Boswell turns up burners on Fallon allegiance

Thursday, April 24, 2008

(The Des Moines Register)By THOMAS BEAUMONT, REGISTER STAFF WRITER

Congressman Leonard Boswell has alleged in a series of campaign mailers that Democratic primary challenger Ed Fallon's support of Ralph Nader in 2000 helped elect George W. Bush.

Fallon said repeated references to his Nader endorsement are Boswell's attempt to mask his own support for the war in Iraq.

The two mailings circulated this week in Iowa's 3rd District mark a stepped-up effort by Boswell, a six-term Des Moines Democrat, to cast doubt on Fallon's loyalty to the party. The mailings coincide with the distribution of absentee ballots for the June 3 primary.

"Fallon helped elect George Bush by endorsing and actively campaigning for Ralph Nader," one of the two mailings paid for by Boswell's campaign says. Another says: "Ralph Nader + Ed Fallon = George Bush."

Fallon, a former state representative from Des Moines, has repeatedly called his Nader endorsement a mistake. He described the mailings, which feature Fallon's photograph alongside Nader's, as "very cynical, very deceptive."

"Iowans know that Al Gore won Iowa," Fallon said Wednesday. "They know that Congressman Boswell voted for the war in Iraq and that he continued to support funding for that war until last year."

Fallon, who opposed the war before it began, has criticized Boswell for voting for the 2002 resolution authorizing President Bush to order the attack in Iraq. Fallon said Boswell's attempt to link his support of Nader to the war is like the effort to discredit 2004 Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry's military service.

The Boswell mailings "almost seem to suggest I'm responsible for the war," Fallon said.

Boswell has said it is fair to link Fallon with the Republican president's election, even though Bush did not carry Iowa in 2000. Democrat Al Gore carried the state by roughly 4,000 votes in the historically close election.

"I can say it because it was a national campaign. It was a national campaign, and he was part of those that decided that they wanted to support the independent versus Al Gore, who had a track record that was very, very good," Boswell told reporters earlier this month.

Boswell adviser JoDee Winterhof said Fallon made public statements, which were picked up in the national media, about how difficult it would be for him to support Gore.

"So, I absolutely think you can connect the dots," Winterhof said.