Friday, July 24, 2009

Douglas Burns on Dave Price's 'Purple Matters' radio show



WHO-TV's Dave Price had me as a guest on his weekly radio program "Purple Matters" to discuss the gubernatorial campaign announcement of State Rep. Rod Roberts, R-Carroll.

That section of the hour-long program in which I am involved starts at about the 31:00 minute mark and goes for about 15 minutes.

We discuss Roberts specifically and the Republican race generally.

Friday, July 17, 2009

Roberts to announce intentions Tuesday at State Capitol



State Rep. Rod Roberts, R-Carroll, this morning sent a press release across Iowa announcing a news conference at the State Capitol in Des Moines for next Tuesday.

Roberts, a five-term legislator who represents Carroll County and parts of Sac and Crawford counties, is expected to announce the formation of an exploratory committee for a possible run for governor.

The news conference will be held at 11 a.m.

"My early conversations and travels have gone extremely well," Roberts said in an interview this morning.

On Thursday night Roberts spoke with Greene County Republicans in Jefferson. That followed several other speaking appearances before GOP audiences across Iowa in recent weeks.

Roberts withheld any more comment on his political future until Tuesday.

If he forms an exploratory committee, Roberts would start by transitioning his legislative fund-raising and campaign apparatus to a gubernatorial one.

Should he later decide to drop out of the governor's race he could transfer the campaign account back to a legislative effort.

The GOP field eyeing an opportunity to challenge Democratic Gov. Chet Culver is widening. The list of candidates is expected - at this point - to include Sioux City businessman Bob Vander Plaats, Roberts, State Rep. Christopher Rants of Sioux City, State Sen. Jerry Behn of Boone, GOP eastern Iowa activist Christian Fong and State Sen. Paul McKinley of Chariton.

"The race is wide open at this point and the entrance of Representative Roberts adds another candidate for grassroots Republicans," said Tim Albrecht, a Republican strategist who operates one of the state's more prominent conservative Web logs, TheBeanWalker.com.

Albrecht says the GOP in Iowa has a strong chance at ousting Culver because of the public's frustrations with the Democrat's handling of state finances.

For his part, Roberts lines up with Republicans on key issues, Albrecht said.

"Rod is not afraid to let people know what he thinks but does it in a non-abrasive manner," Albrecht said.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Chuck Grassley for president?



In talking on the phone with Iowa State University professor and WOI Radio “Dr. Politics” host Steffen Schmidt I couldn’t see if he was maintaining a straight face when he put forward this idea: U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, as a presidential candidate.

Schmidt, who has been in Ames for four decades as a political science professor, assured me he was serious, that his face was in fact straight, that he was basing his comments on conversations with people inside the Republican Party.

“It’s not a throwaway, B.S., or a joke or anything,” Schmidt said.

The GOP, Schmidt said, is in need of an “adult” who can speak for the party without embarrassing it — as former potential presidential candidates Gov. Mark Sanford of South Carolina and U.S. Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., have done in recent weeks.

Grassley fits that political adult bill, plus he has a workmanlike reputation on both sides of the aisle, says Schmidt.

And while party leaders may be concerned about Grassley’s charisma factor on a national stage and age (he is 75 and first served in the Iowa House when Dwight Eisenhower was president) he’ll be a steady, Midwestern voice, goes the line of reasoning.

“They know he’s never flown to Argentina,” Schmidt said in a reference to the embarrassing saga involving Sanford and his Argentine lover.

Of course, being relegated to defining a candidate or a party by what it is not, rather than what it is, raises troubling questions.

Tuesday, July 07, 2009

Dignity in politics

Writing in The New York Times, David Brooks has a must-read on dignity in not only life but politics. For those of us tired of public life in the national confessional, this column is spot on ...

Today, Americans still lavishly admire people who are naturally dignified, whether they are in sports (Joe DiMaggio and Tom Landry), entertainment (Lauren Bacall and Tom Hanks) or politics (Ronald Reagan and Martin Luther King Jr.).

But the dignity code itself has been completely obliterated. The rules that guided Washington and generations of people after him are simply gone.

