Governor Vilsack interested in leading Democratic Party

Iowa’s Governor is “interested” in a national leadership role in the Democratic Party. Governor Tom Vilsack is on a trade trip to Europe this week as speculation mounts about who will be the next chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Matt Paul is Vilsack’s press secretary. “The question today was ‘Is this something he’s interested in?'” Paul says. “It’s something that he is interested in.” Paul has talked by phone with Vilsack about becoming D-N-C chair. Vilsack says the governor believes that if he could be helpful to his party and to the state of Iowa by preserving the first-in-the-nation status of Iowa’s Caucuses, then it’s a job he’s willing to consider. Paul says the governor could help refine and define the democratic party’s message, too, because Vilsack as governor “has delivered” on jobs, health care and education. But would Vilsack have time to both be Iowa’s governor and be chairman of the Democratic National Committee?The governor’s press secretary says it’s “far too early” to speculate about such details since the current D-N-C chairman hasn’t set a date for electing his successor. Vilsack has been chairman of the Democratic Governor’s Association for the past two years.