Senator Chuck Grassley is seeking a sixth term in 2010, and Iowa Democrats have never managed to give him a tough re-election race before. However, today Iowa Democratic Party chair Michael Kiernan spoke confidently about a “first-round draft pick” who is ready to run against Grassley, Kay Henderson reported for Radio Iowa.
“I’m going to tell you here today that Chuck Grassley is going to be in for the race of his life.” […]
“You’re just going to have to wait to find out,” Kiernan said this morning during taping of this weekend’s “Iowa Press” program. “We want to wait ’til, obviously, after Terry Branstad announced his candidacy for governor.”
Kiernan isn’t revealing the characteristics this phantom candidate may have either. “I’ll just wait for the announcement,” Kiernan said. “You will be impressed.” […]
“I’m here to tell you today that it will be the toughest race that Chuck Grassley has faced since John Culver,” Kiernan said.
Grassley defeated Senator John Culver (Governor Chet Culver’s father) in the 1980 Reagan landslide.
Speaking to reporters after today’s taping, Kiernan said the big-name challenger is “100 percent committed” to this race.
Your guess is as good as mine. A retired politician? Former first lady Christie Vilsack? A celebrity in a non-political field? Someone from the business world? (Retired Principal Financial Group CEO Barry Griswell has ruled out running, as has Fred Hubbell, the incoming interim director of the Iowa Department of Economic Development.)
Grassley’s approval rating has fallen this year, but it’ll take a lot to convince me that we can defeat him. He’s still got a strong brand name and 30 years of constituent service behind him.
Each winter every four years?
Grassley hasn’t fallen below 60% of the vote since his first election in 1980. I don’t see anyone on the horizon right now who could give him that challenge.
seems to think it could be ashton kutcher
Tom Harkin. Perhaps he is so fed up with Grassley’s obstruction, that he decides to see that Grassley is booted out…
I’m joking here.
probably not, but wouldnt that be fun. Roxanne kicks ass, and since we’re digging up names from 1982… why not!
…Tom Vilsack and Tom Miller. Vilsack, of course, would have to resign his Cabinet post. It would be unusual, but who knows, maybe an Administration gig is not so interesting and fun for him after all?
Miller is the sitting Attorney General for 26 of the past 30 years (out of office 1991 to 1995 after losing the 1990 Democratic gubernatorial primary), and as I posted in weeks past, he was a personal mentor to me many years ago…meaning I know a little about him personally. He told me many years ago that as a very young man he wanted to be a Congressman or Senator, that’s what looked sexy. He ran for A.G. because the opportunity was there, and he found he loved the job and lost his desire for federal office. Tom is by far the most popular political figure of either party in Iowa, and he ran unopposed in 2006 as the GOP decided even a sacrificial lamb wasn’t worth anything.
I can imagine a scenario where Miller, in the twilight of his career, is ready to make one run for high federal office and see what happens. Politicians, especially popular ones, hate to lose, and therefore often shun a challenge tough as beating Grassley next year, but Miller now is at an age when many American adults start counting the days to retirement, he might be sanguine about whatever comes of it.
So that’s my wildcard.
But, maybe Kiernan just needs to develop better messaging skills, and his big buildup will prove a disappointment when some underdog steps forward.
Let’s say we can’t get rid of Grassley this cycle, but he has a closer race than expected going into what everybody knows will be his final term. Assuming he doesn’t die in office and retires in 2016, what are the chances that he can actually hand his seat off to his grandson as planned? Is it possible that people will vote for him this cycle because old habits die hard, but will hold his misanthropy against his grandson when it counts? Can behaving like a jackass on HCR affect his long term plan?
Much as I’d love to see Grassley gone, but my real concern is that he’s making a pretty cheap attempt to start a political dynasty. I think this could be a sleeper race with a few more teabagging statements from Grassley on healthcare reform – IA was Obama’s “most improved” state over Kerry, and if he makes too big of an ass of himself people might turn against him no matter how long he’s been up there – and possibly because they decide he’s gotten too old and has gone completely crazy. (Burns, Stevens, there seems to be one crazy old Republican coot in every cycle.) I see the potential for an upset a year from now, but it depends entirely on Grassley continuing to teabag as much as he did this summer and the D recruit really being as fantastic as Kiernan says he is. Longshot to be sure, but should still be an RTW. Stranger things have happened.
shock campaign from some rich guy I think it has to be Tom Miller. That or he is setting us up for a giant let down.
While he is fairly old it does make some amount of sense. He was semi-active in the Obama campaign, endorsed early enough that national Obama folks and him probably have a good relationship and he was the featured Iowa speaker on the Iowa stop of the OFA Healthcare Bus Tour
http://www.flickr.com/photos/b…
He would be about the only one I can imagine who fits that. And his interest in national issues sure makes him seem like a potential candidate.
Please, please let that be true. If Miller runs this really is a race.