We can all list the causes of its demise. First, there is capitalism. We are all encouraged to become managers of our own brand, to do self-promoting end zone dances to broadcast our own talents. Second, there is the cult of naturalism. We are all encouraged to discard artifice and repression and to instead liberate our own feelings. Third, there is charismatic evangelism with its penchant for public confession. Fourth, there is radical egalitarianism and its hostility to aristocratic manners.

The old dignity code has not survived modern life. The costs of its demise are there for all to see. Every week there are new scandals featuring people who simply do not know how to act. For example, during the first few weeks of summer, three stories have dominated public conversation, and each one exemplifies another branch of indignity.

Friday, July 03, 2009

Palin's 'crazy' move may position her well in Iowa



We can't gauge Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin with conventional political measurements.

Her appeal with Iowa Republican caucus-goers is precisely what was on display today -- an absolute thumb-nosing of establishment politics, conventional thinking, and on the day before the Fourth of July when Cable TV's heavy-hitting lampooners were out of the office on their first or fifth holiday drinks no less.

Yes, at first blush, this announcement of her imminent resignation as governor, with its epic nonsequiturs and mom-unleashed-at-the -school board-meeting quality, hand-delivers ammunition for Palin's fleet of detractors.

And as several journalists have noted already, there does seem to be a piece, perhaps a big one, missing from this story. Will she have to make an Appalachian-sized amendment to the story as her fellow GOP governor Mark Sanford did just recently?

If not, this may work for Palin.

What made Palin popular with Iowans was not her resume of experience in Alaska. Those who cheered her in Sioux City last fall, with the most vocal applause for a Republican I saw in Iowa in the 2008 presidential cycle, knew little about it.

The boys with the Blackberrys tell us that Palin should have stayed in Alaska to finish her term. Then perhaps, as she is only 45, take a shot at the U.S. Senate. Build some credentials, burnish that resume.

That would put Palin on the same playing field as other politicians, and by that measure, she loses.

Palin is already a political figure too large for the office she holds. That speech today was clumsy but what matters is how Iowa Republicans will her now.

Will they hold it against Palin that she quit her job as Alaska governor to become a national advocate, a visible and likely effective one, for their values? It's hard to think of someone as a quitter when you see them more on television and at party dinners and in other venues than you did before.

Then there's this to consider: Many in the national media have this mistaken sense that Iowa Republicans are seeking a new indentity, that they'll reach out to moderates and carve out more widely palatable positions. Having been to two major GOP events in just the last 10 days in Iowa I get the distinct sense that the party is growing smaller, more insular, more angry -- and that it is likely to double-down on a candidate like Palin -- damn the torpedoes and the media and conventional wisdom -- and Gov, Haley Barbour who tried the other night in Des Moines (to no avail) to get rank-and-file Republicans to accept new demographics and dynamics of life in America.

Palin is exactly what many Republicans want. A time machine. We know that machine goes back, but whether there's a switch in it for the future remains to be seen.

Senator Behn, Mr. Vander Plaats: What should penalty for abortion be?




It's a line of a questioning most pro-life candidates don't like.

When I ask it, they often claim they never thought about it, that they don't answer hypotheticals.

That question: If your views prevail and abortion is made illegal, what should the penalty be for a woman who has an abortion and a doctor who provides one?

Should they be fined - like we do with speeders on our highways - or should they be strapped into an electric chair?

Misdemeanor or felony?

There's a big difference.

But pro-life candidates never talk about this.

"This may surprise you," Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Vander Plaats tells us. "I haven't thought through the whole 'what's the penalty piece of that.'"

That said, if abortion were made illegal, Vander Plaats, a Sioux City businessman who is strongly pro-life, thinks at the very least doctors should lose their licenses if they provide the procedure - if it is made illegal.

"I think for a doctor I would say he's violating the law and you take away his practice," Vander Plaats said.

And the woman who has an abortion? Should she be sent to prison or to death row?

Is having abortion a pre-meditated murder?

"It would have to be premeditated," he said.

But Vander Plaats didn't prescribe a punishment for the aborting mother.

"As far as the woman I really need to think that through," Vander Plaats said. "That's a very, very tough question."

If his side of the most divisive social issue in modern America carries the day, should the doctors be in Anamosa or Fort Madison, Iowa's two toughest prisons, for life if they do abortions?

