Letters to the Editor

DES MOINES REGISTER READERS

August 21, 2006

Yepsen took unfair swipe at Mike Mauro

I am a reader of David Yepsen's columns, and I think more often than not he hits the nail on the head with his political analysis. But in his Aug. 3 column about secretary of state candidate Michael Mauro, Yepsen is just dead wrong ("Mike Mauro May Be Vulnerable in State Race").

There is no one who knows more about running elections in this state, including the current secretary of state, than Michael Mauro.
Mauro is known by his fellow county auditors all around Iowa for his outspoken honesty and his impeccable integrity.

Mauro is in touch with the people at the local level because he is one of them. Unlike a lot of politicians, Mauro hasn't lost sight of who he is, where he has come from, what he stands for and who he represents. He has treated both the Republican and Democratic parties fairly and evenly.

The simple reason that the Republicans have a difficult time finding someone to step forward to run against Mauro makes it obvious that Yepsen overstated Mauro's "vulnerability." The former secretary of state, the runner-up in the Republican primary and state legislators were all reluctant to get into the race against Mauro.

The guilt-by-association charges from Yepsen — that somehow Mauro has even the most remote connections to CIETC — are laughable and ludicrious. Michael Mauro has nothing to do with the scandal. Even the Republicans know that.
— Dennis Parrott, Jasper County auditor, Newton.