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Neighbors Coming to Their Senses: Biden Gaining on Trump in Iowa

Joe Biden still won’t be coming to South Dakota to fight for our three locked-down Electoral College votes. Why bother, when Iowa’s six could be his for the taking?

Since the start of the year, Democrats in Iowa have added about twice as many active voters to their rolls as Republicans, nudging ahead in total registration for the first time in years. The farm economy has been battered by the coronavirus pandemic. And though Trump still holds a small lead in the state, according to the RealClearPolitics polling average, he’s now airing TV advertisements there — a tacit acknowledgment that the campaign anticipates a contest.

…in recent weeks — amid the coronavirus pandemic and widespread civil unrest since the death of George Floyd — Trump has fallen further behind Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, in public opinion polls everywhere. A CNN poll on Monday put Biden ahead of Trump by 14 percentage points nationally, and Biden is leading Trump in most swing states. Trump is now advertising in states he won comfortably in 2016, including Iowa, where he has spent more than $300,000 on TV in recent weeks, according to data from the ad tracking firm Advertising Analytics.

“The fact that they’re advertising here, they wouldn’t waste the money if they didn’t need to,” said Doug Gross, a Republican operative who was a chief of staff to former Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad [David Siders, “‘Blood in the Water’: Dems Get Unexpected Opening Against Trump in Iowa,” Politico, 2020.06.10].

One could apply Gross’s thinking to Trump’s pending Mount Rushmore visit and wonder why he’d waste any precious campaign time in South Dakota. More South Dakota Democrats are apparently moving to Iowa than staying here and registering neighbors to vote D: according to the Secretary of State’s June 1 count, since January 1, South Dakota Republicans have added 4,276 voters to the 257,325 they had at New Year’s, while South Dakota Democrats have added only 317 new voters to their January 2 count of 154,005. Republicans hold 47% of South Dakota’s electorate, while Democrats are sliding down to 28%.

But hey, faithful commenter Mike! You get a chance to cast a vote that makes a difference… and you get lots more TV ads to laugh at!

5 Comments

  1. Debbo

    Mike, you will keep us updated on the massive lies in the Liar-in-Chief ads, right? Should be entertaining. Also the Register polls, or any others. And what do you hear in your meanderings in your fair state?

  2. mike from iowa

    Obrien co has first covid death. Cases have jumped to over 55. drumpf body count reached another milestone…..

    Deaths:
    115,084

    and we had over 2 inches of much needed rain last night after several days of above 90 temps and hot winds.

  3. mike from iowa

    iowa State Fair just cancelled.

  4. Debbo

    Whoa! The iowa State Fair?! Another one bites the dust.

    The NASCAR rednecks are angry. They’ve just been told their loser flag can no longer be flown at NASCAR events. It’s over. Even worse, in a twisted, racist way of thinking, the lone Black driver is going to have a Black Lives Matter symbol on his car.

    Outraged! The racists at races are outraged! Evidently being denied a flag that is pro-slavery is really bad, but having to see a symbol that indicates that people of color have value is way over the top.

    NASCAR’s white drivers need to speak up in support of the Black driver, Mr. Bubba Wallace.

    NPR is.gd/vCe6IY

  5. jerry

    A thanks is needed for EB5 Short Rounds and his sidekick, Thune for voting to not impeach trump. Had they impeached him, the killing of George Floyd would’ve been just another cop murdering a black man. Thanks to our boys from South Dakota, we are now seeing treason statues torn down by authorities, the treason flag not being able to be in the military bases or at flown at Nascar (hell hath frozen over). Now comes the renaming of the loser military bases named after treasonous generals. These two fellows from South Dakota helped to unleash a torrent of change in the United States.

    We may be dying like flies hit with Raid, and stuck in the poor house for some time, but we are gonna get something out of the deal. That racist vote that EB5 Short Rounds was counting on, might not be so profound this time around once the dust settles on what is now happening. Life is funny like that…Booyah!!

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