"I think the first debate we need to have, I mean we as society need to have, is when does life begin," Vander Plaats said. "When is this life and why are we for the sanctity of human life?"

When pressed some more, Vander Plaats said that if legalized abortion is overturned, the state of Iowa would need to look at consequences and see if an aborting mother or abortionist is akin to the man who allegedly shot to death Ed Thomas, the beloved coach of the Aplington-Parkersburg football team.

Vander Plaats may find some pressure from his political right (if you can imagine that) on this issue.

One person who does have the stomach to talk about punishment in a Roe-revoked world is our former state senator, Jerry Behn, a Boone Republican who is considering running for governor.

In his two campaigns for the Senate here, Behn focused heavily on his passionate opposition to abortion. He stopped me after a Sac County Republican fundraiser last Saturday and recalled a previous interview we did in which Behn left no doubt about his views on punishment should abortion become illegal again.



He made it a point, with no prompting, to tell me that he stands by his remarks then - and would take the same position today.

In that earlier interview, Behn said he "hadn't really gone there in his mind either" when I asked him what penalties should be meted out for abortion.

But Behn, never one to dodge a question, quickly pointed out that "I frankly do believe it's murder."

In the case of the doctors who provide the abortion, Behn said, they are, in his mind, guilty of "premeditated murder."

"It's going to make it look like I'm a warmonger running around looking for doctors to execute," he said as the interview progressed.

But Behn said, "In principle it's the doctor I really get frustrated with. It is as premeditated and cold-blooded as you can get."

The Boone Republican said he'd stand by the statement that the doctor's action is murder.

"I'd be willing to have somebody make the argument that it isn't," he said.

Vander Plaats: Election can turn on marriage, smoking



Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Vander Plaats says the 2010 election can be won on opposition to same-sex marriage and the one-year-old Iowa smoking ban, issues that provoke powerful feelings on their own but also serve as metaphors for increasing government intrusion into Iowa life.

"Those are issues that resonate with people and resonate quickly, and to be quite honest, are emotional issues, issues that I think can win an election or lose an election," Vander Plaats said.

In a wide-ranging interview with the Daily Times Herald that moved from the economy to the future of the Republican Party itself to other matters, Vander Plaats said gay marriage and smoking would be swing issues with Iowans in the governor's race.

"There's a couple of issues I think people are really starting to wrestle with," Vander Plaats said. "One is the marriage issue and separation of powers."

He added, "That's a huge issue that they understand and understand big-time."

Vander Plaats argues that the Iowa Supreme Court outreached its authority in early April and made law with a decision allowing gay marriage.

"It's not just about marriage," Vander Plaats said. "It's a court overstepping its bounds from the bench."

Vander Plaats has suggested a controversial remedy, saying that if governor he would issue an executive order staying same-sex marriages until the Legislature - and therefore the people - can deal with it.

"That's part of the balance of power," he said. "But what we've done too long I think in this country and in this state is we've said whatever the Supreme Court says goes. They can't do certain things."

Some conservatives have challenged Vander Plaats' proposal as a dangerous usurping of power that would give the governor's office, including possible future ones peopled by liberals, too much power. Legal scholars also have questioned the executive stay that Vander Plaats defended in the interview as appropriate.

"The people of Iowa didn't get to vote on this," Vander Plaats said. "I guarantee you so many people in Carroll woke up on April 4 or April 3, whatever, and said, 'What? We're a same- sex marriage state? Are you kidding me? When did that come about?'"

Vander Plaats said Gov. Chet Culver should have done everything in his power to prevent gay marriage from becoming legal.

"I believe he displayed absolutely no executive leadership," Vander Plaats said. "It was within his power to hold them in check and he chose not to and I believe the reason he chose not to is because of the far left wing of his party."

In terms of tapping into voter frustration, Vander Plaats said, "No. 2 is the smoking issue."

Vander Plaats himself doesn't smoke, although he said in the interview that contrary to popular portrayal, he will have a beer now and again.

Vander Plaats said the smoking ban, which turned a year-old July 1, is a direct assault on private-property rights served with a heaping helping of government hypocrisy with a casino exemption.

"You mean all these private establishments can't have smoking but your state-run casinos can?" Vander Plaats said.

