And so it begins: Vilsack for Pres?

Campaign '08 has officiall begun.

Besides what I can read in this article or grab off the inernets in the next few seconds, I know very little about this guy.

So, got a shot? Good candidate? Someone you could vote for? Or not? Major strengths? Liabilities? Dark horse? Fat chance?

Please discuss!

I was just reading that same article. I know little about him and of course its too soon to really say if he’s a good candidate.

I’ve been perusing some info about him and it sounds like he’s been taking a leadership position on enviromental issues. I’m somewhat impressed that he pledged to only seek two terms as governor and followed through on that, helping to get his democrat successor elected. It seems he’s considered a moderate which would help out with swing voters and some repubs, but may alienate more liberal dems. Perhaps a Vilsack/Clinton ticket would provide a decent mix.

I’d need to learn more about him obviously, but he sounds fairly decent from the bits I’ve found so far.

Don’t know much about him. Positions aside, does the guy have any charm/charisma? How about it, Iowa dopers?

Bleh. Can somebody report my title? I misspelled Vilsack.

Done

Iowa doper here. It’s been no secret that Tom Vilsack was going to make a run at the big chair. At least, everyone I know has simply assumed that he would.

I like his politics in general, have met him once and found him very nice and genuine. I’ve met his wife Christie several times and we have friends in common. She’s a dynamo, very gracious, very sharp and would make an excellent first lady.and they make an excellent unit. They are both personally and professionally smart, have raised two very un-screwed-up sons (great family values for real). Best of all, he lacks that congressional taint so many of the '08 candidates will have.

I can say that arts, education, and culture have bloomed in Des Moines in the last decade, so that’s all good. He doesn’t have Clinton’s level of charisma nor his more obvious flaws. I think he’d be a good choice, and other than the Winnie-The-Pooh pictures that the local rag likes to trot out from time to time (taken during his wife’s annual children’s literacy fairs during which the Governor allowed himself to be dressed in silly costumes), the tabloids are going to have a hard time finding much negative in his past.

Just a quick, off the top of my head post. Anyone who really wants to delve into his political career can google as well as I can.

Thanks, Mrs. Cake, the Iowan perspective is actually precisely one of the things I was hoping to get out of this.

I don’t know much about Vilsack, but doesn’t the very presence of a favorite son make the Iowa Democrat caucuses irreleveant? I mean, is anybody going to view the winner of the caucuses (surprise, Tom Vilsack!) as any indication of who the front runner is?

Excellent point. In the bizarre way these things work, it might help both him and the Iowa caucus, I really don’t know.

It did in 1992, when Iowan Tom Harkin ran. The other Democrats pretty much ceded Iowa to Harkin.

New Englander Paul Tsongas then won in new Hampshire, with Bill Clinton finishing a strong second. Clinton swept to victory by carrying a bunch of Southern primaries on “Super Tuesday.”

I’m all for keeping the politicians out of Des Moines as much as possible. 2004 was a non-stop nightmare if you worked downtown (as I did) or were a helicopter pilot being constantly grounded (as my husband was). No caucus? Sounds good to me. That means about 200 fewer phone calls a days and I don’t have to tie the rabid dogs to my front doorknob.

This should keep the nomination up in the air longer. I can imagine a scenario where Vilsak wins Iowa, Hillary Clinton wins New Hampshire, and John Edwards wins South Carolina. The fourth early race is Nevada. Not sure who might take that one.

Maybe Obama gets Nevada. Kind of rolls off the tongue.

I forgot about Harkin. That said, he didn’t poll so well in his home state. They seem to like him, but they didn’t think he was presidential material. Maybe Iowa would still be in play two years from now, I don’t know. A lot can change in that amount of time. Right now, he does indeed look like a longshot.

I don’t Hillary would settle for VP. At best she’d have to wait until 2016 for a shot at the Oval Office. If she can’t be POTUS she’d best stay in the Senate and work her way to Majority Leader.

According to the political reporter for the Des Moines Register on Hardball today, Vilsack isn’t polling all that well in Iowa right now.