When Nate Silver found that the Republicans have a 60 percent chance of capturing the Senate in this year’s election, he rated the GOP’s chances of winning the Iowa race at 25 percent. But that was before the Democratic candidate, Rep. Bruce Braley, dismissed popular Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley as a “farmer from Iowa who never went to law school.”
Braley made that comment during a fund raising talk to Texas trial lawyers. Standing next to the liquid refreshments, Braley said:
To put this in stark contrast, if you help me when this race you may have someone with your background, your experience, your voice, someone who’s been literally fighting tort reform for thirty years, in a visible or public way, on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Or, you might have a farmer from Iowa who never went to law school, never practiced law, serving as the next Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Because, if Democrats lose the majority, Chuck Grassley will be the Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
According to the Washington Post, over the course of his legislative career, Braley has raised $3.5 million from lawyers and law firms. He is, as he reminded his audience, a reliable tool of the trial lawyers. In addition, he is now revealed as elitist who holds Iowa farmers in contempt.
I imagine that the odds of Braley winning the Iowa Senate seat are now considerably less than 75 percent. Accordingly, if we can rely on Silver’s other projections, the prospects for Republicans winning the Senate are now a little better than Silver most recently calculated them to be.
If you haven’t already seen Braley’s remarks, you can view them below:
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