On the Campaign Trail with Ed Tibbetts

U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa caused quite a stir in New York when he said this week that failed presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani’s “lifestyle” and his “New York personality” led to his downfall in the GOP primary.

The Butler County farmer was taken to the barn by a host of New Yorkers in an article in the Daily News. You can read it here.

It’s a great piece. Suffice it to say, the New Yorkers weren’t kind to Grassley.

The comments that struck a few Davenporters, though, came from Curtis Sliwa, the New Yorker whose Guardian Angels came to Davenport to patrol the streets at the behest of 5th Ward Alderman Bill Lynn. Sliwa’s even paid a visit to the Quads himself.

In the article, Sliwa says of Grassley (and Iowa):

“We, the suckers in New York, pay their FEMA bills. Grassley loves New York when it comes to subsidizing FEMA,” the Daily News reports him saying. “He wants us to come there and drink ethanol, block the hogs and promise farm subsidies and pander … What does he know? There are more pigs than people [in Iowa]. Iowa is not a reflection of America.”

Fact check:

1. Iowa is not a reflection of America. Neither is New York.

2.. He’s right about the pigs, too. 15 million pigs in 2002, about 3 million people. I looked it up.

3. The FEMA business. Not so sure about that one. Back in 2001 when a flooded Davenport won national attention for its history of failing to build a floodwall, I checked into which states had the highest number of repeat flood claims submitted to FEMA. Lo and behold, Iowa and Davenport were pretty low on the list. Not sure about New York. Texas and Louisiana were toward the top. I’m sensing common ground here.

4. Farm subsidies. Got us on that one. We get a lot of them. Good thing New York City’s never gotten a federal handout. If it had, his point probably wouldn’t hold up.

Actually, I like nearly all the New Yorkers I’ve ever met. And while I’ve never been to the city, I’m eager to go. The bike ride through the city’s five boroughs sounds like a great time. My wife was in New York the time of the ride couple years ago subsidizing some of the local restaurants and shops.

Perhaps Curtis will even come back to Davenport. Maybe he can take a break from patrolling the streets and help us block the hogs. As soon as he teaches us what the hell that means.