Iowa Democratic Party Michael Kiernan met with supporters in Cedar Rapids and other Iowa cities Tuesday to discuss Terry Branstad's official entry into the 2010 gubernatorial race.

Branstad, who previously served four terms as governor, officially kicked off his fifth campaign Tuesday in Des Moines, billing the event as “a historic comeback” and speaking in front of an old airplane at the State Historical Building to complete the revisiting-the-past theme. Following that first official rally, where Branstad pledged the creation of 200,000 new jobs and increased income for Iowans, the campaign began a multi-city “Comeback Tour” of the state.

Iowa Democratic Party Chair Michael Kiernan launched a tour of his own to coincide with Branstad’s, hoping to counter the former governor’s message with a dose of skepticism.

“This has been a long-awaited announcement — and one that I believe was politically motivated and strategic so that [Branstad] wouldn’t have to talk about his record,” Kiernan said. “I think he now enters the toughest race of his life — candidate Branstad versus Gov. Branstad. He says he wants to run on his record, on his experience and leadership, yet he does everything he can to run away from his record.”

For months since it was first rumored that Branstad might be considering re-entering Iowa politics the IDP has been on his heels, pointing out that while candidate Branstad has criticized current Democratic Gov. Chet Culver for spending, former Gov. Branstad raised sales tax by 67 percent, increased the gasoline tax by five cents per gallon and attempted to tax Social Security benefits.

“When confronted with the differences between his record and what he is now promising, Bradstad says that he made mistakes and has learned from those mistakes,” Kiernan said. “Frankly, Iowans can’t afford any more learning experiences.”

The IDP’s attacks against Branstad, many of which stem from his rivals in the GOP primary, are evidence to some that the former governor is the only Republican challenger Democrats believe could be a serious threat to Culver.

Just this week, when Branstad’s Republican opponent Bob Vander Plaats disclosed that he had raised more than $500,000 in contributions and donated goods and services, the Iowa Democratic Party issued a press release noting that Branstad’s record was pushing Iowa’s social conservative base away from his campaign. While the press release could not be construed as any sort of endorsement of Vander Plaats, it still managed to raise a few eyebrows.

Jeff Angelo, a former Republican state senator from Creston, said the IDP had to be shocked at Branstad’s 24-percentage-point advantage over Culver in a recent poll, a factor that contributes to their focus on only one of the four men seeking the GOP nomination.

“The only way to erase that type of lead is to attack early and often,” Angelo told The Iowa Independent. “One clever way of doing it is to simply use a primary opponent’s message against the target. That way, a spokesman for the opposing party doesn’t look so ‘mean.’ The spokesperson is simply echoing what’s being said within the primary. If Branstad becomes the nominee, the Democratic Party can use these initial attacks to further create doubt in the voters’ minds as the general election campaign continues.”

As evidence of what Angelo was explaining, Kiernan, who met with Linn County Democrats on Tuesday afternoon, pointed to the changing landscape of the Republican Party of Iowa, saying the Terry Branstad of the 1980s and 1990s may no longer garner public support. Although his selection of Joy Corning for lieutenant governor was widely accepted during his previous tenure, even the tenuous connection that remains between the two irks social conservatives in the state who do not find Corning pure enough on issues such as same-sex marriage.

Branstad has been publicly attacked by members of his own party for campaigning on behalf of Ben Nelson, a Nebraska Democrat in the U.S. Senate who ultimately supported a national health reform package. The influential conservative group Iowa Family Policy Center not only gave its endorsement to one of Branstad’s opponents but pledged that it would not support Branstad should he become the party’s nominee.

But as recent polls have shown, Branstad is not alone when it comes to problems with his base. Culver has his own demons to battle when it comes to full-throated support from grassroots Democrats. His 2008 veto of a collective bargaining bill supported by organized labor has led to rifts in long-held friendships and further stress between the governor’s office and the Democratically-controlled Iowa House and Senate. While Culver might have been forgiven for not calling a special session to deal with the massive 2008 floods, few in the gay-rights community have forgotten that he once promised such a special session to “deal with” an Iowa Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage. Still others are dismayed by his reaction to bus advertisements purchased by the Iowa Atheists and Freethinkers.

Branstad, Vander Plaats, and Iowa Reps. Chris Rants and Rod Roberts will face each other on June 8 in a Republican gubernatorial primary.

The comparison, though, isn’t as clear cut as Cillizza would like to believe.

From Cillizza’s blog:

Chet Culver/Ted Strickland: A cold chill almost certainly went down the spines of the governors of Iowa and Ohio when they heard about Ritter’s retirement. Both Culver, in Iowa, and Strickland, in Ohio, find themselves in positions similar to Ritter — once considered unbeatable they have seen their state’s faltering economies (and their responses to it) erode their popular support. Do one or both men reconsider their re-election plans as a result?

For starters, I can’t remember Culver ever being considered “unbeatable,” but his popularity has certainly taken a nose dive over the course of the last year, with the Des Moines Register’s Iowa Poll finding the first-term Democrat with a 40 percent approval rating in November.

The comparison to Ritter goes deeper than just plummeting approval ratings. Both have also had a prickly relationship with organized labor, traditionally considered the base of the Democratic Party.  Culver drew labor’s ire when he vetoed an expansion of collective bargaining rights back in 2008, and in 2007 Ritter struck down a bill making it easier for workers to form unions.

But where Culver has made some efforts to repair his relationship with labor, namely coming out strongly in support of prevailing wage legislation during the 2009 General Assembly (even though he spoke out after the bill was considered dead), Ritter vetoed two more labor-backed bills during 2009. Those vetoes resulted in union members protesting the governor with signs asking, “Why does Ritter hate working families?”

The other big difference is the Republican opposition. Ritter knew who his likely Republican opponent was going to be, as former Colorado Congressman Scott McInnis had emerged as the clear front runner. For Culver, Republicans are looking at a contentious primary that as of now has four potential candidates. While he is losing to two of the four candidates in recent polls, the uncertainty of who he will face off with in November (and how damaged that candidate is after a bloody primary) will likely keep him in the race.

Iowa is also a more hospitable climate for Culver than Colorado was for Ritter. Registered Democrats outnumber Republicans in Iowa by more than 100,000 voters. In Colorado, the parties are nearly even in registered voters.

So, while Culver is certainly in danger, the likelihood that he will retire instead of seeking re-election is incredibly remote.

The year began with another in a string of disappointing legislative sessions. None of labor’s four priorities — choice of doctor, prevailing wage, open-scope bargaining and fair share — garnered the 51 votes needed in the Iowa House to pass, despite a 56-44 Democratic majority that organized labor helped build.

Then the economy crashed, creating a gaping hole in the state’s budget that was filled with across-the-board cuts. The group most affected by these cuts was public sector employees, who agreed to re-open their contracts in order to avoid nearly 500 layoffs.

Now, with the 2010 General Assembly set to gavel into session next week, more budget cuts are on the horizon. So while their four principal legislative goals remain unchanged, the focus has shifted to ensuring legislators make sound budget decisions and avoid massive layoffs.

“Because of what we went through the last couple months with having to sit down with the governor to come up with an understanding and then having a statewide vote by our members to take five unpaid days to save 479 jobs, our priorities have shifted somewhat,” said Danny Homan, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Iowa Council 61.

AFSCME’s members are understandably concerned, Homan said, and “some are probably very pissed off.” The bulk of what has been done to this point to balance the state budget “has been done on the back of the state’s employees,” and now they are worried about what will happen to them in the next fiscal year.

“At some point, doing more with less just breaks down, and I think we’re at that point,” he said. “I think we have to figure out how to keep what we have, because we just can’t keep doing more with less. The less is running out.”

Homan said one of the first goals would be to work out an early retirement package so that some state workers can leave their jobs voluntarily instead of being forced out. The union is also going to push for a comprehensive overhaul of the state’s workforce.

“The system right now is heavy on management,” he said. “We want to go in and take a look at the level of management we have in state government and make sure that’s at an appropriate level and come up with ways to, instead of always laying off the folks who do the front-line work, maybe eliminating some middle management positions that have grown during good times.”

The hardest work, though, will be reworking Iowa’s tax system to make it fairer, said Ken Sagar, president of the Iowa Federation of Labor AFL-CIO.

“We are at one of those critical points where we as a state are going to have to decide how we’re going to do things in the future,” Sagar said. “Are we going to continue to give tax breaks to people so they can buy airplanes, or, are we going to take those tax breaks back and fund education?”

Legislators, especially in the wake of the film tax credit scandal, have already vowed to look at all tax credits offered by the state to evaluate their worth. Homan said that while no one wants to pay more taxes, there are obvious examples of tax breaks that benefit the few that could be eliminated.

