Iowa House and Senate Democrats voted this week to stick with their leaders, despite losses in the 2010 election.

Representative Kevin McCarthy (D-Des Moines) was re-elected the leader of House Democrats but will now serve as the minority leader instead of the majority leader. He said the caucus saw its losses in the 2010 election as part of a nationwide setback for Democrats, and did not blame individual decisions made by legislative leaders here.

"There was not a lot we could do in this campaign environment to stop that trend," McCarthy said. "Some serious setbacks were dealt to Democrats nationally, really pretty epic in scope in what occurred around the country. We are very united as a caucus and hopeful and optimistic about the future because when you have setbacks politically like occurred recently in the election, the opportunity for moving the ball down the field for future success is much, much greater."

Republican Party of Iowa Chair Matt Strawn attributed this week's big Republican wins at the statewide, legislative, and county levels to the party's focusing on independent voters - just like President Barack Obama did with his win in 2008 - and a clear, consistent message.

"We did it with unprecedented coordination, and we did it by targeting independent voters," Strawn said two days after the election in which Republicans wrested control of the governor's office and the Iowa House from Democrats. "One thing that we had learned in the past is Republicans spend a lot of time talking to Republican voters, but they hadn't reached out to independent voters in this state."

Strawn said that's what the Obama campaign did very effectively in 2008. So Republicans began identifying and targeting those independent voters in fall 2009, finding out what issues they cared about.

Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell told Iowa Democratic Party faithful Saturday night that he'd rather lose fighting for something he believes in than win standing for nothing - but he doesn't believe Governor Chet Culver will lose to former Governor Terry Branstad on November 2.

"For a moment, don't worry about the other guy," Rendell said. "An incumbent deserves to be re-elected if he's done a good job. Chet Culver has done a very good job."

Rendell also said Culver and other Democrats should stand up and talk about their accomplishments more clearly with voters, but also be honest about the tough times many Iowans and Americans are facing.

"We've got to continue reminding voters, 'Hey, you may be disappointed in the way things are going in the country; you may be disappointed in the president.' In Pennsylvania, they may be disappointed in some of the things I've done. But it's not a referendum; it's a choice," Rendell said.

Trailing in the polls and with time running out before Election Day, Governor Chet Culver on Thursday came out gunning for rival Terry Branstad in their second debate, repeatedly stating that Branstad raised taxes on multiple occasions during his previous tenure as governor and broke promises to Iowans when it came to job-creation and other policy initiatives.

"Terry Branstad has broken his promises to Iowans since he was governor back in 1983," Culver said. "Branstad has been a serial promise-maker and a habitual promise-breaker when it comes to jobs."

Branstad has promised to add 200,000 jobs to the state over the next five years if he is elected. Culver argued this was an empty promise, much like earlier job-creation promises that weren't fulfilled during Branstad's tenure as governor. Meanwhile, Branstad claimed the 200,000 figure to be an "ambitious goal" that could be accomplished.

For his part, Republican Branstad criticized Democrat Culver multiple times on spending and his handling of the state budget, noting the one-year anniversary of Culver's decision to cut the state budget 10 percent to account for a budget shortfall. Branstad said the cuts were the result of Culver signing a too-large budget in the midst of a recession.