“Real” candidate fires back over “phantom” promotion

“I challenge the mysterious candidate to come forth, announce plans to become a candidate, and present his or her case.  And I call upon all Democrats to listen to their higher self and not allow king-maker politics to engulf the party.” — U.S. Senate candidate Bob Krause, 9-28-09

One of the two Democrats who has announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate (for the chance to face-off against U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley in 2010) is scolding Iowa Democratic Party chairman Michael Kiernan.  Kiernan this weekend said a third, well-known candidate would soon come forward to give Grassley the “race of his life.” U.S. Senate candidate Bob Krause, a former state legislator who lives in Fairfield, issued a statement late this (Monday) morning (about three days after Kiernan’s comments were posted on this blog). Read Krause’s statement below.

Bob Krause, Democratic candidate for the U. S. Senate, issued the following statement today following recent news reports speculating that some unnamed mystery candidate will enter the contest for the Democratic nomination:

“I am concerned about speculation concerning a mystery candidate for US Senate over the last few weeks.  Unfortunately, it is reaching a level that may threaten the integrity of the Iowa Democratic Party before the voters of Iowa.

“The Democratic Party can take great pride in developing and promoting many of the open government laws that are on the books today.  We have led the way with open public meetings laws and open records laws as well as with formulation of rules for transparency in party and precinct caucus processes.  We did this in the post-Watergate period to restore public trust in government so that the average citizen will not feel that the game is rigged against him or her.

“I subscribe enthusiastically to the philosophy of open government where the citizen has a voice.  One of my proudest moments in public service was when I refused to participate in evasive closed meetings that met the letter, but not the spirit, of the law when I was a school board member in Waterloo.  At my insistence, everything that was said to me by the school administration was said to me in public meetings and not in a closed room.

“That is why, today, I say that we as Democrats need to practice what we preach.  The act of promoting the idea that there is a mystery candidate that no one can know about — except equally mysterious rumor mongers — smacks of a throw-back to the era of the king makers.   It is a practice that leads to public distrust and feeds the public perception that the Democratic nominee for the U. S. Senate is being picked by a small elite inner circle.

“That will be damaging to our chances to unseat the incumbent senator.

“The last time that the Iowa Democratic Party engaged in king-maker politics was in 1966. It resulted in a collapsed Democratic campaign and has not been tried since. We should not resurrect this failed practice now.

“In the spirit of openness and public participation, I challenge the mysterious candidate to come forth, announce plans to become a candidate, and present his or her case.  And I call upon all Democrats to listen to their higher self and not allow king-maker politics to engulf the party.”