Vander Plaats said he "would deal" with the smoking ban as governor.

"Freedom is really founded in private property," Vander Plaats said.

He added, "With the smoking issue, that should be a marketplace decision. That's how we operate."

All of that said, Vander Plaats acknowledged the challenge of repealing or altering existing law, particularly one that is so high profile and on which most people have an opinion.

"There is a lot of legislation that I wish never came to be," Vander Plaats said. "To go back and change legislation, that is a very difficult task."

A Sioux City businessman Vander Plaats is currently president and CEO of MVP Leadership Inc. MVP specializes in strategic vision and executive leadership for business and industry, economic development, education, health care, human services, and private foundations.

Vander Plaats, a Sheldon native who graduated from Northwestern College in Orange City, is a former teacher and a head basketball coach in Jefferson. He and wife, Darla, have four sons.

The 2010 race will be Vander Plaats' third consecutive run for governor. He was in the last primary for a time before signing on as Republican Jim Nussle's lieutenant governor candidate. Vander Plaats also ran for his party's nomination in 2002.

While he's been unsuccessful in three political runs, Vander Plaats built considerable political clout in the 2008 Iowa Caucuses as he chaired the campaign of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who won the first-in-the-nation Republican presidential nominating contest.

"I believe we have a great network throughout the entire state of Iowa," Vander Plaats said. "We have really good name identification throughout the state of Iowa in particular with Republican voters."

Vander Plaats said he senses the mood today among Iowans is one of wanting people in political office with "real life leadership" and "real life experience."

"I think what they're saying is we'd like to get back to a citizens' form of government," Vander Plaats said.

Other GOP candidates in the emerging field, such as State Rep. Christopher Rants, R-Sioux City, and State Rep. Rod Roberts, R-Carroll, have legislative records that can be easily attacked by Culver.

"I believe Chet Culver does not want to run on his record," Vander Plaats said. "I believe he wants to run by attacking somebody else's record."

Vander Plaats said while he may agree with the voting records of Roberts or Rants he thinks they make his fellow Republicans more vulnerable to negative advertising.

"There's always something in a bill that you can exploit," he said.

He added, "Culver with Jim Nussle, all he did, was hang Jim Nussle with his record."

Vander Plaats said another defining political choice Iowa Republicans face when sending a candidate to challenge Culver is this: do they stick to core values or moderate or water down positions in an attempt to reach out to independents and Democrats.

"One of the reasons I'm a Republican is because I'm pro-life," Vander Plaats said. "One of the reasons I'm a Republican is I'm pro one man-one woman marriage. Those are vital planks to our party."

Last week, at a major GOP event in Des Moines, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour urged his party to open a "big tent" and accept candidates and members who are pro-choice on abortion.

"From what I've heard, when he made those comments, it was eerily quiet," Vander Plaats said.

That's an accurate description of the response about 1,000 Republicans activists gave Barbour at the Hoyt Sherman Place in Des Moines.

"I am not going to compromise my stance on who I am for the sanctity of life, who I am for the sanctity of marriage between one man and one woman, the way it was designed," Vander Plaats said.

Vander Plaats warns the GOP about compromising with a moderate Republican, someone who could be a "Manchurian candidate" for liberal forces looking to cripple conservatism in the state from within the Republican Party.

On the economy, Vander Plaats said the state has an environment that is hostile to business. He pledges to focus on streamlining government and creating competitive tax and regulatory climates.

Specifically, he advocates simpler tax forms and a system that is "more flat."

Vander Plaats advocates corporate state income tax reduction with an aim of eliminating it.

"We need venture capital in this state," he said.

Vander Plaats also said property taxes are killing small-town businesses.

He said instructional money for K-12 public schools and mental health services now provided by the counties should be funded by the state, not through local property taxes.

This first appeared in Carroll Daily Times Herald.

Wednesday, July 01, 2009

Vander Plaats: Republicans should be held to higher standard on family values



Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Vander Plaats of Sioux City tells the Carroll Daily Times Herald that his party should be held to a higher standard when it comes to values questions of the sort now swirling around South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, an admitted adulterer.

While extra-marital affairs occur in both parties, it is fair to judge Republicans more harshly on such matters, Vander Plaats said.

