The race to replace retiring Democratic senator Tom Harkin of Iowa was considered to have favored the Democrat. At first, Republicans didn’t appear to have an obvious candidate, and the state has been trending toward the Democrats for years. But the current GOP nominee, state senator Joni Ernst, has surprised many to become one of the best Senate candidates of the 2014 cycle. Ernst is now tied, according to the Real Clear Politics poll average. It hasn’t hurt her that her Democratic opponent, Rep. Bruce Braley, has had one misstep after another.
The Democrat has been hit with charges of elitism and being out of touch since the earliest days of his candidacy, from his infamous disparaging reference to Republican senator Chuck Grassley as “some farmer from Iowa” to reports that he missed Veterans Affairs hearings. It’s a theme the Ernst campaign has picked up on, as well. The problem seems to extend to the campaign trail, and as National Journal puts it in a recent story, Braley may have a “Mitt Romney problem” in the Hawkeye State. Here’s an excerpt from the Journal‘s story:
