Democratic presidential hopefuls take their pitches to rural Iowa.
Pacific Junction, Iowa, resident Fran Karr, left, points out to Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., the location of her flooded home, during a stop to the recently flooded town of Pacific Junction, Iowa, Friday, March 29, 2019. Jason Karr, Frans's husband stands rear center. Several Democratic presidential candidates will make their case to Iowa farmers on Saturday — part of a broader effort to win over rural voters who have drifted to Republicans in recent years.
"There needs to be a better connection made between politicians and rural Americans," said Aaron Heley Lehman, the president of Iowa Farmers' Union, which is hosting Saturday's forum and busing in members from neighboring states to hear the candidate pitches. Several contenders, including former Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke, have campaigned in parts of rural Iowa that haven't seen much Democratic activity in years. Former Rep. John Delaney is the only Democratic candidate so far to visit all 99 of Iowa's counties.
Gaskill is the only Democratic lawmaker in her area, and represents a red county that went for Trump by more than 20 points in 2016 — but one that Barack Obama won by nearly 12 points in 2012. Now, at least two candidates — Sens. Cory Booker and Kirsten Gillibrand — have campaigned there, a development Gaskill welcomes.O'Rourke won't attend Saturday's forum.
New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand recently visited the same swath of eastern Iowa, pitching herself to voters as a candidate who could defeat Trump because she's won in red areas of New York. She, too, didn't shy away from embracing progressive policies like gun control, universal health care and the Green New Deal, and she touted her work on the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell, the policy prohibiting gays from serving openly in the military, everywhere she went.
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