The Elbert Files: Judge is no threat to Grassley

The Elbert Files
By Dave Elbert
August 26, 2016

Democrat Patty Judge’s campaign to defeat Iowa’s long-time incumbent U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley is built around the slogan that she is “the Judge Grassley can’t ignore.”

It’s a memorable phrase, particularly in light of Grassley’s decision not to hold Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on any of President Obama’s appointments to the Supreme Court this year. But it’s a toothless threat.

I won’t say Grassley is ignoring Judge, because he’s too smart to ignore an opponent. But the media coverage he’s received since the June primary illustrates why the 82-year-old, six-term U.S. Senator is so difficult to defeat.

From mid-June – after primary and post-primary coverage ended – until mid-August, Grassley had a huge advantage over Judge in terms of news coverage in The Des Moines Register and on statewide Iowa Public Radio.

Between June 16 and Aug. 17, the Des Moines Public Library’s online index of the Register lists 55 articles in which Grassley’s name was mentioned and 11 that mentioned Judge. Nine additional stories mentioned both Judge and Grassley.

A search of Iowa Public Radio’s website for the same period found 16 stories in which Grassley’s name appeared, compared with four mentions of Judge.

Of course, not all mentions were positive, but for every negative headline or on-air report about Grassley, there were three or four positive stories.

Only two of the stories about Judge since the primary were what I consider notable.

One was about her appearance at the Register’s State Fair Soapbox, where the headline was: “Patty Judge hits rival Grassley for ‘not proposing solutions.’”

Read the rest of the article here.