Several stories since the “farmer” comment have helped reinforce, at least in national circles, Braley’s unfortunate penchant for putting his foot in his mouth: At a parade earlier this month, Braley appeared to answer a voter’s cheer of “We’re farmers!” with “So am I!” (The campaign said Braley thought the voter had said “We’re for farmers,” which is why he agreed.)

Republicans also seized on a story about Braley and his wife complaining to the local homeowners association about a neighbor’s chickens running free, a story that helps fit into the GOP portrayal of Braley as an elitist trial lawyer. Another report this week found he had missed the majority of Veterans Affairs Department oversight hearings in 2011 and 2012.

“The last thing you want to be is somebody who ‘went Washington,’ and those stumbles sort of opened the door” to criticism like that, said one Democrat familiar with the campaign. “That’s a caricature that the Braley campaign does not want to stick.”