Conlin’s Commitment to Iowa Results in Illinois Campaign Jobs?

I recently received a fundraising call from the Roxanne Conlin for Senate campaign. I will paraphrase the script the person on the other end read to me:

Roxanne’s parents were poor. Roxanne was poor. Roxanne knows what it is to be hungry. Roxanne knows what it is like to be poor. Roxanne has worked hard for poor people. Roxanne remembers what it is like to be poor. Roxanne wants to fight for Iowa’s poor in Washington.

OK, I am exaggerating a little, but the above captures the essence of the message. I understand the Conlin Campaign’s desire to portray Conlin as a fighter, but this was over the top. It ranks up there with one of the more condescending solicitations ever.

I managed to listen politely until it dawned on me that my caller ID screen was displaying a 618 area code. Roxanne Conlin, the fighter for Iowa, hired a firm in southern Illinois to raise money for her. In this tough economy, I am not sure how a candidate could ever think it is a good idea to spend campaign dollars to hire an out-of-state phone bank operation. When the caller was done with her script, I explained that I would not give money to an Iowa candidate who did not understand the importance of creating jobs for Iowans.

Roxanne Conlin’s challenge to Chuck Grassley will be interesting to watch. She is a scrapper. And, while I don’t expect her to topple the 29-year incumbent, Conlin has always been good at playing the odds. Sure, she has lost a few. But, Conlin has won a few big ones in her day, too, like her approximately $180 million settlement in the Microsoft case. I like Roxanne Conlin and respect her willingness to run, but having someone in Illinois call and tell me Conlin wants to fight for the down and out in Iowa makes me wonder how interested she really is in helping her fellow Iowans.

This entry was first published as a Des Moines Register blog entry.