“You don’t pay any sales tax on ostriches,” he said. “Somebody that goes out and buys an airplane, they don’t pay a sales tax on an airplane, nor do they pay sales tax on the parts to repair that airplane. Clearly, legislators don’t want to raise taxes, but there are things they can do that won’t raise a single tax on a large majority of Iowans.”

Another example of smart budgeting would be combined corporate reporting, which would close a tax loophole allowing multi-billion dollar corporations that do tens of millions of dollars of business in Iowa to avoid paying Iowa income taxes, said Marcia Nichols, political and legislative director for American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Iowa Council 61.

“For a corporation to come in here and make money off of Iowa citizens and pay no taxes, we’ve been harping on that for eight years now,” she said. “That’s not going to affect the average citizen, but it will put more money in the state government to allow us to continue to provide services to the most vulnerable citizens and education of our children.”

Four principles

Despite an historic budget crisis, Nichols said labor will still be working to pass the four principles it has been advocating for many years. While the votes are there in the state Senate, in the House a handful of Democrats have blocked the passage of labor’s priorities. And when a bill expanding collective bargaining rights of public employee unions cleared the legislature in 2008 it was vetoed by Gov. Chet Culver.

Republicans and business groups like the Association of Business and Industry have been adamantly opposed to labor’s agenda. House Minority Leader Kraig Paulsen, R-Hiawatha, told the Mason City Globe-Gazette that as long as the labor bills remain on the table, some employers would not invest in Iowa or its work force.

Sagar points to one of the four bills — changing Iowa workers’ compensation law to allow employees the right to designate a doctor to treat them for workplace injuries — as an example of the hypocrisy of the opposition.

“When people were opposing health care reform, one of the principal things they talked about is that ‘By God, we have to make sure you don’t lose the ability to choose your own health care provider,’” he said. “And yet, here in Iowa it seems to be almost sacrilegious for people to choose their health care provider if they happen to be injured on the job. This doesn’t make any sense to me.”

One unlikely ally labor has garnered is Steve Deace, the host of a Christian program on Iowa’s largest radio station and an influential voice in the social conservative community. While he doesn’t necessarily support labor’s agenda, he called Republicans “hypocrites” for opposing things like “choice of doctor.”

“They don’t want to let the little guy go to the doctor of his choosing, yet they’re also concerned the Mitt Romney-[Barack Obama] health care omnibus bill is going to allow the government to dictate what health care you can get and from whom,” he said. “Huh?”

Deace also pointed to prevailing wage, which would require contractors to pay the same hourly wages and benefits on public projects as they would pay on private sector projects, as an example of Republican hypocrisy.

“A lot of the same Republicans railing against things like prevailing wage also have no problem with raiding taxpayer money for their corporate buddies,” he said. “For example, how many of the top Republican donors in Iowa are getting rich off of taxpayer-subsidized industries like ethanol or state-sanctioned gambling?”

If corporations and millionaires are going to be allowed to “raid the treasury, then it’s only fair to let the little guy who does most of the living and dying in this state get his cut as well,” Deace said.

Election year power

In recent years, national and international unions have played a significant role in Iowa elections. In 2008, AFSCME International donated $346,000 to the political action committee of its Iowa local, AFSCME Iowa Council 61. Among other big unions donors were the Service Employees International Union, which donated $125,000 to its local, and the Laborers’ International Union of Illinois, which contributed $200,000 to the Great Plains Laborers’ Council Iowa PAC.

That money helped Democratic candidates and county parties around the state, and Democrats expanded their majorities in both the House and Senate.

But after Democratic majorities failed to move key components of organized labor’s agenda from 2007 to 2009, some Democrats are quietly concerned that national labor groups won’t direct resources to Iowa, instead moving on to other states where large investments seem more likely to pay dividends.

Homan said who the union ultimately supports will be up to the members, just like it has always been.

“Who our members want to go out and work for are the candidates we will work for,” he said. “Frankly, it’s never been about how much money this union gives. It’s about people we can put in the streets working for candidates. We will work for candidates who will work for working people issues.”

Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal, D-Council Bluffs, said during a time of economic trouble, labor bills would help bolster the state’s middle class.

