Delaney Continues His Bid For White House
John Delaney (D) (right) listens to questions on Friday afternoon at ‘Sauce’d’ in Montezuma.
Montezuma, Iowa – Former Maryland Congressman John Delaney continued his bid for the Democratic Nomination by visiting small-town Iowa.
Delaney tossed his hat into the presidential race in July of 2017. On January 3rd, 2020, he was at Sauce’d Pizza and Pub in Montezuma, Iowa. He was then going to What Cheer to door knock, with other stops coming in Deep River and Brooklyn.
Delaney is still focused on finishing the Iowa Caucuses, focusing on helping small towns stay viable into the future.
Delaney’s current poll numbers show him at less than one percent and raising 2.4 million dollars, and gaining traction in media coverage.
While other Democratic candidates have been holding considerably sized rallies in larger communities, Delaney isn’t shy about telling others why it is essential to hold town hall meetings in rural gathering places like ‘Sauce’d.’
“Because I think one of the big challenges we have as a nation is all these small towns are struggling, and no one else was talking about the issues. And you know what I’m telling these towns, these communities, I won’t forget you. And I’m asking for them to support me so that I can help them,” said Delaney about spending time in rural Iowa.
With other candidates hosting those large town halls across Iowa, Delaney doesn’t believe that hosting stops in rural communities is a waste of time. ” Because, you know, we do bigger town halls when we go to Des Moines, but I think for me, I’m the only one who’s got a plan for these towns, and I think their voices matter. I want my last month of the campaign to make a statement to them that I won’t forget you.”
Small town residents want to know how Delaney is going to create jobs in their communities and grow the farm economy.
“That’s why this TPP thing is an important thing, because they know this is my commitment to the minute I’m elected, even before I’m sworn in, every agricultural price will go up. Because the market will know that the President is going to get us into the Trans-Pacific Partnership, so I uniquely can go up against Trump and say, listen, you’ve been the worst President for farmers ever. I’ll be the best, said Delaney. ” What the other democrats are doing right now is they’re just saying how bad he is. But they’re not saying they’re going to do anything that’s going to make it any better.”
Delaney spoke about driving around Iowa in his father’s pickup truck, resembling another candidate that took to a pickup truck to criss-cross Iowa.
Republican candidate Rick Santorum stormed from obscurity to ultimately win Iowa in 2012, and Delaney hopes some of that same magic works for him.
Delaney also criticized his party for becoming the party of the coasts, “And I think this primary process has made it worse.”
Delaney believes that the Democratic Party needs to make small towns and rural communities a part of its agenda. “If any of these other people get elected, they’re not going to do anything for rural Iowa, or rural America, because none of them are talking about it.”
A primary focus for Delaney and growing rural economies is bringing government contracts to rural communities, away from larger cities. For the farming community, growth through the TPP.
Brownell’s is a big part of the economy for Montezuma, and Delaney says he’s a supporter of the 2nd Amendment.
“I fully support the right of American people to bear arms. But I, like most people in our courts, believe that is not a completely unlimited right,” said Delaney. “You know, if we know someone, as a family knows someone [who] has a mental illness is threatening someone with a firearm, and we ought to be able to intervene. We ought to have instantaneous background checks to know that someone who’s, you know, is a convicted felon can’t purchase firearms.”
” I don’t think anyone would believe that these measures would affect the sales, the overall sales of our firearms in this country because most of them are sold to people who enjoy them as part of a sporting and lifestyle community, who are law-abiding citizens,” added Delaney.
Delaney went on to say that there is a mental health crisis, and that needs to be addressed along with background checks.
“I think it’s a false choice to say that it’s either mental health or lack of background checks. We need more resources and mental health. We need to support law enforcement and to make sure law enforcement is doing their job, and then we also need common sense,” added Delaney in closing.
