President Joe Biden commanded most of the attention with his solid, often affecting speech, featuring the traditional laundry list of issues and promoting his familiar, stalled agenda. But it was the official GOP response to that main event, delivered by the little-known and previously underestimated governor of Iowa, Kim Reynolds, that may deliver the greater long-term impact if Republican leaders have the good sense to follow its example.
Beyond the excellent stagecraft—with the illuminated dome of the Des Moines state capitol glowing over Reynolds’ left shoulder—the governor’s brief talk made a persuasive case for conservative governance without a hint of the angry bombast that has alienated crucial suburban voters in recent electoral cycles.
Reynolds began by identifying with the ordinary Americans listening at home, rather than the professional politicians and rabid partisans gathered in Washington. She refused to hyperventilate—to alarm her listeners with claims that the nation stood on the brink of civil war, or apocalyptic dissolution, or the end of liberty. Instead, she opened with the idea that the republic is on “the wrong track,” an impression shared by an overwhelming majority of the electorate.
The governor’s criticism of Biden and his party tacitly acknowledged their good intentions—no mention of a drive toward socialism, or agitation over racial inequalities—but emphasized their bad results. “Instead of moving America forward, it feels like President Biden and his party have sent us back in time—to the late 70s and early 80s,” said Governor Reynolds. “When runaway inflation was hammering families, a violent crime wave was crashing on our cities, and the Soviet army was trying to redraw the world map.”
Even as she evoked parallels to the long-ago Jimmy Carter era, Reynolds wisely avoided criticism of the emotional highlight of Biden’s speech. She echoed his call for all Americans to “stand united in solidarity with the brave people of Ukraine as they courageously defend their country against Putin’s tyranny.” The State of the Union’s real shortcoming, she said, was a failure to capture the unease at home, and the problems afflicting nearly every American household: soaring inflation, out-of-control gas prices, rising crime, crippled police, COVID fears, needlessly closed schools and a porous border.
But rather than berate the Biden administration for its malfeasance, Reynolds maintained a hopeful tone: “it doesn’t have to be this way. There is an alternative. Across the nation, Republican governors and legislators are showing Americans what conservative leadership looks like.” She cited her own achievement in keeping schools open and reducing taxes.
What made this speech so refreshing, and so effective, was what it omitted. Reynolds made no reference—even a glancing one—to Donald Trump, rigged elections or the grandiose and confrontational mindset so colorfully on display at MAGA rallies.
The president also made a point of avoiding, even dodging, polarizing issues in his remarks. While he acknowledged the need to “stay protected with vaccines and treatments” he made no effort to defend the deeply unpopular mandates for vaccines or masking. And while other Democratic leaders expend considerable attention and energy investigating and punishing participants in last year’s Capitol riot, President Biden declined to even mention it.
Biden was also noticeably reluctant to dwell on the themes of “systemic racism” that have characterized so many public utterances of prominent Democrats since the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020. Amazingly, neither he nor Governor Reynolds directly mentioned the debates about critical race theory currently raging in school systems across the country.
In fact, the conclusions of both speeches echoed one another, invoking the strength of the American people—an uplifting, patriotic, broadly populist theme that fits far more comfortably with local- control, conservative convictions than with the Washington centric policy prescriptions of today’s Democrats.
Unlike the president, however, Governor Reynolds contrasted the strength of the populace with the confusion and polarization of the government meant to serve them.
Reynolds faces a reelection battle in November, and neither her genuine achievements nor her winning speech on national TV nor Iowa’s prime position in the primary schedule will make her a plausible presidential prospect. But the reasonable, neighborly, kitchen-table tone of her remarks should inspire Republican candidates across the country in this year’s midterm battles and their bid for the White House two years later.
Republicans can win by articulating the public’s hunger for change, emphasizing the classic conservative insight that meaningful change must come from ordinary citizens and local leadership, reflecting everyday decisions and concerns, rather than relying on the larger-than-life political performers they might enjoy watching on TV.
Of course, no one expects President Biden to take advantage of Governor Reynolds’ common-sense, conservative advice. But if his Republican rivals do so, they should enjoy great success in 2022 and well beyond.
Michael Medved hosts a daily radio talk show and is author, most recently, of God’s Hand On America: Divine Providence in the Modern Era. Follow him on Twitter: @MedvedSHOW.
The views expressed in this article are the writer’s own.
