Just a week remains before Election Day, and both campaigns are visiting Iowa and sending supporters to stump for them. Local political leaders agree that the last-minute visits could have an effect on the outcome of the election.
On the heels of several major Iowa newspaper endorsements, GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney spoke to a tightly packed crowd of several hundred supporters at the Seven Cities Sod farm outside Davenport in rural Scott County Monday afternoon.
Surrounded by Iowa farmland and an All-American, patriotic background of waving American flags, country music, and farm machinery, Romney spoke about the importance of small- and large-business success in the United States and bipartisan cooperation in Washington.
“You have to be willing to reach across the aisle and find good Democrats,” Romney said. “I look at this election as a turning point.”
Iowa GOP Chairman A.J. Spiker believes Romney’s Davenport visit is critical to the final days of the election.
“It’s literally a race that will be decided by 10,000 to 15,000 votes,” Spiker said. “The Quad Cities is a large media market. It’s really a place where he [Romney] can go out and get his message across to not only Iowa, but America. “Iowa is one of the few states that will determine the election. The polls are extremely tight. We’re not a flyover state in politics.”
Guest appearances were numerous and included Iowa wrestling legend and coach Dan Gable, Gov. Terry Branstad, and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds, Chairman of the Republican National Committee Reince Priebus, and Iowa 2nd Congressional District candidate John Archer. Each had similar messages about moving in a new direction and moving away from the status quo that is the Obama administration as well as bringing home the vitality of Iowa.
Sen. Bob Dvorsky, D-Coralville, said the pending presidential election is one that will come extremely close.
“I think that since Iowa is a battleground state, it gets people fired up,” Dvorsky said. “I think the election will be decided by the hard-working volunteers on the campaign.”
Romney and President Obama are not the only ones to make recent trips to the Hawkeye State.
First lady Michelle Obama visited the Iowa City Sheraton Hotel to campaign on behalf of her husband, and Ann Romney will speak in Des Moines to campaign for her spouse this afternoon in Des Moines.
University of Iowa Associate Professor of political science Tim Hagle said Iowa’s status as a swing state remains important, even in the few remaining days of the election.
“Because we’re a swing state, both candidates are trying to get Iowa and other swing states on their sides and reach independent voters,” he said. “Some people have said that some of these speeches aren’t breaking any new ground, but these last minute-visits are done to get supporters fired up for election night.”
