Kerry Veepstakes: Kerry vets Vilsack

[newsguyatl]

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- Aides to presidential candidate John
Kerry have asked for hundreds of newspaper columns written by Iowa
Gov. Tom Vilsack, one of the Democrats whose backgrounds are being
checked as Kerry ponders a running mate.
Vilsack wrote the weekly "Mayor's Moments" column for the Mt.
Pleasant News from 1987 to 1992. He became mayor of the
southeastern Iowa town of 8,700 people after a gunman opened fire
during a city council meeting in 1986, killing Mayor Ed King and
wounding two others.
Kerry is expected to announce his choice for vice president
before the Democratic National Convention, scheduled July 26-29 in
Boston. Several Democratic officials familiar with the selection
process have told The Associated Press that background checks have
been made for Vilsack, Missouri Rep. Dick Gephardt, Sen. John
Edwards of North Carolina and others they would not identify.
A former trial lawyer who was elected governor in 1998 and
re-elected in 2002, Vilsack was considered by some to be a policy
wonk as mayor, one who liked to explain the city's challenges to
its citizens. The newspaper column urged people to participate in
government, to appreciate the arts, and to recycle more often.
"The city has a very important and very expensive decision to
make in the very near future about garbage," begins a column from
1990.
In it, Vilsack seeks public opinion on a proposal to charge
residents for each bag of garbage the city picked up instead of a
flat fee. He wrote that the fee system, in place to this day, would
encourage citizens to recycle, "which saves money and it saves the
environment."
In another column from that year, Vilsack explains to young
couples how they can afford to become homeowners. "You might be
better off being willing to accept a lot less today with a smaller
home and wait awhile before moving up to a larger home," he
advised. "My parents used to tell me that inch by inch life is a
cinch but yard by yard life is hard."
The Kerry campaign sought copies of the public writings of
Vilsack and his wife, Christie, said James Sisco, a Mount Pleasant
retiree who is active in local Democratic politics.
"They wanted everything that he wrote," Sisco said. "I went
through microfilm until I was bleary-eyed and did that."
Sisco described the columns as "studious reflections ... his
take on opportunities that the city had and how to be careful with
the public trust."
Many background documents on Vilsack, including financial
records and his voting record as a state senator from 1993 to 1998,
were compiled during his campaigns for governor.
Vilsack aides declined to speak about the vetting process,
referring questions to Kerry. "It's a personal decision he's
making and he'll announce it in time," Kerry spokeswoman Allison
Dobson said.

[TexasSissy]

1. Man, he's taking a real close look at Vilsack, isn't he? Hmmm.

Sounds like he's zeroing in on someone.

[mzmolly]

2. How does he help the ticket?

I dun't gid it? ;)

[carpetbagger]

3. Why?

My great fear about Kerry is that his good moments are insterspersed among much larger chunks of time, well, like last fall.