The man behind the allegations of ethical and financial irregularities in U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann's 2012 presidential campaign said Wednesday that the ongoing scandal has diminished the Iowa Caucuses and the economic benefits that go with them. Amid fresh evidence that conservative Iowa State Sen. Kent Sorenson was paid first to support Bachmann and then former U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, the term "pay for play" is being bandied about to describe the Hawkeye State, not Chicago. Bachmann has never publicly acknowledged insider reports that her campaign paid Sorenson, but she did accuse him of taking money to defect to Paul. Peter Waldron, who served as Bachmann's faith-based organizer, noted that the candidates who compete in Iowa's influential straw poll and caucuses, and the media who cover them, contribute untold dollars to Iowa's economy. In a letter to Iowa's Senate secretary, Waldron said that the citizens of Iowa "do not deserve to have their state legislature soiled by the behavior of one" individual, and urged a quick resolution to the Sorenson affair, which is being examined by a special investigator. "Unless Iowa shows the nation it has taken decisive action to prevent sales of public office from happening again," Waldron said in a statement, "the national political parties should let another state caucus or primary become the new 'first in the nation.'"
