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Common Power Executive Director Charles Douglas called in from the airport, still wearing a shirt that read “Rotate The Crops.” The slogan comes from Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rob Sand, and it captures what Iowa Democrats are selling this fall. You don’t plant the same crop on the same field forever, and you don’t hand one party an entire state forever either. Charles said Iowa used to pride itself on being a balanced bellwether. Some voters want that back.
What Charles found at the doors should worry Republicans. This is supposed to be persuasion season, but he said likely voters already know exactly who they’re voting for. Republicans he encountered told him they’re voting for Democrats, and he heard none of Trump’s talking points about communists taking over. That’s a world away from the unease I felt knocking doors in Pennsylvania in 2024. I argued that Democratic Senate Candidate Josh Turek’s Republican opponent Ashley Hinson’s attempt to distance herself from Trump shows the GOP’s desperation. But it’s too late. As I put it on air, the midterms are already underway.
The issues at the door are specific to Iowa. Charles said voters raised cancer rates they connect to farm pollution and poor water quality, along with rural hospital closures and the cost of care. In the Quad Cities, people can see a much higher minimum wage just across the Illinois border. As Charles put it, it’s hard to call Democrats evil when the difference is 15 minutes away. I pointed out that everything he described maps onto what the Trump administration has cut, from SNAP to the enhanced ACA subsidies.
Then we turned to Maine, and Charles didn’t mince words: he said Susan Collins is cooked. ProPublica reports that Navatek CEO Martin Kao funneled money to the Collins super PAC through a shell company after seeking assurances of more contracts. Her camp says she was kept out of it, yet an email shows her Super PAC’s team asking for Kao’s number so Collins could thank him. Charles described it as an empire built on taxpayer money. I pointed out that Trump gutted the FBI’s public corruption team, and the investigation died with it.
Zoom out, and the Senate map looks nothing like it did a year ago. I said Democrats need to hold Michigan, Georgia, and Minnesota while flipping four seats. Democrats are on offense, and their path to victory now runs through states like North Carolina, Maine, Kansas, Iowa, Texas, and Alaska, maybe even Florida. Charles is confident the voters are with Democrats. His worry is whether they’ll be allowed to vote. I argued that a widely expected blue wave makes any theft harder to sell. Charles added that stealing an election takes willing participants, and fewer Republicans are ready to follow Trump off a cliff.
Charles and his team are headed to Maine and Michigan next. We’ll keep these Substack Lives coming, so you can hear directly from the organizers and voters who will help decide this election.
I appreciate those of you who tuned in live and contributed so much to the conversation. This is truly the best community on Substack. If you’re just catching it now, feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments and smash that like button.
You can watch our full conversation above. And, as always, thank you for supporting independent media.
If you want to knock doors alongside Charles and Common Power heading into the midterms, go to commonpower.org.
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