IOWA - Election Fever Already in Full Boil

"Why Iowa’s Senate race is one of the closest in the nation" PBS NewsHour 9/16/2014

Excerpt

JUDY WOODRUFF (NewsHour):  A quick look at the calendar reminds us that today is just seven weeks away from this year’s midterm elections, when voters across the country will be deciding ballot issues and choosing state and local officeholders and members of Congress.

With control of the U.S. Senate up for grabs, I headed to Iowa this past weekend, the site of one of the closest contests in the nation.

If you love college football, the place to be in Iowa this past weekend was Iowa City, the home of the University of Iowa Hawkeyes, as they hosted the Iowa State Cyclones.  The beer flowed freely, and over 100,000 exuberant fans jostled, ready to cheer or jeer at the slightest provocation.

It’s the biggest and oldest rivalry in this state, and it played out as another, newer rivalry is reaching a full boil; the contest for the open U.S. Senate seat here being vacated by 30-year Democratic veteran Tom Harkin.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

JUDY WOODRUFF:  It’s a battle between four-term Democratic Congressman Bruce Braley and Joni Ernst, until just a few months ago a little-known Republican state senator from a town of just over 5,000, who splashed onto the political scene earlier this year with a TV ad touting her experience growing up on an Iowa farm:

JONI ERNST, Iowa Republican Senate Candidate:  I’m Joni Ernst.  I grew up castrating hogs on an Iowa farm.  So when I get to Washington, I will know how to cut pork.

JUDY WOODRUFF:  Another TV spot stressed how comfortable the National Guard lieutenant colonel, who served in Iraq, is shooting a gun.

NARRATOR:  Joni doesn’t miss much.

JUDY WOODRUFF:  All this endeared her to conservative voters, who catapulted her to an impressive 56 percent win in a field of five Republicans.

Since her primary victory in early June, however, she has put less emphasis on her strong anti-abortion and gun rights views and reworded the slogan on her Web site, “Mother, Soldier, Conservative,” to “Mother, Soldier, Independent Leader.”

Ernst herself, an Iowa state grad who said she was staying neutral on this big game day, downplays the change in tone.