Thursday, August 01, 2019

Watching Theresa Greenfield in Iowa


Political storytelling via video production has come a long way very fast, and I've become a connoisseur of good Democratic candidate introductions. Theresa Greenfield is the Democrat challenging incumbent Iowa Republican Senator Joni Ernst in 2020.





When Ernst first ran in 2014, she produced her own viral video promise to use her hog castration skills to cut the pork in Washington, D.C. and "make 'em squeal." That line became so famous that her failure to stand up to Twitterman's use of professional lobbyists as acting cabinet secretaries and agency heads (what is the count up to now? 6? 8?) presents itself as a big, ripe target for Greenfield.

"The special interests and corporate lobbyists keep feasting like hogs at the trough," Greenfield says in the video above.

According to the Des Moines Register, "Iowa Democrats have faced criticism in recent years for failing to appeal to rural voters. In her bio-heavy announcement video, Greenfield made an immediate case to those voters." She's clad in jeans and plaid shirt throughout and argues a case for farm-girl authenticity.

Greenfield will have to compete in a crowded Democratic senatorial primary on June 2, 2020. Two other Democrats have already made announcements -- lawyer Kimberly Graham and businessman/failed congressional candidate in 2018 Eddie Mauro -- with additional others expected to step forward before all the dust settles.

Joni Ernst has plenty of money ($2.8 million banked) and high approval (57% positive), so it's going to take some heavy shoveling for any Democrat to muck out that barn.

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