“We’d like to grow the middle class in Iowa and we think those issues will help strengthen the voice of ordinary people in the work place, and that’s important,” he said. “It’s hard to tell whether the votes are there to pass them. I can’t say I know at this point what the best opportunities are, but if we find the votes we will certainly go forward with them.”

On Tuesday, the Republican Party of Iowa and conservative group American Future Fund attacked Conlin, a Des Moines lawyer, for the $75 million in attorney’s fees awarded as part of the 2007 antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft Corp. Conlin served as co-lead counsel in the case.

Roxanne Conlin, left, and Tom Fiegen

Contrary to the attacks, though, the fees were not awarded solely to Conlin. They were set by a Polk County judge and went to pay 150 lawyers, law clerks and assistants who worked on the case at four different law firms over the course of the seven years. They also include $7.8 million the law firms spent on the case and a bank loan of $2 million taken out by Conlin.

Fiegen said Conlin’s “baggage” will continue to serve as ammunition for Republican attacks and as a distraction from the fact that “Sen. [Chuck] Grassley is part of the problem and not part of the solution for working Iowans.”

“The last thing we need is for another politician’s personal problems taking the focus off the needs of working families, and that is exactly what Ms. Conlin’s candidacy is unfortunately doing to this race,” Fiegen said. ”For the good of all Iowa working families, I am asking Ms. Conlin to reconsider her troubled candidacy.”

This isn’t the first time Conlin has been attacked by Fiegen, a former state senator and a bankruptcy attorney in Cedar Rapids. After her candidacy was endorsed by U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley, D-Waterloo, Fiegen accused Conlin of “strong-arming” elected officials to support her.

Conlin spokesman Mark Daley called Fiegen’s attack “appalling.”

“Roxanne Conlin secured one of the largest investments in history for Iowa schools and more than 114,000 Iowans got cash in their pockets because of her seven years of hard work and leadership,” he said. “Tom Feigan’s constant, personal attacks show clear signs of desperation. His conduct is appalling and he should be ashamed of himself.”

Also running in the Democratic primary is Bob Krause of Fairfield.

Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal, left, and Gov. Chet Culver shake hands. (File photo.)

“[The governor's office is] just not negotiating with us right now,” House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, D-Des Moines, said. “We can’t move forward until we start to get an agreement on these bills, so we encourage them to come to the table and negotiate. We’re ready, willing and able on our part to engage in good faith negotiation.”

The Des Moines Register is reporting that the rift is driven by Culver’s $750 million bonding plan to pay for flood recovery and infrastructure projects. Lawmakers have already cut that amount down to $700 million, leaving out money proposed to pay for road and bridge repairs. They’ve also questioned Culver’s intention to use future gambling proceeds to repay the bonds, believing they can get a better interest rate on bonds if they repay them with general fund dollars.

A Culver spokesman declined to comment for The Register and did not respond to a request from the Iowa Independent.

The standoff, which has apparently been going on for several days, follows comments from House Speaker Pat Murphy, D-Dubuque, last week that Culver’s changes to a proposed Democratic tax plan caused at least two Democrats to switch from “yes” to “no” on the bill, saying the bill would have otherwise been passed weeks ago.

Culver fired back in an interview with Des Moines NBC affiliate WHO-TV, saying his changes actually improved the bill by increasing the number of Iowans who will see their taxes cut.

“I think we’ve probably picked up some votes and maybe even a few Republican votes,” Culver said.

Last year’s legislative session was largely defined by differences between the governor and legislative leaders, culminating with Culver vetoing a bill expanding collective bargaining rights for public sector employees.

Legislators had hoped they could adjourn this week. Many pieces of legislation, including changes to the state’s sex offender laws; the Democratic tax reform bill; and the governor’s bonding plan remain unresolved.

Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal, D-Council Bluffs, told The Register that differences of opinion at this point in the session are not uncommon, but that “This is not the time to be issuing ultimatums.”

The governor’s nearly $1.5 million campaign war chest was funded in large part by political action committees (PACs) representing both corporate interests and labor unions.  On the corporate side, Culver received sizable contributions — amounting to at least $5,000 each — from PACs in the gambling industry, the insurance industry, credit unions, building contractors, the Farm Bureau and hospitals, among others.

