More Disclosure, Less Brain Freeze

(FYI - This is my print column. Sorry to blog readers if there's sa little retread, but there's new stuff as well.)

We got two scoops from the big gubernatorial campaign finance ice cream shop this week.

One was Chet's rocky road, sprinkled with the appearance of impropriety. The second was horse race ripple, dipped in sugarcoating.

Mmm ... cold, cold cash. Uh oh. Brain freeze.

First, The Des Moines Register reported that Gov. Chet Culver solicited campaign cash from not one but two groups seeking casino licenses from the governor-appointed Racing and Gaming Commission. Lyon County turned Culver down and got a license. Fort Dodge placed its bet with Culver and lost. Now the donors are under investigation.

It was dumb to seek donations from applicants, and it looks bad. But Culver's campaign insists it was OK because, in the end, he had no influence on the commission. This is the we're-not-shady-we're-simply-ineffective defense.

Did I mention it looks bad?

Then came campaign finance reports showing Republican Terry Branstad closing on Culver in the high-stakes horse race. Branstad raised $2.1 million in the last two months while Culver pulled in $765,000. Culver still has more in the bank, but he hears hoofbeats.

Republicans crowed about all of Branstad's Iowa donors but glossed over the fact that $1.01 million of his total came from the Republican Governors Association Iowa PAC. Check the list of donors to the “Iowa” PAC and you won't find any Iowans. You will find Amway co-founder and Orlando Magic owner Richard DeVos, who chipped in a cool $100,000.

Culver got $250,000 from Democratic governors. It came from the DGA's national pot, so good luck trying to figure out the actual sources of Culver's share.

These scoops go great together, because the pressure to win the expectations horse race often leads campaigns to risk impropriety. Reformers blame the system and want big changes, such as public financing of elections. I sympathize, but odds are stacked against a major overhaul.

I think campaigns risk doing dumb stuff because they think no one will find out. They know finance filings are just stacks of names, addresses and numbers. The real story is buried, and few do any real digging.

I say wee need to make it easier to connect dots.

For starters, donors should be required to say who they work for and if they're lobbyists. Reports should list the biggest donations up top, not tucked among hundreds of pages of $25 gifts.

We should be able to see a person's donation history with one click. Reports should be filed weekly. The list of ways to make the system easier to track is endless.

A scoop of sunshine may not lick every problem, but I'd like to try a new flavor. Cynical brickle is getting leaving a bitter taste.

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