Grassley's Health Care Involvement Hurting Him at Home

Longtime Republican Sen. Charles Grassley has seen his approval rate among Iowa voters drop sharply in the last five months, according to the Des Moines Register's Iowa poll and the newspaper attributes the fall-off to his work on health care reform legislation.

The approval rate for Grassley, one of the few Republicans to engage with Democrats in trying to shape a bill, dropped 9 points to 57 percent since April in the poll conducted Sept. 14-16. While his standing with Iowa Republicans went up 10 points, it dropped 24 points among Democrats and 11 points among independents.

The Register said Grassley's declines "comes on the heels of criticism that he was fearmongering last month when he suggested people were justified in worrying that a Democrat-backed health care bill in the U.S. House would involve the federal government in life and death decisions."

Although the five-term senator's seat is considered safe, the paper said that some Republicans in the state said he could face a primary challenge in 2010 if he continued to negotiate on health care with Capitol Hill Democrats.

The approval rate for Grassley's fellow senator, Democrat Tom Harkin, who has also been involved in work on the health care legislation, also fell. Fifty-five percent approve of his performance, down 15 points since January.