Though Des Moines attorney Roxanne Conlin’s candidacy against U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley is only beginning, two other Democrats who are already campaigning across the state had harsh words to say about her when asked.

James Lynch of the Gazette caught up with Bob Krause and Tom Fiegen, who have both been official candidates for the Democratic senate nomination for months.

Fiegen said the Democratic base is “not that interested” in Conlin, going as far as to compare her to Doug Gross, the unsuccessful Republican nominee for governor in 2002, who is a member of former Gov. Terry Branstad’s inner circle. Krause accused Democratic insiders in Des Moines of playing ‘political games’ with the Democratic senate primary.

“The grass roots are not excited about her,” Clarence attorney Tom Fiegen said while driving home from a Thursday night meeting with Winneshiek County Democrats. He’s been talking to Democrats about the rumor of either Conlin or former Iowa First Lady Christie Vilsack joining the race for the 2010 nomination.

“Frankly, they’re not that interested,” Fiegen said about those Democrats with whom he has spoken.

[...]

Conlin’s comments come after Iowa Democratic Party Chairman Michael Kiernan promised a mystery candidate would come forward to challenge Grassley. Krause dismissed that as political theater.

“It’s easy to play political games in Des Moines that might not play as well around the state,” he said.

[...]

“People look at her and say, ‘been there, done that,’” [Fiegen] said. “One analogy I heard is that she’s our party’s Doug Gross — rich, intelligent, well-connected, but can’t talk to rural Iowans. People say she’s already proved that.”