Iowa Democratic Party Chairwoman Rita Hart answers a question during Iowa PBS’ taping "Iowa Press" at the Iowa PBS studios in Johnston, Iowa, on Friday, June 7, 2024. (screenshot from Iowa PBS)”>
Iowa Democratic Party Chairwoman Rita Hart answers questions during Friday’s taping of Iowa PBS’ “Iowa Press” at the Iowa PBS studios in Johnston. (Screenshot from Iowa PBS)
JOHNSTON — At the top of the ballot, Democratic candidates in Iowa face their party’s incumbent president, who has an abysmal job approval number in the state.
Historically, that spells a major hurdle for the party’s candidates for state and federal office.
Rita Hart, state chairwoman of the Iowa Democratic Party, sees an opportunity for Iowa Democrats to buck that historic trend in 2024.
Hart said Friday that he believes the presidential election, between Democratic President Joe Biden and former Republican President Donald Trump, offers a “stark” contrast and that Democrats have “a good story” to tell about Biden’s tenure in the House. White.
“I think we’re going to deal with this. “I think we’re going to be able to tell a good story about all the things Joe Biden has done to improve the lives of Iowans,” Hart said while discussing election year headwinds and other topics during the taping of this episode. weekend. from “Iowa Press” on Iowa PBS.
Nearly 7 in 10 Iowans disapprove of the job Biden is doing, while a scant 29 percent of Iowans approve of Biden’s job performance, according to a Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa poll released in March.
Historically, when the candidate of a party leading the ticket has low job approval numbers, the other candidates of that party are negatively affected.
Talking points
Hart, however, said Iowa Democrats will talk to voters about actions Biden and congressional Democrats have taken on infrastructure funding, capping insulin costs for Medicaid patients and health care.
And he said Democrats will point to corporate profits as the cause of inflation, rather than federal pandemic relief spending.
Hart said Democrats describe Biden to voters as someone who is “working to reduce costs for Iowans, who is working to improve health care for Iowans and Americans, who is someone who is in a very different path by working for everyday American workers, instead of giving tax cuts to billionaires and millionaires and catering to special interests.”
Democrats will be able to talk “about how (Biden) is working to reduce costs for Iowans by taking on ‘counterinflation’ and talk about the greed that is causing prices to rise,” Hart said.
“But here in Iowa, I think people really like to focus on Iowa itself. So I think the candidates will definitely listen to Iowans and talk about their concerns and what they can do to improve the lives of Iowans.” of Iowa.”
Hart also said Iowa Democrats will paint the presidential election as a choice between Biden and, in Trump’s case, a candidate “who is a convicted felon, who has the potential to be elected from prison, who is morally compromised, who is a recruit.” slacker.”
Trump was recently convicted of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in New York.
“I could go on and on about all the reasons why it doesn’t make sense to elect this guy to the most respected office in the country,” Hart said.
Iowa relegation ticket
There are no US Senate elections in Iowa this year, but Democrats hope to regain seats in Congress.
The central Iowa 3rd District races between Republican Rep. Zach Nunn and Democratic challenger Lanon Baccam, and the eastern Iowa 1st District rematch between Republican Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Democratic challenger Christina Bohannan, are expected to be competitive and attract the national party. resources.
Democrats also hope to undermine strong Republican majorities in both chambers of the Iowa Legislature.
Republican Party Response
“Chairwoman Hart is right about one thing in this interview: the contrast between Trump and Biden is definitely clear. President Biden is completely unfit to hold office and he has done nothing but harm our country,” Iowa Republican Party Chairman Jeff Kaufmann said in an emailed response to The Gazette.
“Democrats legitimately can’t say anything good that Biden has done in office, so they choose to attack President Trump. “Biden’s America is a complete contrast to the safe, prosperous and respected America that President Trump planted,” Kaufmann said. “Biden has not ‘cut costs,’ as the president suggested. Rather, two-thirds of Americans are currently living paycheck to paycheck while inflation and prices skyrocket. The only strategy Democrats have in this cycle is to lie.”
“Iowa Press” airs on Iowa PBS at 7:30 p.m. Friday and noon Sunday, 8:30 a.m. Saturday on Iowa PBS World, and can be viewed online anytime at iowapbs.org.
Comments: (515) 355-1300, erin.murphy@thegazette.com
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