Braley, Ernst try to woo undecided voters

Rep. Bruce Braley sought to humanize his appeal to Iowa voters, while Republican Joni Ernst framed the race as a debate between Iowa values and Washington dysfunction in the candidates’ second debate.

The two met at St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa, just hours after a new Bloomberg/Des Moines Register, offered good news for Democrats, showing Braley closing the lead Ernst had opened up over the past few months of the race, now down to just one point.

{mosads}That lead made Iowa one of the most closely-watched and top-targeted Senate races in the nation, as Republicans seek the six seats they need to take back the majority this fall.

Braley drew personal connections to his policy positions, defending ObamaCare because it helps Americans like his nephew with liver cancer, who once faced dropped coverage because of a preexisting condition. And he told of his family’s own immigration from Ireland during the potato famine while explaining why he supports immigration reform.

Ernst, a state senator, repeatedly referred to her “friend” Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad (R) and opened the debate with a reference to President Obama’s recent comments that his policies are “on the ballot” this fall. She called herself a “soldier” and “mother who cares deeply about the nation,” and blasted Braley for “running the most negative campaign Iowans have ever seen.”

“But I believe in the Iowa way. I believe that Iowans know best — better than politicians in Washington, D.C.,” she said.

But mentioned more frequently than Branstad or perhaps even Obama were the billionaires pouring money into the race to sway the outcome — Republicans Charles and David Koch and Democrat Tom Steyer.

Braley framed Ernst as committed to the Kochs, while Ernst slammed Braley for his support from “extreme California environmentalist Tom Steyer,” and both repeatedly hammered the issue of outside spending.

One of the night’s most contentious exchanges came over the influence of outside groups in the race. Ernst laughed off a question about whether she signed a Koch brothers pledge and pegged the claim as “misinformation coming from Sen. Harry Reid’s (D-Nev.) super PAC, extreme environmentalist Tom Steyer” and Braley’s campaign.

She said she has been outspent by “outside money…by about $2 million dollars.”

Braley hit back, noting her attendance at a donor summit organized by the Kochs, at which she praised them for their support for her campaign.

“These are the biggest supporters you have in your campaign right now, and it’s a fair criticism to ask how they’re supporting you in your election,” he said.

Braley added: “I stand with Iowans who want secret donor money out of politics forever,” to loud cheers from the audience, and asked Ernst to join him in asking outside groups to get out of the race, a request she ignored.

He also honed in on a number of Ernst’s controversial comments made throughout the race, including her oppenness to privatizing Social Security, her opposition to tax reforms that would prevent outsourcing, her support for eliminating the EPA and at one point saying she would vote against the recent Farm Bill.

“Soundbites have consequences,” he said multiple times. 

But Republicans seized on a soundbite of Braley’s from the debate, blasting it out to reporters and calling it a “lie.” In response to a question on whether he’d defend gun rights, Braley said he had never met Michael Bloomberg, the former New York City mayor who’s spending millions to back candidates that support tighter gun controls.

Republicans pointed to a release from Braley’s own office touting his appearance at an event at which he and Bloomberg both spoke as evidence the congressman “lied.”

The biggest applause line of the night came from Ernst, who decried Braley for “poking fun” at Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) for being just a “farmer from Iowa,” comments he made at a private fundraiser that have dogged him throughout the race in the heavily rural state.

And she gave a powerful response in a question on the challenge posed by the rising terrorist threat in the Middle East. Both Ernst and Braley appeared reluctant to support sending troops abroad, but Ernst used her military experience, as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Iowa Army National Guard, to frame her position.

“Because I have had my boots on the ground and I have led Iowa’s sons and daughters, I take this issue very seriously,” she said, and went on to outline four criteria on which she would make the decision whether to support sending troops abroad to tackle the threat.

Braley said he agreed with Ernst on those criteria, but also said that “you have to convince the American people that this is worth the investment of blood and treasure — that case hasn’t been made yet.”

While they disagreed on immigration reform — Braley said the Senate reform proposal should be brought to a vote in the House, while Ernst decried it for including “amnesty” — they both came out in support of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which prevents children who were brought to America illegally from being deported.

Ernst said she doesn’t support repealing it, a position held by many Republicans.

“I do support allowing those children some of the freedoms that are here in the U.S.” she said.

But that was a rare point of agreement in a debate that largely showcased the stark differences between the two candidates.