Letters to the editor - The Des Moines Register

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

(The Des Moines Register)

Boswell's record doesn't support flier's rhetoric

Just when I thought this election couldn't get any more petty, the Boswell for Congress campaign sent a highly entertaining (for all the wrong reasons) flier to my mailbox. As reported in "Boswell Turns Up Burners on Fallon Allegiance" (April 24), the flier attempts to paint Congressman Leonard Boswell's Democratic challenger, Ed Fallon, as a George Bush supporter.

It notes that Fallon once supported Ralph Nader and implies that the two of them teamed up on Bush's behalf. Given that Fallon couldn't be any further removed from Bush or his policies, this is the most pathetic and insubstantial guilt-by-association gambit I've seen in years.

Alas, the hilarity doesn't end there. The Boswell flier lists Bush's failings, including "a trillion dollar war." Would that be the same trillion-dollar war that Boswell voted to authorize in 2003?

Boswell also excoriates Bush for "huge tax breaks for the wealthy," even as Boswell votes for corporate tax breaks (such as the $14 billion he approved for oil and gas companies in 2005).

You could redo this flier with Boswell saying, "I blame Ed Fallon for George Bush's screw-ups, including the ones that I helped to facilitate," and it would be more truthful.

- Lars Pearson, Des Moines.

It's about power

Leonard Boswell's recent campaign ad asserting that Ed Fallon is responsible for 4,000 American deaths in Iraq is despicable. It is exactly this say and do anything to win and hold on to power mind-set that has gotten our country in such a mess.

It wasn't Fallon who gave President Bush the authority to invade, it was Boswell. If Boswell won't debate Fallon, then we will have to assume that he cast that vote solely to hold on to power.

- Jeff Clingan, Van Meter

Tell us why we should vote for you, Boswell

I'm currently undecided concerning the upcoming primary between Rep. Leonard Boswell and his challenger Ed Fallon. Although I've been happy with Boswell's representation of our state's interests in the Congress, I have a tremendous amount of respect for Fallon's progressive populism. I was disappointed in the recent mailer I received linking Fallon with the failed policies of George W. Bush due to his support of Ralph Nader in the 2000 election.

It would better serve Boswell's campaign to focus on why people should vote for him, as opposed to why they shouldn't vote for Fallon. I also voted for Nader in the 2000 election. Can those of us who made that choice possibly be more responsible for the failed policies of the current administration than a Congress that has lacked effective oversight and failed to provide a counterbalance to the power of the executive branch?

Encouraging voters to answer that question may not be in the best interest of Boswell's bid for re-election. The era of negative and attack politics needs to end if we are to effectively address the challenging issues facing our nation. Unfortunately, as evidenced by both national and local political races, this negative trend appears to be spreading.

- Daniel A. Gutmann, Des Moines.