Hillary Clinton to Iowa voters: 'Dig deep' for Democrat Bruce Braley
On her second trip to Iowa since her presidential caucus loss in 2008, Hillary Rodham Clinton got a piece of Iowa swag that could prove useful for her new grandchild -- and for Clinton herself if she runs in 2016: a black and gold University of Iowa sleeper emblazoned with the Hawkeye logo.
It was a nod to Clintons plans from Rep. Bruce Braley, the Democratic candidate for Senate here, who proclaimed that the most important birthday in America in 2014 was when sweet Charlotte" -- the first grandchild of Hillary and Bill Clinton -- "was born.
So I decided it would be appropriate for Charlotte to have a memento of this trip since this is the Hawkeye State, he said.
Of course, Clinton was here in Iowa not to discuss her own future but to campaign for Braley, who handed over the baby pajamas just before ceding the microphone at a preelection rally held at the headquarters of the local ironworkers union.
Though President Obama carried Iowa in 2012, Braley is locked in one of the tightest races for U.S. Senate in the country, with Republican State Sen. Joni Ernst, a lieutenant colonel in the Iowa Army National Guard who is running on a promise that she would bring Iowa ways to Washington, D.C.
Braley and his fellow Democrats have tried to paint Ernst as too extreme for Iowa, particularly given its increasingly blue tinge. As with Senate candidate Cory Gardner of Colorado, Democrats have argued that Ernst is far more conservative than most Iowa women on issues such as abortion and personhood.
On Wednesday, both Braley and Clinton spent a good deal of time discussing those issues, as well as their support for raising the minimum wage and wage equality for men and women.
It is not enough to be a woman. You have to be committed to expanding rights and opportunities for all women, Clinton said in a dig at Ernst, made without mentioning her name. She laid out a series of questions for Ernst and other GOP candidates on personhood measures -- which would give full human rights from the moment of conception -- and access to affordable contraception coverage.
Theres a big difference between these two candidates," she said.
Clinton also touted the nations improving economy You can see Americas comeback but quickly noted that the economy had not improved for everyone and that it was increasingly hard to maintain a middle-class lifestyle.
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Hillary Clinton to Iowa voters: 'Dig deep' for Democrat Bruce Braley