ChetChase 2010 - The Week

Iowa's race for governor, sliced deli-style thin.

1. Make mine a Branstad Genuine Draft, Barkeep-- A movement is afoot to make former Gov. Terry Brastad eligible for the 2010 gubernatorial draft.

GOP Coach Sandy Greiner, a former state lawmaker from Keota, is determined to see the 62-year-old signal caller back in the Republican lineup. From Radio Iowa:

"He's just what I think we need," Greiner says. "He's been through the fire several times and come out on the other side successful."

Fire. Awesome.

But does Terry still have game? Unfortunately, ESPN draft analyst Mel Kuyper Jr. could not be reached for comment.

Sure, Branstad hasn't taken a snap in years, and his leather helmet, throwback wool jersey and single-wing offense might look a little funny on today's high-tech political gridiron, but h's the kind of guy who doesn't know the meaning of the phrase "quit...while they still like you."

 Think Bret Favre.

Still, this could be a pivotal draft for the GOP. There's been talk of picking Bob "The Flying Dutchman" Vander Plaats, but he's pretty one-dimensional. He only runs right and throws far right. Nothing up the middle.

On the other side, Democrats have apparently decided to stick with a backup tight end from Virginia Tech.

2. Tanks for the Turnaround -- Republican candidate for governor Christopher Rants of Sioux City accused Vander Plaats, a fellow Siouxlander, no less, of being a big old fibber.

In a nutshell, Vander Plaats is fond of telling audiences that he was a "turnaround CEO" when he ran a Sioux City non-profit called Opportunities Unlimited. But Rants says tax records show that the organization's finances actually "tanked" while BVP was on the scene.

VanderPlaats says Rants is wrong.  Rants says Vander Plaats is all fiscally fuzzy like you-know-Lug. Pretty soon they're going to start throwing Twin Bings at each other. (They're made in Sioux City. That makes it funny!)

Lots of other things are going on.

Rants, who gets painted as a professional legislator, despite his work for Metz Baking back in the day, is trying to muddy Vander Plaats' argument that he's a Statehouse outsider with a hot-shot private sector track record. And frankly, that pitch could use a little healthy deflating.

Rants is also likely afraid of getting lost and forgotten in all the talk of a potential BVP v. Terry B smackdown.

And then there's the fact that Rants and BVP don't seem to have a Hope-Crosby type of relationship going on. I think we're off on the road to much more mud-throwing.

(I apologize to my younger readers for the very old pop culture reference.)

3. Every Time a Pollster Rings A Govenor Gets His Lumps -- Survey USA took the temperature of Gov. Chet Culver's approval ratings in late August.

The good news: Culver is way more popular than California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The bad news: Arnold's approval rating is 19 percent.

Culver's approval rating in the poll stood at 36 percent with 51 percent disapproving. I was surprised. 

Did the governor bungle the response to a huge hurricane or start a misguided war in the Middle East and I just missed reading about it?

Perhaps the poll is off. (Bleeding Heartland speculates)

I think Culver's approval is more likely in the low 40s, where it's been in other polls this summer. Still, anti-incumbent sentiment is rising.

But hey, he's still more popular than New York. Gov. David Paterson!