Iowa Republicans predict party will unite behind Branstad

URBANDALE – Top Republicans predicted today their party will unify behind gubernatorial candidate Terry Branstad and the GOP ticket once it becomes clear what competing ideologies are at stake in Iowa's Nov. 2 general election.

GOP winners in Tuesday's primary -- Branstad for governor,  David Jamison for state treasurer and Brenna Findley for attorney general – stressed the need for unity in kicking off a “road to victory tour” that will take them to 10 Iowa cities through next Tuesday at the start of an election cycle they believe will be a winner for Republican candidates and messages.

Steve Scheffler, one of the party's two national committee members, acknowledged Republicans just went through a hard-fought primary battle for the gubernatorial nomination but he expected some conservative groups, like the Iowa Family Policy Center, that pledged to sit out the fall election if Branstad was the GOP nominee would reconsider “because the alternative is unthinkable” to have Democratic Gov. Chet Culver win another four-year term.

“I think it's going to heal pretty quickly here,” he said.

“This is our candidate and he is 100 percent better than what the alternative is,” added Scheffler, who also is president of the Iowa Christian Alliance. “With Culver, we get nothing in terms of fiscal sanity or any kind of pro-family initiatives up on the hill. With Branstad, there's an open door that he's going to be sympathetic and work with conservatives.”

Branstad reiterated his desire to meet with chief rival Bob Vander Plaats, a Sioux City business consultant who finished 10 points behind Branstad's winning 50 percent votes, to bridge differences that emerged during the primary-election cycle, and GOP state chairman Matt Strawn said he expected Republicans to close ranks quickly to focus on attracting independents and dissatisfied Democrats.

“I'm confident that once Iowa voters see the contrast between Gov. Culver and Gov. Branstad that we'll get those folks back on board,” Strawn said. “Iowans are very independent by nature and I think individual Iowans are going to have to make that decision for themselves irrespective of what third-party groups may or may not do.”

For his part, Branstad unveiled a new television commercial touting his leadership skills in his previous stint as Iowa's governor from 1983 to 1999 that he said was designed to “keep the momentum going” and combat ongoing negative attacks against him.

“We've already seen the nasty, negative, deception that the other side will use,” said Branstad, who called Culver “obviously very fearful of me as an opponent.

“We're not going to take any chances. We're going to continue to communicate our message in a very positive and thoughtful way. This is all part of a campaign plan,” the former governor said. “I think what happened on Tuesday was a good indication of what can happen in November.”

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