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Northey Campaign: Clear Differences Exist Between Denise O’Brien and Myself 10/25/2006 Highlights Differences in Statewide Television and Radio Campaign Spirit Lake, IA - Today, Bill Northey, Republican nominee for Secretary of Agriculture launched a television and radio campaign that highlights the differences between himself and Denise O’Brien. The advertisements focus on O’Brien’s role as a “farm activist”, her support from animal rights activists in Berkeley, California and O’Brien’s own words from a Des Moines Register article, “People are convinced I'm a radical, but I'm not willing to compromise just to be widely accepted." Bill Northey said, “There are clear differences between Mrs. O’Brien and myself. Denise is an activist, a self described radical whose vision for Iowa agriculture is to return to a pre-1920’s era where everyone had 5-10 acres of fruits and vegetables and raised free-range chickens. It’s a fringe agenda, that’s not a practical vision for Iowa agriculture.” “We have huge opportunities in the area of renewable fuels, bio-technology and food creation. Instead of turning the clock back on Iowa agriculture, I’m ready to provide a vision for Iowa agriculture that creates markets for farmers and jobs for Iowans.” Earlier this month on October 3rd, O’Brien held a fundraiser in Berkeley, California which was hosted by animal rights activists. One of the hosts, Michael Pollan wrote in the New York Times in 2003, “The industrialization -- and dehumanization -- of American animal farming is a relatively new, evitable and local phenomenon: no other country raises and slaughters its food animals quite as intensively or as brutally as we do. Were the walls of our meat industry to become transparent, literally or even figuratively, we would not long continue to do it this way. Tail-docking and sow crates and beak-clipping would disappear overnight, and the days of slaughtering 400 head of cattle an hour would come to an end. For who could stand the sight? Yes, meat would get more expensive. We'd probably eat less of it, too, but maybe when we did eat animals, we'd eat them with the consciousness, ceremony and respect they deserve.” Also in an interview with the Des Moines Register, O’Brien talked about her unwillingness to compromise and her disgust with the Democrat Party that they were not far enough to the left. Excerpts from the Des Moines Register on 2/15/2003: Liberal activist Denise O'Brien of Atlantic said Kucinich's anti-war message has caught her attention. She also is intrigued by Howard Dean, who signed a controversial bill allowing civil unions for gay couples in Vermont. She blames centrist and conservative Democrats for moving the Democratic Party to the right by compromising with Republicans in the 1990s. She said former President Clinton is partly to blame for Democrats' losses last fall. "This Bill Clinton thing of going toward the center has landed us where we are now," O'Brien said. "There's not enough difference between Democrats and Republicans." O'Brien said she understands that having more liberal candidates potentially could fragment their collective support for any one, but she doesn't care. It's more about declaring her principles than trying to find the most electable candidate, she said. "We have to push the agenda," said O'Brien, who got her start as an activist in the 1960s rallying against the Vietnam War. "People are convinced I'm a radical, but I'm not willing to compromise just to be widely accepted." Northey concluded, “Voters have a clear choice this year between the candidates for Secretary of Agriculture, it’s a choice between a “fringe” agenda as offered by Mrs. O’Brien or my agenda that looks to create opportunities for new farmers, create jobs for all Iowans and make Iowa the fuel capital of the world.” |
