Hillarysworld

Arlington, Va. - Chuck Grassley heads out on his run most days at 5:15 a.m., alone, barely recognizable under the brim of a Caterpillar equipment cap.

On this winter morning, few see the senior senator from Iowa shuffling stiffly but steadily in the darkness as we navigate the three-mile loop around his neighborhood.

He applies the same disciplined if at times graceless approach to his 11th year as a runner - he took up jogging at age 65 - as to his 30th year in the Senate.

Grassley, a Republican, deserves his renown as a government watchdog and a trusted ally in forging bipartisan compromise, according to Des Moines Register interviews with Senate experts and four of the body's most senior members.

His Iowa Poll ratings are the stuff of political folk heroes. He remains more popular than the governor, president or his fellow Iowan in the Senate, Democrat Tom Harkin.

But after more than 50 years as an elected official, Grassley confronts a political landscape that's shifting under his feet. More polarized attitudes among senators and voters threaten to erode his sizable influence in Congress and legendary appeal at home. He faces a restive electorate and a defining question: Does his career-long regimen of diligent policy work and pragmatic bipartisanship still work in Washington and Iowa?

Read more....
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20100314/NEWS09/3140342/-1/archive/As-political-landscape-shifts-Grassley-keeps-pace

We need more whistle blowers like Grassley......I attended this town-hall meeting in Adel, IA that they are speaking of in this article. It had a crowd of over 500 people and the crowd got pretty nasty.....especially concerning the HCR. Grassley handled himself with such grace and answered all questions with a calm manner. I had too hand it him as he could have easily gotten defensive.