Vilsack denies "official English" renewed campaign issue

Governor Tom Vilsack says he has not resurrected an issue many democrats say privately could hurt legislative candidates in the fall election. Last month, Vilsack told a crowd of Latinos at the Democratic National Convention that he wants democrats to win control of the Iowa legislature so they’ll repeal the law which declared English Iowa’s official language — a law Vilsack says he regrets signing. Vilsack says Iowa’s a great place to live and Iowans are “anxious to be an open and tolerant state.” The “U-S English” group plans to return to Iowa this election season to get candidates to say whether they support the law which declared English Iowa’s official language. Vilsack maintains the group will have little impact on the election results. Vilsack accuses the group of “hate-mongering” and spreading “venom” about immigrants. A U-S English spokeswoman told Radio Iowa earlier this week that they want states and the federal government to declare English the nation’s common language because the United States has no race, religion or creed, just a language that unifies the country.