As noted yesterday on the sites news section, Gov. Tom Vilsack who was running for president but then dropped out was expected to throw his support to Senator Hillary Clinton today. Sure enough my inbox contained an e-mail from Vilsack (via the Clinton Campaign) entitled ‘Why Hillary is My Choice’. It reads:

I’m not someone to play coy about my intentions. When I make a decision, I go all in and follow through. Hillary Clinton has the same determination, and it is something I have always admired.

When I first ran for governor of Iowa in 1998, many people didn’t give me much of a chance. But not Hillary. She told me she’d do everything she could do to help, and she followed through. She stood by my side, and Iowa is better for it. She helped ignite the spark that changed Iowa from a red state to a blue state.

By standing with Hillary now we’ll help show that we are strong enough to win back the White House — and America will be stronger and better for it.

Please join me and Christie and help Hillary make a strong showing before the March 31 deadline:

http://www.hillaryclinton.com/march31

Christie and I plan on spending the next 10 months helping Hillary win the Iowa caucuses and the other states necessary to win the Democratic nomination — and after that, the White House in 2008.

I am proud to do it because of all the candidates running, she has the best ideas, the most energy, and the values and vision to lead our country in the right direction after eight long years of George W. Bush.

She’s going to put an end to the war in Iraq. She’s going to make sure every American has access to affordable health care. She’s going to make us energy secure. And I know she’ll put children and families first — she has fought for them for decades.

Today, Christie and I made a contribution to Hillary’s campaign, and we did it for two reasons. First, we believe in her campaign. And second, the critical March 31 FEC deadline is just five days away.

We must show the magnitude of the grassroots support for this campaign in the next five days. I hope you’ll join us and make a contribution at this critical time:

http://www.hillaryclinton.com/march31

I just returned from my first real vacation in nine years, and I am ready to get back to work — because we don’t have time to wait.

This country wants real change.

That’s why I announced I’m endorsing Hillary today, and that’s why Christie and I are going to travel around our state and the country, introducing Hillary to our friends and talking to everyone we meet about why Hillary is the right choice for Iowa and America.

We’re going to give this campaign everything we’ve got. Please join us and make your contribution before the March 31 deadline:

http://www.hillaryclinton.com/march31

I’m excited about joining this campaign. Thanks for your support.

Sincerely,
Tom Vilsack

Former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack has dropped out of the race for ‘08

About a month ago Governor Mitt Romney began the 2008 Campaign attack season by going after Senator John McCain’s conservative record. Former Senator John Edwards whom began his campaign this week just made the second attack against McCain on ABC’s ‘This Week’.

Edwards referred to President Bush’s potential plan to raise troop levels in Iraq as the “McCain Doctrine”. Senator McCain has been a proponent of raising troop levels for several years now.

Senator Edwards isn’t the only one tying troop level increases to John McCain. Governor Tom Vilsack also has a letter you can co-sign to the Senator’s office urging against an increase.

Edwards & Vilsack might just be jumping on an item by the Evans-Novak report which said McCain has been witnessing a decline in polling numbers linked to his support of Iraq and troop levels.

The duck plays to a new ‘running?’ joke on The Daily Show where the Affleck duck says ‘Vilsack’ in the patented Gilbert Godfried way.

My own analysis? The Gov. really didn’t come off well. He was stiff, unused to the fast pace of the show. He got his scripted(?) jokes in but he did not have an answer for Iraq that was soundbyte worthy or showed any real leadership. At the end of the interview Stewart fed what the host believed to be the only major selling point line to the candidate who didn’t seem to pick up on what he was going for.

Iowa’s Democratic Governor Tom Vilsack officially announced his campaign for the presidency today. Text of his announcement speech was retrieved 11-30-2006

“Christie, thank you. It sure feels good to be home. I want to thank Christie, Jess, and Doug for their love, support, and inspiration. Without them I would not be here today. As a family we are committed to this campaign and this effort - you can be sure of that. And I want to thank all of you for being here and for your friendship and support for so many years. My life was profoundly changed and made better when you welcomed me into your community 30 years ago.

Three weeks ago, Americans courageously voted to create change. We sent a clear message that we wanted our country led in a new and better direction. But our job is not done. We have more work to do.

Today in the White House, we have a president whose first reflex is to divide and conquer…who preys on insecurities and fears for partisan gain…who has tried to rob us of the very asset that has made the United States the greatest country on earth: Our sense of community, optimism and can-do spirit.

In the last election, Americans were not fooled by political tricks or gimmicks. We said in one voice, from all regions of the country, for our children and grandchildren: Tomorrow does matter.

That is why I am here today — to bring even bolder change and build an even stronger future for our great nation.
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Iowa’s Democratic governor Tom Vilsack announced  his intentions to run filing FEC documents and setting up a multi-state tour.

The fifty-five year old governor has also served as Mayor of Mount Pleasant Iowa and an Iowa State Senator. Vilsack was the first Democrat to hold the office of governor in Iowa for 30 years and he was reelected in 2002. His current term ends in 2007. (He will be replaced by Democrat Chet Culver)

You can learn more at Tom Vilsack For President his official campaign Web site.