No More Gambling for Grassley

Senator Charles Grassley thinks Iowa has enough gambling. He made it clear he wasn't talking as a U.S. Senator when he gave his opinion this afternoon. He only was talking, he says, as a private citizen. He said he is not "an advocate of taking money out of one pocket and putting it in another". He believes Iowa has enough gambling, so he's not hoping the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission decides to grant more licenses in the state. (He did say his grandson, Pat, who is a state legislator, may have more influence on this topic than he would).

Grassley also said he's fine with his party's nominee for Prez, Senator John McCain. Grassley said this year was the first time since 1980 (he thought it was 1980, he said) that he didn't endorse a candidate during the nominating process. He said he "should have made up his mind" earlier though. At the time, he said he "wanted so bad to beat" Senator Hillary Clinton. He added that he thinks it would be easier for McCain to beat Clinton than Obama.

He also plans to campaign on McCain's behalf and said a recent talk with McCain makes him think McCain believes Iowa will be an important state (again) down the stretch as the country picks a President. But he doesn't know for sure how hard McCain would work to keep Iowa's Caucuses first in 2012.