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IowaPolitics.com: Culver gives $100K to Dem coordinated campaign at state convention
6/28/2008

By Chris Dorsey
IowaPolitics.com

DES MOINES -- Gov. Chet Culver gave the state Democratic Party convention a boost Saturday when he presented IDP Chairman Scott Brennan with a $100,000 check from his campaign committee to go to the IDP coordinated campaign's 2008 election efforts.

Culver made the presentation at Hy-Vee Hall, the site of the IDP state convention. Speaking to more than 1,000 state delegates, Culver said Iowa Democrats made history in 2006 by electing a Democratic governor and giving him Democratic majorities in the Iowa House and Senate.

To maintain those majorities and turn Iowa blue by picking Sen. Barack Obama as president, Culver said it would required money to hire staff to canvass neighborhoods and get out the vote in November.

"I want to put my money where my mouth is," Culver said. "I am glad to pitch in."

Speaking of pitching in, Culver touted the volunteer efforts many Iowans have performed in the past 34 days due to the natural disasters that have damaged many parts of the states. Two more Iowa residents were killed as a result of severe weather Friday night in Council Bluffs when a tree fell on two teenagers' vehicles, bringing the storm-related death toll to 19 in Iowa.

Culver emphasized his main priority in the coming months will be to rebuild Iowa. He called upon Iowans to do what they can to help neighbors, strangers and fellow Iowans.

"If you need help ask for it," he said. "If you can give help, give it. We can and we will meet every challenge."

He praised the resiliency of Iowans, and lawmakers who have indicated they are willing to be called into a special session to address the disasters if necessary.

"All of us are doing this in the spirit of one Iowa," he said. "Our faith is strong, but our work is not done."

Culver's predecessor also addressed the convention. There was a high level of enthusiasm in former Gov. Tom Vilsack's voice as he took the stage Saturday morning. Vilsack, the former presidential candidate, used the oratory skills he honed on the presidential trail to inspire Iowa's state delegates and send a warning to those who try to derail the Democrats' message.

"Let me warn those outside this great hall who try to divide us," he said. "Don't go there .... For those who lie and distort the truth, don't go there. We will tell the truth of the last eight years. We are on that great historic march."

With the race for the Democratic presidential nomination settled, Vilsack said the party is united.

"There are no more divisions in this party," he said. "Today we send a strong message to this country."

Iowans also sent a message to the country in January, kicking of the nomination season by delivering an upset win to Obama. Former Missouri Sen. Jean Carnahan told the state's Democratic delegates they must finish what they started on that cold winter night.

"You started something here in Iowa," Carnahan said. "You started Barack Obama in Iowa. When you start something in Iowa, you finish the job. Iowa can lead the way again. We can win back America."

Carnahan, who has made campaign appearances for Obama across the nation, spoke at the Democrats' Hall of Fame dinner Friday night, and took the stage again before lunch at the state convention. She highlighted landmark legislation passed under Democratic control such as Social Security, the G.I. Bill and other historic laws such as Medicare.

"Opportunity comes from Democrats," Carnahan said. "I don't have to defend that to anyone. I saw it happen."

The former senator and first lady of Missouri said Democrats are fortunate to have a presidential candidate who has a vision for America, and understands the hopes and dreams of its people.

She praised Obama supporters and their efforts to bring much-needed change to the counry.

"We are reshaping the electorate," Carnahan said. "We answered te call to make America whole again."

Below are some highlights from other convention speakers:

U.S Sen. Tom Harkin

Harkin emphasized he isn't taking his re-election bid for granted. His Republican challenger isn't a sitting member of Congress as he has faced in the past, but a Cedar Rapids businessman.

"I have a healthy respect for anyone who wins a primary," Harkin said of Republican Christoper Reed. "They aren't going to roll over. They will come after me with everything they've got."

He added he also knows Republicans will also throw financial resources into the Senate race.

Harkin touted Democrats' accomplishments in 2006, but emphasized the best is yet to come as he predicted Democrats would capture all five of Iowa's congressional seats and build upon majorities in the Iowa House and Senate.

"I can tell you this is our year," Harkin said. "Iowans are organized, mobilized and energized like ever before. We had a good year in 2006. Friends, hold on tight, you haven't seen anything yet. This year will be better than two years ago."

There is a Democratic wind blowing across the nation and in Iowa, Harkin said. It is similar to 1974 after the Watergate scandal, Harkin said, when Democrats captured all but one congressional seat in Iowa and gained 49 seats nationally in the U.S. House.

With that momentum, Harkin said Iowa will break a jinx in this state that makes it only one of two states that has never elected a woman to Congress. Mississippi is the other state.

"(Fourth District candidate) Becky Greenwald is going to break that jinx, and be the first woman elected to Congress," Harkin said.

And achieving victory in the strongly conservative Fifth District is attainable, Harkin said. Harkin reminded state delegates in 1974 Democrat Berkley Bedell was elected in the northern half of what is now the Fifth District, and Harkin won his first term to Congress in the southern half of the district. The two men held those seats for 10 years.

Harkin, who endorsed Sen. Barack Obama earlier this month, stressed the importance of electing the Democratic presumptive nominee. If change is something Iowans and Americans want, then it is time to change the party that currently holds the White House, he said.

"Yes, we can," Harkin said of electing Obama. "I have one more thing to say about electing Barack Obama president: yes we must. John McCain is more of the same. It is hard to say you are a maverick when you vote with George Bush 95 percent of the time."

Attorney General Tom Miller

Obama's caucus win ended Sen. Hillary Clinton's aura of inevitability, and the Illinois lawmaker is en route to make history in November, Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller said.

Miller served as one of Obama's state co-chairs during the caucus season. Miller and state Treasurer Mike Fitzgerald were the first state officials to endorse Obama early in 2007. Miller praised his candidate and said he is on his way of achieving the nation's highest office.

"I truly believe he has a rendeveous with destiny," Miller said. "This is a year of great potential for us."

Miller added Obama has the ability to excite the electorate and make the Democrats the majority party for many years to come.

U.S. Rep. Leonard Boswell, state Senate President Jack Kibbie

Congressman Leonard Boswell, D-Des Moines, shared the same sentiments and noted under a Democrat-controlled Congress and an Obama presidency would result in ending the war in Iraq. Boswell added a Democratic trifecta in Washington, D.C. would result in a new G.I. Bill for Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans and the creation of more unionized jobs.

"A new day is coming," Boswell said.

Iowa state Senate President Jack Kibbie brought the new excitement surrounding th party to a state level. He discussed the possibility of gaining more seats in the Iowa House and Senate giving Democrats a super-majority in both chambers.

"We are on the move," said Kibbie, D-Emmetsburg.


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