If you couldn’t tell from the amount of news and reports about Iowa politics in the news lately, the Democratic primary in the race to succeed Governor Vilsack is almost upon us. With a little over a week left, things have begun to go crazy.
Dien Judge was the first to notice this WHO-TV story from Dave Price about Mike Blouin’s possible involvement in bringing a meatpacking plant to the southside of Des Moines when was head of the Greater Des Moines partnership (the local chamber of commerce). Chet Culver now has the scoop from my state senator, Dick Dearden, that Blouin was indeed involved in that effort while state Sen. Matt McCoy and Rep. Jeri Huser say he was just there at some meetings. It is basically a he said-she said debacle now; and it is important to recognize that Dearden has now become the first state legislator to endorse Culver, while McCoy and Huser have backed Blouin. Currently, all three of the leading Democrats in the race have the endorsement and support of at least one state legislator.
The odd part of the story is what we’ve heard coming from the Blouin camp. Their response to Fran Koontz, the neighborhood activist who alerted WHO to the story and got Dave Price to run it, came from Matt McCoy and others who said that former Des Moines Mayor and IDP Chair Arthur Davis had asked Blouin to go. The only problem is that by then, Art Davis was no longer mayor because of an illness that eventually, I believe, killed him. Preston Daniels was the mayor at the time. Sen. Dearden, on the other hand, said in a conference call with the press, that Blouin was involved in the meetings and was in favor of the Excel company building a meatpacking plant in Des Moines, at least at a 1999 public meeting. I’m not sure what the deal is, but if they’re saying its because Art Davis asked them to do it and Preston Daniels was mayor at the time (and trust me, you can’t confuse the two), then there are some facts that aren’t straight. Either way, these kind of squabbles prove just how touchy this primary is, particularly since Blouin framed the IBP issue as a character- and issue-based attack, while Culver seems to have at least tried to make it issue-based (or at least that’s how I interpret the ‘Issues Matter’ Culver ad). And I’m pretty sure that Mike Blouin seems pretty hypocritical in his attacks on Culver if he did the same thing…especially when he was in his early 50s and established as a commerce leader, not fresh out of college.
If you’re interested in more on the story, check out this story from O. Kay Henderson over at Radio Iowa and this morning’s story from the Register. And let me commend Henderson and Radio Iowa for their new blog where Henderson showcases her ability to write blog entries that are a bit better and more informed than her Radio Iowa pieces, such as this story on the meatpacking industry in governor’s races and a bit on the debate at hand. Welcome to the blogosphere.
In other news, Ed Fallon, while staying clean from the meatpacking fight, has gained the company of Culver when criticizing Blouin about the Iowa Values Fund. Again, Henderson has the story in this Radio Iowa piece (and a subsequent exploratory post here). Culver made his comments criticizing Blouin’s management of the Values Fund and how effective it has been during a taping of IPTV’s Iowa Press, which will air interviews with the Culver and Blouin starting tonight at 7:30 PM with Culver. Culver things the idea and the impetus for the IVF is a worthwhile endeavor, but there needs to be leadership and accountability. Fallon has also criticized the IVF and Blouin’s past claims about its success. However, Fallon differs from Culver on the issue because Fallon wants to see the IVF eliminated because it overwhelmingly helps big, established business and not small business owners. The Register has a story on the clash between Culver and Blouin about the IVF here (and a bit on the death penalty) but marginalizes Ed Fallon by not even mentioning him in the piece, whereas he’s been the leading critic of the IVF in the Democratic primary race. Just another reason for Fallon supporters to do what commenter Marcia did this week: Cancel her subscription to the Register at least until after the primary.
We’re 11 days out and things can only get more heated. Let’s try and keep it under control in the comments while still having some good discussion.
