Terry Branstad: A Tough-Sell for Authentic Conservatives?

By Bryan English

Taken from an article entitled: “A Coronation or a Legacy in Jeopardy?”

[Recently], former Governor Terry Branstad filed papers to run for an unprecedented 5th term as Iowa’s governor. While there has been little doubt that Branstad would enter the GOP gubernatorial primary field, the real lingering question is, “Why?” Could it be that the current Branstad campaign represents the last gasps of a political establishment that has lost its grip on the grassroots and lost touch with reality?

If his perspective is so unique, isn’t there anyone younger than Branstad within the Republican Party who sees the world like he does? Isn’t 16 years long enough to be governor? What is it about the current political environment that would cause the political establishment to bring a long retired governor out of mothballs?

As the spring of 2009 turned into summer, and the impact of the Iowa Supreme Court’s April 3 homosexual “marriage” opinion began to help define the GOP primary field, some of the establishment powerbrokers began to get nervous. While most polls continue to reveal that between 60 and 70% of Iowans want to vote on the definition of marriage as only between one man and one woman, many political consultants and partisan insiders want to either downplay or completely ignore the issue. There seems to be an organized effort to move away from the Biblical and moral underpinnings that helped establish our nation and our state.

Somehow they missed the fact that it is the marriage issue, that helped propel Bob Vander Plaats into the “front runner” position among 2010 GOP gubernatorial candidates. Likewise, it was a masterful navigation of the legislative process, the use of House rules to force a vote on the Iowa Marriage Amendment, and his passionate speech on marriage during the debate that breathed new life into the political career of Rep. Christopher Rants. Now, Rants is widely considered a serious contender to win the primary. Other candidates, like Rep. Rod Roberts, received instant credibility when they entered the race, in part, because of their consistent and long term support for real marriage. Cedar Rapids businessman Christian Fong, and Senator Jerry Behn have also recognized and begun to address marriage as an important issue in their run for governor. In addition, Fong, Rants, Roberts, and Vanderplaats, all commmented on marriage when they spoke at the 2009 IFPC Gubernatorial Forum in September.

As Iowa voters look ahead to the type of Governor they want after the 2010 election, many are saying that it is well past time to reaffirm the constitutional separation of powers and elect someone who is willing to confront the court. Even the polls designed to encourage Branstad to run indicated that the majority of Iowans want to pass the Iowa Marriage Amendment, and the majority of GOP voters want their next Governor to confront the court by issuing an executive order staying the court’s opinion.

Just this past weekend, Constitutional expert and respected historian, David Barton of WallBuilders was in Des Moines. During his remarks, Barton clearly explained that the courts do not have the final say, and that there are examples of executives confronting the court through executive orders.

Click to watch video part 1: Historian Explains Separation of Powers

Click to watch video part 2: Historian Explains Separation of Powers

So, as public opinion continues to coalesce around the concept of a constitutional confrontation with the court, and specifically the need for an executive to put the court back in its place, we return to the question at hand: Why is Terry running? Does he have the personal and political will to take decisive action on the definitive societal issue of his time? Or could his candidacy be an attempt to shift attention away from what has become a defining issue in the Republican primary?

One of the benefits of having served for 16 years already, is that Terry Branstad has a record. The first time Terry Branstad ran for Governor, I was 9 years old. I now have children who are older than I was the first time he ran. What is it that a Branstad candidacy brings to the table that we were somehow lacking in the field that had already announced?

It is widely known that during the Branstad years, the size of government more than doubled. He gave a statewide platform to pro-infanticide Lieutenant Governor Joy Corning. Branstad brought gambling to the state. He was governor at the tail end of Iowa’s golden years as a leader in education, and then earned the endorsement of the ISEA after he made a “180 degree” flip concerning education in Iowa. He was governor when Iowa began allowing homosexual couples to adopt, and appointed two of the justices who created homosexual “marriage.”

It is hard to imagine how the man Des Moines Register columnist David Yepsen once called “one of the best liberal governors this state has ever had” is now going to somehow become the champion of confrontation with the court, conservative values, or Biblical principles as applied to public policy. In addition to his record, Branstad has found it hard to downplay his association with Des Moines lawyer Doug Gross who has been on a bit of a crusade to purge “social issues” from their place of prominence within the Republican Party.

If Branstad wants to compete for his party’s base and the grassroots activists, he is going to have to take decisive action almost immediately to show that he is a different politician than the one who rode off into the sunset in January of 1999. He must present a plan for restoring the constitutional separation of powers. He is going to have to not only go on record with a commitment to issue an executive order staying the opinion of the court, he is going to have to spell out his plan to use the office of Governor to force the Legislature to “Let Us Vote” on the Iowa Marriage Amendment.

Today Terry Branstad entered a political arena that is much different than the one he left. Platitudes and political posturing is no longer sufficient. People want genuine statesmen to take the lead on the difficult issues we face. If Branstad is willing to illustrate that he understands the dynamics of the current political and policy debates, and convince the electorate that his heart is committed to doing what’s right, he could well be on his way to a coronation in June of next year. If, however, his candidacy is an attempt to distract from the issues that drive a large segment of his party’s base, if his campaign is a call to fondly remember his past performance, and if there is any hint that he will compromise on key issues in the future like he did in the past, he could in fact be placing his political legacy in jeopardy.