O'Malley: Here's how Iowa's changed since '84

JEFFERSON, Ia. - Democratic presidential contender Martin O'Malley has one significant point on his Iowa caucus resume: He worked for Gary Hart's underdog presidential campaign across southeast Iowa in 1984.

He thought back to those weeks on Tuesday night when an Iowan asked him how he thinks the state has changed in the three decades since during a campaign stop at a Jefferson art gallery. First, O'Malley said he thinks many small Iowa towns appear economically healthier today than they did then.

"I've noticed your town centers, your squares are actually more vibrant now than they were then," he told the audience.

In an interview after the event, O'Malley said he sees fewer vacant storefronts than he remembers, and that it's "obvious" many towns have worked to upgrade the appearance of their buildings. O'Malley's experience working for Hart would have been amidst the 1980s farm crisis that crippled rural economies across the Midwest, said Jake Oeth, the campaign's Iowa state director.

Another difference: There seem to be fewer farmers at "meetings like this" than there were in the '80s, O'Malley said. He said that decline is not the result of farmers flocking to the Republican Party, but of consolidation in farming operations that some argue are squeezing family and middle-sized farms out of the business.

O'Malley said he also believes water quality has become a front-and-center issue in the state. The issue has become prominent in the state after the Des Moines Water Works in March filed a lawsuit against three northwest Iowa counties over fertilizer pollution in the Raccoon River, a main source of drinking water for Iowa's largest city.

"It's a rare town hall like this where the issue of clean water doesn't come up now in Iowa," he said. "And that wasn't true 30 years ago."

The question was one of several that came up during a 33-minute question-and-answer session during a 5:30 p.m. stop at Prairie Blue Creative Arts. Two hours later, O'Malley stood before another group at a Fort Dodge coffee shop, rounding out the third of a four-day swing through the state.

O'Malley still trails rivals Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders in the polls, despite spending more days in the state than either of his rivals. Iowa Deputy State Director Kristin Sosanie said in an email Monday night that while a total number of days has not been finalized, O'Malley intends to be in Iowa every week in January in the lead-up to the Feb. 1 caucus.

At both stops, Iowans said they were impressed with O'Malley's record as Maryland's governor and his approach to leading, regardless of whether they intended to caucus for him.

Niki Conrad, 40, a Fort Dodge native who returned to her hometown after living on the East Coast and in Chicago, said she's seen all the Democratic candidates and intends to support Clinton when she caucuses for the first time in 2016. But she's seen O'Malley twice on the campaign trail. She appreciates the focus he's put on reforming gun laws during the campaign, and likes O'Malley's emphasis on setting goals and strategies.

On the campaign trail in Iowa, O'Malley often highlights his set of "15 Goals to Rebuild the American Dream" that include things like cutting the numbers of gun deaths and youth unemployment.

"There's a lot of very small steps that need to be taken to make big change," Conrad said. "And I think he recognizes that there are small steps and it's kind of pushing the envelope each time. Big change doesn't happen overnight."

AT THE EVENT:

SETTING: Prairie Blue Creative Arts in Jefferson, Central Perk and Dessert in Fort Dodge

CROWD: 50 people in Jefferson, 34 in Fort Dodge

REACTION: O'Malley got applause across the room in Jefferson when he talked about his plan to create a debt-free path for college students.

WHAT'S NEXT: O'Malley will make stops in Humboldt, Clarion and Des Moines on Wednesday.