Former Republican presidential candidate Steve Forbes says he will not run for president in 2012, saying he's now an "agitator" and will "leave the exercising to others."

Forbes, who ran for president in 1996 and 2000, was the guest speaker August 25 at the Polk County Republicans' Robb Kelley Club Luncheon at the downtown Des Moines Marriott hotel. He said after the event that he is still examining the entire field of potential Republican candidates in 2012, although he did single out one potential candidate.

"I'm looking over the whole field, trying to learn more about candidates, potential candidates like Mitch Daniels, the governor of Indiana who has had a very good record over two terms," Forbes said. "So like Iowa, I'm looking to see who's out there."

Lots of people are having trouble getting their heads around the fact that Republican state Senator Bill Brady may well be our next governor. This is, after all, a Democratic state.

But it's way past time to consider Brady a very real probability. Governor Pat Quinn's poll numbers, along with the economy and the state budget, are in the dumper. Scott Lee Cohen will likely target African-American voters and badly damage Quinn's chances. The Green Party's candidate won't help, either. And almost $2 million spent on TV ads attacking Brady on abortion, health care, and the minimum wage haven't yet worked.

I've told you this before, but I think it's even clearer now: This campaign looks more and more every day like the 1980 presidential campaign between Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan. We have the decent, honest person who can't seem to run a government up against a conservative guy who all the liberals love to hate.

As I follow the request by the Scott County owner of Grandview Farms to expand his Concentrated Animals Feeding Operation (CAFO), I do not think the debate has adequately addressed the question of how this CAFO and factory farms will affect the quality of the environment for generations to come.

Governor Chet Culver used an appearance at the Iowa State Fair to say mistakes have been made under his watch, and to tell the approximately 100 fairgoers that he takes full responsibility for those mistakes.

"There's been a lot of criticism, there's been a lot of questions about things we've done or we've not done ... and I want to say that some of that criticism is justified and that we have made our fair share of mistakes," Culver said. "And I take full responsibility for those things that have happened in various state agencies, that happened on my watch, and I take responsibility for those mistakes that have been made."

Culver later elaborated, saying scandals in the Iowa Film Office and the Alcoholic Beverages Division are his responsibility, and that he must do all he can to effectively manage government and limit those mistakes. "The thing I feel good about is that we've replaced those individuals that were responsible and as quickly as I learned about those things, I acted, but I still take responsibility," Culver said.