“We need to make sure we take advantage of that opportunity,” Anderson said. “So I think the question is if (2018) does set itself up to be a change election, if a majority of voters nationally and in Iowa think that the Republican rule is heading in the wrong direction policy-wise, the thing that we need to do most is figure out and articulate exactly what kind of change we have to offer. This is something we struggled with in this last election and in many of the Obama years, is articulating in a compelling way what we want to do when we get control.”

Multiple party activists and insiders spoke of a need for a candidate who can articulate to voters the Democratic Party’s vision.

Bret Nilles, chairman of the Linn County Democratic Party, said he thinks a candidate should have strong name recognition and be someone “who is able to really articulate what the Democratic Party stands for, not so much on the extreme ends, but more of the core values of Democrats and what that means to urban counties, what that means to rural counties, what it means to lower-income people and what it means to middle-income people.

“I think that message has gotten lost in the last few elections.”