The new face of the GOP - Joni Ernst?

Hi, I’m Joni Ernst. I grew up castrating hogs on an Iowa farm. So when I get to Washington, I’ll know how to cut pork.

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Joni Ernst, the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Iowa, said during an NRA event in 2012 that she would use a gun to defend herself from the government.

“I have a beautiful little Smith & Wesson, 9 millimeter, and it goes with me virtually everywhere,” Ernst said at the NRA and Iowa Firearms Coalition Second Amendment Rally in Searsboro, Iowa. “But I do believe in the right to carry, and I believe in the right to defend myself and my family — whether it’s from an intruder, or whether it’s from the government, should they decide that my rights are no longer important.”

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A query from a viewer said he had received health coverage through the Affordable Care Act. To Ernst, he asked, "Have you given any thought to how individuals in my situation won't lose coverage, should repeal occur?"

Ernst called Obamacare a "job killer" in Iowa that is "taking personal health decisions out of our hands and placing them with nameless, faceless bureaucrats in Washington, DC." That is to some degree true, but what about the guy's question? It was a reasonable concern; millions of people are now receiving subsidies to purchase health insurance. If Republicans repeal Obamacare, what happens to them?

Ernst will also likely find it awkward to discuss the subject with her fellow Republican candidate for Congress, David Young, who admits that ACA Medicaid expansion is working in Iowa and refuses to support repealing it.

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The candidates were asked their thoughts on the Federal involvement in education and the Common Core State Standards. Ernst said that she was not in favor of the standards. "The Federal government should not be involved," Ernst said. "We need to have standards, but we don't need the Common Core."

(Haven't we been doing that, and it doesn't work.  All states have different standards and seemingly some have none at all.)

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"I do believe in protecting our environment," said Ernst. "I drive a hybrid car, and my family recycles everything. So I don't know the science behind climate change. I do believe in protecting our environment, but without the job killing regulations that are coming out of the EPA."

(This is the "policy" that has gotten us here.  Another Republican who doesn't understand the science so thinks they are qualified to dictate laws that affect the environment)

Michelle Bachman and Sarah Palin rolled up into one.   A crazier pitbull with lipstick.