Doug Gross, former Republican candidate for governor of Iowa, announced today that he will not run for Governor in 2006. That leaves the field of Republicans to just two, and only one has officially announced.
The two candidates are Sioux City businessman (and fascist in my book) Bob Vander Plaats, who has already announced his candidacy, and US Representative Jim Nussle (R-IA-01). Nussle has expressed interest and filed some papers, but not made an official announcement.
One man seeking to fill Nussle’s possible empty seat is entrepeneur Mike Whalen, founder and CEO of Heart of America Restaurants and Inns. Whalen is currently Policy Chairman of National Center for Policy Analysis, a DC-based free market (read: conservative) think-tank.
It seems that the NCPA is another staunch advocate of privatization. The front page of its website is full of articles and questions and answers about the looming Social Security ‘crisis.’ And now the group seems to be a part of President Bush’s Bamboozlepalooza tour. They’ve launched a 10-state campaign to persuade people that Social Security is in dire need of reform. Whalen is also a big supporter of private accounts, just check out this article about him on his website. And here is an example of his own writing on Social Security.
Who is on the board of directors of NCPA, you may ask? None other than WSJ columnist Pete du Pont, former congressman, governor, and Republican presidential candidate. And not only is NCPA for privatization, they’re for the flat tax as well. An excerpt from du Pont’s bio:
“du Pont was a member of the National Commission on Economic Growth and Tax Reform. The Commission was established by Speaker Gingrich and Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole to examine overhauling the tax system. The Commission’s January report called for repeal of the existing tax code and its replacement with a low, single-rate tax with a generous personal exemption.”
Hmm. . .we need to watch out for these guys.
If Whalen does indeed run in Nussle’s empty seat, he’ll be a pretty tough challenge for Democrats in the pretty evenly split first district. Whalen has a lot of name recognition and is pretty popular there. The GOP has an even greater advantage when you consider that the seat has been held by the GOP for at least the last four years. However, the District as a whole has voted for the Democratic candidate in both 2000 and 2004, but by less than 8%.
Stay tuned for more information on Whalen, and possibly the launching of an anti-Whalen website. If you’re interested in helping me research Whalen and NCPA, leave a comment.
