In the weeks following the election some people were making the claim that former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack was in the running for the US Ag Secretary position for the Obama administration. The Des Moines Register is now reporting that this is not the case. According to Phillip Brasher, a reporter for the Des Moines Register, Vilsack stated in an email that he was not in consideration for this position and that he had never been contacted in regards to it either.
One thing that I have had a hard time figuring out was why his name was even floated for Ag Secretary in the first place. The only claim to any agricultural fame that he had was his governorship of Iowa. Not exactly the kind of agricultural expertise needed to guide farm related policy.
From what I read in the DMR article, Vilsack was not in the running for the position to begin with. This causes me to wonder who floated his name in the first place. He may have been legitimately considered, but evidently it wasn’t very serious otherwise the Obama team would have let him know. Either way you look at it Iowans are stuck with Tom and his overinflated ego for the foreseeable future.
November 23, 2008 -
Posted by
Al Bregar |
Politics | Ag Secretary, Barack Obama, Tom Vilsack
IowaPolitics.com: Headlines
I always thought Vilsack had his eye on the 2010 senate race
Comment by Adam | November 23, 2008 |
You could be right. After Grassley’s support of the bailout Vilsack could make it an interesting race.
Comment by abregar | November 23, 2008 |
It would take someone with some clout. Even with the loss of support from people like me and maybe you all. I doubt we are much of a minority at all.
Comment by taco | November 24, 2008 |
I think its about 50/50 that Grassley wil retire. He’ll be 77 in 2010, and 83 by the time his service is up.
Comment by Adam | November 24, 2008 |
I agree there is a lot of floating going on and we will continue to hear about Vilsack and his overinflated ego! Iowas must take some responsibility in helping with the ego problem. Ugh.
Comment by pied piper | November 25, 2008 |
[...] regarding his potential appointment to lead the US Department of Agriculture which you can read here. At the time we contemplated that it was really Vilsack or someone close to him that had created [...]
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