An Iowa Democrat seeking to flip one of the nation's most competitive House seats in a rematch described patriotism as "sensitive and controversial" while also questioning the meaning of the Pledge of Allegiance in a recently resurfaced newsletter she published in the weeks after the January 6 Capitol riot.Former Iowa State Rep.Christina Bohannan of Iowa City, who is running against incumbent Rep.
Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, also criticized the politics around an Iowa bill she ultimately supported that mandated the Pledge of Allegiance for schoolchildren, urging Iowans to think critically about what the pledge means."I acknowledge that patriotism is a sensitive and controversial subject," Bohannan wrote in a 2021 newsletter put out by her State House office, while saying she remains patriotic herself.DEMS PUT ON BLAST OVER POLL THAT SHOWS RECORD-LOW PATRIOTISM IN US: 'TEAR OUR SOCIETY APART'"Many progressives have turned away from it.And I see the point, especially when the concept of patriotism has been so co-opted and distorted by the other side," she wrote of Republicans.The newsletter has resurfaced as recent polling shows a partisan divide over displays of patriotism.
AP polling released in June found that about six in 10 Democrats and independents said they never fly the American flag, while roughly seven in 10 Republicans said they display it at least on holidays.Bohannan wrote that the right viewpoint is to "not cede patriotism to anyone" but instead restore its definition as a belief in "democratic ideals of America and a willingness to fight to make those ideals a reality."Bohannan went on to critique a February 2021 Republican-led bill, which ultimately passed, requiring the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance in public and certain private schools.Bohannan's campaign manager, Dan Driscoll, told Fox News Digital that "Christina absolutely stands by her vote to require the pledge of allegiance in Iowa schools and her passionate defense of patriot...