Hatch Him if You Can — Democratic candidate for governor is caught speeding

So state Sen. Jack Hatch's campaign for governor reports that the Des Moines Democrat was caught doing 65 mph in a 55-zone this morning on I-80 near Altoona. He was stopped at 10 a.m. and his statement hit my inbox around 12:30. Clearly, his campaign was speeding to get ahead of any news report that might pop up.

'Law enforcement did everything right, and I thank those officers throughout the state who put themselves at risk on our behalf every day to keep Iowans safe on our roadways,” Hatch said in the statement. 'I have great respect for them and the work they do. I take responsibility, and offer no excuses. I will pay this ticket in full when I return to Des Moines Tuesday. Accountability is important. I offer a stark contrast to the current Governor when it comes to dodging responsibility and attempting to hide the truth from Iowans.”

I drove through that area recently and recalled some road construction. So I asked Hatch's Communications Director John Hedgecoth if the senator was in a construction zone.

'The ISP officer indicated to Sen. Hatch that he could have ticketed him for being in a construction zone but chose not to,” Hedgecoth said in an email. 'The two did not discuss the matter. It would appear the only reason the speed limit in that area was 55 is because of construction. That's what I know.”

Speeding in a construction area is a bad idea, for a number of obvious reasons. I'm not sure what the situation was, whether work crews were nearby, etc. But that adds a troubling dimension to the stop, even though he wasn't cited.

Gubernatorial speeding became big news, of course, when we found out last summer that Gov. Terry Branstad's SUV was reported doing a 'hard 90” on U.S. 20 last April by a Division of Criminal Investigation agent. A trooper responded, clocked the vehicle at 84 mph, got close enough to figure out it was the governor's rig, and broke off pursuit. The agent was later fired for reasons officials swear had nothing to do with the embarrassing episode.

A ticket later was issued to the trooper who was driving the governor. The governor denied any responsibility, insisting that he's so busy in the back seat working and such that he had no idea anything happened that day. His vehicle was stopped again in August on Highway 3, with no ticket issued.

The governor's critics made plenty of hay. Hatch put a 'Smokey and the Branstad” TV ad on the air, shamelessly appropriating this blogger's pithy label for the speeding saga.

Now that the lead is on the other foot, the speeding issue loses some of its zing. I even had a tough time coming up with another good label.

I reluctantly went with 'Hatch Me if You Can,” after considering 'Troopers in Hatch Pursuit,” 'Speed Trap Delivers Hatch Slap” and 'Hatch Trails Branstad by 19 in State Patrol Poll.”

Maybe you have some good ideas.