Debates, big boars and the Field of Dreams

We’ve come to the point in the campaign for governor where debates have become an issue up for debate.

Democratic nominee Deidre DeJear has agreed to participate in three debates and this week challenged Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds to join her. DeJear also wants Libertarian candidate Rick Stewart to be included.

Reynolds, as of this writing, has not responded. Will she or won’t she? Only the governor and her campaign consultancy know for sure. If the governor concludes the election is in the bag, she might decide to skip giving DeJear a moment in the spotlight. Such calculations, unfortunately, trump the desire of voters to see candidates go toe-to-toe.

I think debates are important, especially this time around. Reynolds should answer questions about her attacks on public schools, her drive to use public dollars for private schools, her push to place tight restrictions on abortion and where she actually stands on grabbing private land to make way for carbon pipelines proposed by her political allies. DeJear should get a chance to explain how should would lead the state in a different direction.

That said, important doesn’t always mean memorable. I’ve covered a lot of debates and even moderated a few. I can only remember a handful of times when debates offered surprises.

There was the 1998 Republican gubernatorial primary debate when front-runner Jim Ross Lightfoot pulled out a pocket knife and handed it to challenger David Oman, intending to show how Oman had been stabbing Lightfoot in the back with attacks regarding the 1992 House banking scandal. Oman quickly handed the knife back and said, “You can probably use that more effectively than I can. You’ve shown that over the last 14 years.” A cutting remark, to be sure.

There was the debate between Democratic Gov. Tom Vilsack and Republican Doug Gross when Vilsack criticized Gross, a member of Terry Branstad’s inner circle, lawyer and lobbyist, for exaggerating his rural roots. Gross ran as the “man from Defiance,” having grown up in the small southwest Iowa town with the perfect political name.

“He shouldn’t even bring it up,” Gross said in a story I wrote at the time. I noted that his voice “wavered with emotion as he disputed the charge.”

Republican nominee Jim Nussle’s desperate effort to catch up with Democrat Chet Culver in 2006 spawned a pretty wild debate. Nussle accused Culver of having a “secret plan” to bring back TouchPlay video lottery games or pay businesses harmed when the state banned the game $1 billion.

Maybe you remember TouchPlay games, which started popping up in convenience stores and other spots all over the state. A strange-bedfellows coalition of evangelical conservatives and members of the casino cartel joined forces to convince lawmakers to ban the lottery terminals.

Culver called Nussle’s assertion “crazy,” and it was. There was no secret plan.

Reynolds debated Democrat Fred Hubbell three times in 2018. The final debate featured a round of questions meant to illicit a yes or no answer. The candidates were asked if they would commit to weekly press conferences as governor.

“Yes,” Hubbell said.

“I do it all the time,” Reynolds said.

Except, as we know now, she really doesn’t. Yes, she did hold frequent press conferences during the pandemic’s early months in 2020. But since then, weekly press conferences, a tradition established by her predecessors, have disappeared. She also abandoned the tradition of year-end interviews with Iowa journalists to get a sense of her plans for the upcoming legislative session.

She takes a few questions after public events before she’s whisked away by staff, but that’s about it. She’s much less accessible than previous governors, including Branstad, her mentor.

So that’s the most compelling reason Reynolds should step up and debate. She needs to show Iowans that she can explain her positions and plans and face questions for more than a few minutes.

The State Fair, big boars and politicians

We’re already in the midst of the Iowa State Fair, one of the state’s best settings for politicking. There are pork chops to flip, massive boars to pose with and all sorts of stuff on sticks. It’s where candidates can prove their heartland bona fides. Just watch where you step in the livestock buildings, senator.

But like devouring fried delicacies all day, there are risks.

During the 2007 state fair, I watched Mitt Romney flip a pork chop onto the ground. I think that’s a felony now. Pretty sure the Farm Bureau lobbied for the bill. Can’t confirm.

Then, in 2011, while speaking and taking questions at the Des Moines Register’s Political Soapbox, Romney had an exchange with an Iowan that prompted the former Massachusetts governor to assert “corporations are people.” For a candidate seen by many voters as being too much like their unfeeling corporate boss, the statement resonated.

The soapbox can be a great place to make a good impression. Or a candidate can simply find themselves being heckled next to hay bales. Good luck.

As of this writing, Reynolds has not signed up to speak at the soapbox, speaking of accessibility. Donald Trump also skipped the soapbox in 2015 after arriving at the fair in his $7 million helicopter with a battalion of security staff.

If you build it, the state will shovel money at you

The Reynolds administration is going all in to promote and develop the Field of Dreams near Dyersville. That includes building the This is Iowa Ballpark, which could host future Major League Baseball games.

In January, the governor awarded $11 million to expand water and sewage infrastructure at the attraction. In June, Reynolds’ Destination Iowa tourism initiative awarded a $6 million grant to boost the production of a Field of Dreams TV show. This past week, the stadium project received another $12.5 million Destination Iowa Grant. Destination Iowa is funded with federal pandemic relief funds.

The TV show, which would be filmed in central Iowa nowhere near the actual field, has yet to land a streaming network commitment. And on Wednesday, it was disclosed that MLB will not schedule another big league game at the park next year, apparently because of construction. But the league might come again, someday.

Don’t get me wrong, the Field of Dreams is a great attraction and I loved the movie, which cost $15 million to make in 1989.

Maybe a 2020 remake is in order. A new version that reflects Iowa in 2022. I have some ideas for scenes.

Ray Kinsella builds a ballpark after hearing voices in the corn. He is then censured by the local Farm Bureau chapter for converting cropland into a recreational use.

Annie Kinsella is shouted down by an angry mob at a school board meeting when she opposes banning books. “We know where you live!” they yell. “By that crazy baseball field! Let’s all follow the lights and drive out there!”

Ray’s dream ends when a carbon pipeline company takes the field through eminent domain. The ghost players are given 90 days to vacate.

It’s determined that Ray didn’t hear voices. He actually was infected by a brain-eating amoeba while swimming in an Iowa lake.

It could be a great film.

But how will we know whether all this state/federal spending is worth it? Check your TV listings, listen for the voices and keep your eyes on the cornfield. Go the distance.

(319) 398-8262; todd.dorman@thegazette.com