Exhibit A for those who think the battle between the Republican establishment and the Tea Party insurgents is almost over is state Senator Joni Ernst, the GOP establishment's candidate for Iowa's open Senate seat this year.
After kicking off her campaign with a viral ad in which she bragged about growing up "castrating hogs on an Iowa farm so when I get to Washington I'll know how to cut pork," Ernst clinched the nomination by making the ultra-conservative agenda her own.
In her final debate, Ernst said she would have voted against the farm bill, opposed "amnesty" in immigration reform and supported private accounts for young Americans paying into Social Security. She not only opposes raising the minimum wage but suggested the federal government shouldn't even set one.
On social issues, Ernst said she would vote for a federal constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. She previously endorsed a fetal personhood amendment to the Iowa state constitution that would ban abortions as well as some forms of birth control.
Ernst's statements were so conservative, she won the support of Tea Party groups like the Senate Conservatives Fund, which fought McConnell in Kentucky, as well as an endorsement from the ultimate Tea Party darling, Sarah Palin.
Full article: http://www.newsweek.
After kicking off her campaign with a viral ad in which she bragged about growing up "castrating hogs on an Iowa farm so when I get to Washington I'll know how to cut pork," Ernst clinched the nomination by making the ultra-conservative agenda her own.
In her final debate, Ernst said she would have voted against the farm bill, opposed "amnesty" in immigration reform and supported private accounts for young Americans paying into Social Security. She not only opposes raising the minimum wage but suggested the federal government shouldn't even set one.
On social issues, Ernst said she would vote for a federal constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. She previously endorsed a fetal personhood amendment to the Iowa state constitution that would ban abortions as well as some forms of birth control.
Ernst's statements were so conservative, she won the support of Tea Party groups like the Senate Conservatives Fund, which fought McConnell in Kentucky, as well as an endorsement from the ultimate Tea Party darling, Sarah Palin.
Full article: http://www.newsweek.
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