Grassley 'off his game,' challenger says

NORTH LIBERTY - Health care - and Sen. Chuck Grassley's opposition to a universal health care plan with a public option - will be the defining issue in his campaign to unseat the five-term Republican, Bob Krause predicted Friday.

Health care, however, is just one reason Grassley is vulnerable like he hasn't been in the past, according to Krause, a Fairfield Democrat seeking his party's nomination for the 2010 Senate race.

Grassley's 71 percent favorability rating is down to 59 percent in a recent poll, Krause pointed before joining the North Liberty Fun Days parade.  June 13 Krause will attend a Habitat for Humanity event at 11 a.m. at Koudsi Boulevard and Moose Drive NW, Cedar Rapids.

The 75-year-old Grassley "is off his game," failing to keep up with a changing electorate, Krause said.

"The philosophical drivers for Republicans have been massively discredited by the economy and the length of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan," Krause said., and the GOP is "badly fractured."

He calls Grassley's approach to health care reform would result in higher costs and millions of Americans without coverage. Grassley opposes a public option - a publicly funded insurance policy available to anyone without health insurance or unhappy with their private insurance plan.

The public option would lower health insurance costs by forcing private insurers to be more competitive, said Krause, a former state legislator, now retired from the Iowa Department of Transportation, and currently working for a defense contractor.