An attorney from the Des Moines area has launched a bid to be the Republican congressional candidate in Iowa’s third district. Democrat Ed Fallon is trying to derail Democratic Congressman Leonard Boswell’s reelection bid in the June primary. Kim Schmett plans to be the Republican who faces off against either Boswell or Fallon in November.
"Everybody wants to talk about change this year, but simply throwing around the word change is not sufficient. I’m certain my opponents on the other side would like to talk about change and changing a lot of things, but I don’t believe that that simply will make us better," Schmett says. "I want to improve things, not just talk in terms of different directions."
According to Schmett, both people in both political parties in Washington have "forgotten" the American people. "Both sides need to come together. We have national problems. They need to talk about those," Schmett says. "Republicans can’t hold out to get everything they want. Democrat leadership shouldn’t be holding out to get everything they want, not when it hurts Americans."
Democratic turnout for the January 2008 Iowa Caucuses was about twice as large as Republican turnout, but Schmett rejects the notion that November, 2008 will be a good Democratic year. "I think we’re going to see a very competitive year and I’m also sensing that a lot of those people that turned out the first time for one or two of the Democratic candidates are going to be disillusioned when that candidate isn’t the nominee," Schmett says.
Schmett, who is 55 years old, was former Congressman Greg Ganske’s chief of staff and served in the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals in a variety of ways, rising to be named the agency’s director from 1996 to ’98. Schmett has also served as chairman of Polk County Republicans.