Blouin Advertisement Only Half Truthful

On April 26, the Des Moines Register reported that Democratic candidate Mike Blouin in a television advertisement recently released in Des Moines and Cedar Rapids is misleading to voters. The campaign advertisement leads voters to believe that Blouin has been given an official endorsement by the retiring Governor. In a statement made by the Governor's representative, Gov. Vilsack was not notified or had given Blouin the consent to use his image or name. The ad also portrays Blouin as Gov. Vilsack's "protege" according to Des Moines Register Staff Writer Thomas Beaumont. It is true that Blouin was the Economic Development Director for a period of two years under the Vilsack administration, so they did work together, just not as closely as Blouin's touts. In defense, Blouin's campaign manager, Matt Paul said, "It's a public image that the producer paid the photographer for, and it's factually correct. Mike Blouin worked for Governor Vilsack." The photograph used in the Blouin ad shows Blouin and Gov. Vilsack.

My response to this I would have to say, is that Mike Blouin is trying to get his name and image out there for the public to see as much as he can, whether it be good or bad publicity. With this I feel that Blouin is scrambling to try and beat out his toughest competitor, Chet Culver, with any means necessary. If Blouin is telling half-truths now, how many has there been, and how many more will there be? Is he the best man for the job? It's up to the voters to give their final say and the June primary is coming up very soon.

Let the Investigation Begin

The Iowa Democratic Party formally lodged a complaint against the only Republican Gubernatorial candidate, Jim Nussle, last week with the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board according to an article published by the Des Moines Register. Nussle is being accused of using funds from his federal campaign fund to pay for expenses incurred by his Gubernatorial campaign and not properly disclosing the transactions according to Iowa law. As stated in Iowa law, these types of transactions must be noted "as-kind" by the candidate in their disclosure report.

I am surprised that with only two months until the primary that the hard accusations towards either party are just getting under way. There was some talk earlier in March regarding Lt. Governor candidate Andrea McGuire in previous races ran as a Republican. McGuires response to these allegations was that sometimes candidates change their political affiliation and that she is not the first candidate to do so. We'll see what happens with the investigation hopefully before the primary.

Shuffling of Candidates In and Out of the Governor's Race

Since Patty Judge's (D) withdrawal from the Governor's race Republican candidate Bob Vander Plaats has also withdrawn. Vander Plaats (R) has teamed up as a ticket with conservative Congressman Jim Nussle (R) as his Lt. Governor if they win the primary election. Also still in the race are: Mike Blouin (D) who has teamed up with Andrea McGuire (D) as a ticket, Mark Yackle (D), Chet Culver (D) whose ticket mate is Patty Judge, Sal Mohamed (D), and a late entry for the Libertarian Party is Christy Welty. As reported on www.Politics1.com Christy Welty is a recurrent candidate.

I think with the recent changes that the Republican Party is in a better position than theDemocratic Party since it now has only one candidate to back. I also feel that Patty Judge was correct in asking her fellow Democratic candidates to withdrawal their names from the race so that the party could rally behind one or two strong candidates instead of fighting over their democratic constituents votes. I think those candidates would be Blouin and Culver, being that they faired better in raising campaign funds. There is still plenty of time, three months, until the primary so at this point things can change at any moment. I think that the weaker candidates, Sal Mohamed, Mark Yackle, and Christy Welty are admirable for thier efforts, their positions on the issues at hand, for trying to make a difference in thier communities and state, and for them doing their civic duty by participating in the democratic process. However, with politics the way it is today, more often than not, the one with the most millions wins. This trend makes it much harder for those candidates who are not independantly wealthy to win. Unfortunately however, the best candidate for the job may not be the one who can afford the extra "face time" meaning television and internet advertisements. Let's hope the voters chose carefully at the polls.

Judge Ends Her Campaign for the Gubernatorial Primary Race

On February 15, 2006 candidate Patty Judge announced that she was ending her campaign for Governor at a press conference with fellow Democrat Chester "Chet" Culver also announcing that the two candidates have joined forces to run on the same ticket in the upcoming June primary elections as reported by staff writer Thomas Beaumont of the Des Moines Register newspaper. Judge asked that her supporters and her other fellow candidates now concentrate their efforts in backing Chet Culver for Governor. Judge made the tough decision after waging an eight month campaign to be Iowa's first female governor primarily due to poor fund raising efforts last year raising just over $183,000 and needed to put $50,0000 of her own money into her campaign fund. This was also confirmed by a press release posted on Patty Judge's campaign website. This narrows the field for the race but only minimally. There are still five other Democratic candidates, four of whom have small campaign coffers, poorly managed campaigns, or both, and the two Republican candidates.

