Photo by Julie Fleming

During an interview late last week on the AM Quad Cities radio show, Sen. Joni Ernst blamed her struggling campaign on Iowa’s changing demographics, rather than on her voting record. At a fundraiser with Vice President Mike Pence earlier this month, Ernst admitted that she was one of the most-vulnerable incumbent senators in the country.

Polling, however, shows her biggest drop in support came from her own party.

Her approval rating fell 13% among Republican voters, according to Morning Consult’s latest quarterly Senator Approval Rankings.

However, Halloween is what’s on Ernst’s mind this past week in the spooky video she posted to her Twitter page. The day after Ernst admitted her reelection was in danger, she posted a perhaps-fitting video of herself on Twitter hanging out in the U.S. Capitol’s crypt.

“At this time of year around Halloween, the Capitol is the perfect place to find patriotic spirits,” Ernst said. “And so tonight I am going to share with you three of my favorite legends.”

Cue the creepy ghost stories.

Whether the video in the crypt was supposed to be symbolic, one thing is certain: Ernst faces a tough reelection fight against the eventual Democratic nominee.

Overall, the senator’s approval rating dropped 9%. She’s now sitting well below water with a 39% approval rating, according to Morning Consult.

Ernst was asked on the radio show last week about her declining ratings among Iowans.

“I don’t know if you want to confirm this here on the show or not, but there was a meeting with the Vice President. And you said in a closed door meeting, there are reports that you are the fifth most vulnerable senator right now,” the radio host told Ernst. “Can you talk about the race and how much more money the Democrats are seeming to raise than your campaign is raising?”

Ernst gave a jumbled answer to the question.

“Yep, you bet. And no, that’s actually, if you go back, I think Charlie Cook is the one that reported that,” Ernst said. “You know one of his, one of his, you know, studies. So, there are a lot of vulnerable folks out there. And yes, just with changing, shifting demographics in Iowa. Um, you know, that is true. I’ll say that, that is true.”

Ernst has been under scrutiny lately for her “behind closed doors” comments on Social Security reform, and her vote to put an anti-ethanol leader in charge of the EPA.

She’s also been criticized for attempts to take away health care coverage for people with preexisting conditions.

Lately, Ernst has been busy dodging questions about impeachment proceedings and whether it’s OK for the president to solicit a foreign nation’s help to dig up dirt on his political rival.

Ernst has said repeatedly she’s too focused on getting the USMCA trade deal passed to speak on Donald Trump’s impeachment hearings, and she has criticized Democrats for taking their focus off farmers.

Ernst did, however, have plenty of time to convince her Twitter followers there’s a ghost cat that roams the old Supreme Court chambers.

“The evidence is here in the floor,” Ernst said in the video. “If you look, there are mysterious paw prints.”

By Paige Godden and Josh Cook

Posted 10/28/19