In 2004 and 2006, I supported Leonard Boswell, Congressman from Iowa's third Congressional district. Boswell has been heavily targeted by the Republican party and tends to squeak by to victory. His age and health were issues in 2006. I supported him through it all.

This year I am supporting a primary challenger to Boswell with some reluctance. Bottom line is I am tired of having to defend the district against increasingly aggressive Republican challenges just waiting for Boswell to retire. The time for him to retire is now and there is an excellent alternative.

Ed Fallon is a progressive grassroots candidate endorsed by Democracy for America. Global warming and energy independence are among his main issues. He is running in the Democratic primary against Leonard Boswell. Boswell is a conservative Democrat but a good guy. But Boswell has been talking retirement for years now, and this has kept the Republicans hovering around this seat (IA-3) for years. Boswell is what the district USED to be. Fallon is more what it is today. Boswell recently survived a bout with cancer, and the Republicans targeted him heavily during that. I supported him then. But this seems like one near miss too many. It is time for a younger, more progressive, more forward thinking Democrat to take over this seat. I urge Boswell to take the retirement he has been talking about and endorse Ed Fallon. If Ed raises some good cash, Boswell just might do that.

Boswell is only a marginal Democrat on some issues. Or, more to the point, his voting record is all over the place, making him in many ways unreliable. On environmental issues he tends to only get around a 50% rating from the League of Conservation Voters (though 2007 he got 75%). On government reform he only gets around 45-50% from the PIRGs, something one might expect from an excessivly entrenched politician. His record on most issues is pretty good, but seldom excellent. His recent career is typical of a politician who has lost his drive and needs to retire.

Ed Fallon is an excellent Democrat who can take Boswell's place. From Fallon's website, he makes his case:

In the 2006 election, Americans said we were tired of the Bush Administration's policies. We wanted a new direction, so we elected a Democratic House and Senate. Yet on most of the key issues, this new majority has let America down. Simply stated, too many Congressional Democrats, including Congressman Leonard Boswell, vote too often with President Bush and against the priorities of the American people.

That's why I'm running for Congress. Our country needs and wants change. I'm ready to take on the corporate interests who have corrupted our federal government. I'm ready to give working families and the poor a voice in national politics. I'm ready to do what I can to see that environmental issues are taken seriously inside the beltway. I'm ready to apply what I've learned during 23 years of public service in Iowa and be a part of the new solution in Washington.

"I think Fallon may actually beat him, I really do.... Boswell doesn't fit that district very well.... [My students] think of him as the Iowa Barack Obama."
Prof. Steffen W. Schmidt, AKA "Dr. Politics", ISU Political Science Dep.

This is what I feel as well. Boswell USED to fit the district a long time ago. He now fails to inspire voters and has lost touch with the voters. Ed Fallon does fit the district as it is now. Check out his website and consider volunteering if you are in the IA-3 district. And you can donate through my Progressive Primaries Act Blue Site (where I feature several other good candidates).