by | Jan 17, 2011
I would have liked to have gotten this posted Friday, but family issues interjected themselves.
As you know, both Governor Terry Branstad and Lieutenant Governor Kim Reynolds were sworn in to their respective offices Friday. The Inauguration ceremony, which is conducted as a joint session of the Iowa House and Iowa Senate, was held at Hy-Vee Hall in Des Moines.  There was appropriate pomp and respect in the procession and swearing in of both Reynolds and Branstad, and about 2,000 people were present to witness the event.
The music at the event was awesome, and the selection of songs by the Heartland Youth Choir was wonderful. Â I deeply appreciate the pride and respect given to our flags and the servicemen and women conducting during the presentation of the colors.
One can find some thoughtful and insightful thoughts from Shane Vanderhart (and later reflections as well), Kathy Obradovich, and Bleeding Heartland (yes, a liberal perspective shouldn’t hurt now and then).
Both gave speeches that provided an introduction into a kind of new beginning for state government in Iowa, and the foundation of their thoughts on how state government should serve Iowans.
Lieutenant Governor Reynolds offered some thoughts on the values being brought to Iowa government, and emphasized government’s need to listen to its people and focus on key areas like education while encouraging Iowans to proactively reach out to those around them in need. Â She use the story of the Pender family in Windsor Heights to help emphasize this.
Governor Branstad more or less kept to his promise of a relatively short speech, but was long on promise. Â The core message was that there would be a “new covenant” between government and Iowans. Â His presentation focused on 5 main principles:
- We have too much government and it must be reduced
- Government must serve the people
- It is time to restore integrity and transparency to our government decision-making processes
- A renewed commitment to provide the best education in the world
- We must celebrate success
The Governor’s speech was filled with a substantial amount of passion and emphasis on the areas that need work, and I was intrigued by the number of times the audience rose to their feet in response to his words. Â The message itself, a message of the kind of government many have been calling for, a message of Iowans reaching out and helping other Iowans directly instead of waiting for government to act as a proxy, a message of renewing our commitment to education and commerce… this message is a good start for the new administration.
It’s interesting to note that in other countries, a change in leadership is ofter referred to as a “new government”. Â We don’t tend to use that expression in the US so much, but it seems an appropriate expression at this time.
It’s worth a read.
That said, I was reminded in a conversation with my dad tonight about the cyclic nature of history and politics. Â I’m personally encouraged by what the Governor shared on Friday, and between his administration, Iowa’s new Republican House and growing Republican presence in the Senate. Â My hopes are high that we will be able to get our fiscal house in order and move to more careful spending.
However, we have been here before and our tendency has been to start off on the right foot (no pun intended) and end up spending ourselves into a stupor. Â It will be difficult, but as citizens we need to be vigilant regarding the work of government and expect, nay, demand scrupulous management of our state’s resources from the beginning to the end of each term of office of our representatives and Governor. Â It is a mistake to push the cart in the right direction and hope it reaches its destination unaltered.
The citizens needs to keep the cart straight.
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A lot of people worked hard to prepare for this event and the ball later that day. Â One person I want to mention whom I noticed in the procession was Mike Cook, who was a member of the Inaugural Committee. Â There were clearly a number of great people on the committee, but Mike is someone I have worked with throughout my tenure with Polk County Republicans, and have admired him during that time.
Mike Cook has achieved greatness in my eyes because of his commitment to working as hard as he can to support the goals of our party despite physical challenges that would keep many away from any volunteer activities. Â He is reliable, consistent, focused on the goal, and totally supportive of the party’s work. Â Rarely do we have a need for volunteers where Mike does not show up. Whether it’s parades, phone calls, office work, manning a booth at an event, helping with setup, speaking before a group, Mike is always ready to step up and do what it takes to make a difference.
