Kathie Obradovich

kobradov@dmreg.com

AMES, Ia. — Patty Judge talked about her baby granddaughter. Tom Fiegen talked about a farmer who “F-bombed” him out of disgust for Democrats who sell out to large agribusiness.

Even in brief speeches at the Iowa Democrats’ 4th District convention Saturday at Ames Middle School, the contrast of style and issues among the candidates for U.S. Senate was stark.

Rob Hogg bemoaned the dysfunction in Congress and called for Democrats to help make it work again. Bob Krause emphasized the need for campaign finance reform and called on the audience to share social media posts for Democrats — even some of his Senate primary opponents.

Judge, a former Iowa lieutenant governor and former state agriculture secretary, focused on convincing fellow Democrats that Republican incumbent Sen. Chuck Grassley can be defeated. She said Grassley had adopted the image of Iowa’s grandpa — “and you can’t vote against grandpa, right?”

“Wrong,” a man in the auditorium yelled.

“Wrong, yes! You are right,” Judge responded. “But the truth of the matter is about Chuck Grassley, over the past few years, he has steadily moved to the right. He’s quit being an independent thinker.”

Judge also said she questioned whether to run for Senate after her new granddaughter, Millie, required open-heart surgery soon after her birth. Her son, Joe Judge, the baby’s father, told her she had to run, for Millie.

Fiegen, a lawyer from Clarence, lambasted fellow Democrats. He told a story about being accosted by a farmer in Dubuque County who said, “You effing, effing, effing Democrats.” The farmer said Democrats say they’re with him until Monsanto or Cargill wants something.

“What I propose is, we show the people of Iowa unconditional loyalty,” Fiegen said. Fiegen, who endorsed Bernie Sanders for president, was a clear favorite with the convention audience, with at least half (and maybe more than half) in Sanders’ camp.

He drew applause when he claimed that he was the “only candidate” in the Senate race who supports the Des Moines Water Works’ lawsuit over water quality. It was a dig at Judge, who was formerly part of Iowa Partnership for Clean Water, which ran ads against what it called the “frivolous” lawsuit. She has said she supports the right to sue but believes it will be costly in terms of money and ill will between rural and urban Iowans.

Hogg, a state senator from Cedar Rapids, arrived during the lunch break and spent time working the crowd before his speech. He directly countered Fiegen’s claim to be the only opponent of the Water Works suit. He said the Des Moines utility has a real problem that it needs to solve, but he also would have preferred a legislative solution to pay for anti-pollution programs for the next 15 years.

He also touted endorsements from the Iowa Federation of Labor and AFSCME Iowa Council 61. He called Grassley the “chief obstructionist” for filling the vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court. Generally, however, Hogg offered a congenial “ya gotta believe”-style pep talk aimed at the need for Democrats to retake the Senate majority. Congress needs to work to solve issues like the budget deficit, creation of a vibrant economy and cleaning up the environment, he said.

“I need you to believe with me that we can change the way we do politics and we can actually get Congress to work again,” he said.

The audience seemed the least familiar with Krause, even though he and Fiegen ran for Senate in 2010. He asked how many of them were familiar with Bob’s Cookie College, the theme of his issue-based Web videos. Only a few hands went up.

Undaunted, Krause evangelized on the power of social media to elevate Democrats — all Democrats — as a way to counter being outspent by the GOP. “What got Trump where he was? Tweets. And entertainment,” Krause said.

He took the time to explain to the crowd how to share a post on Facebook.

“This is where the watershed starts. You can 'like' something, you can share something. If it’s Hillary you’re interested in, Bernie, Kim Weaver, Bob Krause, Rob Hogg, Tom Fiegen, Patty Judge, hit the share button. S-H-A-R-E, share button,” he said.

If I had to rank which of these approaches got this Sanders-friendly convention audience to push “like,” I’d say it was Fiegen’s anti-establishment red meat that came out on top, followed by Judge’s family folksiness, Hogg’s idealism and, finally, Krause’s social media tutorial.