Breaking News?

Apparently, there's some "breaking news" out of the Capitol. Just a few hours before the event, this just arrived...


For Immediate Release
November 14, 2006
Contact: Brad Anderson

MEDIA ADVISORY:

Governor-elect Culver to Meet with Secretary of State-elect Mauro
(Des Moines) Today Governor-elect Chet Culver will meet with and discuss transition with Secretary of State-elect Michael Mauro. There will be a brief photo-op and both Governor-elect Culver and Secretary of State-elect Mauro will give brief remarks.
Tuesday, November 14th
Governor-elect Culver and Secretary of State-elect Mauro meet to discuss transition.

WHEN: 3:45 pm
WHERE: Outside the Secretary of State’s Capitol Office

He'll Have a Cup of That Mojo

(O.K., bumper stickers, I get. Buttons? Sure. But this???)


Seat for one on the Mojo express. Name? Thomas J Vilsack.

The Gov's looking to ride this democratic tidal wave all the way to the White House. (Have I worked in enough cliches yet?) Not only did his best friend turn in the official "I-want-to-start- hitting-up-people-for-money-so-I-can-run-for-president" papers in D.C. today, but the gov told his other best buds he will run for prez.

His campaign even released the schedule for "the official announcement" November 30th. It'll all start in Mt. Pleasant, Main Street U.S.A. Add in New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada, plus the gov's hometown of Pittsburgh, PA, and his two-day kick-off is complete.

Let's what kind of national press he gets. For him to be a national player, he'll need it.

It's been a hard day's night...

And We've all been working like dogs. Here are some pictures of election day behind the scenes.

























































































































































MEB

Let There Be Light

Checklist for the night at the Culver HQ:

Colorful signs--check
Optimism--check
Place for us to stand--oops
Lights so we can actually see Culver take the stage--oops

We call them "risers". We set up our television camera on one. We stand on another. It makes us higher than the room, so we can see the stage over the top of people's heads. They finally arrived after we started doing our live shots for the 5pm shows. Oops.

We call them "lights." They help us see. Nobody apparently made sure we could see. Fortunately, WHO-TV's photojournalists Brian Fiser and Lee Rouse put up some lights. Thanks, guys. Oops averted. On with the show...

Day of the Donkey

The optimism is flowing faster than the drinks waiting for the guests out in the hallway here at dem hq at the Hotel Fort Des Moines in Des Moines. There are definitely smiles aplenty.

Senator Tom Harkin got some early numbers back from the East Coast. He told me it looks (not a certainty yet) that the dems could take the U.S. Senate (seems like everyone thinks they'll take the U.S. House). He says to especially watch Rhode Island and Montana (repubs have them both right now).

Harkin said he hasn't seen this type of call to push out a party since 1974 following the Watergate mess with Prez Nixon. BTW, this is the same year Harkin got voted into Congress. He said he started to feel in August that big changes could happen. He said he heard constant talk about people's unhappiness with Prez Bush, especially his handling of the war in Iraq.

Governor Tom Vilsack was just as hopeful. He's also holding out hopes that his party will take the U.S. Senate. He's feeling more and more confident that on the state level there will be a democratic trifecta, the gov's mansion and the house and senate. Lt Gov Sally Pederson seems equally as hopeful. The Gov promised a short night.

Hold On For One More Day...

Hours til the polls open. Some questions to close things out...

1. Does Leonard Boswell realize he also is a millionaire politician?
2. Who will be the first to call Governor Culver "biscuits"?
3. Why did the race of the nice guys (Merle Johnson and Larry Noble--btw, I live in their district) give in and go negative?
4. Will Dave Lamberti give it another shot if he loses to the Boz?
5. Did Jim Nussle run his last run if he loses?
6. What if Nussle's right about his late surge in the polls this weekend?
7. Why do Tom Miller, Dave Vaudt and Mike Fitzgerald have no opponents?
8. Why are republicans asking, "what went wrong?"
9. How many rallies did Mike Blouin and Ed Fallon actually show up for Chet Culver?
10. How many times has Bob Vander Plaats stepped foot in the metro since he became Nussle's number two?
11. Will all of a sudden everyone have to know where House District 52 is after Tuesday? (Mary Lou Freeman's seat)
12. What will Ed Fallon and Sally Pederson do after January?
13. When will Tom Vilsack announce he's running for President?

Honest Abraham

Apparently an honest Christian is what many of you want to see in our next Governor of Iowa. Sandy Madden emailed, "Honest and trustworthy. The kind of guy that you would want to sit down and have a cup of coffee and discuss current affairs. " She added, "Someone who can look you straight in the eye and not have to avoid eye contact."

