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Vilsack ready to jump into ’08 presidential race

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By Todd Dorman | Thursday, November 9, 2006 1:36 AM CST | () comments

DES MOINES — Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack is preparing to jump into the race for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination and will announce his candidacy at month’s end, according to the governor’s close advisers.

“He’s made up his mind,” said Jeff Link, who will serve as senior communications strategist for Tom Vilsack for President, the presidential campaign committee Vilsack will form today.

“This is not an exploratory committee. This is a campaign committee, Vilsack for President,” Link said. “The time is right to get in and start building for 2008.”

Vilsack is scheduled to announce his candidacy Nov. 30 in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, the adopted hometown he represented as both a mayor and state senator. Vilsack will travel to New Hampshire, his boyhood hometown of Pittsburgh, Pa., Nevada and South Carolina. A rally is scheduled for Dec. 2 in Des Moines.

The governor is taking aim at 2008 just 48 hours after Iowa Democrats scored big 2006 election victories.

“I’m pumped up about his run,” said Gordon Fischer, former chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party. “It’s fun and exciting to have someone from Iowa who’s going to be a serious presidential candidate.

“I think what happened in Iowa on Election Day really helps the governor.”

Vilsack was not on the ballot, but he played a major role in campaigning for Democrats in the final weeks before Tuesday’s vote. Iowa voters elected a Democratic governor and handed legislative control to his party.

The governor saw the results as an endorsement of his eight-year record.

“Americans sent a clear message on Tuesday,” Vilsack said in a statement Wednesday. “They want leaders who will take this country in a new direction. They want leaders who share their values, understand their needs and respect their intelligence. That’s what I’ve done as governor of Iowa, and that’s what I intend to do as president.”

Vilsack, the nation’s longest-serving Democratic governor, has made a series of moves pointing to a presidential run. Last year, Vilsack formed Heartland PAC, a political organization that allowed him to raise $2.5 million both to help Democratic candidates across the country and to finance his own campaign activities.

During the past year, Vilsack has made numerous trips to key presidential battlegrounds, including New Hampshire, South Carolina, Florida, Missouri, Colorado, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Nevada.

But Vilsack is considered a long shot by most analysts in what promises to be a crowded field of Democratic hopefuls. A dozen Democrats or more are considering presidential runs. Early polls have shown Iowa’s governor at the back of the pack.

“He’s been an underdog in just about every race he’s been a part of,” Link said. “He’s not afraid of that.”

The list of possible candidates is led by two of the party’s biggest stars – U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York and U.S. Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois.

Vilsack would be expected to have a home-state advantage in Iowa’s first-in-the-nation presidential caucuses, although several other Democrats say they also plan to compete in Iowa. A Des Moines Register poll of Iowa Democrats in June showed Vilsack in fourth place among possible White House contenders.

Todd Dorman can be reached at (515) 243-0138 or at todd.dorman@lee.net