Potential VP pick Beshear rallies Iowa Democrats

Beshear, who is being vetted as a vice presidential candidate by Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign, was the headliner at the Iowa Democratic Party’s annual Liberty & Justice Celebration in Des Moines.

The 46-year-old Democrat praised Harris, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, as a tough, smart, caring and thoughtful leader.

“In November, we’re going to win and we’re going to be neighbors again, we’re going to be American again before we’re Democrats or Republicans,” Beshear said. “We’re going to work together again to get things done. … And I believe that while they’re going to say, ‘Oh, she’s too far to the left,’ she’s not going to move the country right or left as president. She’s going to move it forward for every American citizen.”

Rita Hart, chair of the Iowa Democratic Party, told attendees that she has seen renewed enthusiasm in the party since President Joe Biden decided to withdraw from the race after weeks of pressure from allies over concerns he would not be able to defeat former President Donald Trump.

“The one word I hear over and over again is excitement,” Hart told a sold-out crowd of 450 donors, leaders, activists and elected officials.

With the change at the top of the ticket, activists said they are more optimistic about the party’s prospects in the November election. And the chance to hear from a potential vice presidential nominee has Democrats excited.

In a statement before Saturday’s event, Iowa Republican Party spokesman Luke Wolff attacked Beshear for pushing “extreme vaccination mandates” and for being “a privileged, out-of-touch governor with a terrible record.”

“It makes sense that Iowa Democrats see him as an inspirational figure who fits their radical agenda,” Wolff said.

Beshear walked to a hype video highlighting his accomplishments as governor, emphasizing his ability to win in a deep-red state. It touted his record of job creation and his efforts to preserve transgender rights.

The Kentucky governor is Harris’ main attack dog against the Republican vice presidential nominee, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio.

Beshear and Vance have been at each other’s throats about who is a true representative of Appalachia. Beshear took a stab Saturday at Vance’s memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy,” which chronicles the senator’s upbringing in Ohio and childhood summers spent with his grandparents in Kentucky.

“Let me be clear, J.D. Vance is not from Kentucky. He is not from Appalachia. And he is not going to be your vice president,” Beshear said.

Beshear is one of several Democrats who have been in the spotlight after Biden announced he was dropping out of the race and endorsed Harris. He joins a potential vice-presidential shortlist that includes Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

The Kentucky governor said Harris would move beyond the politics of anger and focus on community progress, before bringing up Trump’s multiple bankruptcies and 34 felony convictions in a hush-hush trial in New York.

“The vice president gets it. She’s tough and smart,” Beshear said of Harris. “And that makes her a good president. But she’s also kind and has empathy, and that makes her a great president. President (Donald) Trump’s attacks are not going to work.”

He praised the “Biden-Harris team” for leading the country out of the pandemic, delivering aid to Kentucky after devastating natural disasters and getting bipartisan infrastructure funding through Congress.

“President Biden and Vice President Harris are going to get it done,” Beshear said, going on to criticize Project 2025, a controversial policy proposal aimed at guiding the next conservative administration.

The roughly 900-page policy platform proposes sweeping changes to a host of government programs and agencies, including Medicare and Medicaid, which Beshear said could result in the loss of health insurance for millions of Americans.

Beshear and other speakers also raised the issue of abortion. An Iowa law that bans most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy goes into effect today. Trump nominated three of the U.S. Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 case that upheld a constitutional right to abortion.

“Look, Donald Trump has taken away the constitutional rights of half the American people,” Beshear said. “I think we should take away his chance to have a second term as president.”

Nate Willems, a former Democrat and state legislator from Mount Vernon, praised Beshear’s message of support for public education, workers’ rights and marginalized communities.

“I mean, if he shows that he can be successful in Kentucky, then that makes you excited and hopeful that he can be successful in Iowa and throughout the Midwest,” Willems said.

The Iowa Democratic Party is hoping to bounce back from a series of poor showings in recent election campaigns.

Iowa Republicans now hold all six seats in the state’s congressional delegation, the governorship, and all but one statewide office. They also hold historically large majorities in the legislature.

Hart and other speakers sharply criticized Republican priorities and policies on abortion restrictions, private school grants and overhauls of state education agencies, which provide special education to Iowa school districts.

Also speaking were Iowa House Democratic Leader Jennifer Konfrst, Iowa Senate Democratic Leader Pam Jochum, and Iowa Auditor Rob Sand, who reiterated the message that Iowa’s Republican leaders are too extreme for the state.

“(Iowans) don’t want extreme abortion bans, threats to birth control and (threats to) in vitro fertilization,” Konfrst said. “They’re coming at them, my friends, and Iowans are fed up. They’re angry about this abortion ban and we’re going to make them pay.”

Jochum received a standing ovation when he thanked Biden for “his remarkable 50 years of community service” and called him “a good and decent man (who) took responsibility at a very critical point in our history, when the soul of America was at stake.”