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Progressive Democrats of America Endorse Ed Fallon
The official campaign for the Democratic
nomination in Iowa’s Third District is in its
fourth month. Ed Fallon, a progressive Democrat
who served in the Iowa Legislature for 14 years
is challenging Blue Dog incumbent Leonard
Boswell.
“PDA's priorities are ending
the Iraq war, universal health care, economic
justice, global climate change, and clean,
fair, transparent elections,” said Des Moines
PDA chapter secretary Peg Smith. “Those are the
issues Ed Fallon has been talking about for
years and are the focus of his campaign, so it
was an easy choice for us. The vote was
unanimous and enthusiastic.”
Smith said
that the local chapter sent both candidates
invitations to a candidate forum, but received
no answer from Congressman Boswell’s campaign
to two invitations. Smith added, “We weren’t surprised. At least
nine debate invitations have been given to the
two candidates; Fallon has accepted all of them
and the Congressman has yet to accept any. They
probably looked at PDA’s platform and realized
that it was Fallon’s natural constituency and
not Boswell’s.”
“I’m grateful for the
endorsement,” Fallon said. “It’s another sign
that people in Iowa and around the country are
ready for real change in Washington. Our
government is broken, most of all because of
the presence of big money and well-heeled
special interests. That has to change if we are
to meet the challenges facing us.” When asked
about where the campaign stands today, Fallon
said, “Our internal polling looks very good,
which is why I think the incumbent has been
running an extremely negative and deceptive
campaign, avoiding the issues and his record at
all cost.”
As in his seven previous
campaigns in the Iowa Legislature, all of which
he won, Fallon is running a grassroots campaign
that focuses on contacting voters through
door-to-door canvassing and phone banking, as
well as creative use of YouTube. Recent
productions include a mockumentary “Campaigns
of the Rich and Powerful” and a rap video
on fiscal responsibility and tax reform.
Fallon’s home is in Polk County, which
counts for about 70% of the primary vote and
just over half of the votes in the general
election. When I ran unsuccessfully for
governor two years ago in a three-way primary
race,” Fallon said, “I won this congressional
district and beat the winner by 10% in Polk
County.
Fallon is challenging incumbent
Democratic Congressman Leonard Boswell, who is
completing his sixth term in the House this
year, which is two terms more than the limit of
four he promised when he first ran. Boswell is
a member of the Blue Dog Coalition, a group of
conservative Democrats who have often voted
with Republicans to support President Bush's
agenda. Smith listed some of the times Boswell
has broken with his fellow House Democrats to
support Bush’s position include: “Authorization
of the Iraq War and funding for it that doesn’t
include timetables, the reauthorization of the
PATRIOT Act, the so-called bankruptcy “reform”
of 2005, the Military Commissions Act that
allows the president to decide what “torture”
is, giving the president “fast-track” authority
to push trade deals through Congress, three
so-called “free trade” agreements and permanent
trade relations with China, the Bush version of
a prescription drug plan for seniors, and other
measures opposed by the majority of House
Democrats, and many votes unfriendly to the
environment. The list goes on and on.”