Stanton, Iowa – A sign just west of this small town instructs drivers how to find it, in a mix of Swedish and English: "Valkommen till Stanton. Next Paved Exit."
Sen. Amy Klobuchar spent about 90 minutes in this town of 637 people last week, talking to a half-dozen local leaders about the lack of reliable broadband internet in southwestern Iowa's Montgomery County. The Democratic candidate for president showed the kind of fluency with small-town concerns that has helped her again and again defy her party's declining fortunes in rural America.
"I'm really focused on improving access to the internet in rural areas and small towns," Klobuchar told the group, between bites of a slice of Casey's pizza. "We want kids who grow up in small towns to be able to stay here, and they can't do that without the internet."
Klobuchar's latest trip to Iowa, which holds the first presidential vote of 2020 with its Feb. 3 caucus, saw a focus on rural life. The day before she headed back to the state, Klobuchar unveiled the biggest proposal of her campaign so far: a $1 trillion infrastructure plan paid for by a 4 percent increase in the U.S. corporate tax rate. Among other goals, it aims to bring high-speed internet to every U.S. home by 2022.
On Saturday, Klobuchar joined a handful of other Democratic candidates in northwestern Iowa's Storm Lake for the Heartland Forum. The discussion turned on what Democrats need to do to win a bigger share of votes in parts of the country beset by flagging economic fortunes, little affordable housing, dwindling health care options, inferior technology, declining infrastructure and population loss.
"I think it's important to have a candidate from the Midwest who can talk about these Midwestern issues," Klobuchar said at the forum. She talked about the need to break up corporate consolidation in agribusiness, boost access to mental health services in rural areas, battle climate change and its implications for agricultural land, and preserve farming as a way of life.
"It's not just earning a living. It's your whole life," Klobuchar said.
In 2016, President Donald Trump tallied huge winning margins in rural counties nationwide, gearing his message to "forgotten Americans." He won 62 percent of the vote in America's small towns and rural areas.