Congressman Steve King is the latest to indicate that he might run for Governor in 2010. King joins perennial candidate Bob Vander Plaats, Secretary of Ag Bill Northey, State Auditor Dave Vaudt, businessman Bruce Rastetter, State Representative Rod Roberts, and syndicated blogger Krusty Konservative in exploring a potential run for Governor.
King’s presence in a primary would create difficulties for any other candidate as nobody carries as much weight with Iowa conservatives as King does. King also has flexed some fundraising muscle as of late which could signal a possible nod to the future. That said I believe it would be very difficult for King to give up his congressional seat to run against an incumbent governor.
Who will join the party next? Stay tuned.
Rapid Consolidation of Schools?
The Register has an article today where Sen. Matt McCoy says he wants to consolidate districts with 750 or less students. This is a lot like Governor Culver dealing with the budget crisis with across the board cuts instead of cutting the fat. This too is a lazy approach if you ask me.
Consolidation should first be done to guarantee every student has the same educational opportunities in each district across the state. So if a school cannot provide advanced math and science courses for instance then consolidation is probably needed.
If large consolidated districts lead to better educated kids and more cost effective schools, the Des Moines School District should be the model district right? They are far from that. The goal needs to be the best product (educated kids) we can produce. I think the 750 number seems too high, especially in Iowa’s rural areas. That said, I do think there are schools that need to consolidate and it’s no secret to the people in those communities. Let’s start with those districts before we start floating out some arbitrary number.
I wonder is General Dardis regrets joining the Culver administration…
Seriously, this guy is now defending the purchase of carpet in the Rebuild Iowa Office. Read Kay Henderson’s carpet report here.
The Rebuild Iowa Office is just a huge bureaucracy, and it funds itself by skimming off money that is supposed to be going to flood victims. Instead they are spending over 200k on salaries for their communications staff, Emily Hajek the Chief of Staff and former Culver fundraiser made 66k last year in her government job, and now she’s making 120k. Heck she’s so stupid they don’t let her go to meetings with Legislators anymore. Seriously the Chief of Staff of Rebuild Iowa can’t meet with the legislators?
And why are these people not working out of Cedar Rapids? Wait, Chet says he wants to work out of Iowa City. I think he really just wants to hit the bars in the ped mall.
This is a scam and it’s being funded by the people they are supposed to be helping.
Personally, I don’t want to waste King on an incumbent Governor. Just like I didn’t want to waste him on Harkin's seat last year. King is too good to risk losing in a fight where we only have a 45% chance of winning at best.
ReplyDeleteWhat would be fun however would be a scenario where Harkin leaves to join the Obama cabinet which would bring Harkin's seat (and whatever patsy Culver appoints to fill it) up again in 2010. Now THAT would be an opening fit for a King.
King is not supid. He will not do this unless he thinks he has a better than 50/50 chance of success.
ReplyDeleteIf he does it, count me in.
King would utterly crush Vander Platts in a primary. No doubt about it. I'd wager Bob is worried that King may get in and eliminate what little support he claims to have in Western Iowa.
ReplyDeleteI can already predict what the Vander Platts supporters are going to say, "King is not electable statewide". To which everybody's response will be, "Bob has proven that he can't win not once, not twice, but three times."
what would be the problem with King for governor, and maybe VP or roberts fro his seat. its a republican district that wouldnt be hard to defend, IMHO
ReplyDeleteThe 5th CD? To defend against who? A ham sandwhich with a little (R) behind their name will hold on to it. Now go back over to Iowa Independent and share your wealth of all things political knowledge over there.
ReplyDeleteI like King, but I like him in the role he plays so well in Congress. He knows as well as you and I do that his district is safe, so his job in Congress is to be so far right that it makes everyone else look moderate and/or appealing to voters in their home states. And he does that job well.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately I think he'd get smoked in a general. And I'd hate to see someone replace him who maybe wouldn't be as aggressive toward core Republican values.
Who was the last good conservative to run statewide?
ReplyDeletewho was the last good republican to run statewide?
ReplyDeleteOh yea...Nussle. How'd that work out again?
Nussle was a "good republican?"
ReplyDeleteI think Nussle is the reason we are in the minority and have no executive power anywhere.
His chairmanship of the budget committee in Congress and the terrible growth in government is why the Democrats had so much ammo to aim and fire...and sadly...fatally wound a lot of otherwise good Republicans.
Good riddance to the Nussle Hustle.
I asked who the last good conservative we had run state wide...not good Republican. Big difference.
ReplyDeleteSo - who was the last good conservative to run state wide?
12:59: If what you say is true why are the big spending Democrats being elected? They're far worse than any Republican.
ReplyDeleteIt's just as likely that Nussle wouldn't have spent enough.
Our country has become a nation of dependents. No one could possibly hand out enough goodies to satisfy these people.
I do not buy the argument that Republicans were turned away because they spent too much.
