Des Moines Register Comes Out With Their Endorsements

The Des Moines Register has come out with their endorsements for the upcoming election and mostly favored Democrats over Republicans. Here they are...

Governor...Chet Culver

Culver has taken his working knowledge about state government and molded it into proposals on education, economic development and renewable energy. He correctly identifies renewable energy as a historic opportunity for Iowa to remake its economy, and he has presented reasonably detailed ideas for helping it happen.

Congress
1st District...Bruce Braley

But what really sold us on Braley was his respect for the U.S. Constitution, which he called "one of the greatest documents written in the history of mankind." He recognizes the responsibility of Congress to uphold the Constitution and exercise oversight of the executive branch - a perspective sorely lacking in today's Washington. Braley is young, but polished. He is optimistic, but realistic. And he is the better choice to represent the interests of Iowans.

2nd District...Jim Leach

Jim Leach was the only member of the Iowa delegation to vote against the war in Iraq. That alone is reason enough to re-elect him.

A Republican, Leach has a reputation for integrity and independence of mind. That's demonstrated by his voting record, one of the most independent of any member of Congress.

3rd District...Leonard Boswell

On most issues, Boswell is right, from supporting a woman's right to choose to calling for fiscal responsibility. He has fought to oppose private accounts in Social Security and opposes tax cuts for the "richest 1 percent."

His experience and personal connections with people all over the world make him the better choice for representing Iowa and the country.

4th District...Selden Spencer

It would be great to have more representatives in Washington who know about health care, an issue the current Congress has ignored. Iowa should send to Congress Dr. Selden Spencer, a neurologist from Huxley.

Spencer, a Democrat, has been not only a faculty member at the University of Iowa but also a community physician for 22 years. He knows about the real-world health-care crisis facing this country. He also favors embryonic stem-cell research, a pursuit "near and dear to my heart" that has great potential for advancing medicine.

5th District...Joyce Shulte

King has been an embarrassment to Iowa, making the news for everything from referring to the Abu Ghraib prison abuses as "hazing" to calling for "cultural continuity" in America to describing disgraced U.S. Sen. Joseph McCarthy as a hero to pushing to build a 700-mile wall on the nation's southern border. This space won't allow listing all his outrageous remarks and positions.

and about Shulte...

Schulte would bring a breadth of experience to Washington, having worked in the mental-health field, small business and education. She's now director of the Student Support Services program at Southwestern Community College in Creston. So she knows firsthand how government policies impact the lives of students, the mentally ill and average Iowa families. And Iowa is long overdue in sending a woman to Washington.

I was surprised that the Register endorsed Selden Spencer in the 4th District, but Tom Latham has a long record of toeing the party line. As the Register says about Latham...

Spencer was right during a recent meeting with the Register when he noted that the current Republican leadership in Washingtoin has failed the country. And Latham has been part of the problem.

Unfortanately in the 2nd District, the Register doesn't understand that a vote for Leach is also a vote for Bush, Cheney, Rumsfield, and Hastert. In the 2nd district, the bluest district in Iowa, they should elect a Democrat that would vote for Democratic leadership in Washington. By voting for Leach, you are voting to continue the failed leadership in Washington. If Bush was truly a uniter and not a divider, like he campaigned as, then a person like Leach would have a place in Congress.

Dave Loebsack is the Democrat in the race and holds Democratic values like the majority of people in the 2nd District. He is against the war in Iraq, for health care for everyone, for increasing the minimum wage, for energy independence, and most importantly for change in Washington.