The morning after: a conversation with former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack

In the wake of Friday night’s initial presidential debate, former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack is in Minnesota today campaigning for Barack Obama. The two-term Governor made a cameo in the Democratic presidential primary season, jumping into the contest in November 2006, but pulling out three months later. He then endorsed Hillary Clinton and served as a national co-chair of her campaign. I spoke to Vilsack by phone this morning as he traveled from an event in Mankato to a town-hall meeting in Willmar. What follows is an edited transcript of our conversation.

Minnesota Independent: We had the first debate last night between Obama and McCain. What did you take away from it?

Tom Vilsack: First of all, this was a debate that Sen. McCain wanted to have first, focused on what he believe to be his strength — foreign policy. But I think Sen. Obama acquitted himself extraordinarily well. He showed great, comprehensive knowledge of the world and of the issues facing the United States. His presence on the stage was presidential. I think Sen. McCain at times appeared angry and a bit caustic.

MI There’s a poll out this morning showing Obama leading in Iowa by eight percentage points. He’s consistently had a comfortable lead there despite the fact that Bush won the state four years ago. What do you attribute that change to?

TV: It starts with Sen. Obama and the fact that he developed a close relationship with the people of Iowa as he campaigned. They got to know him, they were inspired by him, and they are attracted to the policies that he is articulating. Secondly, the state has trended more Democratic over the course of the last eight years. When I was elected governor the Republicans had a registration edge of 60,000. Today Democrats have a registration edge of 90,000. I think part of that is the new people that Sen. Obama is bringing into the party and into the political process every day.

MI: Nationwide we see a slightly different picture. Despite the best climate for Democrats since Watergate, Obama is clinging to a rather small lead. Why do you think he’s having trouble stretching out that lead given the political climate?

TV: I think America is still a divided country politically. So it doesn’t surprise me that the race is close nationally. I fully expect Sen. Obama to continue having this lead, and over the course of the next several weeks widening it, particularly as the focus of the debate is on the economy. It is very clear that Sen. Obama has a better grasp on the financial crisis this country faces and has a better short-term and long-term solution to that crisis.

MI: What role do you think race is playing in the presidential election?

TV: I think what it is doing is providing the country a wonderful opportunity to say to ourselves and to the rest of the world that we are finally prepared to live up to the ideal that was articulated by Martin Luther King 40 years ago, that indeed Americans are prepared and ready to judge someone not based on the color of their skin but on the content of their character.

MI: Are you convinced that it’s necessary to spend $700 billion to get us out of the current financial mess?

TV: I’m not convinced that anybody knows for sure what the right amount is. It may turn out that it’s less than that at the end of the day. It is fairly clear, though, that Main Street suffers when credit becomes hard to get. It’s fairly clear that we cannot afford not to respond to this crisis. Unfortunately Sen. McCain interjected himself into the process earlier this week. It was not helpful. We took a couple of steps back because of that, and I think people are trying to regroup this weekend. My hope is that by the end of this weekend there’s a deal. Then we’ll have to make sure it’s implemented properly and monitored properly.

MI: We’re going to have a debate featuring the vice presidential candidates on Thursday. What do you make of Gov. Sarah Palin?

TV: I fully expect her to do very well in this debate. She’s going to be well prepared. She’s going to be provided the answers and scripted in terms of what she can say. They’ve done a very good job of protecting her during the course of this campaign.

MI: But do you think she’s a qualified vice presidential candidate?

TV: I think it’s up to the people of the United States to make that decision. I will tell you that I have some serious concerns about the manner of the selection as it relates to Sen. McCain’s temperament and his decision-making process. Having myself gone through the vetting process in 2004, it’s hard for me to understand how a decision of that magnitude could be made in three or four days. Which apparently it was when John McCain was told by his handlers that he could not select a person that he wanted to select — which was either Tom Ridge or Joe Lieberman — that that would not be acceptable to the extreme right wing of the party and he had to pick someone that was. He then spent a couple of days figuring that out. That’s not the kind of decision making that we should bring to the White House to decide some of the critical issues that face this country after eight disastrous years of the Bush administration.