The Democrat who’s running against Republican Senator Chuck Grassley says she’s deploying her “secret weapons” to try to beat the odds in her uphill race. A Des Moines Register “Iowa Poll” showed Roxanne Conlin trailing Grassley by 31 percentage points, but Conlin held a news conference this afternoon to tout the efforts of her campaign volunteers.
“We’re not going to let the poll numbers become a self-fulfilling prophecy,” Conlin said.
According to Conlin, her “secret weapons” are campaign volunteers who have knocked on 220,000 doors since June and made over 300,000 phone calls to identify potential voters, many of whom are now being encouraged to vote early with an absentee ballot. “We are leading in the only poll that counts — ballots. We hold a four-to-one lead in absentee votes,” Conlin said.
Conlin is also touting her television ads. “We’re up on the air. We’re the first campaign against Senator Grassley in the last 30 years that’s even been able to get on television,” Conlin said. “His buy is a lot bigger than ours, but nevertheless, we are on TV.”
Conlin told reporters she faces “long odds” in her bid to unseat Grassley, but Conlin said those odds are “absolutely not” impossible to overcome. Grassley’s campaign has sent a memo to supporters, warning Conlin will unleash “virulent” attacks in the closing days of the campaign.