Ira Lacher: Mike Franken has deliberately avoided labeling himself a “centrist” or “moderate.” But Saturday, there was no doubt where he stood.

On December 11, I attended a meet-and-greet, intending to be introduced to retired Vice Admiral Michael Franken, one of the Democrats running against Senator Chuck Grassley. Instead, I was introduced to Jean-Luc Picard.

It’s not hard to imagine Franken — a 64-year-old rural Sioux County native, who emerged from a working-class family of nine kids in a landlocked state to attain the rank of three-star admiral without attending the Naval Academy — on the bridge of the starship USS Enterprise.

Physically, Franken resembles the tall, imposing, balding Picard, brought to life by the English actor Patrick Stewart.

The thoughtful, mature Picard was antithetical to the swashbuckling, youthful original series captain, James T. Kirk. Similarly, through his nearly 40 years in the military and liaising with government, Franken possesses the knowledge of how running a country is supposed to work, why some things don’t, and how to fix them.

Franken’s leadership experience is considerable. When he was nominated to take over the Navy’s Africa Command in 2015, Stars and Stripes reported:

“Franken has served in every operational staff ranging from a readiness squadron to a four-star fleet command. He also served multiple times in the Office of Secretary of the Navy, on the Navy Staff, and in the Joint Staff as U.S. Pacific Command division chief. He was also the first military officer to serve as a military legislative fellow for the late Sen. Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts.”

Franken entered the 2020 Democratic primary for U.S. Senate relatively late and lost handily to the party’s anointed candidate, Theresa Greenfield. She was routed in the general election by Joni Ernst.

In the 2022 primary, his leading opponent is Abby Finkenauer, the soon-to-be 32-year-old former member of Congress from Iowa’s first district. Finkenauer narrowly lost her 2020 re-election bid to Republican Ashley Hinson. An Iowa Poll conducted in September by Selzer & Co for the Des Moines Register and Mediacom showed Grassley (who will be 89 two months before election day) beating Finkenauer by 18 points.

Franken has deliberately avoided labeling himself a “centrist” or “moderate.” But Saturday, there was no doubt where he stood. “We need to speak to those who look for an alternative way” than diehard Trump supporters or progressives, who, he said, historically fail to deliver on their promises because they aspire to a high moral ground but turn off voters with their language. “We can’t use terms like ‘defund the police’ and ‘gun control,’ ” he told the 40 or so mostly older folks who crowded the living room of a South Side Des Moines home. “What we say matters.”

“The citizens of Iowa are looking for something else,” Franken added. “Doers.”

Franken has six months to persuade Iowans he is that doer.

Demographics would seem to align with him: Iowa voters tend to be older than most Americans, far whiter, and somewhat more conservative. They also are far more likely to gravitate to a candidate, who, as Franken styled himself, combines a healthy idealism with a strong infusion of pragmatism and “the realization that little by little works.”

That’s Jean-Luc Picard, who is older, more measured, and takes risks — but not rash risks. Franken reminded the gathering that he opposed invading Iraq not out of reticence of sending Americans into combat but because no one could incontrovertibly define the conflict’s necessity. “You need to define the second, third, fourth and fifth order of conflict in any military venture,” he said and, clearly aiming at more conservative potential voters, added: “I’m not anti-defense — I’m anti-unsmart defense.”

But to many younger Iowans, Jean-Luc Picard is as ancient a character as The Scarlett Pimpernel, and a thoughtful, knowledgeable, nuanced candidate may be derided as politics’ version of a daily newspaper as opposed to TikTok. Further, there is an often nasty debate within the Democratic Party over get-done-what-you-can moderation versus progressive imperatives that include free medical services and higher education, opening borders and extending amnesty to undocumented immigrants, abandoning fossil fuels, taxing the rich like hell, and reducing policing. Republicans love that language, alleging it proves Democrats are socialist, amoral, profligate monsters.

Wisely, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which has been accused of favoring establishment candidates uber alles, will hold off on endorsing a candidate in next year’s Senate primaries. This will allow Iowa Democrats to make an educated choice as to whether to nominate an avowed, youthful candidate, who may stand little chance of dethroning a Senate legend, or a seasoned military veteran and repository of immeasurable logic and common sense. In the classic command often uttered by Jean-Luc Picard, they need to make it so.

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Photos of Mike Franken provided by Ira Lacher and published with permission.