Blog Post #4: Having a Chuck Ton of Fun

 

David Mayhew has a theory that every action that an elected member of congress makes is in an effort to be reelected to that position. The short version of his theory states that members of congress are single minded seekers of reelection. Mayhew states that there are three types of actions a congressman will take in reelection; position taking, advertising, and credit claiming.

Position Taking

Possibly the best part of Chuck Grassley is his Twitter. All at once you can get his position on Biden's energy policies and updates on the latest college games (as seen above). Or maybe you want to know his position on Russias invasion in Ukraine but are also just curious of what he's grabbing for a snack at his local DQ (as seen below)

Chuck's twitter has provided an incredibly unique style of casual media interactions with Iowa's senator. He has perfected his own style of shortening words and just tweeting out whatever he finds fitting for his page. I truly believe that he has fully range and control over his own twitter and it is one of the most unintentionally comedic pages I have ever seen. 

Now if you are a BORING person and don't want to scrub through Chuck's amazing twitter you can instead visit his website to find his positions in news releases. These are a bit more put together and lack the pizazz that Chuck's twitter offers but does provide very clear and concise takes by the senator and will give you an idea of how he feels on specific issues

Advertising

Possibly one of the most impressive parts of Chuck is his effort to make it around the state. Grassley annually visits all 99 counties of Iowa. While Chuck states that this is to hear from his constituents it certainly hasn't hurt his reelection campaigns in the past and most definitely gets his name out there in the different sections of Iowa. This has given him the chance to talk about his future in elections with constituents and Grassley says that it has forced many of his political opponents to make a similar tour around the state.

Grassley also provides a newsletter that constituents can sign up for to help them finger the pulse of Washington. 

Credit Claiming

Being in the minority party of the senate most of the recent credit claiming from Chuck comes in the form of announcing he voted for or against particular policies. Once again taking to twitter he does his best to condemn the Biden administration and Russia to his followers. Still these end up being fairly funny and include numerous uses of slang and interesting abbreviations of words.

Grassley also provides numerous constituent services that are fairly typical for a senator to provide. Flags, nominations to military academies, questions, etc.  This gives Chuck an opportunity to directly take credit in helping individual constituents and show that he is having an affect as a representative.

So is Mayhew right? Yes. At least in this case it is clear that, while Chuck's homestyle might be unconventional, he is interested in seeking reelection when he acts. Grassley has taken every opportunity to use his actions as justification to be reelected. While he is even sitting in what is considered a mostly safe seat.