Des Moines Register
02/23/06
Conservatives hail Nussle's choice for ticket
THOMAS BEAUMONT
REGISTER STAFF WRITER
Republican Bob Vander Plaats' decision to abandon his bid for governor to run
with Jim Nussle was a shock to many party activists.
But as the one-time rivals from opposite ends of the state shook hands in Des
Moines on Wednesday, Republicans rejoiced that there would be no party
wounds to mend after the June primary.
"It was a huge surprise. It took me a good 24 hours, but I now believe they have
united the Republican Party in Iowa," said De Byerly , a Mason City Republican
and top adviser to Vander Plaats. "The ultraconservative wing of the Republican
Party is very happy, because we have two men with the same beliefs on the
ticket."
Nussle, an eight-term congressman from Manchester, became the first
presumptive GOP nominee to select a man as a running mate since candidates
for governor and lieutenant governor began running as a ticket in 1990.
In 2002, Republican nominee Doug Gross chose Sioux City economic
development executive Debi Durham. Four years earlier, U.S. Rep. Jim Ross
Lightfoot picked Almo Hawkins, then-director of the Department of Human
Services. Both tickets lost.
In 1990, Gov. Terry Branstad ran with state Sen. Joy Corning of Cedar Falls.
They won re-election in 1994.
Nussle said he expected voters to choose a ticket based on qualifications, not
gender.
"I don't think anyone should pick a candidate for any office based solely on
gender. That would be, I believe, a mistake," Nussle told reporters after his
appearance with Vander Plaats in Des Moines.
The union of Nussle and Vander Plaats wasn't enough to move Rene Corell, a
Callender homemaker and political independent, into Nussle's column.
"It sounds like a good strategy on their part, but I guess I'm not really passionate
about them," said Corell, 46.
Vander Plaats said he had decided to end his second bid for governor out of
loyalty to the party. The 42-year-old business consultant, who also ran in 2002,
had run a spirited campaign but raised notably less money than Nussle last year
and had been urged by party higher-ups to quit.
Republicans "want unity, unity that brings people together, unity that brings
together with the west, unity that brings political experience together with private
sector experience," Vander Plaats told roughly 300 party activists at the Embassy
Suites hotel.
The move helps Nussle, who represents eastern Iowa, in Republican-heavy
western Iowa, where he is not as well known. The region took on new political
significance in 2004 for Republicans when heavy turnout by conservatives there
helped make President Bush the first GOP presidential candidate to carry Iowa in
20 years.
Although Iowa has never elected a woman as governor or to Congress, the state
has had a female lieutenant governor since 1987, longer than any other state.
Democrat Sally Pederson has served under Gov. Tom Vilsack since 1999.
Vilsack is not seeking a third term this year, and Pederson is not seeking the
nomination.
Dianne Bystrom, a political science professor at Iowa State University, said
Nussle's decision makes sense in terms of geographic balance and cutting short
the primary, but the lack of gender balance could pose a problem if he faces a
Democratic nominee with a female running mate.
"If Democrats make it an issue, they have have the potential of attracting
moderate Republican women, but also - and probably more importantly moderate, independent women," said Bystrom, director of the Carrie
Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics.