Branstad To Announce Lt. Governor Pick on Twitter

Terry Branstad is borrowing another theme from Barack Obama. Yeah, I know that sentence probably isn't exactly what would make Republicans jump up and down with excitement right now. But I don't mean with his policies. I mean with his campaign tactics. Branstad has used the "change" theme in his campaigning, much, of course, like Obama did in his presidential campaign. Now, Branstad's campaign has announced it will reveal the choice for lieutenant governor in a text message to people who sign up. Obama did the same thing when he announced Joe Biden would be his running mate. Although, if I remember correctly, NBC broke the story before the text went out. And, I also seem to remember the text message alert waking me up at somewhere around 2 in the morning! I asked Branstad's Director of Communications Tim Albrecht if I can expect another middle of the night alert. He joked, "I don't THINK you will get awakened in the middle of the night." Hmmm, maybe I better put my phone on silent at night just in case for the next week or so.

Anyway, I asked Albrecht why the campaign chose to break the news this way and he said:

"Alerting Iowans of our decision via text message is an exciting way to bring new supporters into the mix, as well as thank the thousands of Iowans who cast their vote for Terry Branstad last Tuesday. Nothing beats face-to-face campaigning, but this is a new, additional way to keep people engaged in our campaign."

No hints from Albrecht when the announcement will come (other than, hopefully, not in the middle of the night). Branstad will announce it before the Republican State Convention Saturday, June 26th.

The campaign is also touting a new Rasmussen Poll that shows Branstad well ahead of Governor Chet Culver in a head-to-head matchup, 57-31%. It is Branstad's biggest lead yet since the fall and Culver's worst showing. It's also very different from a poll KCCI released in early May. That one showed Branstad only up 48-41%.