Just getting to know about Vilsack. Here's another article.
WHAT VILSACK WOULD BRING TO A CLINTON TICKET: Agriculture circles are buzzing over a flurry of news reports that Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is in the mix to be Hillary Clinton’s running mate this late in the campaign, Pro Agriculture’s Helena Bottemiller Evich reports. But what would the former Iowa governor bring to the ticket? Vilsack is considered an appealing, if lackluster, choice for Clinton owing to their decades-long friendship and deep trust, his track record governing the prairie swing state and his leadership of the USDA for more than seven years. And there’s the not-to-be-discounted potential that he’d help Clinton win over white rural male voters in key farm and rust belt states.
The trust factor: One of the agriculture secretary's most unique strengths in the veepstakes, his supporters say, is that he is actually friends with Hillary Clinton, and has been for decades. Vilsack is reportedly closer to Clinton personally than anyone else still being considered for the job. Their friendship dates to the early 1970s when Clinton and Vilsack's late brother-in-law, Tom Bell, worked together as staffers on the Senate Watergate Committee.
The governing factor: Vilsack’s history of being more workhorse than show horse is a reason he’s being considered for the job, surrogates say. In nearly eight years in President Barack Obama’s Cabinet, Vilsack has been a steady hand, plugging along dutifully on many administration priorities, from school lunches to international food security to expanding ag exports — work that’s taken him to 23 countries.
Why now? The fact Vilsack’s name is apparently circulating so late in the veepstakes has questions swirling among agriculture politicos about which of the three most likely scenarios is true: Vilsack has recently moved up Clinton’s potential VP list; he’s been up there all along and the political media either missed the story or Team Clinton did well to keep it under wraps; or the campaign is floating Vilsack now as a sign of appreciation before naming someone else, like Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), who is reportedly the front-runner to get the nod. Pros can read the full story from Bottemiller Evich here.
Read more:
http://www.politico.com/tipsheets/morning-agriculture/2016/07/how-vilsack-would-help-clintons-ticket-215351#ixzz4EcZhnStk
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