Posted on June 16, 2010 by Tim Albrecht in News Clips, On the Blogs, Press Room
The Iowa Republican – Iowa GOP confident and professional
Over 150 people gathered in Ames at Congressman Tom Latham’s campaign headquarters on Tuesday afternoon to welcome four of the six Republican candidates running for statewide executive office.
It was the final stop on the kickoff leg of what will be a multi-county, summer-long “Iowa’s Comeback” tour.
Topping the list of candidates is gubernatorial nominee Terry Branstad. “This is our year,” he said emphatically. “November will bring a great victory for our party and a return to sound and responsible government for our state.”
The four-term former governor was visibly energized as he appeared with newly minted Secretary of State nominee Matt Schulz, State Treasurer nominee Dave Jamison, and Attorney General nominee Brenna Findley. State Auditor David Vaudt and Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey could not attend the event.
In his seven minute speech, Branstad only briefly mentioned his own race against Democratic incumbent Chet Culver. Most of his remarks were about the possibility of a complete Republican takeover of state government.
“I am so proud of this great team of candidates that I get to run with,” he said. “I can honestly say that since I entered politics over thirty years ago, we have never had a stronger team of Republican candidates than we do right now.”
On taking back the legislature, Branstad was cautious but optimistic. “We need seven seats to take back the House, and eight seats to take back the Senate. The Senate will be more difficult, but of the 25 seats up for election, 19 of them are held by Democrats.”
“And this year,” he added. “so many people are upset about what the Democrats are doing, both on the federal and state level, that we might have a chance to take [the Senate] back.”
The 63-year old veteran was in full campaign mode. Animated in his gestures, passionate in his delivery, and unflinching in his predictions of victory in November.
“I have an 11-0 record in my campaigns for public office. I have won in bad years for Republicans, like 1982 and 1986. And I have won in good years for Republicans, like 1990 and 1994. But I have never seen a year like 2010. I have no doubt that we will win in November, and win big.”
The audience, which responded enthusiastically, was notably younger than the usual graying audiences that one might expect to see at a weekday afternoon event. The standing room only crowd included many young professionals in suits, a surprising amount of college students, and even a number of homeschooling families, complete with children in tow.
“This was a great event,” said Felix Knutson, a homeschooled 16-year-old from Hubbard. “I’m glad I came down here for this. I did not know that Branstad had so much fire.”
