Hillary Clinton isn’t the first presumptive Democratic presidential nominee to think about putting a successful agriculture secretary from Iowa on the ticket. Franklin Roosevelt did it in 1940, choosing fellow New Dealer Henry A. Wallace as his running mate on the way to drubbing Republican businessman Wendell Willkie, and his vice presidential nominee, Sen. Charles McNary.
It’s far from clear that Clinton will choose former Iowa governor Tom Vilsack, the longest-serving agriculture secretary since the Johnson era and the only remaining member of President Obama’s original cabinet, for vice president. By one account, Vilsack is one of a handful of possibilities.
But if she selects Vilsack, it could have some practical effects in the near term. With his tenure at USDA, Vilsack is a familiar figure in rural areas if not widely known nationally. He could give the presidential campaign some entree to rural voters, who generally are conservative in their views and often Republican in political affiliation.
In Vilsack’s home state, Clinton holds a 3-point lead over Republican businessman Donald Trump, according to Pollster’s tracking poll. The race is just as close in Ohio and Pennsylvania, two industrial states with a large agricultural sector. Iowa is the leading corn, hog and egg producer.
A common adage in politics is the vice presidential candidate is expected to carry his home state. “Vilsack remains popular back in the Hawkeye State, and he deserves some credit for her (Clinton’s) very narrow win over Bernie Sanders in the caucuses,” said the Washington Post.
A lawyer by training, Vilsack spent most of his adult life in Iowa. He was mayor of Mount Pleasant in 1987, won election to the state Senate in 1992 and then two terms as governor, the first Democrat to win the governor’s office in 30 years.
Vilsack ran briefly for the 2008 Democratic nomination for president but dropped out in February 2007, short of funds. A month later, he endorsed Clinton and campaigned nationwide as campaign co-chairman. He was an early supporter of her current campaign, writing an op-ed in the Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Gazette in August 2015 that described her as a friend for two decades and “one of the most loyal people I know.”
“Expanding and strengthening the middle class starts with quality jobs. Too often the discussion of good jobs fails to include the unique challenges faced by rural Americans,” wrote Vilsack in the Gazette. “Hillary Clinton understands that some of the deepest and most pronounced poverty exists in rural areas of the country. Her strong support for the Renewable Fuel Standard and bio-based manufacturing as important parts of a revitalized rural economy makes clear she will work hard to promote meaningful economic opportunity throughout the country.”
If Clinton wins the presidency, with Vilsack on the ticket, food and agriculture issues would be elevated in importance in her administration. Vilsack defended food stamps and child nutrition programs when those programs were re-authorized by Congress and took part in planting the White House kitchen garden in its early years.
Under Vilsack’s control, USDA called attention to organic and local food production, creating some ill will with mainstream agricultural groups. But they warmed to him in the end as someone who understood their concerns. The loosely aligned food movement has criticized him for years for his support of corn-based ethanol and GMO foods, a sore point at present because Vilsack boosted “smart labels” as a way to resolve the GMO labeling debate.
“Obviously, Secretary Vilsack has deep ties to agricultural policy and those won’t go away,” said food author and nutrition professor Marion Nestle in a Food52 blog. “This could be good for policy or not, depending on the politics. Vilsack tried, for example, to achieve détente between producers of organics and GMOs, but failed.” Nestle said Vilsack “caved in to the meat industry” in the latest edition of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
Vilsack deflected questions about his future during an MSNBC interview this week, saying an area of disagreement with Clinton, the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact, “is going to be resolved one way or another before the next president is sworn in.” The Obama administration supports TPP, as does the agri-business sector. Clinton opposes it. Farm groups hope for a vote on TPP in the post-election congressional session.
The whispers of Vilsack-for-vice-president began months ago, allowing him to find smooth ways to handle the question, often presented in the guise of what he expects to do next or if he will leave USDA before the end of the Obama administration. “We’ve had a house in Des Moines for a while and we have three grandchildren, so it’s not rocket science to figure out we’re going back to Des Moines,” he told reporters in May. “I don’t know what we’re going to do or when we are going to go back, but that’s home.”