ChetChase 2010 - The Week

1. Local Retiree Plans to Travel -- So former four-term Gov. Terry Branstad said definitively this afternoon that he plans to be less than definitive for a while longer. Flirt.

"I'm humbled by thousands of people who have contacted me and told me to run for governor," Branstad said, after announcing his retirement as president of Des Moines University. He said he plans to "fully explore" the idea of running for a fifth term as governor. He served from 1983-1999. His exploration shouldn't take nearly as long.

Humbled, to be sure, but not enough to stop milking his theatrical indecision for every last drop of media fawning he can get. So watch him explore a while longer, hacks. He's hitting all 99 counties. Try to keep up.

For a moment, sitting and watching Branstad on TV made me feel 13 again.Or 16 or 20 or 24. But those graying locks and his futuristic headset microphone reminded fast me that this is Terry 5.0, 2009-style.

(Still, I wonder if it was that iTerry headset that ruined the audio and killed the KCRG simulcast just when it was getting good. I said bad words. I admit it.)

Branstad made his points. He's experienced. His Republican rivals are fine folks, but woefully unknown.

Democratic Gov. Chet Culver has presided over a "fiscal debacle."

And his own budgetary snafus were oh so long ago that they hardly matter, especially when considered alongside his bold tax cuts. Come to think of it, those were a long time ago too.

Democrats peddling "TerryLovesTaxes.com" T-shirts beg to differ.

2. Budgetagedden It  -- Gov. Chet Culver spent the week dealing with the fallout from his 10-percent across the board state budget cuts. He dropped the big one to fill a $414 million budget chasm in the current year. But a $1 billion canyon is on the horizon in 2011. Ugly.

But, hey, this is why the governor makes the big bucks. Except for the 10 percent pay cut he took this week. He's now making roughly one-30th of Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz's take home. But hey, who is having the better year?

The court system will struggle to dispense quick justice, the dept. of  human services doesn't have the resources it needs to protect all the humans who need protecting, there's never a trooper when you really need one and the Legislature won't work for an entire scheduled session. Then the budget cuts will kick in. Ouch.

Cuts will be felt everywhere.

Even at Belmond-Klemme, my alma mater. On you Broncos, buck and rear and slice.

Republicans are giddy/outraged. Years ago, majority Republicans cut a mere $60 million from aid to local governments, inspiring city council members and mayors all over Iowa to run for the legislature as Democrats. They set the stage for a Democratic majority. Now, Republicans are hoping outrage will help them back into power.

GOP warriors charged that across-the-board cuts are ham-handed and irresponsible.It would have been better, they contend, if Culver had called lawmakers back to wield scalpels instead of hatchets. Hard to argue.

But then House Minority Leader Kraig Paulsen, R-Hiawatha, called for an across-the-board pay cut for state workers. Hmm.

Krusty Konservative called him on it:

Here is an honest question to the House Minority Leader. Kraig, if across-the-board tax cuts are irresponsible, lazy, and devoid of leadership, why aren't across-the-board pay cuts irresponsible, lazy, and devoid of leadership? I think we would both agree that state government is too large, so why not seek out the duplication and waste in each department and eliminate those positions rather than just slicing everyone's pay?

Republican candidate for governor Bob Vander Plaats mocked our governor:

"I've said it before: I don't mean any disrespect to my 12-year-old son, but he could make an across-the-board cut."

Wow. not only does Vander Plaats think he'll have the power to veto supreme court rulings, he's going to give his kids the power to slash the state budget. Alarming.

2. LugTV is on the Air -- Gov. Culver is on the air with a new TV ad, depicting him as the decisive guy at the desk where the buck stops and the budget gets cut. And it's launched the same day Terry B is making his news. Eerie.

Culver's ad quotes a Gazette editorial that credited him with a "Swift, decisive" response to the latest revenue plunge. It doesn't mention that we also criticized him for not listening to months of warnings and urged him to reconsider calling lawmakers back now. Oh, well, he only has 30 seconds.

Word is another ad is planned. The theme: "The last two governors had big budget problems and still got re-elected. Now I'm in big trouble. What the $% folks?" Just a rumor. Can't confirm.

4. BVP NAACP -- Vander Plaats received the endorsement this week of Iowa-Nebraska NAACP President Keith Ratliff Sr. The Rev. Ratliff and Vander Plaats got to be pals while spewing fire and brimstone at evil gays and lesbians who want normal lives and stable families. Now they're BFFs.

So, a top leader in a pro-civil rights organization throws his support behind the Republican candidate who would move the most aggressively to deny civil rights to gay Iowans. Makes sense. Ratliff also said something about disliking Culver's record on minority hiring practices in state government. This is an issue so close to Vander Plaats' heart that he hasn't been able to bring himself to utter a word about it. He's overcome with passion.

This will not doubt help Vander Plaats in his assertion that issuing an illegal exective order to stop marriage equity would make him just like Abe Lincoln issuing the Emancipation Proclamation. Warning - you must mix irony that strong with some rocks and water before you try swallowing it. I don't know about you, but BVP talkin' Lincoln makes me want to drink like Grant.

But I think this will open the door for other endorsements:

The Committee for Fuzzy Political Cuddliness will endorse Christopher Rants.

Movie Lovers for Strong Budget Oversight will back the governor.

City Slickers International has its eye on Jerry Behn

The Senior Luddites of America will use a rotary dial telephone phone to inform Christian Fong of its full, solid-state support for his campaign. Please respond by telegraph. Stop.

NextGenPAC will endorse Branstad. Oops. Too late.

5. Survey Says -- More polling is out. A Research 2000 poll commissioned by the liberal Daily Kos blog has some better news for Culver than some ugly polls of late, most commissioned by Republicans, for Republicans.

Bleeding Heartland has a summary:

In a head to head matchup, Branstad led Culver, 48 percent to 43 percent. That's not as big a lead as some Republican-commissioned polls have found. The Research 2000 poll is still good news for Branstad, as it shows him ahead of a sitting governor who crushes the other Republican competition. Research 2000 found Culver leading Vander Plaats 55 percent to 33 percent, and Culver leading Rants 58 percent to 28 percent. The Republicans who recruited Branstad to enter the race had good reason to do so.

So that's why so many in the GOP want TEB back in the saddle.