Iowa Gov. Chet Culver (photo courtesy of flood2008.iowa.gov)

On the labor side, things get a bit more interesting.  Some unions apparently gave Culver money up front last year, before they knew what decisions he would make.  Such was the case for three prominent public employee unions: the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME); the Iowa State Education Association (ISEA), which represents teachers, and the International Association of Firefighters (IAFF) gave Culver more than $30,000 combined in January 2008 alone.

Members of all three unions were hurt by Culver’s decision in May to veto a bill to expand public employees’ collective-bargaining rights after it passed both chambers of the Legislature.  None of the three contributed to Culver’s campaign again last year.

But Culver did receive contributions throughout the year from other labor unions that may not have been concerned with public employees’ collective-bargaining rights.

United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), which wants a more favorable environment to organize workers at meatpacking plants around the state, contributed $25,000 to Culver’s campaign early in the year, and Great Plains Laborers, who represent workers in several fields across the state, kicked in $60,000 at the very end of the year.

United Auto Workers (UAW), the union that has been perhaps the most loyal to Culver over the years, contributed $35,000.

Culver entered 2008 with about $1 million in cash on hand, and he raised about that much throughout the year.  He spent about $550,000 on consultants and campaign expenses.  Just over $65,000 went to a company called Global Strategy Group, which conducted polls for the governor. The dates of the polls were not disclosed.

Culver’s campaign also spent more than $700 in interest charges on the campaign’s Visa credit cards issued by US Bank, even though the campaign’s account would have been able to cover the full balances on both cards each month.

Small questions about expenses aside, the campaign-finance report indicates that last year was a better year for Culver than it may have seemed at the time. Any incumbent might have been able to count on small contributions from most of the interests who give to the governor, but the large size of the contributions Culver received could be a sign of more serious support from a broad coalition of interest groups.

If the checks keep rolling through the door in 2009 the way they did in 2008, Culver might just be able to scare off any serious opposition in 2010.

Barack Obama speaks at Carroll High School just before the Iowa Caucuses.

Some of 2008’s best stories are not finished yet.  The Iowa Independent has been following the stories below over the past year, and we expect them to help shape the news again as we enter the new year.

Illinois Sen. Barack Obama is victorious in Iowa Caucus

Everyone, of course, knows the headline: Obama Wins Caucuses by Unexpected Margin. Iowa — the state long derided by national media as the “Wonder Bread Basket of the Midwest” and unworthy of its hard-fought first-in-the-nation status — saw fit to catapult not only a young man, but a young African-American man further into the national spotlight and well on his way to capturing the Democratic nomination for President of the United States.

While we all now know that Obama reigned victorious in much more than the Iowa contests, and will be taking at least two Iowa politicos with him to the beltway, it is unclear if Iowa’s early endorsement of the unlikely candidate will be enough to protect the state’s first in the nation status in eight years.

Iowa becomes focus of national immigration debate

There was a possibility, early in the presidential primaries, for the Republican Party to choose a candidate who would happily place the immigration pawn onto the national chess board. But when Republicans selected Arizona Sen. John McCain, a lawmaker known for backing immigration reform, as their nominee, hopes of using the issue as a primary focus were dashed. Perhaps it was partly because of that climate — one where immigration worries and reform discussions were regulated to whispers — that the unprecedented Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid on May 12 at the Agriprocessors plant in Postville became such a quick national focus.

Campaign contributions, racial disparities, the blind eye of Lady Justice, civil liberties and, yes, even anti-Semitism were placed on daily display as news reports rocked out of Postville and onto the national stage. Even as local and national media may have yearned to move onto other stories, Postville kept calling. Three members of the U.S. House of Representatives Hispanic Caucus traveled to Postville. Thousands of protesters and counter-protesters marched on local streets. Management at Agriprocessors, a kosher meatpacking plant, either fled the country or were arrested. At least one state lawmaker lost his bid for re-election under scrutiny that he had not taken a hard enough stance against what became known as the ongoing saga of Postville.

Natural disasters, economic downtown prompt state budget cuts

Flooding on June 12 in downtown Cedar Rapids.

There are some who say they have no interest in politics. After suffering through June’s tornadoes and massive flooding, and now being greeted by across-the-board state budget cuts, very few Iowans fall into that category.

In the immediate wake of the natural disasters, lawmakers went to bat on behalf of victims. Republicans looked for ways to help businesses who had been impacted; Democrats allowed Gov. Chet Culver, amid promises that he could most effectively route money to victims, call the shots.

