Democrats take some swipes at Dandekar trial balloon

Upon hearing word of Swati Dandekar's 1st District congressional trial balloon, some Democrats failed to swoon.

Blogging Iowa City Democrat John Deeth wrote about the former state senator from Marion's prospects beneath a photo of the flaming Hindenburg:

The flames in the photo above are just a Zippo lighter compared to the bridges Dandekar burned when she put Democratic Senate control at risk to take a sweet paying gig for herself. Democrats held the seat, thanks to recruiting an unbeatable candidate (who unfortunately passed on the congressional race).

But it's waaaay to soon for Dandekar to be thinking bygones are bygones. Combine her graceless exit with her too-conservative record, and I might be forced to say nice things about Pat Murphy. I hate the Iowa-Mississippi club, but I hate Blue Dogs worse. Please, REAL Democratic women of CD 1, don't let me sink to that.

Of course, that assumes she'd be running AS a Democrat. Site doesn't say which party...

On Twitter, Johnson County Supervisor Janelle Rettig points out that in 2005, Dandekar, then a House member, voted for a state constitutional amendment that would have banned both same-sex marriages and civil unions. One of her tweets:

Over at Bleeding Heartland, desmoinesdem questions my skepticism that Dandekar would be willing leave her powerful post on the Iowa Utilities Board to run, but is very skeptical that she could win a Democratic primary:

Todd Dorman is skeptical that she would give up a seat on the Iowa Utilities Board to run for Congress, but I don't think she would need to give up that position during the campaign--only if elected.

I am highly skeptical that Dandekar could win a Democratic primary in IA-01. Linn County has the largest population of the 20 counties, but it doesn't dominate the Congressional district by any means. Many Democrats won't forgive Dandekar for taking a job offer from Branstad when Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal was our main firewall against Branstad's policy agenda.

Environmentally-minded primary voters won't appreciate Dandekar's work to promote Mid-American Energy's nuclear power bill during the 2011 legislative session. The AARP in Iowa also lobbied strongly against the nuclear bill.

Pro-equality Democratic voters won't appreciate Dandekar's 2005 Iowa House vote for a state constitutional amendment that would have banned not only same-sex marriage but also civil unions (read the full text here). The amendment passed the Iowa House by 54 votes to 44, with support from almost all of the Republicans and seven Democrats (Dandekar, Dolores Mertz, Mike Reasoner, Brian Quirk, Wayne Ford, Paul Shomshor, Kurt Swaim).

From the other side of the aisle, Linn County Supervisor Brent Oleson, a Republican from Marion, wonders on Facebook how unions will react to Dandekar's record:

I'll be interested to see what the labor unions think of this? She's went out of her way on every occasion to work against them that I'm sure they would work overtime to see her defeated in a Democratic primary. Plus, I'm not sure putting her Senate Democratic caucus in jeopardy of losing their majority to be appointed by Governor Branstad to Utilities Board will earn her any support from primary Democrats. Not gonna happen!

It's worth noting that a lot of this criticism, at this point, is coming from outside the 1st District.

But I agree that Dandekar would face some very tough questions in a Democratic primary. Marriage equality, energy policy, labor policy, etc., are enormous issues, any one of which could derail her in a primary. The combination could be too much.

On the other hand, if it's a two-way primary with Rep. Pat Murphy, I think her chances are somewhat better.

She would be a historic candidate in more ways than one, and would probably do better in a general election, especially if it's a year that leans Republican, as midterm history would suggest. Those would be her core arguments. It's also possible that, like a lot of Democrats, she's moved on the marriage issue.