IFU wants Harkin for VP

The Iowa Farmers Union is calling on democrat Presidential candidate Al Gore to nominate Iowa Senator Tom Harkin as his running mate. The Farmers Union says Harkin, as Vice President, would give Iowa — and Iowa farmers — a much better national voice. John Whitaker is president of the Iowa Farmers Union and says Harkin is the right choice.Whitaker farms in southeast Iowa’s Van Buren County. He says he would not support the Bush/Cheney ticket which Harkin has dubbed the “Texaco Ticket.” Whitaker says the two republicans would be bad for Iowa and the Midwest.Whitaker says Harkin could “give farmers and rural citizens hope that genuine change can and will happen.” He is urging the leaders of other farm groups to call the Gore campaign to push for Harkin as V-P. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, a republican, says Iowans historically embraced their own who rose to such high offices, like President Herbert Hoover and Henry Wallace, who was Vice President to Franklin Roosevelt.Harkin is reportedly among fewer than ten people Gore is considering for his running mate. Gore plans to make his announcement one week from today, six days before the start of the Democratic National Convention. Grassley says the Gore/Harkin ticket would be “bombastic and dividing” and the nomination of Harkin would not guarantee Gore would carry Iowa. Grassley says Iowans want a President who can unite the nation and he says that’s George W-Bush.Grassley says Bush has displayed as Governor of Texas how he can successfully work with democrat legislators and gain acceptance among Hispanic and black voters. Grassley made his comments to Iowa reporters this morning from the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia.