Ok now what?

[Bluzmann57]

grassley and Harkin are both old guys and may or may not run again. And should Harkin run again, we know the rw hate machine will come after him hard. And since I don't believe that grassley is running again, they will likely run some asshole like vanderplaats, king, or possibly grassley's grandson who is reportedly an up and comer.
What we need are at least two good strong candidates who can assure us that Iowa's Senators will remain blue for many years to come. So let's just say that Harkin runs again. He is already firmly entrenched. So we need one more for now. I have thrown out a few names. Perhaps you can think of more.

[rurallib]

1. I would really like to see a woman. Who has the state wide name recognition

needed at the start? Patty Judge maybe? Christy Vilsack?
Who else do we have on the male side? Is Chet too damaged? How about Michael Mauro? (I was really impressed by the job he did as SOS). Tom Miller maybe. He sure has gravitas.
I think the RW sent Braley a message. I had heard they were most concerned about him possibly running and the whole big money thing against him was to flex their muscle.
I doubt Dave Loebsack would be interested, but who knows. Both Bruce and Deave would need to overcome a name recognition deficit outside their district.

[47of74]

2. I don't want to lose Bruce

I don't want to lose Bruce because he's doing a fantastic job as our Representative here in the 1st, regardless of what any shithead Republicans would tell you. I think Vilsack would be a good Senator. Or maybe someone like Pat Murphy could fill the post.

[progressoid]

3. I don't want to lose any more Dems in the House

So I guess Vilsack.

Does redistricting happen next year?

[Cairycat]

4. Braley immediately comes to mind

of course. I recall in 2007 when they had the GSA misconduct hearings and Lurita Doan accidentally called Braley "Senator" - when he'd been on the job what, two months? (See the vid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wri62hYXN24 )

Yeah, I'd sure hate to lose him as my rep. It was so awful to have Nussle in there for so long.

But I think Vilsack is too moderate, too DLC. His forcing Shirley Sherrod to resign, falling for Faux Snooze's selective editing, probably wouldn't play well in attack ads either.

Again on Braley, he's got the whole "trial lawyer" thing too. So I picked Loebsack. A nicer, more sensible, more down-to-earth guy you could never meet. He's really doing a good job for you guys in the 2nd district.