We have a lot of hard working volunteers, but Mike Cook shines brightly among them.
by Art Smith | Oct 20, 2010
After sitting through what was probably the most painful debate I’ve ever watched two weeks ago, I think it’s time to demand the Branstad campaign implement the Mercy Rule. Mostly to show mercy to those of us who feel obligated to watch these debates… and a little mercy for Governor Culver.
It seems unfair to continue to let Governor Culver get up in front of TV cameras and make a fool of himself. Why put a sitting governor through the embarrassment of having to respond to questions about state government, policy, and the future of Iowa when the only answers he has are scary predictions of what he thinks Terry Branstad will do as governor? Even when he has what many would say is a great story to tell about early childhood development programs, he flounders and spews out that Branstad will take preschool access away from children.
But overall, Chet does not have much of a story to tell, and he is desperate. He will continue to criticize his opponent until election day. It seems to be the only weapon his campaign team has in their arsenal to try to snatch victory from the jaws of utter failure.
I was surprised, however, by Culver’s announcement this week of a middle-class tax cut. It’s amazing how such a blatantly political attempt to bribe the middle-class in Iowa to vote for Culver, after a contentious two years trying to resolve our budgetary crisis, is treated as a legitimate proposal. Where will the money to pay for this tax cut come from? Don’t get me wrong, I support cutting taxes when it makes sense, but we must cut spending first to support it.
I suspect that most Iowans who have been watching the debates are frustrated with the fact that the overall content of the debates has not changed much (and I don’t expect any improvement tomorrow), that the animus has gotten worse on both sides, and that the sitting governor is looking more and more like an angry leader fending off attacks with little more than a pea-shooter. It’s like being at the gruesome scene of a fatal auto accident… you just want to look away from it all.
I expect tomorrow’s debate to have one area of meaningful (but not necessarily valuable) discussion, and that will be the new tax cut proposal. Other than that, we will just have more snipes about DeCoster, about IJOBS, about Marriage, about the Budget, about Mismanagement, and all of it will be what we’ve already heard before.
At least it will be the last Gubernatorial Debate of this election. I don’t know if I could stomach much more.
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Regardless of how I feel about the debate, I will not only be watching it live (starting at NOON), but I will be live-blogging along with several other of the Guest Political Bloggers here at the Des Moines Register’s web site as we have for both of the previous debates. I think it’s a great chance to hear some of our comments live and to respond yourself during the debate. I hope you’ll join us!
by | Oct 10, 2010
The Dave Funk Campaign announced that Former Governor Terry Branstad is working to help the candidate for Polk County Supervisor in District 3. At Funk’s website:
The race for supervisor in Polk County’s third district is described as one of the most important races in Iowa. Former Gov. Terry Branstad (and current candidate) works to raise support for Republican supervisor candidate Dave Funk.
Funk, Branstad and event organizer Jeff Lamberti speak to constituents.
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It should say a lot that as a Gubernatorial Candidate, Branstad took the time to attend the Lamberti event and speak on Funk’s behalf. There’s no question that this campaign, to end over 60 years of Democrat control in Polk County, will have a significant impact on Iowa’s capitol city. Since any candidate for governor does not have time to support every individual candidate in their party, clearly Funk’s campaign is seen as critical to making a difference in Iowa as a whole and that this district is important to the Governor’s race as well.
by Art Smith | Sep 17, 2010
What a great evening! Kathie Obradovich pointed out that it’s like being in an airplane hanger here at Hy-Vee Hall, but we have a great crowd, a lot of great Republicans and big group of press (75 registered), including a number of national names.
The theme of those speaking is what this crowd expects to hear: Reid and Pelosi are bringing the country down, killing jobs, killing the economy, stepping on the Constitution. What the country needs is smaller government, stronger jobs and economic growth, and greater fiscal responsibility, and Republicans can deliver.
Speakers included Republican Party of Iowa Co-chair Jim Kurtenbach, Representatives Steve King and Tom Latham, Senator Chuck Grassley, Former Governor and Candidate Terry Branstad, and Republican Party of Iowa Chair Matt Strawn.
