In the summer of 1996, the Clarke County Treasurer and her daughter knocked on doors in Leon, Iowa in mid-90s heat for six hours in support of my campaign for Iowa Senate. If you've not been to Leon, every house is located uphill.When you hear that Kim Reynolds is a tireless campaigner, I can tell you firsthand. After door-knocking for me, she placed signs, licked envelopes, and made calls.
It was honor to work with Kim after I was elected as she tirelessly promoted legislation to modernize our treasurers' offices across the state. When I was chair of Local Government, I actually got to write and pass legislation on behalf of the treasurers' association.
After 12 years in the Senate, I decided to "retire" to the private sector. I sat at Redman's Cafe with Kim and asked her to run for my seat. She was reluctant--she LOVES county government, which is closest to the people. But we need people like Kim at ALL levels of government.
And yes, every time Kim steps up to the next level, she has to prepare for questions about the DUI arrests. But in an age of clever talking points delivered by slick politicians, she answers the questions in a straight-forward manner.
Today, Iowa Republican Gubernatorial nominee Terry Branstad picked Kim as his running mate (sorry, I'll need to get used to calling her something other than Kim).
Having people like Kim (er...Senator Reynolds) be willing to put themselves out in the public eye in order to work with her friends and neighbors toward a higher quality of life is why I continue to believe in the process.
And Senator Reynolds, if you need someone to door-knock on your behalf on a hot summer day in a town where all the houses are uphill...you have my number.
And my fervent support and friendship.
0 comments:
Post a Comment