Larson named ambassador to Latvia

http://www.gazetteonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071219/NEWS/387629668/1006/NEWS


WASHINGTON — Chuck Larson Jr., his nomination backed by Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin, pledged Wednesday to represent the best of America and its democratic values as ambassador to Latvia.

"I place a high value on service to my country" as a soldier and possible ambassador, Larson said at an error-free Senate Foreign Relations confirmation hearing.

Larson, 39, of Cedar Rapids, has served in the Iowa House and Iowa Senate and is a major in the U.S. Army Reserve. He served a year in Iraq with the 372nd Engineer Group in a legal services role.

(snip)

Harkin is virtually certain to run for re-election in 2008 and said that by posting Larson in the Baltic nation, far from Iowa, "I might have a better time next year."

"He landed a few blows (as GOP chairman), but they were inbounds," Harkin said. "I have no hesitation in endorsing him."

(snip)

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and then it stopped big time. He'll make a heckuva addition to Latvia.

Yes, I am glad to see him go.. I think he was a big threat and only getting better. Young, charismatic, and a veteran. It's a good thing that he's no longer in Iowa for that reason.

BUT

Doesn't this just make him all the more formidable? I have a feeling we'll see him again, and with a beefed up resume.

for getting Chuck Larson out of Iowa.

Ambassador posts are patronage positions, right? So he will be on the job for only about a year?