Conlin:  Yes, I sure am, and I find it hysterical.  Maybe
he doesn't know that I am currently suing Monsanto in a huge class
action on the same basis, and frankly, I think that our lawsuit is what
triggered  the Department of Justice investigation [Editor's
note: Monsanto a Focus of US Antitrust Investigation] – so that's just a silly thing for
him to say.  

The person he is speaking of is my friend Jerry
Crawford.  I have known Jerry Crawford for more than fifty years.  We
are close and personal friends.  He has never uttered the word Monsanto
to me and I'm sure he never will.  Our relationship is one of friendship
– long, long, long friendship.  

Conlin:  I
have observed that Senator Grassley has lost touch with the people of
Iowa, which was most dramatically illustrated by his performance at the
town hall meetings last summer – especially when he started talking
about pulling the plug on grandma.  In Washington, he is serving on a
six-member select committee whose job it is to find a bipartisan
solution to the health care crisis.  Then he sends out a fund raising
letter to his supporters here in Iowa, promising to vote against the
very bill he's supposed to be working on.  

I did not expect to
run again for public office.  I have always had a desire to serve the
people of Iowa, but I felt I was doing so in my private practice.  But
the opportunity to go to Washington and really make a difference is very
appealing  to me.  The bailout infuriated me, as it did most people, I
think.  The idea of giving 700 billion dollars –  no strings attached – 
to the people who brought us to the brink of economic disaster, and
then watching helplessly as they paid themselves multi-million dollar
bonuses, is incredible to most people and to me, and is also something
that makes me want to change my life and go to Washington and fight,
because it's such a mess.

People have asked me to run before, but
I never seriously considered it.  But this time it appears to me as
though there's a reasonable chance that I can succeed. and certainly I
think, as Iowans and as Americans, we  need someone in Washington whose
only focus is the needs of the people of Iowa.

BFIA:  As you know, BFIA is a
progressive blog.   Do you consider yourself a progressive Democrat?

Conlin:  I do

BFIA:  What does it means to you to be
a progressive Democrat as opposed to say, a blue dog or a yellow dog –
we don't hear much about yellow dogs these days…

Conlin:  When I say progressive, what I
mean in a general way, is that I will always put people over profit,
and I believe that government has a role to play in keeping us safe, and
making sure that we and our families are healthy.  I think there are
many roles that the government can play, so those are the two things
that I think most define me as progressive.  There are obviously
individual positions on issues that I take that are progressive as
well.  But in general, that's my philosophy.

BFIA:  As you know, Howard Dean
brought the Democrats the 50 state strategy.  I notice on your Twitter
feeds that you seem to be employing a 99-county strategy, you've been
travelling all around the state.  Is that purposeful, and also, what
will be your primary campaign message that you would like to get out to
voters?

Conlin:  It is
absolutely purposeful.  I know that I am not going to carry Lyons
county, for example, but I want to be the Senator for all of Iowa, and I
therefore think that I have a responsibility to go and listen to the
concerns of all Iowans, wherever those particular folks may live, and
that is why I'm out doing my 99-county real tour.  

So, yes, we
have purposely planned it so we are not showing up on Tuesday at 10:00
in the morning when many working people couldn't come.  It is only on
the weekends, Friday nights, Saturdays, Sundays after church, so that as
many people as want to would have the opportunity to attend a meeting. 
I'm very curious about listening to the concerns of Iowans and that is
why I'm spending every weekend doing that.

BFIA:  What do you feel are the most
pressing problems facing Iowa,  and what do you feel would be your role
as Senator in addressing those problems?

Conlin:  Well, I can only say that
from my trips and my conversations, there is no question that the
economy and jobs are simply the most pressing problems.  Very high
unemployment for Iowa – the number of people that are under-employed or
are working part-time when they want to be working full-time.  Until we
get people back to work, other problems like the debt and the deficits
are intractable.

We want to get people back to work and it will
take a number of things.  I like the small business tax credit.  I like
the accelerated appreciation on manufacturing equipment.  Green jobs. 
Rebuilding the infrastructure.  I think the smart grid is terribly
important, not only to provide jobs and energy, but also as a matter of
national security.  Our current system places us at huge risk to a
terrorist attack on our means of  power.  So we've got to think about
that and we've got to take care of it.

