It’s been one month since Patty Judge announced her Washington-backed Senate campaign (in a story first leaked to the New York Times, no less). And what a month it’s been. Judge has been barnstorming across Iowa, talking to voters and articulating her position on issue after…no, that’s not right.
In fact, Judge has barely registered a blip on the radar since her vaunted campaign rollout. Other than completing the Full Patty during week one, Judge has barely been spotted. In one month, Judge has been seen in Iowa exactly one time.
So while Judge’s DC handlers continue to trumpet her phantom candidacy, here are some things that have actually happened over the last month of the campaign:
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The Des Moines Register ran this story about the loud thud Judge’s candidacy has registered among grassroots Democrats in Iowa – you know, people who actually vote – and noted her campaign amounts to a “heavy-handed and unwelcome intervention from Washington.”
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A prominent liberal blogger in Des Moines reacted to Judge’s announcement with the headline, “Washington Democrats Are Fired Up About Patty Judge.”
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A former Culver-Judge appointee told the Register that Democrats should “vote anyone but Judge.”
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Primary opponent Rob Hogg, who was already backed by nearly every Democrat in the Iowa legislature welcomed Judge into the race by announcing a wave of endorsements from influential Iowa Democrats.
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This weekend, Hogg started swinging, noting, “The last time Lt. Gov. Judge was on the ballot, the Democratic ticket lost by over 100,000 votes.”
- So impressed was the nonpartisan Rothenberg-Gonzales Political Report with Judge that they called her chances of defeating Chuck Grassley “a far-fetched scenario” and rated the race ‘Safe Republican.’
The enthusiasm is striking.