Vilsack unrevealing about Senate run

DES MOINES - Former Iowa Democratic Gov. Tom Vilsack is not thinking about running for the U.S. Senate, he said Wednesday.

But neither did he close the door entirely on a potential run.

'I haven't thought of ... the door's not open, closed, shut. I don't even know where the door is,” Vilsack said in downtown Des Moines after participating in a panel discussion on federal budget priorities.

Iowa Democrats are looking for a candidate to face Republican U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst in 2020. She is up for re-election at the end of her first six-year term.

Vilsack, the former two-term governor and two-term federal agriculture secretary in the Obama administration, was mentioned by the liberal Iowa political news website Iowa Starting Line as a possible candidate.

'I don't know what that talk's about. It's not me talking about it,” Vilsack said Wednesday. 'I was here today to talk about these issues, which I think are important.”

Vilsack said his focus is on helping to shape the discussions in Democratic circles as Iowa prepares for what likely will be a large field of candidates seeking to earn the party's presidential nomination in the 2020 Iowa caucuses.

'Iowans have a responsibility and a duty to be well-prepared for the onslaught of candidates coming in here. And I want to do my part to make sure that we're talking about the right issues and talking about it in the right terms,” Vilsack said. 'I think there's plenty of time to think about the state elections.”

Vilsack said an enthusiastic and hopeful candidate in Iowa could deliver a winning message that is also pro-government despite recent victories here buoyed by anti-big government messages, like Donald Trump's 'Drain the swamp” and Ernst's 'Make ‘em squeal” campaign themes.

'‘Make ‘em squeal?' I don't know. Have we made even these folks squirm at all? I don't know. Have we? I haven't seen it,” Vilsack said. 'But I think a happy warrior, I think we're ready for that.”