Trump's corruption backfires: Democrat now competitive in deep-red farmland

President Donald Trump’s corruption is so egregious, Democrats are now competitive in a farm belt state where they are normally not considered viable.

Iowa State Auditor Rob Sand, who is running for governor as a Democrat this year, has been able to capitalize on “ a clean-up-the-books platform, with a laser focus on accountability. That theme still undergirds his campaign speeches today. And Iowa Republicans did him one major political favor: They passed a law gimping the oversight powers of the auditor’s office during his tenure,” wrote The Bulwark’s Andrew Egger on Wednesday.

Egger added that Sand has run on a reform campaign that is simultaneously populist and non-divisive, including “term limits, age limits, and cognitive tests for elected officials. He wants to ban state officials from trading stocks, strengthen whistleblower protections, and increase criminal penalties for supposed public servants who embezzle or defraud."

But rather than launching aggressive frontal attacks on GOP policies, Egger said the Democratic Hawkeye State auditor "zeroes in on specific reforms for places where the GOP state government has taken unpopular stances: In the case of Iowa’s major expansion of school choice, Sand argues that wealthier Iowans shouldn’t be eligible for school vouchers, and that private schools that accept them should be eligible for public audit.”

He quoted Sand as saying, “We can make politicians behave like normal people just by giving them a reason to do it. Imagine politics being a virtuous cycle instead of a vicious one.”

As one example of Sand’s bipartisan appeal, Egger described “Amanda Swanson — one of the few to raise her hand as a Republican at a Sand event.” He wrote that Swanson told him “she has bounced around: At various times she has been registered as a Democrat, a Republican, and an independent.” However, Swanson said she was impressed that Sand avoided partisanship in his speeches and focused on his proposals for reform.

“Swanson’s mother, Valorie Long, chimed in in agreement: ‘And if you watch, his viewpoints are not Democrat, or Republican, or independent. It’s what will work, and how can it be accomplished.’”

While Sand represents a seemingly pragmatic approach to governance, others believe the farm belt is too far right to be brought out of Trump ideology.

Eggers writes Sand may have already won two races in a Democrat-hostile environment, but he has yet to accomplish a much harder task: "winning as a Democrat in a campaign cycle where he is the face of the Iowa Democratic Party."

At the top of the ticket, Sand is already facing a concerted messaging effort by the state GOP to brand him as a lib in moderate’s clothing.