Melody is looking for a Christian and she questions how you can be one if you engage in negative campaigning. "I would like to know why when our politicians are pleading their case as the best candidate for the job based on their track record, their morals and their vision for the future; they insist on bashing the other part as immoral, lacking vision and their inability to make good choices? If history has shown us anything, it is that our moral compass should be found at home and not in politics." She concluded, "You can't tout yourself as a devout Catholic, Christian or anything else but go against the moral code of what is fundamentally good or right by partaking in backbiting, hypocrisy and playing the blame game like we did when we were kids."


749 of you responded to our WHOTV.COM survey asking you to tell us the top quality our next state leader should have.

Here are the numbers:

Honesty 20.6%

Integrity 18.2%

Is a Christian 13.6%
Does what majority of Iowans want 8.5%

Works well with everyone/every political party 8.3%
Passionate about Iowa's future 8.1%

Morality 7.1%

Leads others effectively 5.5%

Cares about people 5.5%
Explains positions clearly 4.7%

Let's Talk About It...

Still can't make up your mind? Here's your chance. From 8-10 this morning, two bigwigs from the political parties will join us on Today in Iowa Saturday to answer your questions and respond to your thoughts on the issues and candidates for Iowa Votes 2006. Dave Roederer will handle things from the republican side. Lt. Governor Sally Pederson will have the democrats' perspective. Post your thoughts and questions here and get some answers.

Vilsack for President

It's official. Tom Vilsack is running for President of the United States. Oops. Maybe not. Or at least not yet.

KWQC-TV in Davenport reported Vilsack told its reporter in an exclusive interview today that he was running for president. The phone call I got after news of that story almost made me lose my Perkin's brunch (ever tried that twinberry syrup there?). Of course, I burned up my cellphone trying to find out what was going on.



As it turned out, all the Governor said was that he was "seriously thinking" about running. As you know, that's been his answer for the last few months. Phewh! Of course, in the end, what the station reported may not be so wrong after all. Stay tuned.

Pachyderm Pride

It's an elephant stampede across Iowa. Check out this list and tell me if the republicans are concerned about getting out "their base" on election night...

President George W Bush
First Lady Laura Bush
Senator John McCain
Governor George Pataki
Governor Mitt Romney
Mayor Rudy Giuliani
Representative Newt Gingrich
Senator Bill Frist

I'm told we will likely see all of these people stopping in Iowa in the next week. Holy pachyderm!

Outside the Dome...



You know how some days just kick your a*$? Today was one of those. Slept badly. Couldn't seem to get caught up on election stuff. And, then, this came...

Chocodiles! I remember having them in Belleville, Illinois, where I grew up (before you ask, it's near St. Louis). Chocodiles are chocolate-covered twinkies. What more could you want in life? I mentioned a few months ago I had this completely random craving for them. And Mark Hoffman, an engineer here at station, remembered. He found them on-line. Who knew?

Chauncey the Chocodile. He got fired in the '90s as the spokesman. Was he too pimp?

8 Days

Apparently, Iowa loves Alex P. Keaton. The Culver camp claims 1,000 people showed up at Drake University Monday to hear Michael J. Fox talk about stem cell research. Too bad they didn't have chairs for them. The event started an hour late (Not sure why. No one explained it to the crowd). It didn't feel like the air conditioning was on either. The conditions proved to be too much for some people, at least that's what they told us as they left long before Fox showed up.

Those who stayed seemed completely "wow-ed" by Fox's appearance. They interrupted him numerous times as he spoke. Each time, he paused, acknowledged them and continued.

Fox said his former character, Alex P. Keaton, (who you Family Ties fans will remember was a devoted Republican) would approve of him fighting for stem research funding.

Fox also recalled another character of his, Marty McFly, from his movie, Back to the Future. Fox talked about how the future had been stalled because there hasn't been enough commitment to fighting diseases like Parkinson's. So he closed his speech by saying (this was barely audible because of the applause from the crowd) "forgive me, but it's time to get back to the future."

(Outside the dome...)

Not sure what to make of this, but Ellen Degeneres on her show Monday seemed to be wearing the same tie I wore the other day when I spilled my Cafe Mocha all over it.

(It's not too hard to see where the coffee ended up, huh? Can I send my dry cleaning bill to Caribou?)

Turning the Hose on Culver

So much for the whispers among the anti-Culver folks. Whispers, no more. Nussle's debuting a radio ad where the announcer asks, "is Culver smart enough to be governor?"

It's a direct response to that tv ad where Culver and Patty Judge stand in the "rain" criticizing the Earthpark project (bringing the human-made rain forest to Pella). The ad surprised some people, including some dems with whom I regularly talk. They say it's a natural to tie Nussle to those big-spending pork projects from other states, but to take on a big Iowa project and call it wasteful? But, then again, they say, What if it works?

