It's a good thing I waited until this week to order that ship full of uranium yellowcake. My lord. Only 985 days!
The Democrat du jour is Governor Tom Vilsack. Thomas James Vilsack was born December 13, 1950 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Vilsack is an orphan. His adoptive parents, Bud and Dolly Vilsack, raised him in their Roman Catholic faith. His adoptive father was a real-estate agent and insurance salesman, and his adoptive mother was a homemaker. Vilsack graduated from a private school in Pittsburgh, and received his bachelor's degree in 1972 from Hamilton College in Clinton, New York (right in my old neighborhood). He married Christine Bell in 1973. He received his J.D. in 1975 from Albany Law School, and after passing the bar exam, he and his wife decided to move to her hometown of Mount Pleasant, Iowa. Vilsack then joined his father-in-law in his law practice.
Vilsack entered politics in 1987 after being elected mayor of Mount Pleasant. He was elected to the Iowa State Senate in 1992, and was elected Governor in an upset in 1998, narrowly defeating his Republican challenger Jim Ross Lightfoot to become the first Democratic Governor of Iowa in 30 years. He was re-elected in 2002.
Vilsack is a "Clinton Democrat". He supported the Hyde Park Declaration that advocated for a "third way" in politics, and in 2005 was named chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council, a post once held by former Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton. A major program of his governorship is the Iowa Values Fund, which is designed to help boost the Iowa economy by creating higher-income jobs. This controversial program was created by a line-item veto that was later ruled unconstitutional, which eventually nullified the program until it was partially re-instated by the Iowa state legislature. Most of the potential candidates to replace Vilsack in the 2006 election have openly criticized the program.
Vilsack believes, along with the DLC, that abortion should be safe, legal, and rare, and supports lifting the ban on stem-cell research. Like any Iowa politician, he is a big proponent of ethanol as a renewable energy resource, and he supports the Kyoto agreement on global warming. He is also in favor of preventing unauthorized firearm use with "smart gun" technology.
His campaign finance reports from 2002 have the usual contributions from labor unions and teachers organizations. He started the Heartland PAC to help Midwestern Democratic candidates, which also receives most of its money from Big Labor. His position as Chair of the DLC opens up the full centrist Democratic fundraising cornucopia, which Bill Clinton tapped for his two runs, to his disposal. Of course, Vilsack may have to compete with another member of the Clinton family for that cash.
Tom and Christie Vilsack have two sons
After reading up on Tom, it looks like he would only run if Hillary decides not to, or if Hillary is heavily damaged by her steamer trunk full of baggage. He is clearly the next Clinton in lieu of the real thing. Vilsack often refers, much like his idol, to his difficult childhood and dealing with his alcoholic (adoptive) mother. Not having seen him live, I can't vouch for his charisma, but a brief survey of reporters and bloggers who have seen him say that he's no Slick Willie in terms of personal charm. He has the huge advantage of being a hometown boy in the pivotal Iowa caucuses, but if he wins that narrowly and flops in New Hampshire, he could be sunk early. ABCNews' The Note mentioned today that Vilsack's camp is hoping that the Democrats run a neutral primary between Iowa and New Hampshire where Vilsack could do well enough to soften the blow of a bad showing back east. As head of the DLC, he should have something to say about that.
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