Hatch says return to TV ads imminent

DES MOINES - Jack Hatch thinks Iowa voters will respond favorably to his message, and he insists his campaign has the wherewithal to deliver that message in the final three weeks before Election Day.

Hatch, the Democratic candidate for Iowa governor, spoke Wednesday at the Iowa Capitol during a campaign event hosted by the liberal advocacy group Americans United for Change.

Hatch was fresh off the third and final debate with incumbent Republican Gov. Terry Branstad the previous night in Sioux City. He noted a Sioux City Journal story in which a Republican voter said she listened to both candidates with an open mind.

'So if our message can go out and touch the Republicans that we are serious and that we have something different to offer and that they like to listen to that, then I think we're doing pretty well,” Hatch said Wednesday.

The question is whether Hatch can get out that message, and whether there still is enough time for him to sway voters. Most polls on the race have shown Branstad leading by double digits, and Hatch recently pulled back on television advertising. Hatch's fundraising has lagged far behind Branstad's throughout the campaign.

Hatch said Tuesday his campaign will be back on television soon.

'We are meeting today. We'll be working, putting that plan together. We have enough stuff that we'll be able to put something out,” Hatch said. 'I've always said we're going to run this campaign enough to win. The last 20 days are when the message has to come out.”

Americans United for Change brought its 'Put the Middle Class First” bus tour to the Capitol on Wednesday as part of an 18-state tour, including four stops over two days this week in Iowa. Communications director Blake Williams said the group is highlighting the choice between a 'top-down, tea party vision” and 'fighters for the middle class.”

Other speakers at Wednesday's event were Staci Appel, the Democratic candidate in Iowa's 3rd Congressional District, and Charlie Wishman, secretary/treasurer of the Iowa Federation of Labor AFL-CIO.

Hatch said his policy proposals would be more beneficial to the middle class than Branstad's. Hatch said Branstad's policies benefit the corporate class.

'Not one time yesterday (during the debate) or the past four years did Terry Branstad talk about giving the middle class a property tax reduction or the middle class an income tax reduction. That's what we've been talking about for the past 18 months,” Hatch said. 'We're going to stop giving the corporate executives a break, and we're going to pass it on to their workers.”

Branstad's campaign spokesman said Branstad has proposed 'balanced, responsible budgets” and noted the property tax cut that the administration says will save state taxpayers $4.4 billion over 10 years.

'Jack Hatch can't even responsibly budget his 18-month-old campaign to run a single dollar of advertising right now,” Branstad campaign spokesman Tommy Schultz said. 'Iowans know that Gov. Branstad has a long record of reducing taxes and will fight every single day to let Iowans keep more of their hard-earned money.”