Terry’s speech was the most heavily targeted at his opponent (Governor Chet Culver), hitting on all of the same issues we’ve heard on the campaign trail and in this week’s debate. Of the warm-up speeches his was probably the longest. Terry was very warmly received by this crowd, and he also took the time to mention all of the state constitutional office candidates.
A nice video tribute to the late President Ronald Reagan was part of the program, which included highlights from some of his best speeches over the years.
Matt Strawn gave a great talk on the importance of stepping up now and making sure we get as many principled conservative Republicans elected this fall as we can, as he introduced Sarah Palin.
So, what did Sarah have to say?
Sarah complimented Iowa, complimented Terry Branstad, then talked about staying focused on the 2010 election and not the 2012 election, meaning she wasn’t going to talk about whether she is running for President in 2012 or not.
She talked about the need to elect leaders who respect “We the People”, like Senator Grassley, Tom Latham, Steve King, and then mentioned her endorsement of Brenna Findley.
What does “We the People” mean, anyway? Sometimes this term is being used lately in a context that sounds like it is equivalent to “We the Conservatives”. Sorry for the tangent.
Sarah went on to talk about how competition (in primaries) is good, but that it is now time to unite. If we want to stop Obama, Pelosi and Reid, then now is the time to unite. She talked about the need to move on now after having lost primaries. And the Need to set aside internal power struggles for the sake of the party. The need is great going into the mid-term elections.
Sarah then went into an extended criticism of the Press and emphasis on the importance of holding the Press accountable when they are telling untruths. She even Called some of the media “cowards”. She made a number of suggestions about what she thought party leadership should be doing right now.
I think she’s running for RNC Chair.
sarah said that Voters and patriots will restore America. Our (Republican) candidates will bring back constitutional government. She agrees with Obama that there are better days ahead… starting on November 2.
Sarah went on to provide a list of the problems with the current administration and Congress. Culminating with the President’s “foolish” attempts to run a conciliatory foreign policy with our enemies, in stark contrast to Reagan’s strong support of allies and strong confrontational hold against our enemies.
She believes that Principles and People will help hold our nation together, and that it’s time for a national rediscovery and renewal.
Overall, her speech was very pro-business, pro-individual, pro-radical renewal, and very contrary to current federal policies.
And finally the biggest philosophical dichotomy we struggle with against Democrats today: we don’t need to fundamentally transform America, we need to restore America. Great line, strongly received.
Although I agree with much of what Sarah had to say tonight, I will say I feel like I’ve been riding on a bullet train as she dropped a lot of already well-worn (literally word for word what I hear day after day from a variety of conservative sources) sound bytes as I passed by. She basically covered much of what conservatives are frustrated with in our current government and many of the principles that conservatives are anxious to see drive what our government does (and does not do).
Nothing that she shared tonight compelled me to hold her up (despite my support of her two years ago) as a strong candidate for President. But I do think she can continue to be a strong voice for the movement, the party, and for people who feel they are not being heard.
And many of those people may think this gives her credibility as a Presidential candidate. That’s okay… but I don’t agree. At least not yet. As I said before, she states a lot of what I agree with at a very high level, but I want to see some meat in the form of detailed policy statements. My friend Shane Vander Hart tells me I need to read some of her recent writings, which I will do.
Anyhow, it was very encouraging to see so many Republicans gathered to celebrate our history of strong conservative values, and to get enthused for the campaign we are fighting this year. Hats off to the Republican Party of Iowa for an awesome job with this event! And thanks to Danielle Plogmann (RPI Communications Director) for doing a great job providing for the press and bloggers!
At the blogging table we had Craig Robinson (the Godfather), Shane Vander Hart (the Preacher, and Sarah’s number 1 fan in the Iowa Blogosphere), Albert Bregar (hizzoner), Grant Young (he never said “epic” tonight) and the folks from The Cool Conservative.
