Oct 14 2009
Christie Vilsack: “I’m well-qualified” to run for US Senate
From Radio Iowa:
Christie Vilsack, the wife of former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack, sounds as if she may be the “mystery candidate” the chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party said was poised to run for the U.S. Senate.
Republican Chuck Grassley will seek a sixth term in the U.S. Senate in 2010 and, so far, two eastern Iowa Democrats who once served in the state legislature have announced they’re running. But during an interview with WHO TV, Christie Vilsack — a lifelong Democrat — revealed she’s considering a run for the senate herself.
During the interview, Vilsack said she wasn’t “at that place, yet” to make a decision, but made clear she’s been thinking about a race against Grassley. For example, Vilsack said her husband, U.S. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack, emailed her Tuesday afternoon, telling her Senator Olympia Snowe of Maine was the only Republican on the Senate Finance Committee to vote for the health care reform bill. Mrs. Vilsack made reference, then, not only to Snowe’s “yes” but to Grassley’s “no” vote.
“You don’t make history by voting ‘no,’ and so Olympia Snowe is making history today and I’m really proud of her as a legislator, as someone who is stepping up to the plate and I’m proud that she’s willing to work in a bipartisan fashion and I think that that’s really what we should all be doing right now,” Vilsack said. “It’s what I do in my work every day. It’s what I did as first lady.”
