Tulsi Gabbard talks foreign policy issues in her first Iowa appearance as a presidential candidate

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard’s first Iowa visit as a presidential candidate had a slow start: A flight delay in Chicago meant she had to cancel her first event in Des Moines with the Asian and Latino Coalition Sunday night. Her rescheduled event in the capital city just had 13 attendants.

While her Des Moines appearance was sparsely attended because of the changes, her afternoon speech in Fairfield was not. Roughly 200 people attended Gabbard’s stump speech at Fairfield's convention center.

"It is those values of service above self that I would bring to the presidency," she said, repeating the message at both events. "That is where we find the answer to so many of these challenges that we face."

Gabbard's Iowa debut hit on many points her fellow Democratic presidential candidates share: She said supports "Medicare-for-all," wants to improve the immigration system and called for an end to government shutdowns. The military veteran's talks were also devoted to tackling foreign policy and "regime-change wars," like U.S. involvement in Syria.

Gabbard came to Iowa well-known for her foreign policy stances and as a liberal voice in the House of Representatives. She addressed what she believes is misinformation on her stance on Syria President Bashar al-Assad, whom she said she denounces.

"There are brutal dictators in countries around the world. Assad is one of them," she said. "But we are not the world's police."

Gabbard said last week that, "Assad is not the enemy of the United States" on MSNBC. She stood by calling for withdrawing troops from Syria, saying it needs to be done responsibly so that Kurdish forces are "not left to Turkey's slaughter."

She also continued her calls for the U.S. to take a more critical approach against Saudi Arabia, which she said has "bought and purchased influence in Washington" to stop the U.S. from challenging it on human rights violations, the "genocidal war" in Yemen and giving weapons to al-Qaida in Yemen.

"We need to end these regime-change wars," she said. "We need to invest resources in the very real needs of our people at home."

Zach Young, a Des Moines resident, said he supported Sanders in the 2016 election, and came into Monday's event with positive views on Gabbard. He said she was better prepared to take on foreign policy than others because of her time in the military and her 2017 trip to Syria.

"I supported Bernie Sanders in the last go-around, and I think the thing that was really missing from his campaign was he didn't touch on foreign policy," Young said. "I think Tulsi has the best of both aspects, both the foreign policy and the domestic policy."

Gabbard said she does not support the "Green New Deal" legislation, an environmental policy other Democratic presidential candidates say they back. While Gabbard said she cares about the environment and is still reviewing the legislation, she said it is "vague" and does not take on important issues like nuclear power and fracking.

Although she has not backed the "Green New Deal," Iowa Democrats say her emphasis on the environment puts her ahead of other Democrats. Jennifer Hamilton, a Fairfield resident, said the environment is her top concern in choosing a 2020 candidate — and Gabbard impressed her.

"It was the first thing she brought up," Hamilton said. "It showed she was serious about taking on climate change. I'll need to wait to see the details of how she wants to address this crisis — the devil is in the details — but its not an afterthought for her campaign, like it is for other Democrats running."

While her candidacy is unique because of her stances on foreign policy, her background is also different from many politicians. She's the first Samoan-American and first Hindu member of Congress, and would be the first person with those identities to hold the presidency, if she wins.

A group of high-school students from the nearby Maharishi School were excused from classes to attend Gabbard’s stop in Fairfield. The school has a college preparatory program, stresses meditation and has hosted celebrities, like Oprah Winfrey. 

Jada Sparks, one of the students, said she felt helpless during the 2016 election and was ready to find out more about all the candidates who will be coming to Iowa — but that Gabbard made a strong impression.

“It’d be great to have a woman president,” Sparks said.

“An openly Hindu woman president,” Neethu Yammanur, another Maharishi student said. Yammanur said she’s excited that to see someone like Gabbard running. “It's really exciting to see some reflection of ourselves ... it tends to be lacking."

Gabbard was also scheduled to speak in Iowa City Monday night before leaving the state. In October 2018, she campaigned for Democrats in Iowa City ahead of the midterm election.

"Unless we have leaders who have the courage to stand up to those corporate interests and the status quo, we won't see the change we need to see," Gabbard said.