(One little note...the radio ad announcer talks about Culver's rain hat. It's actually Patty Judge's rain hat, in case you care.)

Poor, Dave

DAVE

The boy's name David is pronounced DAY-vid. It is of Hebrew origin, and its meaning is "beloved."

thinkbabynames.com makes it sound pretty good, huh? Letterman, Matthews, Chappelle, Barry, uh, Price. They all love the name. Lamberti?

Lamberti's now completed the trifecta: George W Bush, Laura Bush and Dick Cheney. They've all come to town to trumpet his skills in the 3rd district race. Too bad every one of them butchered his name. (O.K., maybe "butchered" is a little strong. How about "hacked"?)

"Jeff LAM'-berti", so said the Veep and First Lady. The Veep also used "Lam-ber-TAY".

Now the Prez commended the efforts of "Dave" Lamberti. Sorry, Jeff. But the money's good, right?

I Have a Secret...

Let's see...Chet Culver has a secret. Republican conspiracy theory: Culver's bringing back Touchplay. That's why he's taking all the money from Touchplay supporters.

Today we found out that Jim Nussle has a secret. Democratic conspiracy theory: Nussle's expanding casino gambling. That's why he's taking all the money from casino owners.

The brain drain, workforce shortages, energy independence, tuition costs...surely voters don't need to hear about those issues as they decide which one of these two guys should be their next governor, right?

Is it possible all these dollars to the gub candidates will pay for revenge? Could it be that Touchplay owners are ticked that republicans screwed them out of millions by taking away their gambling machines? Could it also be that casino owners are backing republicans to make sure they don't have to deal with Touchplay competition?

Paging 007 and Don Henley

(Courtesy: www.swschwedt.de)

Conspiracy theories and secret plans...ooh, this governor's race is getting mysterious.

(During and following the fourth and final gubernatorial debate sponsored by The Des Moines Register and Iowa Public Television) --Jim Nussle's alleging Chet Culver's devised a secret plan.

The pro-Touchplayers gave Culver wads of cash (including republican big-time giver, Bill Krause--the founder of Kum n Go, which stands to lose a gazillion dollars if Touchplay never comes back. You'll remember Krause was none too pleased with his party's nominee after Nussle stated he'd never bring back Touchplay. He pulled his support for Nussle. Who would have guessed he'd start writing checks for Culver. Although, Culver did mention during the debate that his uncle went to college with Krause. Maybe that's it. Maybe it has nothing to do with Krause wanting to help Nussle lose for opposing his business ventures).

(Courtesy: www.dba-oracle.com)

So here's the secret plan...after Culver's elected, he'll give Touchplayers back their games or at least get them a good settlement with the state so they'll...

a) drop their suit and
b) get back some of their cash they spent on those too-close-to-slot-machines.

So what's the proof? Nussle said follow the money and we'd find it. We followed it. We still can't find that proof.

(Courtesy: www.wuz.it)

Culver calls the move "desperate", so did democrat surrogates after the debate, the two Toms, Harkin and Vilsack. Vilsack used football Saturday to offer a football analogy. It was a "hail Mary pass", he said, referring to the late-in-the-game, your-team-is-trailing-so-you-have-no-other-choice-move.

A couple other randoms from the fourth and final debate...(have you noticed not much news ever comes out of these, other than this time with the Touchplay replay talk?)

Culver criticized Nussle for not supporting a raise in the minimum wage. I asked if that meant he didn't think Nussle's pledge during the debate to raise the minimum wage was sincere (during the "Lightning Round phase").

Culver responded by saying Nussle failed to answer the question. I went back and checked the tape to make sure I hadn't blacked out during that part of the debate. Nope, Nussle answered it. And he said "yes" to the question. Although I don't recall Nussle before saying that he'd raise the wage with no strings attack (repubs have talked of raising the wage, only if tax cuts or other more traditional repub-friendly measures are tied to it).

BTW, we were wondering if we were even going to get to talk to Culver at all following the debate. Nussle came out first. Touchplay dominated his Q & A with us. Then the dems' surrogates arrived. After they left, we were told Culver wasn't coming. Then we were told he was. I wonder what changed?

Money, Money, Money

(Photo Courtesy: orangebuffalo.ca)

Just got the latest money numbers...


Chet Culver

$ raised this period (July 15-Oct 14) $3,096,178
$ spent this period $3,641,002
$ on hand $707,781
$ raised (since Jan 05) $6.33 million

Jim Nussle

$ raised this period (July 15-Oct 14) $2,848,057
$ spent this period not provided
$ on hand $1,325,330
$ raised (since Jan 05) $7.1 million

Gov Vilsack raised about $ 8 million for his re-election campaign in 2004.