So wait. Nussle is not a good conservative but Steve King is? Wasn't their voting record nearly identical?
ReplyDeleteWhat does Steve King, Bill Northey, Dave Vaudt, Bruce Rastetter, Rod Roberts, Krusty Konservative and every elected Republican in the House or Senate but Jim Seymour have in common?
ReplyDeleteThey are all better than Bob Vander Plaats.
Geez, Cresco - aren't you being a little harsh on Seymour with that comment? Ouch.
ReplyDeleteI bet BVP will try and pull another NVP tandem run. That would make it KVP for GOV in 2010, Right?
ReplyDeleteEastern Iowa doesn't like religious (self)right (eous)wackos from the Iowa Bible Belt.
ReplyDeleteAnon 1:40 - do you honestly think Nussle and King should both be classified as conservative? Nussle is Republican. King is conservative. Really big difference in our current political climate.
ReplyDeleteThat is like saying Ben Nelson is a liberal just like Nancy Pelosi.
Anon 3:30 - explain to me the difference in their voting records? Please.
ReplyDelete3:09: What do you have against the Bible?
ReplyDeleteKing's biggest problem is he is catholic and some of the Huckabee crazy crowd that surround BVP would not support him they are already skiddish about him, but like his conservative record.
ReplyDeleteI for one like Vander Plaats much better than I like Steve King. I’m sorry but King is obnoxious. I like his politics but he is a weak speaker who drones on and on and on about nothing for what seems like hours at a time. Generally, I take King’s speaking at GOP dinners to excuse myself to the restroom and stretch my legs. But, I would like to see King run for Governor and have Vander Plaats drop out and run for King’s seat instead. 10:36 is right, any Republican is guaranteed to hold Kings seat. The last time Iowa threw out an incumbent Governor was in 1962 so I am not holding out much hope for that. If King actually does the impossible and beats Culver, great! Poor speaker or not we have a Republican Governor again, and Vander Plaats gets an extension on his political life as a Congressman. If I have to choose, I choose to keep Vander Plaats around and risk King against Culver.
ReplyDelete8:24, that's krazy krowd. And yep, some of us Fundamentalists still think the Vatican is modern Babylon and don't recognize the Pope as the head of the church.
ReplyDeleteDon't recognize each other in the liquor store either.
As a conservative Republican, I believe it would be wrong for the GOP to have King in statewide elected office.
ReplyDeleteIts bad enough King represents us in Congress.
King cannot possibly be a christian and a catholic, for that reason I am opposed to King and support BVP
ReplyDeleteAnon 8:37, aren't you being a little presumptuous in suggesting the BVP would get the seat without a primary??
ReplyDeletewhat's wrong with catholics? they are conservative too! they want to get the state back in good hands!
ReplyDeleteAnon 9:46, everyone knows there will be a primary in the 5th. Would Rants pass up a shot at that seat for a crowded primary race for Governor? Does anyone really think that Bill Anderson hasn’t been running for Congress for years? What about the other State Central Committee Members? They have good name id and have been traveling the district. There are certainly others.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is that none of them could hold a candle to King. Whenever Steve King leaves Congress, the 5th District will be worse for it, and so will the country.
King would be better off to help someone else get elected Governor, help unify the party, stay in Congress, and be in the best possible position to run for Senate when that opportunity comes around.
Anon 8:37
ReplyDelete"Poor speaker or not we have a Republican Governor again"
Kind of like the last President?
9:34 p.m.
ReplyDeleteYou are just plain ignorant.
I pray you will be blessed with a little more wisdom.
9:34: Your comment is disgusting. We're not choosing a religious leader, we're choosing a governor and I'll gladly take someone from a religion other than mine as long as they have the same political philosophy.
ReplyDeleteA person's religion does not tell us much about their political philosophy. It should, but it doesn't.
how do any of your comments relate to this story? are you aware of how many state offices are federally funded?? some of that is adminstrative funds...
ReplyDeleteBob,
ReplyDeleteI have values and I am unwilling to sell them out being christian means more than lips service. If King was a good conservative he would leave the catholic church. Look how many catholics support abortion with their vote or fail to stand up for marriage. Case in point Obama would not have gotten elected without the catholic vote. Catholics say they have values but it never shows up when it counts.
Besides what would you know about winning elections. Didn't you lose to someone with a mail order bride?
Nice post 9:25, I’ll do one better. I support Bruce Rastetter because I am a homosexual who wants to marry my dog Rex. I would never support Vander Plaats because he would never support legislation that would allow the love that Rex and I share to be recognized in the bond of marriage. Rastetter however, would recognize my right to marry Rex so he gets my vote…
ReplyDeleteSeriously, it doesn’t take too much effort for someone to pose as a supporter of a certain candidate and say inflammatory things in an effort to portray others in an unflattering light. Only an idiot would think its true. Give it a rest. No one is buying it and anyone with half a brain can see through it.