A Wing with Bruce (Braley)

You may know him as Mr. Braley. Or maybe, Congressman Braley. Or maybe just Bruce.
If you don't follow politics incredibly closely, or live in Dubuque, Iowa, you may not have heard of him at all.
But no matter what you call him, he exists. And he's a congressman. For Iowa. In DC. And we got to have a quick BBQ wing with him today in some barley lit restaurant after an event where he spoke with Mr. and Mrs. Obama.
After formal introductions, the elephant on the table was brought up, and Mr. Braley was given a wing with the statement, "I've never met a wing I didn't like."
We didn't have too much time with the Congressman, he had to get to some meetings out of town, but I appreciate him taking the time to sit down with us for a quick wing.

During our conversation, several topics were covered. He elaborated further on the story of Jennifer Connolly, who had spoken prior to the Obamas at the event we had just attended. Basically, Mrs. Connolly's husband, Andrew, served in Iraq, and after returning, got some very bad cancer in his back. It attacked his spine, and soon he was wheelchair bound.

The Connolly's weren't rich, and their house was not at all wheelchair friendly. 

With the help of Congressman Braley, the Connolly's managed to get a grant to build a wheelchair friendly house, allowing Andrew to get down the hall and tuck in his son, something he wasn't able to do in their old house. 

Andrew Connolly died just over a year ago, at the age of 29. But before he died, he testified before Congress regarding a veterans housing bill, and the president just recently signed the bill into law.

Mr. Braley told us that he recently went to an open house put on by the surviving Connollys, where he got a sweatshirt with the Connolly name on it. Looking at the sweatshirt, he thought that knowing he helped this one family was amazing. "That's what you want to accomplish in politics, thats what I like about it... being able to help people."

When asked about how the campaign was going, he simply said "It's going well." 
He also spoke about all the "outside money" that was brought in against him during the last election, leading to him only winning by a narrow margin. 

Some of that outside money bought ads like the one on the right.

He claimed he's being very careful this time around, making sure the margin isn't so close, and that it isn't the other way around. 

Braley's main opponent is Republican Ben Lange, who Braley beat last time by the narrow margin mentioned above. 

Ben Lange, Mr. Braley's main opponent. 

When speaking about Mr. Lange, who he never mentioned by name (except to talk negatively about him once, during his speech before Obama took the stage), and the money spent against him last election, he seemed a little mad, and was certainly containing quite a bit of anger.
"They spent all kinds of money against me, and still lost."

It's a big battle, with Lange appearing at a parade last weekend, and now Baraley speaking before the Obamas at todays event.

Braley then talked about young people in politics. "Even if its just putting a bumper sticker on your car... those kind of things help."

Like every single person at the Obama event, Braley encouraged high schoolers and other young men and women to get involved in politics, and to volunteer to help out with campaigns.

He also mentioned the upcoming debates between himself and Mr. Lange. "One will be on TV." he stated, with his campaign head adding "Iowa Public Television." He talked about how it really helps when people watch the debates, as it allows them to see the candidates go head to head about important issues and "get the message out."

After finishing his wing, Mr. Braley took some quick pictures with us (which we're still trying to get our hands on) and then talked to an older couple sitting nearby for a minute. While speaking to them, we noticed something quite interesting about Mr. Braley. His brightly colored shoes. Say what you will about the man, but... he has bright shoes.