Dem Implosion Continues: Boswell v. Fallon
Nathan Greene
2 Comments
By Emily Geiger
Can’t we all just get along? Apparently not if you are a Democrat this year. If you need any evidence of this fact, look no further than the Democratic primary race in Iowa’s third congressional district. Things are already getting, shall we say, tense, between incumbent Leonard Boswell and his challenger, former state legislator and gubernatorial candidate Ed Fallon.
First, there was the re-emergence of rumors that Fallon had contemplated a third-party bid for governor after he lost the primary to Chet Culver in 2006. These rumors were picked up in the Register. To the Democratic base, this makes Fallon a traitor.
Then you’ve also got Boswell talking about how Fallon was supportive of Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader. For those of you who have been living under a rock for several years, Nader is often blamed by the Democratic base for Bush being in the White House. The theory is that Nader pulled liberal votes that otherwise would have gone for Gore/Kerry, and likely would have pushed the Democratic candidate over the top. So, Fallon supporting Nader is also viewed by many Democrats as an act of heresy and disloyalty.
You’ve also got Boswell questioning Fallon’s ethics on several levels. First, Boswell was questioning whether Fallon had used his advocacy group, “I’m for Iowa,” to promote his political campaign. I find it pretty ironic that Boswell is claiming to be concerned that Fallon might have some advantage here when Fallon refuses to take PAC money, and Boswell is the king of PAC money.
More recently, we’ve had some of Boswell’s buddies in the statehouse drawing attention to the fact that Fallon paid himself the $13,750 he had left in his campaign account after his run for governor was over. The Campaign Ethics and Disclosure Board has stated that this violated no rules or laws, but Dem. State Rep. Rick Olson has splashed his name all over the papers this week publicizing his newly proposed legislation which would ban these types of payments to candidates.
Should what Fallon did be illegal? I don’t know. I don’t really have strong feelings on it one way or the other, but what I find so interesting about this is the timing.
If this was such a travesty of justice, why not introduce legislation banning this practice earlier in the legislative session (or perhaps even last year, given that this conduct occurred in the 2006 election cycle)? Why wait until after the second funnel deadline to introduce new legislation? Because of the late date of introduction, this proposed ban will have to be sponsored by Democratic Legislative leadership.
All this tells us a few things. 1) Boswell is getting desperate, 2) this little plot is obviously a political ploy or else this issue would have been raised a long time ago, and 3) Boswell is not the kindly old grandfather figure he makes himself out to be in his campaign ads. He can sling mud with the best of them.
It will be interesting to see if Supreme Iowa Democrat Gronstal & Co. is in on this little scheme given that their blessing is needed for this to have any success. I could see Gronstal appreciating Fallon’s unabashed liberalness. But Boswell is a Democratic institution in the state. Gronstal is going to have to choose between political idealism and political pragmatism.
Reader Comments (2)
Is there a House Rule about Turtlenecks? I think Boss Hog is nervous.
"Enos, go get them Duke boys!"
I find it funny that the State House Democrats are in a tissy over Fallon's campaign against the Boz, but find it acceptable to vocally challenge their own Democrat Governor and treat him like he's a stupid little kind that can't have a seat at the big boys table.