Blum to Trump: Tone it down

CEDAR RAPIDS - U.S. Rep. Rod Blum expects Democrats to tar him with the same brush they use on Donald Trump, but the first-term Republican believes voters will re-elect him based on his performance, not who's at the top of the GOP ticket.

Blum, a Dubuque businessman who won an open-seat race in 2014, is being challenged by Democrat Monica Vernon of Cedar Rapids. Before primary election night was over on Tuesday, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee outlined the case against Blum, including tying him to Trump.

'That's, of course, what they will try to do politically,” Blum said about the DCCC's claim that he had endorsed Trump. 'They'll try to join us at the hip. It's just like Republicans will say Vernon and Hillary Clinton are one and the same.”

The DCCC has high hopes for Vernon, naming her a 'Red-to-Blue” candidate because of the opportunity it sees to flip the district.

'She consistently outraised Congressman Blum, effectively painted him as the true extremist that he is, and displayed why her common sense business credentials position her perfectly for the general election,” Tyler Law, DCCC regional press secretary said.

Even before the GOP Iowa caucuses in February, Blum said he would support the party's nominee. However, he has his differences with Trump and would like the presumptive nominee to 'tone down his rhetoric.”

'Look, I'm a Republican and I'm going to support the nominee of my party, whoever it might be,” said Blum, who didn't endorse any of the GOP hopefuls.

'Now having said that, are there a fair number of things that Mr. Trump has said that I wish he hadn't? Absolutely, he said. 'I wish he would get ... verbal discipline.”

Blum expects to disagree with Trump on some issues 'and when we do, I have no problem standing up in front of a crowd and saying that.”

On the other hand, Blum believes Trump is tapping into voters' anger.

'He's not creating it. He's tapping into the anger that has been out there for years now,” he said.

It's the same anger Blum sensed when he ran two years ago and it hasn't gone away.

'I know the issues are the same,” he said. 'The anger's still there, the anger with Washington, the anger with the political class, the career politicians, the economic system. It's still there.

'I want to change that. That's why I'm here,” Blum said.

Democrats' hopes for defeating Blum hinge, in part, on their 26,000-voter registration advantage in the 20-county district that includes Cedar Rapids, Dubuque, Cedar Falls and Waterloo.

However, the National Republican Congressional Committee pointed out Blum has more than $1.2 million compared to Vernon's $421,000.

'Blum's significant cash on hand advantage and reform-minded approach provide a compelling narrative entering the general election campaign,” according to the NRCC.

Political handicappers predict a tough re-election battle for Blum. Sabato's Crystal Ball labeled it 'Leans Democratic” and the Rothenberg & Gonzales Political Report has it in the 'Tilt Democratic” column. The Cook Political Report sees it as a tossup.