Fallon to run for governor?

A state legislator from Des Moines’ inner city is contemplating a run for Governor. State Representative Ed Fallon, a Democrat, has served in the legislature for the past 11 years, and now he’s spending about 20 hours a week talking with Democrats around the state to guage whether he could launch a credible campaign for Governor. Fallon won’t make a final decision ’til 2005, but he sounds like a candidate. Fallon says he’s exploring the possibility of running for Governor with “great dilligence” because he has to start early since he’s never “played the money game.” Fallon says he’ll set “ambitious benchmarks” for himself and if he can reach those, he will switch from an “exploratory” campaign to an “actual” campaign. Fallon may run into Democrats who remember Fallon abandoned Al Gore, the party’s 2000 presidential nominee, and endorsed the Green party candidate, Ralph Nader (nay’-der). Fallon says he had a legitimate reason to support Nader. Fallon says he did it to try to encourage the Democratic Party to return to its progressive roots. Fallon says the party has become too tied to corporate interests, and that’s why he opposed Gore. Fallon, who once considered becoming a minister, spent most of his life before he was elected to the Iowa House volunteering and working for a non-profit group.