Tom Vilsack's Israel Jaunt Funded by AIPAC.

[Hardrada]

And do you think this will influence his views on the Middle East in any way? I guess somebody's got to pay for his presidential aspirations. But I would rather a less partisan group subsidized him. (As they have subsidized Tom Harkin to the tune of about 300 million dollars over the years, if not more). The Vilsack info was in the DMR last week. Hard to stand up to those guys when you gladly take their $$$. One thing I like about Bill Gluba is that he is candid about this sort of influence on our foreign policy.

[IA_Seth]

1. Oh man...

I don't even know how to express my disappointment with this. I have always tried to overlook the big contributions Harkin has received because of his very progressive record as a Senator, but AIPAC is one of the WORST influences on our foreign policy in my opinion and 300 million dollars is a lot of cash.

Now Vilsack is on the take. Not that I was excited to see him run for President as it was, but this is certainly not improving my opinion of his candidacy!

[Hardrada]

2. I've talked to candidates Braley and Dickinson about this too

and hoped they wouldn't go the AIPAC route. The influence of such lobbies is what contributes so much to our lopsided approach to foreign affairs and to the immense hatred this arouses in so much of the world. I didn't get a response either way though the congressional candidates seemed receptive to my comments and not dismissive.