The Republicans vying for their party’s U.S. Senate nomination all consider “ObamaCare” to be the G-O-P’s strongest weapon against Congressman Bruce Braley, the only Democrat running for Iowa’s U.S. Senate seat this year. But Braley is still touting the Affordable Care Act. President Obama issued a statement Sunday to mark the fourth anniversary of the health care law, dismissing what he called the “outdated obsession” of critics to get rid of the Affordable Care Act.

Republican Senate candidate Joni Ernst has a different name for the law. “Bruce Braley’s ObamaCare,” Ernst says on the campaign trail. Candidate Sam Clovis  has said ObamaCare will be “ugly” for Braley. “He was the last person to speak on the floor of the House before the Affordable Care Act was passed,” Clovis said during a forum last week. “…He has a lot of things to answer for.”

Candidate Mark Jacobs of West Des Moines says ObamaCare has created head-aches for businesses. “When you go through the pages and pages and pages of regulation to define what is a full-time employee to determine if you are subject to the rules or not, it’s next to impossible for anybody to possibly understand that,” Jacobs said last week during a National Federation of Independent Business forum. Candidate Matt Whitaker predicts “ObamaCare” will be this fall’s deciding issue.

“It is not going to be a campaign about the Republican nominee,” Whitaker said recently. “This is going to be a campaign about Bruce Braley and his record that is bad for Iowa.” Braley isn’t backing away from the law. “I think Democrats need to do a better job of telling the stories of the people whose lives have been positively changed by the Affordable Care Act and I think that’s the message I’ll be talking about as I travel around Iowa,” Braley said last Thursday.

Braley held 17 town hall meetings in the months before and after passage of the Affordable Care Act, often telling audiences about his nephew who survived liver cancer when he was two. “His parents…had the best insurance you could get in Iowa and they were prevented at that time from changing jobs because he would have been prevented from getting reimbursement because of his pre-existing condition,” Braley said late last week. “His parent no longer have to worry about that and, in fact, have been able to change their jobs and know that their son is going to be able to continue to receive care even with his pre-existing condition.”

Fifty-two percent of the Iowans surveyed in December by Quinnipiac University said they were LESS likely to support a candidate who supports the Affordable Care Act. A Quinnipiac poll taken in early March found Braley leading potential Republican challengers in head-to-head match-ups by between nine and 13 percentage points.

(Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press…

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Snow is expected in eastern Nebraska and Iowa today. The National Weather Service says a fast-moving storm will deliver a quick blast of snow from the northwest. Forecasters say much of Iowa will receive 1-to-2 inches of snow by Monday evening.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The outgoing chairman of Iowa’s Republican Party supports legalizing the medical use of marijuana. GOP Chairman A.J. Spiker wrote an opinion column The Des Moines Register ran Sunday arguing that Republicans should support medical marijuana. Spiker submitted his resignation earlier this month, and a vote on his replacement is scheduled for March 29th.

TAMA, Iowa (AP) — Officials in the central Iowa town of Tama are optimistic that an idle beef processing plant will reopen soon and add hundreds of jobs. The Times-Republican reports the former Tama Pack facility is expected to reopen as Iowa Premium Beef sometime this year once remodeling is complete. Tama Mayor Dan Zimmerman says he’s optimistic about the company’s prospects although the timing of the reopening remains uncertain.

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — DeAndre Kane drove for the game-winning layup with 1.6 seconds left and Number 3 seed Iowa State beat North Carolina 85-83 on Sunday, advancing to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2000. The Cyclones head to Madison Square Garden next week to face Number 7 seed Connecticut in the East Regional semifinals.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A new law will roll back the eye-popping federal flood insurance premium increases that have hit the wallets of some Iowa homeowners and business owners, but the relief may not be long-lived. Congress passed a federal flood insurance reform act in 2012 that was aimed at reducing the government’s burden in subsidizing the National Flood Insurance Program. It had policyholders paying rates based on the true flood risk of their property.

The president signed a bill Friday that softens the blow, but will still hike premiums for more than 4,500 Iowa homeowners up to 18 percent annually. Some 1,800 policyholders on second homes and businesses will face a mandatory 25 percent increase. A Fort Dodge woman had faced a 575 percent increase, but may get some money back.

The Audubon City Council is expected to formally issue an order Monday night that would remove long-time City Clerk Lora Hansen from her current “hold-over” position, file the Order with her, and send the order to her via Certified Mail. The action, and subsequent appointing of Jan Roberts as Interim City Clerk, will take place during the Council’s meeting in the Memorial Hall/City Hall building. The meeting begins at 7-p.m. Additional, related action will include the Council directing Mayor Sam Kauffman to advertise for the full-time position of City Clerk.

The City Clerk issue has been on-going for city leaders in Audubon since their decision not to reappoint Hansen was made during their meeting on Jan. 13th. Up to and beyond that meeting, there have been numerous legal missteps taken by the Council which have resulted in numerous requests for electronic and other records, and the very real possibility of legal action against individual members of the Council, for alleged violations of Iowa’s Open Meetings and Open Records laws.

In other business, the Audubon City Council, upon the advice of Interim City Attorney David Wiederstein, is expected to table action on an agenda item calling for a Public Hearing on the proposed condemnation of 408 Market Street. The Council may also table a Resolution to accept a purchase agreement for the same property, upon the Attorney’s advice. If those matters are tabled, they will come up again during the Council’s work session on March 31st.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The outgoing chairman of Iowa’s Republican Party supports legalizing the medical use of marijuana. GOP Chairman A.J. Spiker wrote an opinion column The Des Moines Register ran Sunday arguing that Republicans should support medical marijuana. Spiker says doctors know better than politicians what treatments are needed.

Spiker submitted his resignation earlier this month, and a vote on his replacement is scheduled for March 29. Spiker plans to work for U.S. Sen. Rand Paul’s political action committee. Rand Paul is a potential 2016 presidential candidate, and Spiker had previously backed Paul’s father, former U.S. Rep. Ron Paul.