Regardless of what happens in November, Iowa will have a male governor and male lieutenant governor. That may not sound that significant until you realize that that has not happened since 1987. Why did both Republican Zack Lahn and Democrat Rob Sand break a nearly 40 year-old precedent by choosing another man as their running mate? What does this reveal about the current culture of Iowa and the United States?
Join the fight to conserve our community by becoming a monthly donor
In 1987, Democrat Jo Ann Zimmerman won the election to be Iowa‘s first female lieutenant governor. Since that time, the male governors of Iowa have selected a woman as their lieutenant governor. When Kim Reynolds became Iowa’s first female governor, she continued the pattern of gender polarity by selecting a man, Greg Adams, as lieutenant governor. When Adams resigned, Governor Reynolds broke the trend and selected another woman, Christine Cournoyer. This means that for the last two years, no man has held either of the two highest offices in Iowa.
But that will change this November. Republican Zach Lahn chose state representative Derek Wulf as his running mate. In the announcement on social media, Wulf is shown in front of a field of cattle wearing a cowboy hat and surrounded by his wife and daughters. The messaging seems clear. Wulf is a man and not just in the biological sense. He’s a sort of man who provides for his family, works hard, and gets his hands dirty.
On the Democrat side, Rob Sand has tried to portray himself as an aggressive prosecutor-type. In selecting his running mate, he also chose a man, Crawford County Supervisor Dave Muhlbauer. Again, the message in the announcement was clear. Muhlbauer sports a baseball cap, photographed among rural scenes. Democrats are trying to give their campaign a masculine flavor. While I don’t buy the propaganda, it’s significant that even Democrats are at least having to cosplay masculine men.
This has not always been the case. There was a time not so very long ago when both parties largely marginalized men. Excessive masculinity was minimized in campaigns. This tracked with a larger cultural trend of demeaning masculinity. Men were told that they were toxic. Masculine virtues were treated with suspicion, if not outright shame. Meanwhile, more feminine virtues were praised as the height of morality.
It appears the backlash has arrived. The question is, what do we do now?
Before we address that, it’s important for me to make one clarification. Nothing I’m about to say should be interpreted as disparaging or unappreciative toward the women in the Iowa conservative movement. In Warren County, there are two fantastic states representatives in Brooke Boden and Samantha Fett, who are obviously both women. I believe that Kim Reynolds may be the best Iowa governor in my lifetime. Likewise I will be voting for Miller-Meeks for U.S. Congress and Ashley Hinson for U.S. Senate. So my comments are not about particular women in particular offices, but about the overall cultural trend that has demeaned masculinity
The Left has long had a problem with men. For starters, they’re not able to define the word. But more than that, they simply hate everything that men represent. Strong male leadership is seen as automatically abusive and oppressive. Historically masculine virtues like courage, fortitude, temperance, and self-discipline are critically attacked. Supporters of Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris often made the case that women make superior leaders. Imagine the hatred that would have dispensed if people made the opposite claim.
The men have finally had enough. They don’t want to be talked down to anymore. They want to be seen and respected. Suddenly, you need to appeal to real men to win elections.
The Left doesn’t know what to do with this. They have no conception of what men are and therefore don’t know how to speak to them. Not long ago they unironically put forth Pete Buttigieg and Tim Walz as models of American masculinity. They were highly confused when this didn’t resonate with American men. It’s very clear that the Left still doesn’t like real men. And yet all of a sudden they feel the need to pretend they do.
This is because men aren’t going away, nor should they. Both masculinity and femininity are essential to a healthy society. America still needs men who take leadership and real risks. Men who get married and provide for their children. Men who work hard throughout the week and then go to church on Sunday. Men who don’t look for a flight, but also are not afraid when it comes.
And this gives the conservative movement a real opportunity. Masculinity is back and we are suddenly fighting on our own turf. The Left doesn’t have a category for manliness, and therefore doesn’t know how to relate to men. The conservative movement on the other hand was built by real men. It’s in our bones and blood. We can offer young men a compelling vision of what masculinity could be.
Because societies still need men, politicians are going to have to figure out how to speak to them. The conservative movement in Iowa has a unique opportunity to appeal to them in a way the radical Left simply cannot.
Joshua Stilwell is the editor-in-chief of Warren’s Voice
Leave a Reply