Clueless: Is Patty Judge Unaware that Chet is Running Campaign Ads?

If you thought that Governor Culver was clueless, wait till you read what Lt. Governor Patty Judge told the Omaha World Herald.
No timetable has been established for when — or if — Iowa Gov. Chet Culver announces a re-election campaign, Lt. Gov. Patty Judge said Wednesday.

“I am assuming he will run,” Judge said while visiting Council Bluffs. “I think everyone in Iowa would be surprised if he doesn’t run. We haven’t set a timetable yet.”

Now Patty, don’t tease me and get my hopes up that Chet could call it quits.

I think most of us assume that he is running for reelection because he is running campaign ads on TV. Speaking of the ads, Katie Koberg did a good job on her blog dismantling the ads, but I wanted to share with you my own research.

In Culver’s latest ad, it shows the words “Culver Deserves Credit,” but credit for what? I looked up the article and found that Culver deserves credit for working with Republican Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey. Read the article, it’s mostly about Northey not Culver. His ad makes it seem like that quote is about his overall handling of the 2008 floods. That’s not the case. I was a little suspicious when I noticed that the quote was from a Fort Dodge newspaper and not a publication from Cedar Rapids or Iowa City.

The ad also cites the Des Moines Register with the words “optimism and vision.” Culver’s ad is pointing to his I-Jobs proposal. The only problem is, the David Yepsen’s column that is cited is not all that complimentary of Culver’s proposal.

Yepsen writes, “There are disagreements between the governor and the Legislature on this bill, but they aren’t major. The governor wants to do road work as part of his bonding plan, but the Legislature has wisely resisted that. Culver says he wants to bond because he doesn’t want to raise the gas tax. While it’s smart not to raise taxes during a recession, it’s unwise to spend borrowed money on road work, when other needs that don’t have dedicated sources of revenue like roads are in need. Besides, with all the road construction money being pumped into the states right now, yet another injection of cash from a higher state gas tax might prove wasteful.”

I know this is embarrassing folks, but I’m only 8 seconds into Culver’s commercial.

Culver’s ad then shows the words “acted decisively” when discussing Iowa’s economic troubles. The following is the first two sentences of the article Culver’s ad cites.

“Within 24 hours of receiving a grim revenue forecast, Iowa Gov. Chet Culver has acted decisively in a way that will change Iowa forever. To be fair, Iowa was going to change forever no matter what Culver did. The state’s Revenue Estimating Conference this week forecast a $415 million drop in the taxes and fees paid by Iowans.”

Next Culver’s ad shows the words “good fiscal management.” The quote is from Standards and Poor’s. My banker looks at my cash flow and approved me for a loan so big I passed out. Just because I show the ability to pay my bills doesn’t mean I should take out a huge loan just because I can.

Finally, Culver’s ad shows a quote from CNBC that says that Iowa is the 4th best state for business. As Koberg points out in her article, US News and World Reports ranks Iowa as the 2nd worse state to start a business. Here is what they have to say about Iowa.

“It seems to have the worst impulses of its conservative and liberal tendencies–relatively low investment in the things that make entrepreneurs succeed, and high government interference. For the latter, Iowa has very high capital gains taxes and corporate income taxes, and is also one of the worst states for unemployment taxes on wages. In terms of investment, Iowa is 46th out of the states for adoption of broadband telecommunications services, and the speed of those services.”

Maybe Lt. Governor Patty Judge hasn’t seen the ads because they are too embarrassing to watch. It’s pathetic that Culver’s campaign has already resorted to taking little two word quotes from articles to help defend him from his critics. Hell, next thing you know Culver will cite this article in one of his ads.

The people who should really be embarrassed are the newspapers that he is misquoting. Seriously, defend your product people. How can you be that writer in Fort Dodge or David Yepsen and sit idly by while a sitting governor twists your words to paint an inaccurate story. YOU’RE THE NEW MEDIA FOR PETE’S SAKE.

Here is Culver’s ad.