Comment on Capitol Ideas: Old foes Branstad, Conlin discover the real digital divide

Capitol Ideas: Old foes Branstad, Conlin discover the real digital divide

DES MOINES — Gov. Terry Branstad is a cutting edge, high-tech sort of guy, right? He’s promoting broadband expansion so farmers have the same Internet access from their tractors as Iowa City millennials have from their coffeehouses. And while @ChuckGrassley may have his Twitter and Instagram accounts, Branstad, according to his staff, is the first governor in the nation to use that cool tech toy, Meerkat, that lets him live-stream events, such as his news conferences or tours of Iowa manufacturers, through the administration’s Twitter account. But when it comes to smartphones, the governor is not all thumbs. An exchange between the governor and Des Moines lawyer Roxanne Barton Conlin, who was deposing him in a lawsuit brought against Branstad by a former state appointee, highlights the limits of his “tech-knowledgy.” Conlin, who was Branstad’s opponent when he first ran for governor in 1982, is asking the governor about his answer to earlier questions when he said he didn’t have a smartphone.

 

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