As task forces delivered recommendations, and state officials became more vocal in their calls for fiscal restraint, several state agencies began to view the flood as a potential savior in upcoming budget debates. While state and federal money has been allocated into the devastated areas of Iowa, much remains to be done. It remains to be seen how  lawmakers will maintain a balanced budget while providing additional assistance.

Iowa Supreme Court hears oral arguments in same-sex marriage case

Kate and Trish Varnum, lead plaintiffs in Iowa's same-sex marriage case

The 2008 general election was a heartbreaking day for those who believe marriage should be opened to same-sex couples. Voters in Florida, Arizona and California passed ballot measures denying gay and lesbian couples the right to marry. Because a judge ruled in 2007 that the portion of the Iowa Code defining marriage as between one man and one woman was unconstitutional, the nation’s eyes turned to Iowa as the next battleground state in the same-sex marriage debate.

The Iowa Supreme Court, while allowing unprecedented media coverage into its courtroom, heard oral arguments in the case this December. Both sides of the battle agree that the court could take months to render its opinion and are now battling before the court of public opinion.

Iowa Democrats saved once again by early voting

Iowa absentee ballot with outer envelope and secrecy envelope

With each presidential campaign, state parties are required to shift their focus. This is because the person at the top of the national ticket is provided the ultimate decision-making authority. If a candidate wants to buy into the plan put in place by the state party, then all goes without much grumbling. When a candidate seeks to change the playbook at halftime, however, there can be discontent — or at least a wide target for last-minute blame games.

As election night ticked down this November, and celebrations began for the Democratic White House victory, a few Iowans still watching Iowa House races began to panic. Their thoughts immediately turned to the disbanding of the Iowa Democratic Party’s coordinated campaign, which was replaced by the Obama team.

There is one thing Iowa Democrats do much better than their Republican counterparts: They get early votes in the can via Iowa’s liberal absentee voting program. This year, however, the Obama campaign as the new head of the state’s coordinated effort, chose to put time and effort into satellite voting locations instead of absentee ballot chasing. State lawmakers or candidates who wished to continue chasing absentee ballots were, for the first time in recent Iowa history, on their own.

The result was victory, but not by nearly the margin that had been predicted. Early election results showed at least three incumbent Democratic state reps losing their seats. It was not until the absentee ballots were counted that Democrats could issue a sigh — and place the blame game on hold.

Iowa GOP hunkers down in face of losses, implodes

Photo Credit: Nick Brandt

One of the few political stories of 2008 that has drawn the interest of traditional media and citizen journalists has been the ongoing bickering and restructuring within the Republican Party of Iowa.

This isn’t the first time state politicos have been in an uproar. In 1992, when Republicans launched a successful take-over of the Iowa House, local Democrats went through reassessment of their vision, message and impact. The current conflict, however, is on a new level.

Republican operatives, some fiscal conservatives and others social conservatives, are having difficulty finding common ground. The conflict has been brewing for several years as social conservatives struggled for and seemingly won more party influence. But it came to head even before the November election when Iowa’s female representative for the Republican National Committee, while acting in her role as executive director of Iowa Right to Life, approved a hit piece against the Republican candidate for U.S. House District 2. It continues as members of the Republican Party of Iowa debate who will serve as the group’s next chairman (no women are being openly considered).

Culver vetoes labor legislation

Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal, left, and Gov. Chet Culver shake hands

While the actual veto was a news draw, the real story is what the veto represented: a persistent and sometimes ugly power struggle between the governor and the Democratic leadership in the legislature. Blame the veto on the leadership’s refusal to move on Culver’s bottle bill. Blame it on Culver’s apparent focus on who supported whom in the 2006 gubernatorial primary. Blame the actual bill that the legislature passed, or blame the governor’s staff for not warning legislators of the governor’s opposition in advance.  Blame whatever you’d like because it makes no difference in the end.

For another two years, Iowa Democrats have the majority in both legislative houses and control of Terrace Hill. There will be party advocacy groups — labor unions, environmental watchdogs, civil rights hopefuls — who will watch closely to see if campaign promises are kept. If they aren’t, and if Democrats can’t successfully continue to convince constituents that “the other guy” is responsible for dropping the ball, these next two years of complete Democratic government could be Iowa’s last.

Gov. Chet Culver, right, greets Senate Majority Leader Mike Grontsal at the State Capitol.

