Dem Senate candidate AWOL on VA oversight hearings

Des Moines Register:
Over a two-year period, Democratic U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley missed 75 percent of meetings for a committee that provides oversight over the Veterans Administration, including one meeting on a day he attended three fundraisers for his 2012 campaign.

A few months later, news reports exposed systemic problems in patient care that have since resulted in the resignation head of the federal department of veterans affairs.

Republicans argue that Braley, who missed 15 of the 20 Veterans' Affairs Committee meetings in 2011 and 2012, has shown a lack of commitment to conditions within the health care system for veterans.

Democrats who back Braley, a trial lawyer and seven-year congressman who is now running for U.S. Senate, say he has been an outspoken voice for veterans and it's wrong for his GOP rival, Joni Ernst, to "try to inject partisan politics into veterans issues." He missed the veterans affairs meeting on the day of the three fundraisers because he went to another congressional hearing, his aides said.

Braley and Ernst are neck-and-neck in an aggressive battle for the seat retiring Democratic U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin leaves open this winter. The balance of power in the U.S. Senate hinges on the outcome of the Iowa race and those in several other states.
...
Braley is looking like a flawed candidate.  He has made a couple of significant gaffes denigrating the farmers who are a large part of Iowa voters.  By contrast Ernst has been a surprising strong candidate.  She was raised on a farm and is an officer in the National Guard.  Ernst would definitely be an upgrade for Iowa.

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