Tom Vilsack is the Agriculture Secretary for the Obama Administration, most famous for his panicked cell-phone firing of USDA employee Shirley Sherrod, after Andrew Breitbart hypnotized him with complex signals embedded in a video of Sherrod speaking before an NAACP meeting.
Before that, Vilsack served two terms as the governor of Iowa. His wife Christie has been shopping around for a Congressional seat, and is reportedly close to deciding whether she’ll challenge Democrat Dave Loebsack in the new 2nd District of southeast Iowa, or Republican Steve King, chairman of the recent high-profile hearings on Muslim extremism. According to the Politico, party leaders are understandably reluctant to see her engage another Democrat in a tough internal battle, so she’s leaning toward going after King.
The press secretary for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s Midwestern operations told the Des Moines Register that Christie Vilsack “would be a formidable opponent against Representative Steve King in the 4th District.” Actually, King’s bio says he represents the 5th District, but I’m sure Christie Vilsack would be equally formidable there. She’s worked on both her husband’s campaign, and Hillary Clinton’s presidential effort in 2008. Doubtless Iowans will be eager to trade in a 10-year incumbent for a Democrat with lots of political campaign experience, because that’s what America needs right now.
Tom Vilsack is certainly excited to get his wife’s campaign off the ground. According to the Register, he told a private meeting of Democrat state senators that if his wife does run, “it will be a holy war.” How sad that he didn’t have the stones to actually say “jihad.” American political discourse was so much more entertaining before Democrats declared the New Tone of Civility last February. Oh well. At least Iowans can look forward to an inclusive campaign full of high-minded discourse and a sober discussion of the issues!
Update: wrong King - it was Peter King who chaired the Muslim extremism hearings. My bad! Politics contains so many people whose names end in "king" or "sack!" I'm still looking forward to watching the "holy war."
I think this might make the use of "holy war" terminology even weirder. It wasn't excusable when it seemed like a taunt aimed at the chairman of the Muslim extremism hearings, but at least it sort of made sense.
