Culver on “Iowa Press” this weekend

Governor Chet Culver is the guest on this weekend’s edition of “Iowa Press.”  It’ll air tonight at 7:30 on IPTV. 

Culver began by wishing people a “Happy New Year.”

First question out of the box:  when will Culver officially announce his reelection bid?  “Are you going to do it this morning?” Iowa Press moderator Dean Borg asked.

“No, I’m not going to do it this morning,” Culver said. “I’m focused on governing, on getting things done to keep moving this great state forward but I am excited about the fact that 2010 is an election year and I’ll have a lot more to say about that, perhaps on a different show.”

Next question was about campaign fundraising and Culver said he was “very satisfied” with what he described as an “outpouring of support.” 

Culver rather quickly, though, described the race ahead: “Look, this is a very competitive state. I’ve always taken my campaigns very, very seriously.  I’ve always expected tough battles for every office that I’ve run for and I like to campaign.  I enjoy the opportunity to get out and talk to the voters, but right now I am focusing nearly 100 percent of my time on governing, on getting things done this legislative session and moving this state forward.”

As for Branstad: “I welcome him to the race, I really do, and we’ll see what happens on the other side.  There’s a long way to go in that very competitive primary and we’ll know in June who the Republican nominee will be.”

Culver addressed the idea that he’s a “vulnerable” incumbent:  “I think the fact of the matter is no incumbent in America right now for any office is probably very well liked.  We saw that with the city elections across this state in November, but this is not a popularity contest.  This is about making tough decisions, making good decisions under very difficult circumstances.”

Mike Glover of the AP asked: “Are you worried about an anti-incumbent mood?”

Culver replied: “Yeah, you know, I’m not.  I just have to tell the people of Iowa exactly what I’ve done and why I’ve done it and, most importantly, where I want to go.”

If you watched last week’s show featuring Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal (D-Council Bluffs) you may have noticed the moment at the show’s beginning when moderator Borg introduces Gronstal as “Governor Gronstal” rather than “Senator Gronstal.”  

This week’s show had a similar moment when, at the end of the program as time was winding down, Borg sort of recast the first question of the show, asking Culver if he would officially announce that he’s running for reelection “by April.” 

Governor Chet Culver said: “I will announce at the most appropriate time.  My number one priority right now is having a successful session and I’m anxious and excited about November of 2008, but I’ve got a lot of work to do in the meantime.” 

Perhaps he’s got to build a time machine.  That would take a lot of work.