Final days of campaign create sense of excitement for Braley

CEDAR RAPIDS - Bruce Braley spent Sunday afternoon road-tripping through Eastern Iowa - not to look at the leaves, but to make sure he didn't leave any vote behind.

Braley started his leg of the Iowa Democratic Party's #99in24 Tour - a visit by Democratic candidates to all 99 counties in 24 hours - in Polk County and then went to Iowa, Linn, Jones, Cedar and Johnson counties before heading to Davenport for a rally today with Vice President Joe Biden.

As time runs out on what has become one of the most competitive U.S. Senate races in the country, Braley said that, more than relief or urgency, there is a 'sense of excitement and enthusiasm because we are now in the homestretch.”

'I've been waiting for almost two years to say this is now down to single digits,” Braley told supporters in Cedar Rapids nine days before Nov. 4 Election Day.

'It's really exciting,” he said to about 40 supporters, many sporting Braley or League of Conservation Voters T-shirts, who gathered on Sara Riley's front lawn.

The race is tight - within the margin of error, Riley told the group.

'But we have something (Republican) Joni Ernst doesn't have: We have all of you guys who are going to go out and get people to vote and carry Bruce on to victory,” she said.

Ernst spokeswoman Gretchen Hamel was not impressed by the tour.

'Joni is the only candidate in this race that will visit all 99 counties before Election Day,” she said Sunday afternoon.

Braley agreed there is a lot of hard work to do, 'but we can feel the momentum all over the state.”

Democrats, Braley said, blanketed the state 'to prove that we're the party that's on your side.”

Among them was Sen. Tom Harkin, who Braley hopes to succeed, traveling through Poweshiek County, where Braley grew up.

Before he got to Poweshiek, however, Harkin was in Ames reiterating his guarantee made Saturday night that Braley will keep Iowa's U.S. Senate seat blue if Democrats make sure Iowans get to the polls and cast ballots for him.

'Monday, you can take this to the bank, Bruce Braley is going to win this election,” Harkin told more than 200 Story County Democrats who turned out for an afternoon rally with 4th District congressional candidate Jim Mowrer at the Prairie Moon Winery. Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jack Hatch was scheduled to appear but canceled because of a cold, organizers said.

Harkin said he based his prediction on polling data, trend lines in the U.S. Senate race and a Democratic Party field operation 'that's the best we've ever had in the state of Iowa.” He said Republicans claimed an edge last week in absentee voting but Harkin said the key is identifying Iowans who normally don't vote in midterm elections and getting them to the polls, not merely getting votes that would have gone Republican anyway.

'I'm retiring from the Senate but I'm not retiring from the fight. I'm going to be in it for the thick of it,” he told Story County party members who turned out to thank Harkin for his 40 years of public service.

Harkin drew laughter and applause when he told Democrats he's been watching the TV ads in the Senate race and noticed 'there's sort of this sense that Joni Ernst, she's really attractive and she sounds nice. Well, I got to thinking about that, I don't care if she's as good looking as Taylor Swift or as nice as Mr. Rogers, if she votes like Michelle Bachmann she's wrong for the state of Iowa.”

In Cedar Rapids, Braley said he was counting on volunteers to turn out every Democratic vote.

'We can do this together,” Braley said. 'I'm counting on you to carry me to the finish line.”

He's also counting on late visits by Biden, Hillary Clinton on Wednesday and Bill Clinton on Saturday.

Although they aren't on the ballot, Braley said that because of who they are 'and their experience dealing with important, complicated issues, they bring credibility that helps motivate volunteers to keep working hard until Election Day.”

Their visits also 'focus even more attention on the issues that matter in this campaign,” he added.

Mark Halperin, managing editor of Bloomberg Politics, said visits by the Clintons are a 'mixed bag” for Braley.

'Iowa is not their best state,” Halperin said Friday.

'Hillary Clinton has bad history in Iowa,” he said, referring to her third-place finish behind Obama and John Edwards in the 2008 Iowa precinct caucuses. 'I'm not sure how much she will help there.”

'President Clinton, I think, will help anywhere he goes,” Halperin said.

That's what Braley is counting on - that Iowans who haven't voted will remember that when Clinton was president 'we actually had a budget surplus for the first time in many, many years.”

Bill Clinton, he added, 'proved to us you could bring Democrats and Republicans together to solve tough problems.

That's the type of bipartisan problem-solving people are hungry for these days,” Braley said.

Hamel wasn't sure Braley's visitors would impress Iowans.

'Congressman Braley is relying on surrogates who don't even know his name to carry his message and that's not the Iowa way,” she said, referring to Clinton and Michelle Obama calling Braley 'Bailey.”

Gazette reporter Rod Boshart contributed to this report.