Ed Fallon and I'M For Iowa

In case you missed it, former legislator and gubernatorial candidate, Ed Fallon has been busy with the Independence Movement in Iowa and it's good that he is. He also had this to say to Des Moines Register

Hansen: Even out of office, Fallon never fails to dissent
Tuesday, June 5, 2007

(Des Moines Register)

By MARC HANSEN
REGISTER COLUMNIST

June 5, 2007

"Rep. Ed Fallon, D-Des Moines, cast the sole dissenting vote."

I miss reading that sentence in the paper. It still holds true, though.

The Democrats are flexing their muscles in Iowa and beyond, but Fallon is still dissenting. For instance:

He's disappointed in his friends at the Statehouse. They aren't going far enough to further the progressive cause. Where's the campaign finance reform? Where's the health care legislation? What about those corporate hog confinements?

He thinks the field of Democratic presidential candidates might be the best ever, with John Edwards at the top of the class.

He wishes the media would get off Edwards' back and away from Edwards' hair.

Fallon gets in his car maybe once a week anymore and seems to believe bicycles and high-quality trails are the answer to many of the nation's problems.

He believes government planners at all levels blew a golden opportunity by not making light rail an integral part of the I-235 expansion.

Fallon doesn't have a day job per se, unless you count committing his life "to improving our community and our world," which has a way of cutting into a person's free time.

Having lost to Chet Culver in the gubernatorial primary, he's not holding office - for the first time in 14 years.

He isn't running for anything, but he's keeping busy - attending meetings, giving lectures, pushing populist causes, working for Edwards.

At the beginning of the year, Fallon unveiled "Independence Movement for Iowa" (I'M for Iowa). The idea was to "build a progressive majority in Iowa, one that puts people before profit."

He's still casting dissenting votes. He could hardly wait to dissent when I called Hillary a freight train barreling down the tracks to the party's nomination.

OK, she has a pocket full of negatives that could doom her in the general election. But she's disciplined, tough, organized and flush. The nomination is hers to lose, and she ain't losing it.

Fallon shook his head. Not buying. He'd vote for Hillary in November, but ...

"Something about her character and her history," he said, "is a flashpoint to independents and Democrats of various persuasions. She lacks clarity and specifics more than any other candidate."

In Fallon's mind, Barack Obama poses the greatest threat to Edwards. The former senator from North Carolina will prevail, though, because he's the go-to guy when it comes to health care and campaign reform, protecting the environment and challenging the corporate culture that controls our lives.

Then there's Edwards' plan for his first 100 days in office.

"He's going to travel around the world, re-establish alliances, make friends and decrease the notion of empire building."

And something else, Fallon said. Edwards is the only one talking seriously and specifically about poverty.

Now it was my turn to dissent. While that might be true, doesn't he lose points for talking about two Americas and living in the one with valet service?

Fallon was more than happy to respond: Huh? Edwards is supposed to apologize for having made a lot of money? He earned it himself. He gives a ton of it away. FDR had money, too, but historians rarely call him a hypocrite.

"Let's take the one guy who's talking seriously about poverty," Fallon said, "and blast him for doing what nearly every candidate does."

And while we're at it, let's blast him for wearing out his comb.

"Nonissues," Fallon said. "People are tired of hearing about haircuts and speakers' fees. John and Elizabeth have done a tremendous job giving back to the community. They've done a tremendous job articulating what they propose to do about poverty in America."

When Fallon was running for governor, he talked to every serious candidate except Obama and Bill Richardson. Joseph Biden, for instance, is a sharp guy and a good pool player. "Joe isn't a listener, though. When you're with him, it's all Joe."

Dennis Kucinich is there on the issues, but what's a guy doing getting 1 percent of the vote in 2004 and trying again? Is that what his constituents had in mind when they sent him back to the House of Representatives?

Though Richardson was off his game Sunday night, Fallon likes his experience and thinks his TV ads are fun.

The white-haired fellow from Alaska in the corner of your TV screen should take a hint.

Edwards, meanwhile, "was head and shoulders above the other candidates. His position on the issues and his sincerity resonate."

Disagree with Fallon if you want. Somebody always does.