"I think its an added dimension for our party," Vander Plaats said. "The reason I say that is we highlight one man-one woman marriage. We highlight family values. And if we do that that's where the trust comes in. Are you going to walk the walk or just talk the talk."

He added, "As Republicans if we are going to highlight that, that puts us to higher standard."

The party is searching for ways to attract new voters and authenticity is key, said Vander Plaats.

"We talk just recently family values and we get Governor Sanford," Vander Plaats said.

Should Sanford resign?

"I think what it is is a compromise of his leadership and I think honestly he has a family in crisis," Vander Plaats said. "I think he needs to put his attention on the family right now. If I was counseling him I would say, 'Governor Sanford, not only for your state but I believe for you and your family I'd resign.'"

32-year-old Cedar Rapids political newcomer files as Republican for governor's race

Campaign press release ...

(Cedar Rapids, IA) Cedar Rapids businessman Christian Fong has launched his campaign for Governor, calling for a restoration of the Iowa Dream.

Fong is the son of a Chinese immigrant who fled Communist China as his family was being killed for their Christian faith. “I’ve been blessed to live the Iowa Dream where hard work and determination are rewarded. But sadly, today I see that dream being put farther out of reach for future generations. And that’s why I’m going to spend the next year traveling the state asking for Iowans’ support, because I believe I can provide the leadership needed to restore the Iowa dream,” said Fong.

Fong continued, “Restoring the Iowa Dream starts by replacing the CEO of our state. I share the belief of the majority of Iowans that we are in desperate need of new leadership in state government. The current administration thinks we can overspend and bond and borrow our way to prosperity. As a businessman, I know that’s the wrong approach to pull Iowa through this recession.

The experience I would bring to the Governor’s office is not the experience of elected office, not the experience of broken government, but the experience of commonsense private sector conservative principles to lead our state.”

Fong was instrumental in helping Cedar Rapids recover from the devastating floods of 2008. He led over 5,100 volunteers as the CEO of Corridor Recovery, offering his leadership skills to help people in need during the 4th largest natural disaster in U.S. history. In addition, Governor Culver also appointed Christian to serve on the Generation Iowa Commission, where he has worked with peers to address Iowa’s “brain drain”.

Fong concluded, “Iowa families cannot shoulder the burden that state government is placing on them. State government is broken, and we need new leadership. I’m going to spend the next year applying for the job with the people of Iowa.”

Fong graduated from Underwood High School in Southwest Iowa at the age of 16 and then attended Creighton University, graduating at age 19. After college he and his wife, Jenelle, located in Cedar Rapids and Christian started work at AEGON. After locating in Cedar Rapids, Fong attended Dartmouth. After earning his MBA, Christian and his family returned to AEGON and Cedar Rapids, where they reside today and attend River of Life Ministries church. The Fongs have three children.

GOP 'stars' can't shine without ideas, party identity



Is our nation so polarized that even prayers are overtly partisan?

At last week's Iowa Republican Party "Night of the Rising Stars" at Hoyt Sherman Place in Des Moines our own state senator, Steve Kettering of Lake View, and state Sen. Linda Upmeyer, R-Garner, handled the Pledge of Allegiance and prayer.

Kettering, the Senate Republican whip, did his job on the pledge without a hitch.

But in the prayer Upmeyer took what was a clear shot at Gov. Chet Culver and President Barack Obama when she said, "We are frustrated with the current leadership" for taking us down a path we don't want.

I had to paraphrase part of that because, with head bowed, it's challenging to take notes. There are limits even in journalism.

To be fair to Upmeyer this was a crowd of 1,000 Republican activists. Still, you'd think they could wait until after the prayer to start hurling rhetorical grenades.

Overall, the young Iowa Republican Party chairman Matt Strawn deserves accolades for the event. He's seeking to reach out to younger voters with new media and plenty of pizzazz while not alienating, or dare we say, confusing, older stalwarts in the party.

At the beginning of the night, the Iowa GOP urged all those in attendance to "tweet" the event - to use the social-networking or hyper-blogging tool, Twitter, to move the message from this historic Sherman Hills mansion to cell phones and computer screens all over the state.

