Bohannan says people tell her they're disillusioned with both parties.
"We have to stop voting "no" on things that are good for our own people just because the other party recommended them or proposed them. I think that's just killing our country and it's really bad for Iowa."
She lists education, health care, Medicare, and Social Security as her "core" Democratic issues, but calls herself more independent on issues such as the economy and immigration.
"Increasingly what I hear from people is they feel like the extreme politics don't speak to them on either side. They just hear the extremes, the ten per cent on the right and the ten per cent on the far left. And what they want is somebody who's going to come and deal with the 80 per cent - that's where most people are."
Bohannan says neither party is to blame for problems in the economy, but it won't be fixed without both working together.
She spent Thursday in the Quad Cities, talking to realtors and the Chamber of Commerce, plus interviews, fund-raising, and a tour of Community Health Care.
Iowa's First District covers 20 counties, along the Mississippi River from Jackson County south to Lee County, and west to Warren and Marion counties.
