FROM ITS ROLLING CORN-fields to the small manufacturing operations on the bluffs above the Mississippi River, the first congressional district of eastern Iowa has become a leading battle- ground in the Republican effort to fend off an increasingly plausible Democratic takeover of Congress. Business interests have made the race a top priority, and for good reason: It is a swing district in a swing state, featuring two articulate and well-funded candidates vying to replace departing Republican Representative Jim Nussle. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business groups have poured money into the campaign of the Republican candidate, restaurateur Mike Whalen, who argues on the stump that he knows firsthand about the impact of taxes, regulation, and government mandates on the private sector. Organized labor and lawyers, meanwhile, have fueled the campaign of Democratic candidate Bruce Braley, a plaintiff's attorney and a former president of the Iowa Trial Lawyers Assn.
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