During a two-day trip to Iowa, U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar compared the impeachment inquiry targeting President Donald Trump's requests of foreign leaders to scenes in "All The President's Men," the 1976 movie chronicling the Watergate scandal.

It's simple, the Democratic presidential candidate said: "They basically went in to look for dirt on a political opponent for the president. Then when they were caught ... they had a cover-up. And when ... (Trump's) people, all the president's men, have put these calls on a secret server, that is the cover-up."

Tours of biofuel plants bookended Klobuchar's latest Iowa swing, which marked her 50th Iowa county appearance. The Minnesota senator also visited Abraham Lincoln High School in Council Bluffs, a Greenfield cafe, Africana Halal Restaurant in Des Moines, and a house party in West Des Moines, where she compared the current impeachment investigation to Watergate.

While impeachment came up more often than it had in past visits, she said, Iowans are still largely focused on economic issues.

"When I was out there in Council Bluffs, when I was in Greenfield, and when I was with the immigrant community today, (impeachment) isn't the No. 1 thing on their mind," she told about 70 people in a West Des Moines activist's home Thursday night. "They're trying to make it in America. They want to be able to do well, succeed, raise their families with their jobs, and be able to have successful lives."

More: What's on Iowans' minds going into 2020 caucuses? A look at 300 questions they asked candidates in April

She said Democrats "can do two things at once...perform our constitutional duty and also focus on an optimistic economic agenda for the people of Iowa and the people of this country."

Applauding Iowa Democrats who elected U.S. Reps. Abby Finkenauer and Cindy Axne, she said Americans demonstrate the ability to multitask every day by being politically involved while working to afford prescriptions drugs and college, and rebuild after catastrophic flooding.

"They've had to deal with all that at the same time, and we have to do the same thing," she said.

Axne joined Klobuchar at Southwest Iowa Renewable Energy in Council Bluffs on Thursday morning to discuss the impact Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) waivers have had on the state's agriculture industry.

Since taking office, the Trump administration has granted nearly 90 oil refineries a pass on blending 4 billion gallons of renewable fuel into the nation's fuel supply.

More:'I've been hoodwinked so many times': Grassley wants Trump's ethanol fix 'on paper' before he will support it

Axne has called for a federal investigation into the Environmental Protection Agency's process to grant the waivers, which are meant to aid small oil refineries. Klobuchar has railed on the topic in nearly every visit to Iowa since the start of her presidential campaign.

"It's just an outrageous thing that's going on," Klobuchar said Thursday. "It's not just about the farmers and the investors ... They are not just the only ones that are hurt. It's entire rural communities."

Friday afternoon, just hours after the Trump administration announced a plan to restore demand for renewable fuel lost through the waivers, Klobuchar will tour a Newton biodiesel plant.

More:Trump unveils new ethanol plan, short on details, that promises to replace exempted gallons

Klobuchar answered a few questions from caucusgoers packed into Jackie Wellman's living room and kitchen on Thursday. Wellman, an activist and Iowa ambassador for the Spastic Paraplegia Foundation, said she's "all in for Amy."

"To me, it doesn't really matter where a candidate is from, but you know, to rural Iowa, it's going to matter. They not going to want someone from California or the East Coast," Wellman said. In addition to serving as co-chair for the Rare Disease Congressional Caucus, Klobuchar "is so funny, and so nice," she added.

A Drake University student proved Klobuchar's point that people are more focused on economic issues than impeachment, asking how she would ensure that Social Security remain solvent through his own eventual retirement.

"I want to pay toward social programs and I want to help people, but I mean, we keep running up our nation's credit card without paying for it," said Runal A. Patel, a 20-year-old junior studying political science and economics. "I think people like Sen. Klobuchar understand that sort of thing, that that this sort of reckless spending isn't sustainable."

He finds Klobuchar's willingness to work on bipartisan legislation attractive, and said the she is among his favorite five candidates. The others are former Vice President Joe Biden, U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, and South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg.

"I think Sen. Klobuchar presents a more realistic vision," he said.

Speaking to reporters in Wellman's dining room as the event ended, Klobuchar called out plans from other Democratic candidates that she finds unattainable. Free college tuition is "bad policy," she said, adding that she supports free 1- and 2-year community college degrees and doubling Pell Grants for some families.

"People like to hear that they're going to get everything free," she said, also citing entrepreneur Andrew Yang's universal basic income proposal, dubbed "the Freedom Dividend."

Likely Democratic caucusgoers are split on the issue of free tuition, according to a Des Moines Register/CNN/Mediacom Iowa Poll in September. Thirty-six percent say it’s good policy that candidates should run on; 25% say it’s good policy but worry it could cost Democrats the election; and 31% say it’s bad policy. Eight percent are unsure.

Rather than touting free 4-year degrees, she said her focus is "on whatever education path people pursue — that it ends up with a job that they can afford to live on and raise a family on. ... Instead of just promising free everything, we want to make it work with our economy."

The September Iowa Poll, Klobuchar was the first-choice candidate of 3% of likely Iowa Democratic caucusgoers.

Shelby Fleig covers news and features for the Register. Reach her at shelbyfleig@dmreg.com or 515-214-8933.

Your subscription makes work like this possible. Subscribe today at DesMoinesRegister.com/Deal.