Hatch: Iowans tiring of ‘comfortable old shoe’ Branstad

CEDAR RAPIDS - Down 15 percentage points to Gov. Terry Branstad in a new poll Wednesday morning, Democrat Sen. Jack Hatch predicted Iowa's independent voters will break his way late in the 2014 race for the governor's office.

Speaking on MSNBC's Daily Rundown, Hatch told host Chuck Todd that although Branstad is like a 'comfortable old shoe” to Iowa voters who have elected him five times, they are open to his new ideas.

'I think people like Gov. Branstad,” Hatch said when asked why he thought Iowans had given the governor five terms. 'People think he's being kind of an old shoe and he's a comfortable old shoe.

'But, Hatch added, 'I think people are tired of him.”

The NBC/Marist poll comes on the heels of the Branstad campaign releasing fundraising numbers showing the governor raised more than $700,000 since May 28 and has more than $4 million cash on hand.

Hatch has not released his fundraising numbers. In May he reported he had raised $262,295 and had $312,354 cash on hand. His overall fundraising number for the campaign was $709,764.

The candidates' reports must be filed by Monday afternoon.

Wednesday morning's NBC/Marist poll found Branstad leading Hatch 53 percent to 38 percent - the widest margin in any recent poll. The poll, conducted July 7-13 of 1,599 registered voters, found that 6-in-10 Iowa voters approve of the job the governor is doing. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.

The same poll showed the race between GOP State Sen. Joni Ernst and Democratic U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley for an open U.S. Senate seat tied at 43-all.

Hatch downplayed the double-digit margin at this point in the race.

'We have to remember that in Iowa we have a lot of independent voters and we make up our minds toward the end of the election,” he told Daily Rundown host Chuck Todd. 'I can only remind you in 1998 when Tom Vilsack was 30 points down in September and came back to win by 5 points in that election.”

That shows that Iowans 'are willing to listen to new and fresh ideas,' said Hatch, whose campaign theme is a 'fresh start.”

After five terms, Branstad is not a fresh face and 'is not providing the leadership we expect and Iowa deserves. Iowa is coasting,” Hatch said.

'We have an opportunity to show the difference between what a fresh face and new ideas can bring to Iowa and kind of get Iowa rolling again,” he said.

Asked about the lack of support from national Democrats, Hatch talked about the governor's 'scandal-ridden” administration and Iowa Senate investigations into alleged confidentiality payments to fired state employees, improprieties in the administration of the Iowa Veterans Home, political patronage and a no-hire list of former state employees.

The poll also found:

l 59 percent of those polled approve of the job Branstad is doing as governor while 32 percent do not.

l Branstad' favorable/unfavorable numbers are 53 percent to 36 percent while 29 percent of registered voters have a favorable impression of Hatch and 24 percent have an unfavorable impression.

l 15 percent had never heard of Hatch; 2 percent had never heard of Branstad.

l Comments: (319) 398-8375; james.lynch@sourcemedia.net