Strawn came on to the stage to the trendy beats of Tomoyasu Hotei's popular song from the edgy film "Kill Bill Vol. 1" - which perhaps was a little overboard considering the audience. But it was part of an effort to choreograph a new face for the party.

My friend Chuck Offenburger, the accomplished Iowa journalist, author and Republican, prepared me for the night by saying it would be like no other GOP one I'd attended in Iowa. He was right.

All of this said, while reaching out to young voters, the party couldn't go too far. When keynote speaker Haley Barbour, the governor of Mississippi, led into a great line about hotel magnate Conrad Hilton he asked the assembled if they recalled "The Ed Sullivan Show." Most people clapped in the affirmative.

The great Hilton line: When Sullivan asked what message he'd have for the millions of Americans watching the show Hilton didn't hesitate when he urged people to put the shower curtain in the tub.

The GOP used the evening to introduce a number of new leaders "or stars." Locally, State Rep. Jason Schultz of Crawford County made the list.

For my money, an elected official to watch in the party is at the county level right now. Republican Story County Auditor Mary Mosiman had a natural presence and clean, charismatic delivery on the stage. If you can do the financial books and speak that well, there surely must be a bright future.

Strawn's party still has long way to go to reach out to the significant voting block of independents in Iowa - or to pull any Democrats.

"We don't need to change who we are to win elections," Strawn said at one point in his remarks.

Just a few minutes later he noted that the Iowa GOP for the first time had a booth at Des Moines' Asian American Festival.

Strawn spent a good deal of his speech criticizing Obama. The GOP chair characterized U.S. economic policy as "Barack's bailout." Employing the commander in chief's first name in a cheap reach for casual alliteration, or calling the governor "Chet" in an effort to diminish him, is not the stuff of an energized party. It's annoying and alienating, and Strawn can do better.

Republican strategist Tim Albrecht told me the GOP needs to find "ideas" candidates and leaders.

This is possible. The party has time to rebuild itself for 2010 and 2012.

But it must get beyond psychological breastfeeding for the base. There's room for red-meat barbs for Obama and Culver to be sure. But right now there is an absence of those big ideas of which Albrecht talks.

I left Hoyt Sherman and a Sac County GOP fund-raiser last week with the distinct sense this is a party that is more energized by what it against than anything else. They provided no new ideas for the media to cover. And we were there looking for those storylines.

"We can't just point out the negative," Strawn himself acknowledged.

Here's a suggestion for Republicans: Call a brief moratorium on attacks on Democrats and stay on message with well-crafted, thoughtfully articulated Iowa GOP policies, principles and pledges.

They already have the playbook for this. It was such an approach that fueled a national GOP resurrection, or Republican revolution, in 1994.

(Photo: GOP Iowa chairman Matt Strawn (left) with Miss. Gov. Haley Barbour in Des Moines)

Rural Iowa must avoid 'majority-minority' isolation

Soon, if the time is not at hand, white Iowans won't have the luxury of being racists.

Rapidly changing demographics mean that places like Carroll, even if they remain largely lily white, will need to become more accepting of cultural diversity for economic reasons: people in other cities with whom we must interact in business are increasingly going to look less like us.

It used to be the argument against racism was made on moral and religious grounds. They still stand.

But those who haven't been persuaded may want to reconsider. A May census report shows that 47 percent of the nation's children under age 5 are minorities - and 25 percent of all kids in America that age are Hispanic.

The census is projecting that by 2042 the United States will be a "majority- minority" nation. In other words, whites of European descent will make up less than 50 percent of the population. For young people those numbers will change more quickly.

Which raises a concern: In areas with little diversity, like Carroll, is there a danger of a sort of cultural isolation that could hamper businesses here, prevent new development as decisions increasingly will be made by minorities?

Are there steps we can take to foster an accepting environment that will make a dramatically changed America in 2030 comfortable with what likely will remain a white Carroll?

"We all know that economic development is about building relationships," says Paul Lasley, chairman of the sociology and anthropology departments at Iowa State University. "If we do not have the ability to build relationships, we are going to be disadvantaged.

An expert on rural issues, Lasley is urging students to look at the imminent changing of the colors in the U.S. population as an opportunity.