BFIA:  You have a long list of accomplishments – you own
your own law firm and you famously won a class action suit against
Microsoft; you've been a U.S. Attorney for Iowa's southern district and
you were the first woman president of the National Trial Lawyers
Association.  You ran for governor in 1982, and more.  What else would
you like to tell Blog for Iowa readers about why you feel you would be
the best person to represent Iowa in the U.S. Senate?

Conlin:  Well, I would like to tell
them some about my background that is not so apparent.  I am the oldest
of six children in a family that was middle class, but when my dad lost
his job we went directly to the bottom of the barrel –  when there are
six children and you don't have any savings….  So within a week we
were struggling, and within a couple of weeks there wasn't enough food, 
so I've been hungry –  and the utilities were turned off, and I've been
cold.  I had an ear infection, and there was no money for a doctor and
no insurance, of course.  And I have a permanent hearing loss as a
result of that infection, that could have been cured with a couple of
dollars worth of antibiotics.  I got off lucky.  That is a very minor
thing, and it rarely bothers me at all, but it does make it possible for
me to understand what Iowa families are going through today.  

My
circumstances have changed, but when you've been hungry and when 
you've been cold, you just never forget.  That is so much a part of who I
am and what makes me tick and what I care about, and I think that I can
empathize with what so many people are struggling with.

I didn't
talk about this for years and years and years.  It doesn't come up in
ordinary conversation.  When I ran the first time, my parents were still
alive and I would never have done anything to hurt them or embarrass
them.  I have discussed this with my five siblings and they're okay with
my sharing this story because it is so much a part of all of us – and
is far more common than we would like.  You probably also know that
there was violence in my home and it had an enormous impact on us.

BFIA:  I really appreciate you
sharing that.  I think it also gives other people permission to talk
about it.

Conlin:  A lot
of people do.  I have found it very freeing for people because after
I've told them my story at a meeting, very often people come up and say
that theirs was similar and that they don't talk about it.   I just have
been amazed at the number of people who are willing to share with me
after I share with them.   

BFIA: 
There is a growing healthy food movement in Iowa and around the country
and globally – people being more and more interested in locally grown,
organic foods.  We've seen fights in the legislature about CAFOs, local
control, large hog confinement operations, concerns about pollution,
water contamination from agriculture run-off, use of antibiotics in
livestock operations.   What should Iowa's senators do to help our state
address some of these issues?

Conlin: 
I support family farms, sustainable farming.  I know something, though
not enough, about the local farming movement and I think it is great.  I
think it needs encouragement and outlets for the produce and I think
local school districts and other public entities should look at local
food.  It has so much to recommend it, including reducing the carbon
necessary to transport food  for long distances.  I don't think anyone
would disagree that the fresher the food the more nutritious it is. 
Those are some of the things that I think are important.  

In
terms of policy directions to get from where we are to where we would
like to be, that is a lot more complicated.  It requires some serious
commitment to things like reducing or eliminating subsidies to corporate
farming operations.  I'm not under any illusions that any of the things
that we want to do will be easy.  They will require backbone,
persuasion, and a willingness to stand up and speak out, all of which I
have.

BFIA:  The Republicans are trying to
throw some stuff around too.  On BFIA, we try to never repeat GOP
talking points.  We take our lessons from George Lakoff, so I won't
repeat what they're saying but I'm sure you know what it is…

Conlin:  Maybe not, I have to tell
you, I just don't pay very much attention to it.   Whatever I do,
they're going to say what they're going to say, and I'm happy to answer
whatever you have.

BFIA: 
In stories from the Iowa Independent and the Waterloo-Cedar Falls
Courier, some Republicans were trying to make an issue out of you
having  financial interest in some businesses of which you have been
publicly critical, and they were trying to say that that is
hypocritical, but it seems that they have  it the opposite.  Isn't that
integrity when you are publicly critical of an entity in which you have
an interest?   And I seem to remember that they used this very same
tactic against you in the 1982 gubernatorial race…

Conlin:  I called for eliminating the
tax cuts on the very wealthy and frankly, that's going to be raising my
taxes.  It is just such a ridiculous thing to say.  

