In Praise of Partisanship, or: Does an Iowa Governor Debate Matter?

In Praise of Partisanship, or: Does an Iowa Governor Debate Matter?

The Overrated One touches on the periphery of the two dominant memes in the campaign, but he dances around the real buzzwords:

Iowans don't want a stumblebum in the governorship, nor do they want someone who is a smart aleck. Each candidate has made noteworthy flubs in his campaign, mistakes that have underscored these criticisms.

Or: Chet Not Dumb vs. Nussle Hustle.

Yepsen thinks governor debates are really really important and has a definite idea about how they should be conducted:

As they do those preparations this week, each candidate has a fundamental choice to make about what he wants to do on stage: Does he work to "whip up his base"? Or does he appeal to the 12 percent of the voters who are undecided?

The 12 percent who can't decide between Culver and Nussle aren't the Mythical Pure Independents that pundits so love and want us all to be. Reality is, the undecided are the least informed and least likely to vote. But Yepsen keeps dreaming:

Let's have a civil discussion of the real issues most Iowans believe face the state, questions about jobs, education, health care or the environment. Most people are already tired of the negativity of this campaign and its focus on hot-button issues such as abortion.

ROTFL.

Undecideds aren't "studying the candidates and the issues." That's what undecided are taught to say when the real answer is "I have no clue."

Old joke:
What's worse: voter ignorance or voter apathy?
"I don't know and I don't care."

No one watches debates - even presidential debates - except committed partisans. The only things that matters in the debate is which headline the Register runs and which lines Mike Glover puts on the wire. Maybe - MAYBE - the undecided will notice those.

What the hell is wrong with being a partisan anyway? It's a lot more consistent than marking the same ballot simultaneously for John Kerry and Chuck Grassley, who probably would vote on opposite sides on a resolution saying "puppies are cute."

I voted on the first day of early voting in 2004. Someone asked me "how can you decide so early?" I replied without missing a beat "how can you NOT?"

The world has changed and bipartisanship-nonpartisanship is dead, making the Jim Leachs and Leonard Boswells obsolete. 2006 is about get out the vote, not about persuasion. It's not about that other mantra of the Mythical Undecided: "I vote the person not the party." It's ALL about the party - about the committee chairs, about setting the agenda. And about the pen - what gets signed, what gets vetoed.

The biggest vote a legislator takes in control: Pelosi vs. Hastert. Pat Murphy vs. Christopher Rants. Which is why despite similar scores from the interest groups Boswell should be re-elected (one LAST time) and Leach should not. And I'd rather have Chet Culver signing what Mike Gronstal passes than have Jim Nussle vetoing it.