DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Democratic Party researchers are scrubbing the past and current comments of Republican U.S. Senate candidates in hopes of finding rhetoric that might spook moderate or independent voters.

Democrats hope that controversial remarks by Republican candidates will help counter the upper hand the GOP has gained in many states, including many Midwestern states. Provocative comments about rape and abortion by Republican Senate candidates in Indiana and Missouri undermined their campaigns in 2012.

The best Democrats have come up with this year is in Iowa’s Senate campaign. They have called attention to Republican candidate Joni Ernst’s professed belief in a United Nations’ threat to American property rights. But there is no indication the issue has affected the closely contested race.