WELCOME to the debut of “The Truth Is!”, a blog of reporting and commentary that aims to be informative, thoughtful and provocative. At least initially, the blog will have a strong heartland flavor by virtue of the connection of a number of us to Cowles family journalism. I am former editor of the Des Moines Register’s opinion pages. Another contributor, Michael Gartner, is former editor of the paper; he later served as president of NBC News. Another former Register editor who has agreed to contribute, Geneva Overholser, is director of the University of Southern California’s Annenberg school of journalism. Followers of the blog will have access also to the work of Herbert Strentz of Des Moines, a close Register and other newspaper watcher who once headed Drake University’s journalism school. Bill Leonard, a longtime Register editorial writer, will add insights.

“The Truth Is!” will be supervised by my daughter, Marcia Wolff, a communications lawyer for 20 years with Arnold and Porter (Washington, D.C.). Invaluable technical assistance in assembling and maintaining the blog is provided by my grandsons Julian Cranberg, a college first-year, and Daniel Wolff, a high school senior.

If you detect a whiff of nepotism in this operation, so be it. All of it is strictly a labor of love. —Gil Cranberg

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Gilbert Cranberg: TED CRUZ, MEET BOB RAY

Texas Senator Ted Cruz is widely regarded as super-smart, and he has the academic credentials to prove it: an undergraduate cum laude degree from Princeton, and a Harvard law school degree, where he was editor of the Harvard Law Review. Alan Dershowitz of the law school faculty, no admirer of his ideology, pronounced him “off-the-charts brilliant.”

If Cruz is so smart, why is he spending so much time in Iowa, where he visited three times in recent months? The state has practically no electoral votes and little clout at the Republican national convention. Of course, its caucuses lead off the presidential nominating parade, and the press gives that inordinate attention. But the press is bound to realize one of these days that hardly anyone attends the caucuses and those that do are not of the caliber you would want to recruit for a gene pool.

Some of the same Iowa Republicans who attend the caucuses adopted not long ago a Republican Party platform that called for shipping the United Nations out of the United States, abolition of the Internal Revenue Service and ridding the country of Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.

Iowa also is home to a proven statewide Republican vote-getter, Robert Ray, who was governor from 1969 to 1983. Ray is so popular Des Moines streets are named for him. But not once during Cruz’s visits to Iowa did he stop to pay his respects to Bob Ray.

My guess is that Cruz is not finished with visiting Iowa. If he is truly smart, he would make time for Bob Ray. He might learn from Ray that the way to win the affection of Iowans is to welcome all comers -- conservatives, moderates and even Democrats.

On his most recent visit to Iowa Cruz went pheasant shooting with Iowa’s extremist congressman, Steve King. Cruz should realize that King is an atypical Iowan. For a slant he won’t get by palling around just with right-wingers, he should try giving the unassuming Bob Ray a call. He is in the Des Moines phone book.

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