Column - Lucky Lug

How lucky could Gov. Chet Culver get?

He delivered a competent but decidedly ho-hum Condition of the State address Tuesday that failed to even fire up his Democratic allies in the House chamber. He had to spend a lot of time defending I-JOBS, hoping to keep his G-job in November.

After he finished, he waded into a crowd of his religious conservative critics preparing to rally for what polls indicate is a popular push to vote on a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.

But rather than stick to script, the marriage equity-fearing Iowa Family Policy Center couldn't resist overplaying its hand. The rally became an endorsement party for a Republican candidate for governor, Bob Vander Plaats, and then a call for a general GOP insurrection should he lose the party's primary to former Gov. Terry Branstad.

“You are not answering to a party. You are not answering to a political machine. You are not answering to people who sit in high buildings downtown and tell you what you ought to think and how you ought to vote. You are answering to God almighty,” said Danny Carroll, who chairs the center's board. He said if Branstad wins the GOP nod, the group's PAC “will not support him.”

Branstad's crimes? Years ago, as governor, he picked a moderate running mate, Joy Corning, who now favors marriage equity.

Branstad is also unwilling to embrace Vander Plaats' unconstitutional fantasy that he can nullify rulings of the Iowa Supreme Court with an executive order. In reality, governors have no formal role in the constitutional amendment process.

Branstad opposes same-sex marriage. But that's not enough. He won't denounce his moderate friends and won't sign on to an idea that would seem goofy to a fifth-grade civics student. So holy war it is.

Democrats can't believe their good fortune. This could hobble or even cripple Branstad, the GOP Chetchaser they fear most.

Vander Plaats is being touted as the next Mike Huckabee, a religious conservative who won Iowa's 2008 presidential caucuses.

But Huckabee took just over 40,000 votes on caucus night. It will take more than 500,000 to become governor.

Within that big figure are many independent-minded Iowans in the middle who are troubled by Culver's record and were hoping to consider a reasonable alternative. What will they do if it comes down to Culver and a candidate running for pastor-in-chief who wants to replace judges' interpretation of the state constitution with his interpretation of scripture?

Ho-hum or holy war. What a lucky Lug.

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