Those two guys were elected to state wide offices in the early 1980’s, when Iowa still often voted for the Republican presidential nominee.
Like it or not, Iowa has moved Left.
If the Democrats can figure out how to get their core voters to the polls in an off year election, Ernst will lose.
Iowa is populist. Whoever capitalizes on that sentiment, Rep or Dem, tends to win. This is why the GOP does better at the non-presidential offices, because the home boys are better at communicating populism than guys like Romney coming in from Massachusetts.
With Braley stumbling so badly, Ernst is well in the picture, tied in the latest poll 43 to 43. She has other problems though that those of us in the leadership have been trying to address.
If she fixes those, she could crush Braley because the guy is an insufferable elitest douche, and there’s nothing in Iowa that will beat a candidate faster that being that.