Will Tyler try to take on Terry?

Sure, Rep. Tyler Olson may get carded if he files papers to run for governor, but that doesn't mean the Cedar Rapids Democrat shouldn't take the plunge.

Or maybe he'll run for Congress, although I'm not sure why anyone would. Olson left his post as chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party to mull his plans. “I haven't made a decision one way or the other,” he said Friday.

You may hear folks say Olson can't beat Gov. Terry Branstad. I may be one of them. But let's not be hasty.

We Iowans talk a lot about trying to keep smart, young professionals from leaving the state. Fearing the implications of all those draining brains, we throw all manner of enticements at them. Lofts! Amphitheaters! Brew pubs! We toss big incentives at companies that might create jobs for them. We form commissions to find out what it is exactly they want. Years ago, lawmakers even floated the idea of eliminating state income taxes for Iowans under 30.

Please stay, or at least call once in a while.

So I think we can, at the very least, take it seriously when one of these coveted citizens risks his good name and sanity to run for the state's top job, even an applicant who looks as young as Olson does. Yeah, I joked about it a few graphs ago, but I promise I'll stop. Probably.

Olson is now 36, about the same age Branstad was when he won his first term in 1982.

Speaking of Branstad, it's likely that he'll be heavily favored to carve a sixth notch into his gubernatorial gunbelt, assuming he runs for re-election next year. His job approval is high. His top priorities cleared the Legislature.

Branstad is in a strong position to become the longest-serving governor in our republic since the Articles of Confederation were the hottest trend in self-governance.

So Olson, if he chooses the gubernatorial path, and manages to get nominated by his party, would be a prohibitive non-favorite.

BOLDER CAMPAIGN?

But, on the bright side, that could free him to run a bold campaign. Instead of playing it safe with the same old Democratic talking points paying homage to this interest or that, Olson could try hitting us with some new ideas.

He could be a candidate who charts out a plan for tax reform that trades a tangle of special interest loopholes and credits for simpler, lower rates. He might show us how economic development can be accomplished without massive tax giveaways.

Maybe, instead of top-down, Statehouse-knows-best, education reforms, Olson could give schools more room and resources to innovate. Perhaps his take on mitigating and managing natural disasters, floods in particular, could offer a vision beyond declaring disasters and flying over in a helicopter. It's possible that he could suggest, even while standing on the obligatory hay bale, that there are issues in the state's cities that need to be addressed.

If he runs that sort of campaign, and still loses, it won't be in vain.

I expect that Olson will stress that he's the “new generation” guy. Aka younger than the incumbent and, so far, his potential Democratic primary opponents. But that's pretty obvious, and only gets you so far. And being young, while clearly shaping your perspective, doesn't automatically mean your ideas are better. They actually have to be better.

IS 6TH TERM WISE?

But I think it's entirely appropriate to ask Iowans whether they think it's healthy or wise for one person to control the vast powers of the governor's office for 24 of the last 36 years. Branstad's return to stop Bob Vander Plaats and clean up the Culver years was understandable, even commendable. But is a sixth term really necessary?

Iowans in both parties do seem to like long-serving senators and governors. A lot of Democrats hoped former Gov. Tom Vilsack would come back to run for a third term against Branstad. No thanks, said Vilsack, who got elected in 1998 by urging Iowans to “rotate the crops” after nearly 30 years of Republican governors.

“You can't look forward by looking backward,” Vilsack

told The Des Moines Register, passing the torch to that “new generation.” We'll see if Olson takes it.