Despite having control of both chambers of the Legislature and the governor’s mansion for the first time in 44 years, Democratic leaders in the House and Senate had public, and in some cases heated, disagreements with Gov. Chet Culver.

The differences came to a head when legislators passed a union-backed collective-bargaining bill despite a last-minute appeal from Culver that they allow more discussion.

At the time, Senate President Jack Kibbie, D-Emmetsburg, said that despite threats of a veto, Culver had to sign the bill.

“Because of his future,” Kibbie said. “He’s running on the Democratic ticket, I presume.”

As it turned out, Culver did veto the legislation.

Now, with the 2009 session a little more than a month away and Democratic majorities even bigger than before, the big question remains: Can Democrats unite behind an agenda or will differences once again cause rifts in the party?

“I think both sides are jockeying for position,” said Christopher Larimer, a professor of political science at the University of Northern Iowa. “I think right now everyone is in a good mood because of the election, but once the legislative session begins you’re going to see both sides try to position themselves as the leader on the issues.”

The constituency of legislators varies greatly, from urban to rural, conservative to liberal and everywhere in between, said Gordon Fischer, a former chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party. The governor, by contrast, has to look at issues with a statewide focus in mind. This inevitably leads to differences of opinion and helps explain much of the party’s past disagreements.

Others, however, say the rift between Culver and legislative leaders dates back to the 2006 gubernatorial campaign. That year, Sen. Majority Leader Mike Gronstal, D-Council Bluffs, and a large group of Democratic lawmakers backed former congressman Mike Blouin instead of Culver in the primary.

“After he was elected, I think the governor felt that he didn’t owe anybody anything and could govern as he saw fit without obligation to legislators and their agenda,” said Jeff Angelo, a former Republican state senator from Creston. “I don’t think Gov. Culver looks at 2010 and thinks ‘We’re all in this together.’ I think he has his own agenda and keeps his own counsel.”

Angelo said he sees the differences between the governor and legislative leaders as a mixture of political and personal.

“If you look at the collective-bargaining bill, I think the governor actually disagreed with legislators on policy,” he said. “But if you look at how it was passed, the Democrats pushed that through while the governor was on vacation. That was a personal slap to him. They passed it without his input, and that is personal.”

Fisher maintains that while there are areas of disagreement, they are few and far between.

“Look at what they’ve accomplished together,” he said. “They have agreed on many more issues than they’ve disagreed on.”

Democrats expanded their majorities this year in both houses of the Legislature, but the gains in the House failed to reach the 60-vote level needed to override a veto. Even though Culver campaigned vigorously in the closing weeks for House candidates across the state, Larimer called the Democrats’ failure to reach 60 seats a “blessing in disguise.”

“I think that it eliminates one potential problem down the road for him,” he said. “Expand the majority a little bit but not too much as to make him irrelevant.”

In the end, all agreed that neither the governor nor the Legislature is in the driver’s seat in the upcoming session.

“I think what’s going to drive the agenda is not a human being but the budget,” Angelo said. “Every decision will have to be made with a very tough budget year in mind. Democrats will have to figure out how to politically survive in a year that will be filled with hard decisions. I’ve been through tough budget years, and it’s not a pretty process.”

With Culver and most of the Legislature up for re-election in 2010, Fischer said there is no room for in-party fighting.

“I think a lot of the learning process is behind them and they realize they have a lot of work to do in 2009, and they have to work together,” he said.

Larimer agreed, saying Democrats will have no one to blame if the state’s economy does not improve, leaving the door open for Republicans to regain control.

“Democrats realize 2010 could be a tough year,” he said.

A national crew from FOX News Channel today interviewed Iowa Independent fellow Douglas Burns in Carroll for a story on the Iowa caucuses and the dynamics at work in western Iowa, particularly in the Democrats’ close contest.

FOX also interviewed several voters and leaders in Carroll for a segment tentatively scheduled to air at 5 p.m. CST Tuesday during the “Special Report With Brit Hume” on the national FOX News Channel.

FOX spent some of Monday morning in the Daily Times Herald interviewing reporter/columnist Douglas Burns – who is also an Iowa Independent fellow – about the culture of western Iowa and the political landscape with just a little over a month remaining until the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses.

Burns (right) is pictured speaking with veteran FOX News Channel correspondent Steve Brown.

]]> http://iowaindependent.com/1045/harkin-steak-fry-a-day-in-pictures/feed 0