Well, so much for Mike Franken’s D.C. ad buys. Punchbowl News reports that at a recent meeting with Democrat senators, Chuck Schumer threw cold water on Franken’s longshot bid against Chuck Grassley.
In a way, Schumer’s only stating the obvious. The Iowa Senate race has been universally rated as a “safe R” and “solid R” race by election forecasters as Franken goes up against a storied Iowa political force despite lagging in cash on hand and in polls – including his own polls.
Still, the Democrat leader’s brutally honest comments starkly contrast with his and other D.C. Democrats’ optimism in Iowa last cycle. In 2020, the DSCC anointed Theresa Greenfield to take on Joni Ernst with an early endorsement and aimed brutal attack ads on Franken and other primary challengers. Schumer even followed up with a seven-figure ad campaign from his PAC to boost Greenfield.
Schumer and D.C. Democrats were all in on unseating Ernst, but over $150 million later, we all know how that story ended: Ernst dominating Greenfield by nearly seven points.
Bottom Line: So much for Iowans being “stooges.”
