KTVN Channel 2 - Reno Tahoe News Weather, Video - Ensign Answers to Speculation About Run for White House
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Senator John Ensign stopped in Iowa Monday, but he says it wasn't a stump. Nonetheless, that state is historically important in presidential elections. So this visit is fueling speculation he may consider running for commander-in-chief.
A big applause for Senator John Ensign in Iowa, the American Future Fund invited him to talk about the GOP's prospects, as well as the ailing auto industry. "I don't think we should be owning auto-companies the way the president has proposed," Senator Ensign says.
Although the senator has his own ideas for Detroit, he says he's not interested in the White House. But, he does have support here in Northern Nevada. "Definitely, if he was going to do something with immigration and so something definitive. I definitely would vote for the man," says Ken Heaton of Reno.
"It would benefit me to have someone from Nevada in the White House," says Steven Schrader of Reno.
A political science professor at Truckee Meadows Community College calls Ensign's trip to Iowa more than coincidental, since the senator was in the first-in-the-nation caucus state. "The senator finds himself in Iowa perhaps testing the waters, working early onto establish some name recognition because he is best known here in Nevada," says Political Science Professor Fred Lokken.
Lokken says the GOP continues to suffer from a lack of national leadership and Ensign does have some appeal to Iowa republicans. "John Ensign's record in the senate is strong. His leadership has not been driven by ideology. It's been driven by common sense," says Lokken.
He also says what makes ensign a viable candidate for president is that he reaches to republican voters by traveling the country. "He hasn't been afraid to literally, roll up his sleeves and get involved," Lokken says. And while the senator's past shows good work, some just say it's too early to make any decisions on speculations about 2012."Speculation, that's 2012 are we kidding?" laughs Charles McCall of Sparks.
Many people didn't want to go on camera, but say they would need to hear more about what Ensign has to say, before even considering him for president.
