The Atlantic's Marc Ambinder decided to take Roxanne Conlin seriously enough to spend the time and space on an interview:
RC: We're the closest challenger in the nation.The line that got some notice was a small verbal stumble which mixed two stump speech lines and dates. The correction actually helps underscore the case: Grassley was first elected to public office (as opposed to Congress) in 1958. That worked for Greg Ganske - sixteen years ago now... I tried to come up with a list of Stuff Since 1958 but got stuck at: Grassley's been in office since 1958 - before the president was born. In Hawaii. Which was a state. In 1959.
MA: And there's no question that people are taking notice.
RC: I am a realist. And I recognize that there are lots of endangered incumbents, and there's Barbara Boxer -- her race costs 3, 4, 5 times what mine does. And now, Patty Murray ... I'm very much a realist about that. And I don't know the answer. What I do know is that the race has attracted sufficient attention, that 527's have already been in. They're on the air -- two of them are on the air right now. And I am a truly progressive candidate. And I'm expecting that kind of assistance because I might be one of the few true progressives in this cycle who's not afraid. Fearless.
Other Roxanne news this week wasn't so good on the surface: a Rasmussen poll showing the race at Grassley 54 Conlin 37. The state's conservatives quickly trumpeted the number. But Rasmussen's got a consistently Republican lean compared to all other pollsters- the same survey had the governor's race at an implausible Branstad 57 Culver 31. So a 54-37 Rasmussen poll isn't that far off the 49-40 that other more reputable firms were reporting just before the primary.
Since this didn't fit anywhere else: Friday's writing went to the Register as I looked at bearing and sharing responsibility for the BP disaster.
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