March 29, 2024

Diehl is the best candidate

I first met Fred Diehl when I was caring for my mother during the last year of her life, at a community event in Osceola.

Despite understanding that she would probably not remember who he was or even remember the conversation five minutes later, Fred came over to speak with her. This is the sort of empathy for people in the community that has made him such a good mayor for so many years: he cares about people in ways that help make their lives better.

Fred is a candidate who will look out for the interests of those least able to look out for themselves: he will support adequate funding at all levels of education, access to medical services and home care for the elderly and disabled and fair application of unemployment compensation laws.

In the past four years, his opponent has voted against universal preschool, class size reduction and early intervention, and in favor of cutting funds for special education and rural transportation.

He voted against a statewide response strategy for Alzheimer’s, and to shut down the Senior Living Trust Fund for keeping disabled seniors in their homes. He has voted to deny cannabis oil to children with intractable epileptic seizures, to deny use of state funds for abortions needed to save the life of the mother, and, despite its being unconstitutional on its face, sponsored a bill to define abortion as murder at all stages of pregnancy. Specific documentation of his voting record is posted at clarkecountyiowademocrats.org.

The Iowa Republican Party of 2014 is not the party that it was 30 years ago. Though it has toned down some of the excesses of the 2012 platform, the online 2014 version opposes public funding of contraception, opposes the recognition of the United Nations Convention on “The Rights of the Child,” opposes all mandates associated with global warming or climate control, including cap and trade legislation and calls for the abolition of all public sector unions.

Please vote in this year’s election and look carefully at the positions of both the candidates and the parties they represent.