Mystery Solved? Tom, not Christy.
- Friday, October 16, 2009, 22:17
- Craig Robinson
- 1,384 views
- 13 comments
Grant Young has some information that will grab Senator Grassley and the rest of the Iowa GOP’s attention. Young has a well placed source that says the chatter inside the U.S. Ag Department is that Current U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack is making initial preparations to return to Iowa to run for the United States Senate.
Mike Kiernan, the chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party, has claimed that a “mystery” candidate to challenge Sen. Grassley this fall exists. However some of top Iowa Democrats, including Sen. Harkin and Mike Gronstal, have said that they don’t know who Kiernan is referring to.
Secretary Vilsack would be the most formidable candidate that Iowa Democrats could put up against Grassley. Yet, if he does decide to leave his post as Secretary of Agriculture, a position that means a great deal to Iowans, it would mark the second time in a month that high-ranking Iowa Democrats left influential agricultural posts to pursue their own political ambitions.
Sen. Harkin gave up his chairmanship of the Senate Ag Committee for the Chairmanship of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, which Sen. Ted Kennedy used to chair.
About the Author
Craig Robinson has written 502 stories on this site.
Craig Robinson serves as the founder and Editor-in-Chief of TheIowaRepublican.com. Prior to founding Iowa's largest conservative news site, Robinson served as the Political Director of the Republican Party of Iowa during the 2008 Iowa Caucuses. In that capacity, Robinson planned and organized the largest political event in 2007, the Iowa Straw Poll, in Ames, Iowa. Robinson also organized the 2008 Republican caucuses in Iowa, and was later dispatched to Nevada to help with the caucuses there. Robinson cut his teeth in Iowa politics during the 2000 caucus campaign of businessman Steve Forbes and has been involved with most major campaigns in the state since then. His extensive political background and rolodex give him a unique perspective from which to monitor the political pulse of Iowa.
13 Comments on “Mystery Solved? Tom, not Christy.”
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I highly doubt Tom Vilsack will give up his current position to run against Grassley.
Just completed reading a history of Iowa which included a very good picure of political moves. A large number of ex Governors ran for the Senate. Some won and were good, some won and weren’t good and some did not win.
There’s no job security in a cabinet position, though. In Iowa, once you’re a senator, you’ll die a senator.
Peglet sez: “though. In Iowa, once you’re a senator, you’ll die a senator.”
Well Peg, if the dems can beat him this time he’ll hafta go home to die.
Peggy,
You make a good point about security within the cabinent, but the Secretary of Ag is usually relatively safe. I don’t see him doing it, but who knows?
He would be the strongest candidate to run against Grassley though.
Why on Earth would Vilsack do this now? Time is on his side. Grassley’s 76 years old–he can’t be a senator forever. Vilsack is 58, and has a guarenteed job for at least four years–maybe even eight.
He could easily wait for 2016. I doubt Grassley will be running then. (He’d be 82 if he did.)
Grassley won’t run in 2016. He’d probably retire now if his grandson were old enough to run for U.S. Senate in 2010.
DSM dem, I agree with you. The GOP had better start figuring out now who should be running in ‘16 and start preparing for the day Grassley retires. However, Harkin ain’t no spring chicken either!
Well, we know Pat Grassley will be running for Senate in 2016. It’s hard to say who on the Republican bench will look appealing by then.
I would say there’s at least a 50/50 chance that Harkin retires in 2014. I expect Braley to run, but maybe Tom Vilsack would jump at that chance.
Tom Vilsack previously stated in August that he was NOT going to run against Grassley in 2010. An about face now would make the Democrats look extremely desperate to find a credible candidate.
Plus, there are already two Democrat candidates running for the nomination…and quite frankly, they probably would be none too happy about the State Party injecting themselves into a primary race. That tends to create divisions within a party that only make it that much harder to win an election.
Hawk,
Didn’t TB say he wasn’t going to run, too?
Re-read your last post. Does any of it sound vaguely familiar?
Peggy..
1st off… To my knowledge, TB has never made any public statements that he WASN’T going to run. He’s stated in the past that he wasn’t going to commit to anything until mid-October..and of course, he made his decision last week to explore a Governor bid.
2nd.. The state party isn’t out there recruiting ANYONE to run for Governor. If they are..that’s certainly news to Matt Strawn and the State Republican Central Committee. The State GOP is keeping neutral in the Governor’s race…just like they do in all Republican primary races.
Its been out there in the media that Mike Kiernan, the Iowa Democratic Party chair has been bragging about this so called “mystery” candidate. Its clear that the State Democratic Party is desperate to find a credible candidate to take on Grassley.
The last thing they want to see at the top of their ticket with Culver is another Art Small for Senate type candidacy.
“To my knowledge, TB has never made any public statements that he WASN’T going to run.” — HawkCR1
Are you sure, Hawk? Tom Beaumont at the DMR had a column titled, “Branstad denies governor run despite support” dated May 6. Of course, one can’t access the article now without paying for it but Bleeding Heartland picked up on it and wrote about it, too.