"I have been telling students at ISU for years that unless they have a second language they are going to find themselves increasingly disadvantaged," Lasley said.

In particular, rural Iowans with agricultural interests should heed this advice as it can benefit trading opportunities.

"Companies need folks who are conversant in either Spanish or Chinese," Lasley said.

I asked Lasley if largely white rural communities like Carroll were in jeopardy of losing business and jobs and opportunities simply because we can't relate or connect to a new world that won't look like ours.

Not so fast, Lasley said.

Money still talks.

Lasley expects that in the future the divide in America will be less about race than education and income levels.

"Skin color is going to become less important. but social class may become more important," Lasley said. "I see that among young people."

Rants calls for special session

SIOUX CITY, IA – Rep. Chris Rants made the following statement today in response to the numbers released by the Department of Revenue and Finance on tax receipts collected for the fiscal year.

“Governor Culver has allowed the budget mess to become far too problematic for him to handle on his own – we have gone from having a projected deficit to an actual deficit. He needs to call the Legislature back for a special session to balance the budget. He then needs to ask the Legislature to reduce the budget for the coming year by an equal amount.

“Everyone in the state has seen this day coming, except for Governor Culver. Taxpayers and local governments cannot afford a ‘wait and see’ approach any longer. Action is needed now.

“It is time to quit worrying about the political ramifications of admitting that we have a deficit and get about the business of fixing it. Governor Vilsack put aside partisan politics and called a special session in 2001 and 2002 to balance the budget after revenues declined; Culver needs to do the same."

Roberts makes first foray into governor's race



Carroll legislator joins four other likely candidates for GOP nomination at Sac County event

SAC CITY - State Rep. Rod Roberts, R-Carroll, made his first public appearance Saturday as a potential candidate for governor. Roberts urged more than 50 party activists in Sac City to hold firm on core principles but understand that Republicans can't alienate independents and conservative Democrats if they are to take Terrace Hill.

"We need to be as thoughtful and considerate about the messenger who carries the message as the message itself," Roberts said.

Roberts noted that in representing Carroll County and parts of Sac and Crawford counties, he has a district with a high combined percentage of independent voters and Democrats - but he's still run unopposed in the last four elections.

"People have taken note of that," Roberts said.

He said Republicans can stand on principle but also need to be approachable and engaging in term of political style - traits Sac County Economic and Tourism executive director Shirley Phillips credited Roberts with possessing in her introduction on him.

Roberts, who is close to announcing an exploratory committee, was one of four likely GOP candidates for governor to speak at the Sac County Republican Central Committee's "Breakfast With Gubernatorial Candidates" in the historic Chautauqua Building in Sac City.

Bob Vander Plaats, a Sioux City businessman who has already announced his intention to run, State Rep. Christopher Rants, R-Sioux City, who has formed an exploratory committee, and State Sen. Jerry Behn, R-Boone, who said he's closer than ever to formally entering the race, attended the event.

For his part, Roberts said Iowans appear ready for a change from Democratic control of the Legislature and governor's office.

"I can detect that people are very interested in a change of direction," Roberts said.

Roberts, a five-term legislator, said Iowa government needs structural changes and promised to downsize bureaucracy.

Hitting on a theme that ran through all the GOP speeches Saturday, Roberts said the people of Iowa, not the state's seven-member Supreme Court, should make a decision on the definition of marriage. The Court ruled in April that gay marriage in Iowa is legal.

Gov. Chet Culver should allow Iowans to vote on the matter, Roberts said.

"What that signaled to a lot of Iowans is our leaders do not respect the people," Roberts said.

On that issue Behn urged voters to say "no" on judicial retention for the justices who are in the next ballot. Their decision to legalize gay marriage is the type of move that should be left to the elected lawmakers, the Boone Republican said.

"Let 'em run for the Legislature," Behn said.

Vander Plaats said marriage is a winning issue for Republicans in 2010. He says 70 percent of Iowans are with him on it.

"Republicans need to start talking about marriage between one man and one woman," Vander Plaats said.

Vander Plaats repeated a statement that has drawn fire from within his own party in saying he would issue an executive order as governor to stay the Court's decision on same-sex marriage until the Legislature can weigh in on the matter. Critics contend such a move, if legal at all, would confer too much power in the executive branch that could be exploited by future liberal governors as well.

