President Obama has become a political liability in Iowa, the state that launched his successful run to the White House, and his low approval rating there threatens the Democrats’ ability to win the open Senate seat.

“A Gallup poll released Friday shows that in Iowa, where Obama began his meteoric presidential political rise in 2008, the president’s popularity is waning,” U.S. News and World Report’s Lauren Fox noted. “His approval rating stands at its lowest point since the start of his presidency, with only 38 percent of Iowans behind him. Nationally, Obama’s approval rating sits five points higher, at 43 percent.”

Republican Senate nominee Joni Ernst plans to tie her Democratic opponent, Representative Bruce Braley, to the president in her bid to deliver an unexpected victory in a state where Republicans had no chance of winning before Senator Tom Harkin (D., Iowa), retired.

“[Braley] has been a strong advocate for what we term the Obama-Pelosi-Braley platform,” David Polyanksy, senior adviser to the Ernst campaign, told National Review Online. “And, in sharp contrast to that, we’ve got an Iowa candidate with deep Iowa roots and real Iowa values who wants to go to Washington and continue to serve her nation.”

You can read more on how Ernst became a contender in my piece on the home page.