A New Low in Iowa Politics: Republicans Cook The Books



Blog for
Iowa has obtained a copy of a memorandum that was sent out to
Democratic Senators and Candidates by Senate Democratic Leader Mike
Gronstal.  It has to do with a Republican misinformation campaign,
an attempt to skew facts about the Iowa election of 2002.



MEMORANDUM



To:        Democratic Senators and Candidates

From:     Senate Democratic Leader Mike Gronstal

Date:     June 23, 2004

Re:        A new low in Iowa politics



It has
come to my attention that a legislative candidates’ “biographical book”
being distributed by the Iowa Republican Party contains several factual
errors.  The bottom line is that results from previous elections
contained in this official briefing book are skewed to make it appear
that several key districts are more competitive than they are.



Because
of the quality of our candidates and the hard work that many of you are
doing across the state in our effort to regain control of the Iowa
Senate this November, Republicans have stooped to not telling the truth
by “cooking the numbers.” Here are just a few examples:



The Republicans’ “cooked numbers”

                        

SD 8      Vilsack loses with 46.6% in 2002    

SD 10    Vilsack loses with 47.3% in 2002

SD 38    Vilsack loses with 47.5% in 2002

SD 12    Vilsack wins with 53.0% in 2002    

SD 4      Vilsack wins with 53.4% in 2002    

SD 22    Vilsack wins with 53.5% in 2002

SD 48    Vilsack wins with 50.5%in 2002



The Real Truth



(Source: Secretary of State’s website)



SD 8      Vilsack actually wins with 53.1%

SD 10    Vilsack actually wins with 51.4%

SD 38    Vilsack actually wins with 49.3%

SD 12    Vilsack actually wins with 55.9%

SD 4      Vilsack actually wins with 54.2%

SD 22    Vilsack actually wins with 54.5%

SD 48    Vilsack actually wins with 51.9%

 

You can
see in black and white what we’ve known for a long time: Republicans
are desperate to hang onto the Iowa Senate.  We all know that many
State Senate races are won by just 1 or 2 percentage points. That’s why
these inaccurate numbers are so significant.



Here’s why the Republicans are “cooking their books”:



1) 
They can pass this information off to donors in an attempt to raise
money in races that donors may not be interested in based on the
results.


2)  They are lying to their own candidates to boost morale.


3)  The “cooked” election figures will make it easier to “spin” the news media.



The good news is that we have the best candidates, the issues, and, yes, the real numbers on our side.



Let’s keep working toward victory in November!