In a discussion with FOX News’ Juan Williams, Federalist Senior Editor Mollie Hemingway complimented the 2016 field of GOP presidential candidates and had harsh words for Iowa’s role in picking the eventual nominee.
This past weekend, Sen. Joni Ernst sat down with ABC News’ Jonathan Karl for her first national interview, discussing Iowa primary politics. She said she hadn’t picked a candidate to back but that, “We have to have somebody that will express conservative views of course and I’m looking for somebody that is very Reaganesque, someone that can reach all aspects of our voting population here in America.”
On FOX News’ Happening Now program, Williams and Hemingway weighed in on who might be that candidate:
“Well I can see why Ernst has had trouble picking a particular candidate because unlike previous presidential campaigns, the entire field has some quality or another that’s Reaganesque,” Hemingway said. “You have Great communicators like Marco Rubio and Carly Fiorina, you have people like Rand Paul who are reaching out to independents and Democrats with percentages we haven’t seen since Reagan, you have bold governors who have come up with really interesting policy ideas like Jeb Bush and particularly Rick Perry. And even if you take something like Reagan’s noted abilities in negotiation and also connecting with the common man, you have men like Scott Walker in Wisconsin who have both of those traits, negotiating with unions and connecting with normal people. The entire field is actually pretty Reaganesque in a way that’s nice to be Republican right now and contrasts a lot with the Democratic field.”
She had less praise for Iowa’s role in the process, a topic previously covered by The Federalist in “Sorry, Iowa, You Should Have To Earn The Top Primary Spot From Now On.”
“Well if Iowa wants to continue having this very strong role in the Republican primary, it should start doing more for the Republican Party. It hasn’t even voted for a Republican president in how many years and their main policy issue is big government subsidies for agriculture crops which is a message that doesn’t actually work well with republican voters. So I think the party should start changing things up let other states compete to have this very important role, one that would actually match more with electing someone nationwide.”
Watch some of the interview here:
