{"id":10777,"date":"2016-08-11T07:08:20","date_gmt":"2016-08-11T07:08:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=10777"},"modified":"2016-08-11T07:08:20","modified_gmt":"2016-08-11T07:08:20","slug":"clinton-wrestles-with-a-stubborn-swing-state","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/politics\/clinton-wrestles-with-a-stubborn-swing-state.html","title":{"rendered":"Clinton wrestles with a stubborn swing state"},"content":{"rendered":"

Clinton wrestles with a stubborn swing state<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Clinton wrestles with a stubborn swing state<\/strong>: DES MOINES \u2014 It\u2019s the state that derailed her 2008 campaign, and nearly did it again in the February caucuses. Now, even as Hillary Clinton\u2019s lead grows across the swing state map, Iowa continues to bedevil her, remaining well within Donald Trump\u2019s reach.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tuesday\u2019s Wall Street Journal<\/strong>\/NBC poll put her 4 percentage points ahead of her rival \u2014 her biggest lead there since June. And that\u2019s despite a concerted effort here since the first day of her candidacy back in April 2015 \u2014 a sharp contrast with the less regimented Trump effort.<\/span><\/p>\n

While the state\u2019s six electoral votes aren\u2019t essential to Clinton\u2019s path to 270, it\u2019s a place that Obama won comfortably twice<\/strong> and Democrats are loath to lose, especially with a competitive Senate race on the ballot.<\/span>
\n<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI was frankly surprised at polling pre-convention that had Iowa closer than a lot of these other battleground states,\u201d said veteran Iowa Democratic strategist Jeff Link, who has worked for Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Al Gore and Tom Harkin<\/strong>. \u201cBut [Trump] did well here in the caucuses, and his populist appeal certainly is Harkin-style populism turned on its head.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Part of Clinton\u2019s problem is the state\u2019s demographics. In no battleground state is she more dependent on less-educated white voters \u2014 Trump\u2019s wheelhouse \u2014 than in Iowa. And Trump\u2019s relationship with the local GOP infrastructure<\/strong> is in far better shape than in other swing states.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe industrial eastern part of the state has gone for Democrats in the national level, but I have done very well there, and Donald Trump has already been to the Quad Cities and Cedar Rapids,\u201d explained Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, a Republican who advises Trump on energy and agricultural policy \u2014 and whose son Eric is Trump\u2019s state director. \u201cHe got huge crowds in both of those places. I want him to come back to Dubuque and Waterloo. I think in those industrial parts of the state he can do better than Republicans in other elections there.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Branstad, the longest-serving governor in American history, believes the presence of Indiana\u2019s conservative governor, Mike Pence, on Trump\u2019s ticket could be enough to assuage GOP doubts about Trump in a state where the real estate mogul lost to Ted Cruz<\/strong> in the caucuses.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think Pence helps him with some of the Steve Kings of the world who had some reservations about Trump,\u201d said the governor, referring to the state\u2019s conservative lightning-rod congressman.<\/span><\/p>\n

Anyway, Branstad added, Iowa farmers\u2019 specific economic concerns about one notoriously sticky subject could cause Clinton problems.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHillary Clinton is particularly untrustworthy, particularly on the things Iowa cares about. She\u2019s flipped on trade, but even worse for us is the renewable fuel standard. We were double-crossed on the renewable fuel standard by President Obama<\/strong> [and] Hillary Clinton is being supported by these California environmental extremists<\/strong> who hate corn-based ethanol. [So] she\u2019s vulnerable here, and people don\u2019t trust her. She says she\u2019s all for it, but Obama said the same thing, then cut the legs out from it. [Meanwhile, Trump] asked really good questions, and he has endorsed and supported the Renewable Fuel Standard,\u201d he said. \u201cWe feel confident that Donald Trump will support this issue that is critically important to the economic well-being of our state.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Clinton operation, however, can lean heavily on its built-in organizing advantage to jump ahead during the early voting period that starts in September, according to people familiar with the plan.<\/span><\/p>\n

And there are other reasons for Democratic optimism: The large college-age and highly-educated populations in the cities play to Clinton\u2019s uncommon strength among educated whites, compared with other Democrats.<\/span><\/p>\n

While Trump has expressed an interest in breaking into working-class<\/span><\/p>\n

in the eastern part of the state \u2014 a Democratic-friendly region \u2014 Clinton is looking to respond by expanding her party\u2019s footprint among older white women in the Trump-skeptical suburbs. That effort will likely rely heavily on driving up turnout in the populous areas that Marco Rubio won in the Republican caucuses \u2014 places like Davenport\u2019s Scott County<\/strong> and Des Moines\u2019 Polk County, where she is heavily favored.<\/span><\/p>\n

Clinton-aligned Democrats also see ample room to grow in the conservative western half of the state. That area \u2014 such as the congressional district represented by King \u2014 was friendly to Cruz in the primary. Iowa Democrats anticipate low enthusiasm for Trump there, providing Clinton with a chance to at least tamp down the traditional GOP margins \u2014 especially given that her campaign has a presence right across the border as it battles for eastern Nebraska’s single electoral vote.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cShe has commercials up in Omaha, which is not typical,\u201d explained Iowa Democratic Party Chairwoman Andy McGuire<\/strong> of the media market that bleeds into western Iowa, echoing an optimism voiced by Link \u2014 who is working on Patty Judge\u2019s campaign against Sen. Chuck Grassley \u2014 about the potential for low turnout among Republicans who won\u2019t be driven to the polls with particular fervor in November now that King\u2019s seat appears to be safe.<\/span><\/p>\n

But as Clinton spends the post-convention weeks working to peel away disaffected GOP voters \u2014 recently, she\u2019s emphasized the national security angle through the roll out of a string of Republican foreign policy endorsers \u2014 her campaign here is still expected to zero in on the high-propensity voters in and around the metro areas, rather than fighting on the margins in traditionally Republican areas.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThink of it geographically instead of demographically. She\u2019s going to do fine in the cities, but she\u2019s going to do great in the suburban areas around Des Moines, around Cedar Rapids, around Davenport \u2014 those places that usually vote Republican,\u201d explained Link, predicting significant Republican appeal for Clinton. \u201cThose are the places that are turning against him. Dallas County was perfect for [Mitt] Romney but will likely go against Trump. Ankeny was great for Romney, but they\u2019d have to hold their nose for him.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you think about 2012, I can see some Romney voters<\/strong> in the suburbs going for Hillary,\u201d he added. \u201cI can\u2019t see any Obama voters going for Trump. I think it\u2019s a one-way street.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Source<\/strong>: http:\/\/www.politico.com\/story\/2016\/08\/hillary-clinton-iowa-battleground-226890<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t <\/div><\/div>\n\t\t