Former Maryland Rep. John Delaney

Former Maryland Rep. John Delaney spoke in the midday heat at the Des Moines Register Political Soapbox on Aug. 9, saying he would be the candidate to unite rural and urban America and beat President Trump in November 2020.

It was Delaney’s second speech at the Iowa State Fair, having spoken during the 2018 Iowa State Fair. (Delaney began campaigning in 2017 and has traveled to all 99 counties in the state.)

The biggest problem in U.S., Delaney said, was the divisiveness permeating the politics.

“I swear never to divide the American people,” he told an audience at the fair, saying he would stand up to racism.

“Trump is the symptom of the disease, and we need to cure the disease, and we need someone who can cure the disease,” Delaney said, painting himself as the key person who could unite divided Americans.

Delaney also spent most of his speech pitting himself against Trump. He described himself as a CEO who gave his workers what they needed, while Trump, as a business leader, has “literally stiffed” his companies. Delaney co-founded two lending companies, one in the 1990s and one in the early 2000s. He was CEO of the latter, CapitalSource.

He pitches himself as a moderate for Iowa. During the second round of debates, Delaney went after Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., saying their plans weren’t what the American people wanted.

The person who can win is someone who has a real economic vision that everyone can get behind, Delaney said. That will be a candidate who provides real solutions, and how to pay for them, and how to get them done — not impossible promises, he said.

He said the Democratic Party needed to put together a big-tent party — winning over uneasy Republicans and independent voters — and he was the best person to do that.

During his speech, he called for Iowa to return to the Trans Pacific Partnership (saying he could look farmers in the eye and honestly say he could make their lives better on Day 1), reduce pharmaceutical prices, provide no-cost preschool, and create infrastructure projects across the country.

Throughout his campaign, Delaney has positioned himself as a moderate for America.

He also called for a government-run health insurance option for everyone, while still allowing Americans to choose privately owned or union-provided insurance.

Similar to previous speaker Andrew Yang, Delaney said he wanted to designate tax dollars to pay citizens who care for their family members’ health problems. He also said he would be the first president to oversee a cure for Alzheimer’s disease.

Delaney sits low in the polls and hasn’t qualified for the September debates.