Behn spent some of his remarks using Carroll as an example of a city in Iowa where competition between public and private K-12 education benefits both. He called for increasing the tuition tax credit for private schools - but didn't spell out a specific dollar figure. Additionally, Behn said, Iowa should establish a scholarship fund that would allow parents to get the same amount of money the state spends on their children for public education to help pay for private school.

Vander Plaats, who earned the most frequent and sustained applause at the event, said he would not retreat from socially conservative positions.

"You don't win the governorship by selling out who you are," Vander Plaats said. "Republicans need to be trusted."

Without specifically referencing the situation of South Carolina Republican Gov. Mark Sanford, who acknowledged an extra-marital affair last week, Vander Plaats made it clear he believes such episodes need to be scrubbed from the party.

"If we campaign on family values, we better walk the walk of family values," Vander Plaats said.

Earlier in the week, Vander Plaats told the Daily Times Herald Republicans should be held to a higher standard on personal behavior because they often run on family-values issues.

In terms of a broader platform, Vander Plaats said Republicans can go after Culver's base with well-articulated policies in the arenas of health care and education.

Rants, the political veteran of the GOP's Saturday morning political foursome, focused his speech primarily on the economy, saying he would work on key indicators such as property-tax burden and friendliness of business starts.

The Democrats are making the state less competitive with its neighbors by advancing an aggressive anti-business agenda, Rants said.

At the same time, Rants said, he has a strong record in opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage.

The next GOP candidate for governor must cobble a coalition of fiscal and social conservatives, said Rants, a former House speaker now is his ninth term in the Legislature.

"I'm a Republican who has my feet planted squarely in both camps," Rants said.

After hearing the speeches, Sac County Republican Party chairman Brian Krause, pastor of Faith Bible Church in Sac City, told the Daily Times Herald, "It's going to be a tough choice."

Krause said Vander Plaats clearly had the strongest connection with the crowd, and Rants owns the credentials debate, having been elected as House speaker at just age 25. Krause said Roberts presented himself as "approachable" - something that is vital in winning independent voters.

"I think they all threw out a good message," said Sac County Sheriff Ken McClure.

This story first appeared in The Carroll Daily Times Herald.

Indiana's Pence now in Iowa presidential mix



Add another name into the mix of Republicans wading into Iowa presidential politics.

The Iowa Republican Party has just announced that U.S. Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., will travel to Iowa in July for events in the Cedar Rapids area.

As GOP House Conference chairman Pence is the third-ranking Republican in the U.S. House and recently has been outspoken on Iran and the climate change bill.

A former talk-radio show host in Indiana, Pence has been mentioned by Iowa GOP insiders as a potentially formidable candidate.


”Throughout his career in public service, Congressman Pence has been a forceful advocate for our party’s principles of limited government, personal responsibility, and political, economic and religious freedom,” said Iowa Republican Party chairman Matt Strawn, adding that he anticipates this message resonating with many Iowans and Republicans.

A John Edwards sex tape?



The New York Times today has a story on a former John Edwards aide inking s tell-all book deal. The aide says Edwards asked him to take the fall -- or paternity -- for the pregnancy of the presidential candidate's paramour.

The aide, Andrew Young, sold his book proposal to St. Martin’s Press for an undisclosed price late last week. In his proposal, Mr. Young quotes Mr. Edwards, a Democrat who was his party’s vice-presidential nominee in 2004 and ran for president last year, as begging him to confess to fathering Ms. (Rielle) Hunter’s baby.

“ ‘You know how much I love you,’ Edwards said. ‘You know I’d walk off a cliff for you, and I know you’d walk off a cliff for me,’ ” Mr. Young wrote in the book proposal. “ ‘I will never forget this. And I will always be there for you.’ ” The proposal was shared with The New York Times by a book publishing industry executive. Portions of it were reported over the weekend by The Daily News of New York.


But in a case of burying the lead we learn that Young contends there is an Edwards sex tape.

Mr. Young’s proposal states that he was writing the book because he had become disillusioned with Mr. Edwards’s behavior and recklessness, which he said included participating in the production of a sex tape with Ms. Hunter that Mr. Young later discovered.