Cedar Rapids Arm-Twisting

For those of us stuck in "other places than Cedar Rapids" today, we've been watching the various news sites and listening to the radio to hear of any news coming from the latest stop on the Phase Out Tour.

From the Des Moines Register comes this little tidbit:

 Shortly after landing around 10 a.m., Bush also joined Des Moines radio host Jan Mickelson of WHO-AM (1040) for an interview at a Cedar Rapids diner before the event at Kirkwood.

 The interview included Sen. Chuck Grassley, the Iowa Republican and chairman of the influential Finance Committee. Bush's visit was seen as an attempt to bolster Grassley's commitment to changing the decades-old financial safety net for seniors.

 Grassley, who generally supports [Bush]'s call for changing the program, has expressed doubt that Congress possesses the political will to approach the popular financial safety net for seniors.

 "I appreciate the chairman," Bush told Mickelson. "He's got some political courage which is necessary to take care of tough problems. Sen. Grassley and I have dedicated ourselves to tackling the tough problems."

Two things jump out at me immediately:

1)  The inclusion of Chuck Grassley.
2)  The seeming exclusion of Jim Leach.  (Later reports can verify.)

As noted yesterday, Jim Leach's own sales pitch on SS Phase Out fell flat in Iowa City - and it probably wouldn't be that much of a stretch to say that he'll feel pressure to vote against any such proposal from his constituents.

Grassley, however, is an interesting case.  I have not seen anything strongly worded from Grassley, who seems to have his finger firmly planted in the wind.  He's "generally supportive," yet is placing enough distance between himself and the Bush position that he could (he hopes) cleanly run away from the pending disaster.

This is another case in point why sometimes you have to look beyond "the candidate" when voting - sometimes you have to look at the leadership of his party.

The other item that's interesting: this tour isn't aimed at pressuring Democrats - it's aimed at pressuring Congressional Republicans, who will be eager to run away from an issue that will bear no fruit in 2006.

It's up to us to keep the pressure on.

UPDATE:  I wonder who this comment was aimed at?

 "Now is the time to fix it, and I think there is a political price for not getting involved in the process."

 Bush added: "I think there is a political price for saying, `It's not a problem, I'm going to stay away from the table.'"