IOWA FALLS, IOWA – Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand and Amy Klobuchar have more in common than a drive to win the Democratic presidential nomination. The pair also share a taste for campaign event locales.
The Coffee Attic in downtown Iowa Falls on Saturday hosted Gillibrand, D-N.Y., and Klobuchar, D-Minn., for campaign events at separate times.
The double dose of candidates at the coffeehouse gave residents in the first-to-vote state a chance to more efficiently size up their options. About 30 people showed up at the morning event for Gillibrand, 52. About 60 people came in the afternoon to see Klobuchar, 59.
Attendees who flooded the coffee shop for the events, around 30 in the morning for Gillibrand and about 60 for Klobuchar in the afternoon, hoped that getting more familiar with the two senators would help them navigate who to support in the crowded Democratic presidential field, they told the Washington Examiner.
“It’s a genuine pleasure to have this exposure, and so we need to take advantage of it,” said Craig Harris, 71, told the Washington Examiner. Harris added he would prefer a younger, female candidate. “I don’t want to go for somebody older that I am.”
While Gillibrand and Klobuchar are far down in the 23-person Democratic field, hovering in the low single-digits, the pack is led by former Vice President Joe Biden, 76, followed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who is 77.
Retired teacher Alene Rickels, 62, suggested she’s keeping an open mind about Gillibrand, who are among six Democratic senators running for president.
“If they’re going to come through Iowa Falls, we’re going to go,” said Rickles, adding she likes to learn about candidates’ backgrounds. “Their family stories interest me, their reason for why are you truly doing this — what’s your motivation?”
In Iowa Falls, about 83 miles north of Des Moines, the Iowa capital, the two senators tied their policy platforms to the needs of those in rural Iowa.
Gillibrand discussed how her “Family Bill of Rights” proposal, which includes expanding child tax credits and making the Children’s Health Insurance Program universal, would address the needs of pregnant women who live far away from a hospital with a delivery room.
Panelists at Gillibrand’s event shared their struggles obtaining pregnancy and child care. Two women said that the local hospital closed its labor and delivery unit while they were still pregnant and that the next closest hospital is a 45-minute drive away.
The New York senator took notes while the panelists told their stories and then jumped in after the anecdotes, rattling off statistics and policies that explained their struggles. “Iowa’s statistics are so terrible, and it’s clearly because your governor is not making the resources available,” she said. “Iowa ranks second to last in all states for the number OB-GYN [doctors] per capita.”
Klobuchar discussed her proposal to help farmers, in part by making it easier for farmers to file for bankruptcy and by increasing the maximum loan amounts for farmers.
“I know very well that this isn’t the sexiest thing to talk about,” Klobuchar said of her proposals on farms, “but this is the kind of bread-and-butter thing that’s going to matter for the people in Iowa.”
The twin events at coffee attic show the financial boon early-voting states can get through the caucus and primary season. Candidate appearances can help spur business locally. Many of the candidates’ staffers, journalists, and attendees at the events bought coffee, drinks, or food.
Gillibrand and Klobuchar are not the first presidential candidates to hold campaign events at The Coffee Attic. In the 2016 cycle, Republican presidential candidates, including then-New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum scheduled events at the venue, as well as Democratic presidential candidate former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley.
Both Gillibrand and Klobuchar have struggled to get attention and support in the crowded presidential primary field. A Monmouth University poll released Thursday found that Klobuchar had 3% support among Democratic primary voters and caucus-goers nationally, while Gillibrand had less than 1%.
After seeing both Klobuchar and Gillibrand, however, Iowa Falls resident Harris said that he was not any closer to deciding who to support in the Iowa caucus, adding that he still needs to go one of California Sen. Kamala Harris’ events.
“I would vote for every one of them,” he said.
