Whitaker touts his conservative credentials

DES MOINES, Iowa - Republican Matt Whitaker told a conservative breakfast group Tuesday that he would not be a U.S. senator who would go along just to get along in Washington D.C. if he wins his party's June 3 nomination and defeats Democrat Bruce Braley in the general election in November.

The former Hawkeye tight end and private-practice attorney, who served as a U.S. attorney under President George W. Bush, said the gridlock and dysfunction in the nation's capital is a product of a federal government detached from its people and from how the real economy works.

Whitaker told a breakfast meeting of central Iowa conservatives the nation's stagnant economy and regulatory 'over reach” can be traced to the two years after the 2008 election, when Democrats took control of the federal government and implemented 'failed liberal policies” that interfer with the free market and individual freedom.

'They passed their liberal agenda that has fundamentally crippled our economy,” he said. 'As Republicans, we should be outraged by that liberal agenda and its consequences.”

Whitaker, one of five Republicans vying for the party's U.S. Senate nomination in next month's primary election, said he has been the consistent conservative in the race who can bring a mix of knowledge and experience as a small business owner and someone who has worked within government without compromising his principles in the process.

'I don't think that reaching across the aisle when we give up everything that we believe in as Republicans is productive,” Whitaker said. 'We can't sacrifice our principles because far too often Republicans are blamed for the problems in Washington D.C. and it's just not right.

'This is squarely on the feet of this president and his party and their liberal agenda that is really killing jobs right now and putting a wet blanket on our nation's economy,” he added. 'We've tried big-government Republicanism under Bush and it didn't work. We've tried liberalism and it doesn't work. We need to return to the conservative economic system and conservative values that we know have worked throughout our nation's history.”

Whitaker said a good result of partisan gridlock at the federal level has been that it has slowed the expansion of laws and regulations that hurt the economy. He said he would work with Democrats where possible to solve problems and implement needed reforms that help people.

The Des Moines attorney said Republicans have a tremendous opportunity to capture the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Democrat Tom Harkin this fall and he believes he is the candidate with the energy, fight and passion to defeat Braley, a four-term congressman from Waterloo who is running unopposed for the Democratic Senate nomination.

'Whether we win this on June 3 or whether it unlikely but possibly goes to convention, we're in a position to be the party's nominee,” Whitaker told members of the Des Moines Conservative Breakfast Club.