What's in a Name?

I'm getting quite a few phone calls and emails these days from the possible presidentials. That's no surprise. But two messages in particular are interesting. Who called from Wesley Clark's campaign? A guy named John Edwards. And who called from Mark Warner's campaign? A guy named John Carey (Say it phonetically. It's a lot funnier.)

Sorry for the lack of postings lately. Several factors in play here. Our software had a few hiccups. Not sure what causes those. I also had a conference in D.C. for a few days. But most importantly, I got engaged. I surprised my girlfriend, Emily, when she went home to visit her family in Tampa. So that oughta be a good enough reason to go blog-less for a few days, eh?

Lastly, go Cards! The hell with the Amazing Mets. St. Louis needs a game 7 win!

No Love for the Doc

I wish I would have been keeping a scorecard for every time I've heard "Shelden Spencer", the dem running for the 4th district. If I would have, it looks like I would need another tally sheet.

Check out Spencer's name in this release...

There's no such thing as bad publicity, isn't that what they say?

GREATER DES MOINES PARTNERSHIP TO HOST THIRD AND FOURTH DISTRICT CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE BREAKFASTS

GREATER DES MOINES - The Greater Des Moines Partnership's Government Policy Council will host a series of breakfasts with the 2006 Congressional candidates for the Third and Fourth Districts, which include Polk, Dallas and Warren Counties, during the month of October. Each candidate has been invited to speak to members of the business community about their vision for promoting regional economic growth in Central Iowa at the federal level. Candidates will be given the opportunity to respond to questions from the audience during the program.
Each breakfast is scheduled to begin at 7:30 a.m., at Partnership offices in the Arthur Davis Conference room, 700 Locust St., Suite 100. The schedule is as follows:

Monday, October 9th - Dr. Spencer Selden (D) (IA 4)
Friday, October 13th - State Senator Jeff Lamberti (R) (IA 3)
Thursday, October 26th - Congressman Tom Latham (R) (IA 4)
Friday, October 27th - Congressman Leonard Boswell (D) (IA 3)

Mac is Back

Senator John McCain is coming back to the metro next week and he has a new group of leaders who'll have his back.

Here's the release:

ALEXANDRIA, VA – Today Straight Talk America announced that thirteen state legislators have joined together forming the Iowa Legislative Advisory Team for the PAC. These legislators will advise Straight Talk America on matters relating to the Iowa Legislature and their efforts to gain and maintain Republican control of the Iowa Senate and House.
Joining Straight Talk America are Senator Larry McKibben, Senator John Putney, Senator Pat Ward, Senator Mark Zieman, Representative Rich Anderson, Representative Dave Heaton, Representative Steve Lukan, Representative Mike May, Representative Rod Roberts, Representative Bill Schickel, Representative Doug Struyk, Representative David Tjepkes, and Representative Walt Tomenga.
"We greatly appreciate Senator McCain’s support of our Republican candidates," said Roberts, House Assistant Majority Leader from Carroll. "I look forward to working with Senator McCain to maintain control of the House of Representatives."
"Senator McCain has shown tireless effort helping elect Republicans across the country and I am proud to advise him on his efforts here in Iowa," said McKibben, Republican President Pro Tempore of Marshalltown. "Senator McCain’s leadership and experience will be invaluable to our efforts to regain control of the Iowa Senate."
"I am honored to have the support of these fine legislators," said Senator John McCain. "Their connection with the grassroots community in Iowa will make a big impact on our efforts to elect Republicans in 2006."
These legislators join State Senator Chuck Larson as advisors to the PAC along with former Chair of the Iowa Bush-Cheney 2004 Campaign, David Roederer, who was announced last month as Iowa Chairman of Straight Talk America.

The Great Debate

Are we now finished with the debates for the 3rd District? I hope not. We've offered another chance for Boswell and Lamberti to go head-to-head on our "Insiders" show Sunday, October 15th (Seen Sundays here at WHO-TV at 6:30am and 10:15am--That's for you, Boss)

Lamberti's people said, yes, to the offer. Boswell's peeps said, no.

So who won last night? I bounced that question off as many of my independent-minded friends and co-workers as I could throughout the day. Most seemed to think Lamberti may have faired a little better. They thought he was assertive, but not too much. Although, some told me Boswell did show some fight in him at times. Some complained Boswell's answers seemed to wander at times.

The biggest complaint was Iraq. A new NBC poll said the war in Iraq is the number one topic on voters' minds for November. But the debate offered little to show any differences between the two men on that issue. Good luck, voters.