. See and especially watch the video for:
GOP Senate candidate from Iowa knows how to cut government, hog testicles, posted at 1:21 pm on March 25, 2014 by Allahpundit
http://hotair.com/archives/2014/03/25/video-gop-senate-candidate-from-iowa-knows-how-to-cut-government-hog-testicles/
A farm girl on the Senate Judiciary Committee could be very interesting if she decides to demonstrate some of what she learned on the farm.
So we had Romney with “47%”, now we have Braley with “farmers are dumb”.
People think that these secret recordings are going to produce a radical transparency in society. What they’re actually going to do is create a society that’s locked-down and paranoid beyond an authoritarian’s wildest dreams.
[…] “he was being videotaped at the private fundraiser” [DMR via Jason Pye, United Liberty, earlier] Nothing discouraged, he’ll keynote New York trial lawyers’ event [Legal […]