Dressed in a pink shirt and red tie, the
self-term-limited Governor gave the best speech, doled out a half-milliondollar
check to Chet Culver, and summoned party activists to his holding room all day
long to persuade and cajole them into backing his nascent presidential
run. 

As ”You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet”
faded out, Vilsack told the crowd of 700, “I’m Tom Vilsack and I’m proud to be
a Democrat.” He ran through a list of Jim “Nussle’s hustles,” from dressing up
in a firefighter’s uniform while cutting funds for fire protection, to
expressing moral outrage about the CIETC scandal but none about DeLay, Libby,
or Duke Cunningham.  His practiced blend
of conviction and optimism was, well, gubernatorial, if not presidential. 

In the carefully orchestrated small group
meetings, Vilsack described (with his wife occasionally joining in) his success
in “changing the landscape of Iowa.”
He took credit for achieving a comprehensive health care program, suggesting
that the accomplishment was overlooked because he did it piece by piece. He
boasted of improved air quality and water monitoring, with 10% of Iowa’s energy now
provided by wind. 388 companies have been helped by the Dept. of Economic
Development, said the landscape artist, with a net gain of 4800 jobs. “We’ve
got a great story to tell, and people around the country are responding to
it.” 

The most frequently used word in the
Governor’s printed hand-out of the day was “tomorrow,” as in “challenges of
tomorrow,’” “continues to prosper tomorrow,” “healthier families tomorrow,” and
“resources to prosper tomorrow.”

Meanwhile, Patty Judge took the stage to the sound of “I was Born in a Small Town.”
The crowd loved her feisty vow to fight back when Nussle begins to slash and
burn — except for one man in the Scott
County delegation who
rose and stood with his back to the stage as she spoke. He remained standing,
facing the rear of the hall, during Culver’s speech as well, in protest of the
ticket’s stand on civil unions. Aides to Culver claim that he supports all the
rights for gays and lesbians that civil unions bring; he just hasn’t gotten his
mind around the legal arrangement that would encompass those rights for
thousands of Iowans and their children. Curiously, no one yelled ‘Down in
front!’ or even seemed to care.

Culver
was treated respectfully if not enthusiastically by the crowd (in contrast to
wild cheers for Ed Fallon earlier). His support of stem cell research evoked
the greatest applause.  Response was more
restrained for his announced desire to make Iowa
the Silicon Valley of the Midwest. 

Culver and Judge are tough campaigners who
crafted a smart rural strategy, allowing them to win decisively while doing
poorly in the traditionally must-win counties of Polk, Story, and Johnson (they
did poorly in Dubuque
County, too, but weren’t
expected to make a dent in Blouin’s home turf).   Fallon proved formidable, winning 8 counties
and finishing  second in 25, without the
benefit of a single  statewide TV ad. He
could be a key player in helping where Culver is weakest. 

Culver’s limitations as a candidate are
obvious (although one onlooker gushed, “He’s a great candidate forTV”). To win,
Culver will need Fallon voters, the ability to speak without a script, a plan
for higher education funding that can’t be outflanked by Nussle, and the skill
to force the House Budget Committee Chair to defend the pitiful condition of America’s
finances. 

Culver and Vilsack have proven
their political shrewdness. As each seeks a higher prize, they'll have plenty
of opportunities to show true leadership based on genuine Democratic
principles. 

Prairie progressives will be
watching carefully.