Larson to the Dark Side?

Thursday, May 28, 2009, 8:32
Krusty Konservative
9,419 views
16 comments

larsonculver There has been a throw down of sorts over who the Iowa Department of Economic Development (IDED) selected to market the state. IDED selected Burson-Marsteller, one of the world’s largest and most expensive PR firms. The CEO of Burson-Marsteller is Mark Penn, Hillary Clinton’s chief strategist during her presidential campaign.

Burson-Marsteller got the $3 million dollar deal with IDED because of its affiliation with a Des Moines based firm lead by Chuck Larson, Jr.. Larson is a former legislator, U.S. Ambassador, and is partners with Karen Slifka, another GOP operative, and Joe Shannahan, a Democrat operative. Larson is slated to be the general strategist the PR IDED. Iowa based Integer Group will still handle the tourism PR work.

The news that Houston-based Burson-Marsteller had been selected created a strong response from some Iowa Republicans. “The idea that a department tasked with growing Iowa’s economy would outsource their public relations efforts is ludicrous,” said Tim Albrecht of the American Future Fund. Albrecht also runs a traditional news aggregator called www.thebeanwalker.com.

Eric Woolson, who owns a Des Moines based PR firm and is also the communications guru for Bob Vander Plaats said, “It’s disappointing that the governor’s office and the DED would go out of state when there are tremendous resources here in Iowa. My sense is they will pay more and probably not get the kind of attention they would get from an Iowa firm that is going to be front and center every day.”

Once again, I think people are missing the bigger story here. Do I wish that IDED would have given that $3 million to an Iowa company instead of a huge firm that will take the majority of it, but pass out a few bucks to the Iowa firm that helped them secure the account? Absolutely. But why isn’t ANYONE talking about the fact that both Chuck Larson and Karen Slifka are basically now working for Chet Culver?

This is a brilliant move by Culver if you ask me. He just took Larson, who many people considered to be the one remaining big brand name that Iowa Republicans still have, and put him on the state payroll. You guys know how loyalty works; you are loyal to the person who signs your paycheck.

I imagine that whoever our gubernatorial nominee end up being will probably attack Culver’s record on economic development. You know attacks like, “Chet Culver gives millions of dollars to companies like Google, IBM, and Microsoft, and expects Iowa’s small business owners to pay the tab.” I’ll bet dollars to doughnuts that our friend, Chuck Larson Jr., will be summoned by Culver to go defend IDED against the vicious, untrue attacks from the Republicans.

I guess we now know that the reason Larson ruled out a run for Governor was not because of his young family, but because he was trying to get a big government paycheck. And we wonder why Republicans aren’t worth a crap in this state. We can’t get out of our own way.

Tags: Chet Culver, Chuck Larson

About the Author

Krusty Konservative has written 224 stories on this site.

Herschel Krustofski is the pseudonym for the anonymous author of Krusty Konservative, a blog which focuses on Iowa Politics. Created in February of 2006, Krusty Konservative is the undisputed heavyweight champion of the Iowa blogosphere. Since its conception, Krusty Konservative has never shied from tackling controversial issues, and providing insight to the inner workings of Republican politics in Iowa.

16 Comments on “Larson to the Dark Side?”

Al Swearengen wrote on 28 May, 2009, 11:10
Culver sure looks and acts like a fat, dumb, idiot but this impresses me. He’s not as dumb as I thought. As for Chuck…that’s another story.
Polk County Republican wrote on 28 May, 2009, 12:09
And to add insult to injury, not only will Larson be defending Culver, but he’ll also be defending the actions of Culver’s and the IDP’s contributors that sit on the IDED board and decide how the money is spent.
Moderation in Everything wrote on 28 May, 2009, 12:22
Kudos to Chuck. A great guy to have in government regardless who is at the helm.
Al Swearengen wrote on 28 May, 2009, 12:26
Moderation are you even a damn Republican? If you are you are a moron. If you are a democrat, I congratulate you and Chet. I never thought I would say Chet Culver’s smarts impressed me.
Moderation in Everything wrote on 28 May, 2009, 12:33
Al the Vulgarian: I know Chuck Larson personally and think the world of him. He is a true conservative. That does NOT disqualify him for the IDED position. We need more Chucks in government.
Al Swearengen wrote on 28 May, 2009, 12:40
You are moron. Chuck is not a Republican leader. He is a money hungry consultant that is willing to go to work for Chet Culver. Good for Chet. Bad for Chuck. Embarassing for the rest of us. Would Jeff Link go work for Chuck Grassley? Would Matt Paul go shine shoes for Steve King? No, even they have principals.
Moderation in Everything wrote on 28 May, 2009, 12:45
Al the Grammarian: Wrong analysis. Chuck is a good citizen driven by a sense of duty. He appeals to conservatives and liberals. He will be a wonderful ambassador for the state.
Trixie wrote on 28 May, 2009, 13:46
Not every whore likes the trick they turn…but a trick is a trick. Right?
JB Johnson wrote on 28 May, 2009, 14:02
I’m just glad we have the net to see all this. Do you think the DSM Reg would tell us this?
Dave Hanson wrote on 28 May, 2009, 15:26
Culver surely didn’t think of this move on his own, Krusty, so we needn’t give him all the credit. I fully agree with you on the politics. No doubt this move to co-opt Chuck Larson and Karen Slifka would appeal to Democrat hacks worried about the 2010 survivability of their bread and butter (Chet). He has many cunning advisors of the Axelrod/Emanuel stripe. As one of that ilk once observed, in a different context (and speaking Cajun): “Draag a hundded dollah bill throo-a traylah pahk, yew nevvah noh whatchew faihnd!” In this case, Republicans whose ‘consulting’ business runs short of income during an economic depression.

