No-party voters, GOP defectors could help Democrats, Harkin says

DES MOINES - No-party voters and Republicans disenfranchised with their presidential candidate can help Democrats deliver Iowa for Hillary Clinton, Tom Harkin said Saturday.

Iowa Democrats' two favorite Toms - former U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin and former governor and current U.S. AG secretary Tom Vilsack - addressed a few dozen Democratic campaign staff and volunteers in downtown Des Moines, just before the group was trained up and shipped out to spend this autumn Saturday working to get Democrats elected.

Harkin and Vilsack both stressed the important of maximizing voter turnout because, they said, the presidential election both nationally and in Iowa will be close.

'Sometimes I think people think that these elections are over, or that their vote doesn't matter,” Vilsack told reporters after addressing the campaign workers. 'In this particular election, as close as it's going to be in this state, as close as it's going to be in this country, every single vote matters.”

Most polls have showed a close race in Iowa between Clinton and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.

Two weeks ago, a Quinnipiac Poll showed the candidates deadlocked. This week, a Simpson College/RABA Research Poll showed Trump leading by 3 percentage points and a Loras College poll showed Clinton leading by 1 percentage point - both within the polls' margins for error.

Harkin said Democrats can help their cause by turning out no-party voters leaning toward Clinton, and that they may get an assist from Republicans who support most GOP candidates but not Trump.

'There are a lot of independents out there that can't abide Donald Trump, and they would be our voters. We have to make sure we get them to the polls, too,” Harkin said in a brief interview after speaking to the campaign workers.

Harkin added, about some Republicans, 'They're still Republican but they can't take Donald Trump. I think a lot of Republicans will go into that voting booth on Tuesday, they may vote (Republican) the rest of the ticket but they're not going to vote for Donald Trump.”

Eric Branstad, the Trump campaign's Iowa director, said the Nov. 8 election will prove Harkin wrong.

'Iowa voters know that Donald Trump will drain the swamp of corruption in Washington, repeal Obamacare, and get our economy moving again,” Branstad said in an emailed statement. 'Mr. Trump's message is rock solid among Republicans and is also resonating with Iowa Democrats in traditionally Democratic strongholds throughout Eastern Iowa.”

Both parties were active Saturday, as the final weekend before Election Day began.

U.S. Senate candidate Patty Judge, U.S. House candidate Jim Mowrer, and brothers Julian and Joaquin Castro, of Texas, also addressed campaign workers in Des Moines on Saturday morning. The surrogates split up to spend the day encouraging workers across the state.

Republicans were doing the same, with events Saturday in Waterloo, suburban Des Moines and Council Bluffs featuring Gov. Terry Branstad, Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds, U.S. Sens. Chuck Grassley (who is running for re-election against Judge) and Joni Ernst, and U.S. Reps. Rod Blum and David Young.

'With three days to go, last-minute appearances in front of empty crowds will do little to convince Iowans to vote for Hillary Clinton, a dishonest candidate under FBI investigation,” Republican National Committee spokeswoman Lindsay Jancek said in an emailed statement.