Culver welcomed Judge as his potential running mate, if he wins the primary. He fared better last year with his campaign efforts, raising $1.1 Million, a new record for a Democrat in a non-election year.

In response to the Culver/Judge ticket, Democrat candidate Mike Blouin expressed that by Judge out of the race the other candidates will get more exposure. Blouin, with his opposition of abortion rights, will come under attack by Cluver and Judge, a former nurse, who support a woman's right of choice. Blouin, who also did not fare well with raising campaign funds last year, just over $521,000, isn't giving up all hope yet because he has the support of a good majority of the Democratic state legislators.

I think Patty Judge would have been a fine Governor for the state of Iowa, and hopefully with time she will try and run again with better financial support and a stronger campaign. Now that she is no longer running for Governor, the four remaining stronger candidates, Culver, Blouin, Fallon, and Nussle, have a lot of work to do between now and June. Iowans will also have to decide which issues facing the state in the future are the most important to them: education, basic health care for all residents, renewable energy production and promotion, medical research including stem cell research, raising the minimum wage, the environment, stopping the loss of manufacturing jobs within the state. The next four months will be interesting as the race heats up more and mud-slinging between candidates intensifies.

Accusations Fly Within the Iowa Democratic Party

Recently in the news two Democrat Gubernatorial candidates have made accusations against their fellow Democrat competitors in response to the release of the campaign finance reports. Democrat candidate Michael Blouin has accused Chet Culver of accepting campaign contributions in the sum of $40,000 from supporters who in the past have paid large fines for unethical business practices such as insider trading, as reported by the Associated Press on January 26, 2006. Also, Democrat Ed Fallon has accused Patty Judge of accepting campaign contributions last year in the sum of $45,000 from contributors from the corporate livestock farming industry. Judge managed to raise $130,000, this being paltry compaired to the record breaking $2.5 milllion raised by Republican Jim Nussle. These big business farming operations are responsible for polluting the air, local water tables, and rivers with their waste by-products of methane gas and manure. Judge has defended herself according to O. Kay Henderson of RadioIowa, stating that "I am proud of the support I have received from Iowa's pork industry over the years. They are citizens of Iowa and have every right to contribute to candidates and be a part of the political process."

Judge along with Blouin are closely behind trailing the poll leaders of Culver and Nussle in a Rasmussen Report poll from November, 2005. Even though Judge has little campaign funds, she does have the advantage of name recognition with the voters. Which is more than some of her fellow Democrat opponents can say.

Eight Candidates- Only One Will Prevail As Iowa's New Governor

The 2006 Iowa Governor's race has a large field of contenders all fighting to win over the most Hawkeye voters to prevail as the next Governor. The contenders looking to replace retiring Democrat Governor Tom Vilsack are comprised of six Democratic candidates and two Republican candidates. The Democrat candidates are: Mike Blouin, Chet Culver, Ed Fallon, Patty Judge, Sal Mohamed, and Vernon Weems. The Republican candidates are Jim Nussle and Bob Vander Plaats. The candidates come to the race with a wide variety of backgrounds; candidates Blouin, Culver, Fallon, Judge, Muhamed, and Nussle come to the race with either state or national political backgrounds. The other two candidates, Weems, has local political experience as a 2001 Waterloo Mayoral candidate and Vander Plaats comes from the private sector as a businessman. The some of the main issues being addressed in this race are health care, long term care initiatives for the growing senior population, and health care benefits for the children, the growing ethanol industry, abortion, and stem-cell research.

Released recently was the campaign- finance report. As reported by David Yepsen of the Des Moines Register on January 24, 2006, Nussle raised the most funds of the Republican candidates last year with a total of $2.5 million and $1.5 million remaining in his fund. For the Democratic candidates with the most funds raised last year was by Chet Culver with a total of $1.1 million and $833,000 remaining in the bank. The other candidates did not fair as well. The campaign-finance reports in recent history have been used as a gauge as to the the strongest candidates are and the race winner usually being the candidate with the largest fund.

I have selected to follow the gubernatorial campaign of the Democrat candidate Patty Judge. Judge has a long political background. She currently holds the office of the Iowa State Secretary of Agriculture, with past experience as a State Senator, a mediator, and a farmer. If elected she would be the first woman to be elected to the position. With this many contenders I believe she has a tough road ahead of her.