Branstad rallies for the trifecta

I couldn't make it to Gov. Terry Branstad's Republican pep rally in Marion last week. Lucky for me, The Gazette's James Q. Lynch was on the scene.

It seems the fired-up governor is so excited by the GOP's prospects in two weeks, especially its drive to grab control of the Iowa Senate and hold the House, he wishes he were on the ballot.

And if the Republican governor gets a Republican Legislature?

'You ain't seen nothing yet,” Branstad said.

So TEB is channeling BTO. And it nicely sums up Branstad's electoral strategy.

In 2014, as Branstad ran for his record-breaking sixth term on a platform of bipartisan policy nibbles and small-bore proposals, voters saw nothing of his actual agenda. There was no mention of turning the state's $4 billion Medicaid system over to private management, or of his plan to shut down mental health institutes. We got no inkling he planned to operate a one-guy government.

So here we are now in 2016, and the governor is out campaigning for a Republican Senate. But if you read accounts of his travels to Marion, Cedar Falls, Charles City, Mason City, and elsewhere, it's tough to tell exactly what Branstad would do if presented with a coveted Statehouse trifecta.

There's mention of a water quality plan passed by the GOP House pumping a pile of gambling bucks and metered-water taxes into existing programs with little measurable success in actually cleaning up water. Also, 'tax reform,” whatever that means.

Meanwhile, in our mailboxes and on TVs in targeted Senate districts, the campaign, according to the Republican Party of Iowa, is really about obscure votes to fund parking lots, zoo renovations and golf tournaments. It's really the Democrats who closed mental health institutes. It's really Republicans who love investing in public schools. You might ask candidates about those oddities, if they bothered showing up for public forums.

An actual legislative agenda? You ain't seen nothin' yet.

If Democrats hold the Senate, we already know from experience there will be fights with a likely GOP-controlled House over education funding, water quality, health care and many other issues. It might get ugly, but they'll have to reach consensus to get anything done. It can happen. Des Moines is not yet Washington, D.C.

If Republicans take the Legislature, things get murkier. There may be tax cuts, but how can the state afford cuts with previous property tax relief eating a very big chunk of the budget? Public education funding, public employee collective bargaining, abortion restrictions, loosened firearm regulations, so-called religious freedom protections and numerous other issues will come into play.

But how far will Republicans seek to move on those issues? Wisconsin far? Kansas far? It's any voter's guess. We do know they'll strongly oppose golf tournaments.

But make no mistake, Branstad brand of governing is on the ballot. Without a Democratic Senate acting as a check, we may get a rare look at a full-‘stache. In all the years he's been governor, he had a full GOP legislature only once, in 1997-98. Heck, maybe he'll run for a seventh term in 2018. That would be something to see here.

l Comments: (319) 398-8452; todd.dorman@thegazette.com