Chuck’s personal business decisions pose no political problem for us. In fact, he does us a favor by taking the Democrats’ shilling. (Pardon the pun!) Chuck steps out of the candidacy picture frame, thereby clearing the field and reducing potential confusion. Surely Bob Vander Plaats immediately thought of the strategic benefits Chuck’s new tie to Culver bestows upon Bob. But Bob’s too polite, and too shrewd, to note them publicly and thereby create a needless personal rift. That Eric Woolson said what he said shows Bob’s determination to go after Culver, not waste gunpowder on fellow Republicans.

I’m sure Bob will happily allow Chuck the same DED deal, as the Vander Plaats administration commences in 2011! –Or maybe not, since by then we’ll have to cut the state budget by a billion bucks, potentially leading to cremation and/or burial of the DED. (Along with lots of other bureaucracy, we can hope and pray… =)
DeanFox wrote on 28 May, 2009, 16:55
This is a somewhat silly article. Larson’s firm is a business not a political arm of the Republican Party.

I have to work for and with people and organizations I do not always agree with 100%. My only rule is that they not be engaged in things I consider immoral or illegal.
Moderation in Everything wrote on 28 May, 2009, 17:04
Dean: I agree. The authors that regularly show up on the TIR are extremists who have a Manichean world view of us vs. them. How anyone could portray this proud patriot as a turncoat is beyond me. He is and continues to be great Republican and conservative. The State will be well served by Chuck in his new position. No wonder the once proud Party is in a nosedive. We are like guppies. We eat our own.
Altoona Guy wrote on 28 May, 2009, 17:27
Imagine that coming out of you MIE? … But sufice to say, I do agree with you about Larson. In spite of the fact that I have such an intense dislike of Doug Gross, I do like Larson a lot and I am sure he will do a fine job with the DED reguardless of who the Governor is.
Al Swearengen wrote on 28 May, 2009, 21:42
So your tax dollars around going to funnel $250,000 a month to the bowel movement company. How much of a rake does Gov. Culvers chief strategist get…Chairman Chuck? This is a rape job of all you gullible taxpayers. How many worthless state employees could do this job we are paying the Bowel Movement company…well, 60 afscme members @ $50k a year I guess. This is pathetic.
DeanFox wrote on 29 May, 2009, 23:10
Al,

I am guessing you think that is a clever substitution but it is really an example of why you should not try this at home.

Worthless state employees cannot do what a good PR firm can do. If they could sir, they would not be worthless state employees. The question of whether or not this could be done for less and by someone who is 100% in Iowa is a different question but there is no question that no state agencies knows how to do PR.

If they did Iowa would not always be trying to push our gambling as a big tourist draw.
Brian Griffin wrote on 10 July, 2009, 8:20
DeanFox, I agree about your assesment of worthless state emplyess versus a good pr firm, but the issue here I think is the Benedict Arnold play by a GOP firm selling out because their efforts left us with a minority party. Remember each of that firm’s partners; Larson, Slifka etc. were paid 10k per month by Mccain and then were shitcanned. Sooo they are both turncoats and a worthless pr firm. Right? At least that is my take. Anyways, I have to take myself for a walk and if nobody is looking apply my lipstick. hehehehee…