Some time
ago when I put funds into a managed account, they bought some things for
me, like tobacco stock.  I didn't direct what they would be purchasing
in the account, and when I got my first report, I saw that they had
purchased Altria, as an example.  I sold it immediately – I ordered it
sold.  We have in place a program – this is probably far more
information than you need to know –  but there's a program that is used
by funds managers that assesses the social responsibility of
corporations.  And we have it set at the very highest level, so I don't
understand their criticism. I own Wells Fargo stock in that account that
is managed for me by others, and I also have a class action pending
against Wells Fargo.  I agree,  I don't think that is hypocritical.  I
think it shows that I am willing to take public spirited actions even
though they may result in some political disadvantage.

BFIA:  Exactly.  To me, it just shows
that the GOP do not know the difference between being hypocritical and
having integrity….

Media reform is a big issue that we post a
lot about on BFIA – net neutrality, ownership rules, media monopolies,
the fairness doctrine, are all things that are out there.  One of our
big concerns is that 90% of talk radio is conservative, and we think it
is a huge problem in Iowa, because it puts misinformation out there in a
very serious way.   What are your views about that and what do you
think is the role of government in assuring that media serves the public
interest?

Conlin:  The
government has just told us that they think they don't have a any such
role.  The Supreme Court's decision on corporate first amendment rights
is a  pretty serious blow to all of us who think that unless you have a
mouth, you can't have freedom of speech.   I'm in favor of net
neutrality as I understand it.  These are not issues that I'm as
familiar with as I will be at some point along the way, but I agree with
you that the presence of the conservative –  well, I don't call it
conservative –  the presence of the right-wing, radical blow-hards on
the radio spewing hate, misinformation, and flat-out lies, seriously
corrupts the civic dialogue.

BFIA: 
Even  the Des Moines Register…  They did a huge spread on the tea
partyers last Sunday.

Conlin: 
Yes, whoever they may be…

BFIA: 
And it just seems to me that they were really feeding into that
movement, I'm not even sure it is a movement – the media has defined it
as a movement…

Conlin:  …And
it was created by Freedomworks and Dick Armey and his corporate
bosses.  It has certainly tapped into the fear that lots of people have
about what is going on in our country.  One of the interesting things to
me is many people who are a part of that group or groups, feel as you
and I do on a large number of issues – such as, they hate the bail-out,
as an example, so I'm just a little unclear about that.   But I would
welcome the tea party people to any of my meetings.  We've had just one
person who identified himself in that way, and it was an interesting
exchange between him and other members of the audience.

BFIA:  We noticed you have been
posting on DailyKos and just wanted to ask, what are your favorite news
sources, newspapers, blogs, etc.

Conlin: 
I read the Des Moines Register that I get in my hand every day.  I read
the Washington Post and the New York Times on my kindle.  I like
McClatchey.  I like Huffingtonpost.  I do look at DailyKos.  That's
about all I have time for because I am also studying briefing books on
every issue in the entire world that you could possibly imagine.  And I
read a lot of books.  I have read Too
Big To Fail, by Sorkin; The
Dark Side by Jane Mayer – and The
Family.  I read a lot of books.  I actually read them. 
[laughter] And then I remember their names.  And what was in them…..

BFIA:  Final thoughts?  Is there
anything we haven't covered that you would like to get on the record.

Conlin:  I would like to mention my
family.  I have a husband who I have been married to for 46 years.  I
have four adult children and I have five incredibly wonderful
grandchildren.  And I am plugged in therefore, to people of all ages,
truly – my grandchildren are 9 on up to 22.  Of course, my older
grandchildren have been very helpful to me in learning how to use the
new social media.  My grandson in particular, my oldest grandson, who
I'm extremely close to and is a student at the University of Iowa, has
been very helpful in trying to get grandma  up to speed here…

I
want to reach out to and make use of all of the new media.  We are
struggling sometimes, but we are trying to remember to Tweet and keep in
touch with people on a regular basis. I think it's very valuable to
have access to that, and in fact, I think it may be the only
realistically available antidote to the U.S. Supreme Court opinion that
permits corporations to throw whatever money out of their treasury that
they want to in political races.  

BFIA:  …and really kind of ups the stakes as far as net
neutrality is concerned….

Conlin: 
It certainly does.  And I think that the net is the most important
democratic-with-a-small-d device that we have available to reach one
another….and we just have to keep it free.

Check out the campaign website, RoxanneforIowa.com
or click on the link on the Blog for Iowa main page.