Health care's effect on voter choices, Hillary Clinton's trip to Iowa, and the latest on the race in Kansas. On this week's Election Countdown, Norm Ornstein and Jennifer Marsico break down the biggest issues facing the candidates and the voters. Watch more Election Countdown episodes here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLytTJqkSQqtppxSF_dmu20Z_xJkoc9rmo Subscribe AEI's YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/user/AEIVideos?sub_confirmation=1 Like us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/AEIonline Follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/AEI For More Information http://www.aei.org Partial transcript: Hillary Clinton just made a trip to Iowa. Does that mean that she’s made up her mind to run for president? AEI’s Norm Ornstein will give us the details on this episode of Election Countdown. Let’s talk about a topic near and dear to the Political Corner’s heart: Hillary Clinton. Clinton visited Iowa last weekend, for the Harkin Steak Fry, which has traditionally been attended by Democrats seeking the presidency. Not surprisingly, this appearance fueled discussion about Hillary Clinton running for president. With us this week to discuss this and a few other topics is AEI Resident Scholar Norm Ornstein. Norm, thanks for being here. Hillary Clinton in Iowa. Norm, she’s said she won’t make a decision on whether to run until early next year. But do you think she’s probably already made up her mind to run? Now, making appearances in the early primary states, like Iowa and New Hampshire, are usually a sure sign that someone is “testing the waters” for a presidential run. Are there any other clues we should be looking for from Hillary Clinton in the next couple of months? What’s the Matter with Kansas? We don’t usually think about Kansas as a purple state, but this year, it’s home to two of the closest midterm elections. Governor Sam Brownback is facing a very difficult road to re-election, and Senator Pat Roberts is experiencing a very strong challenge from an independent candidate, businessman Greg Orman. Norm, I want us to explore both of these races, but let’s start with the governor’s race. Why is Brownback, who was elected in 2010 with 63 percent of the vote, potentially on the verge of losing his seat? And is Brownback’s unpopularity the reason why the Kansas Senate race is also a toss-up? The Race for the Senate Majority. One of the reasons we’re watching the Kansas Senate race so closely is that control of the Senate is very much up in the air right now. Democrats currently have control, but two of the most trusted political prognosticators, Charlie Cook and Stu Rothenberg, have each recently predicted that the GOP would pick up at least seven seats this November. Norm, what do you think—is Republican control of the Senate a good bet? What do Democrats have to do to keep the Senate in their hands? Medicaid and Governors’ Races Kansas also happens to be one of five states in which the Democratic gubernatorial candidate has promised to expand Medicaid coverage through the Affordable Care Act. The Hill is reporting that this could result in 1.7 million new people being insured. So the five states are Kansas, Florida, Maine, Wisconsin, and Georgia. Do you really believe that the Medicaid issue could end up swinging one or more of these races in Democrats’ favor? Does this show that Americans are starting to at least accept that the Affordable Care Act is now settled law?

• published: 19 Sep 2014
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