The race in Iowa’s Fourth Congressional District, comprising the Des Moines area and western Iowa, is heating up. Representative Greg Ganske is enduring increasingly negative attacks from opponent (and former KCCI weather reporter) Connie McBurney.

Ganske, who beat 28-year incumbent Neal Smith in 1994, has been erroneously associated with cutting Medicare and Social Security. McBurney continues to assault him with her sinister ads proclaiming Ganske as one of Newt Gingrich’s cronies.

Unfortunately, these ads she’s broadcasting don’t really emphasize her positions on anything, but rather focus on Ganske’s purported evil doings.

Most of the ads running for McBurney were paid for by the AFL-CIO, which last year raised member dues to initiate a $75-million fund to elect Democratic candidates to seats in Congress. If these union members happened to be Republicans (which make up a larger percentage of their membership than union bosses would have you think), they still had to pay these increased dues to support the Democrats.

If that isn’t heavy-handed politics (the kind they accuse Gingrich and Ganske of), then I don’t know what is.

Even more striking in this campaign is the truly angry approach McBurney has taken. In her ads railing Ganske for siding with Newt Gingrich, she rarely mentions alternatives to ideas they might have. McBurney continues to practice empty politics with few ideas on what a member of Congress should be doing.

During last Thursday’s debate, Ganske challenged McBurney to explain answers she gave in a recent Internet survey.

In this survey she stated that she supported the recent Welfare Reform Act but would change it after being elected.

Excuse me? What kind of position is that?

The response was typical of the rest of the questionnaire, with a lot of double talk and no real positions.

Throughout the debate, McBurney constantly harangued Ganske about his alleged misrepresentations of her positions, though he read her quotes verbatim.

How that can be construed as misrepresentation I have no idea.

She also accused him of being heartless by voting for the Medicare and Social Security “cuts” earlier this year.

These “cuts” amounted to increasing spending at a rate lower than recommended levels, but still higher than inflation. This is an issue taken by other liberals and twisted for their benefit during this election year.

As for Ganske being heartless and cruel, this was the man who lay in a bed for three weeks after catching encephalitis in South America. He was there doing charity reconstructive surgery for poor children. What an uncaring man.

Something else to notice during the remainder of this campaign is the unhappiness McBurney seems to purvey.

When does this woman smile? She doesn’t even look marginally pleased in her commercials. This angry attitude carries over into her campaign.

Her union-paid ads continue to get more desperate and sinister as the election nears. Maybe she’s beginning to realize she doesn’t have much of a chance on Tuesday.

On Sunday the Des Moines Register endorsed Ganske for Congress. This paper, one of the most liberal in the Midwest, endorsed a Republican. McBurney is now clearly running for cover.

Not only is she losing public support, but she is missing the backing of her liberal comrades.

Still though she continues with these ads and her negative attitudes. Just last week she finally ran an ad that was a little more positive, but it still lacked any opinions.

She gave a fluffy 30-second speech while flanked by some school children.

McBurney has taken the typical liberal approach in her ads: attack the opponent while exploiting a sympathetic group (children, seniors, etc.).

Fortunately, she has done nothing to help her campaign. The negative attitude of the ads and using union muscle money has turned off many voters.

The electorate of Iowa’s Fourth Congressional District knows that Greg Ganske has done a fine job of representing them over the past two years.

Not only is he a respected doctor and family man, but he is also distinguishing himself as a lawmaker who tries to do what is right for Iowans, not what is right for him and his party.

While McBurney takes the low road, Ganske is being substantive and deserves the voter’s respect. Most of all, he deserves their vote.

---

Robert Zeis is a senior in finance from Des Moines.