Quad City Times, IA
06-08-06
Big names don’t deliver big wins in Iowa Primary election
By Todd Dorman
DES MOINES — Big-name endorsements may sell sodas and cell phone plans
but they weren’t much help for Iowa politicians on primary election night.
In statewide primaries for governor and secretary of agriculture, the candidates
with a golden list of backers ended up getting silver medals from voters.
Democratic candidate for governor Mike Blouin — boasting endorsements from
62 state lawmakers, several top legislative leaders, Attorney General Tom Miller
and numerous labor unions — lost to Secretary of State Chet Culver. Blouin also
touted his close ties to Gov. Tom Vilsack.
Rep. Ed Fallon, a Democratic hopeful whose campaign received no major
endorsements, finished third but drew stronger than expected support.
“They keep saying that politics is all about big money and big name
endorsements. I believe it’s about big ideas,” Fallon said.
Vilsack endorsed former aide Dusky Terry in his race for the Democratic
secretary of agriculture nomination. But Terry, who also was backed by
legislative leaders and unions, lost to Denise O’Brien.
“That was his community,” O’Brien said. “My community is the grass-roots
farmers and urban people involved in food and agricultural issues. That doesn’t
include a lot of big names.”
Vilsack rejected the notion that his prestige was tarnished on election night.
“This was a very good, hard campaign,” he said Tuesday night. “The Democratic
Party doesn’t coronate, it makes its candidates work, and it makes them better
candidates.”
Republicans picked Bill Northey in the secretary of agriculture primary even
though his opponent, Mark Leonard, gained endorsements from the likes of
former GOP presidential hopeful Steve Forbes and former Iowa governors
Robert Ray and Terry Branstad.
Dianne Bystrom, chair of the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Woman and
Politics at Iowa State University, said research shows that endorsements have
limited value for candidates.
She said big-name backing can have an impact on voters who know little else
about the campaign or the candidates. The more voters are informed, however,
the less impact endorsements have.
Bystrom said it’s often more important for voters to know who friends and
neighbors support than who the governor or attorney general endorse.
Sometimes an endorsement can backfire if a voter has a negative impression of
the organization or individual backing the candidate.
“It can cut both ways,” Bystrom said.
For Culver, having a well-known brand name may have helped. He’s the son of
former U.S. Sen. John Culver, who remains a popular figure among Iowa
Democrats.
“I’m very proud of him,” John Culver said.
In party primaries, losing the endorsement game means having to switch
allegiances on a dime. On Tuesday night, the same legislative leaders who
backed Blouin stood on stage with Culver.
“This party’s united,” said House Minority Leader Pat Murphy, D-Dubuque.
(Reporters Charlotte Eby and Dan Gearino contributed to this story.)
Todd Dorman can be contacted at (515) 243-0138 or at todd.dorman@lee.net.