Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour said Thursday in Iowa that he didn't think South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford's disappearance and extramarital affair would have any effect at the polls, downplayed the prospect of a run for president in 2012, and said he thinks Iowa's chances are good to elect a Republican governor next year.
"What happens in these races this year and next year will be what really matter to the party," Barbour said when asked about a 2012 run. "If after that it seems like a reasonable thing, I will consider it. I have no plan to run for president; I have no intention to run for president. But I've been around long enough to say, 'Never say never.' And we'll just see where we are after '10. But I would be very surprised if I turned out to be a candidate for president."
Barbour was in Iowa one day after becoming chair of the Republican Governors Association (RGA). He was scheduled to take over in November, but the change of power came five months early after Sanford disappeared for several days, admitted to secretly flying to Argentina to visit a woman with whom he'd been having an affair, and resigned as head of the organization.
The Mississippi governor declined during Thursday's taping of Iowa Press to talk much about the Sanford situation, which he called a personal tragedy. "I don't talk about people's personal problems," he said. "I don't think it's polite. I don't think it's appropriate. And I don't think it advances the ball down the field."
But when pushed to assess the impact that extramarital affairs by Sanford and Nevada Senator John Ensign would have on the Republican Party, he said: "I actually don't think there'll be any effect -- and when I say 'any,' I mean literally any effect. I don't think it will change how one person's going to vote in November of 2009 or November of 2010."
Republican Party of Iowa Executive Director Jeff Boeyink said that Barbour, as head of the RGA, "will be at the forefront of helping Iowa Republicans reclaim Terrace Hill." During Thursday's taping of Iowa Press, Barbour focused most of his comments on key races in New Jersey and Virginia, but later talked about the potential in Iowa.
"I do think we have a real chance to elect a Republican governor next year" in Iowa, said Barbour, who was chair of the Republican National Committee in 1994 when the GOP made its comeback. "Governor [Chet] Culver's job approval is pretty low, and I think we have a very good chance. I think next year is going to be a good year for Republicans."
When asked about his advice to Iowa Republicans, he said: "Make public policy the issue. Make his record the issue. Most of them can't run on their record. And make 'em run on their record. But don't just be negative. Tell people what you'd do to make it better."
Barbour himself defeated a sitting Democratic governor by 7 percentage points in Mississippi. "The campaign was about issues," he said. "It wasn't about personalities. It wasn't about who's a bad person. The governor got divorced when he was governor. I never mentioned it. That wasn't what the issue was. The issue was: The state was going backwards."
Culver's Job-Approval Rating Drops
For the first time since he took office in January 2007, more than half of Iowans disapprove of Culver's job performance, according to a new poll by SurveyUSA conducted for KAAL-TV in Mason City and distributed this week by the Republican Party of Iowa.
The telephone poll of 600 adults showed that 42 percent approved of Culver's job performance, while 51 percent disapproved. The poll was taken June 12 to 14 and was released June 18. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.1 percent.
The results are a change from a May 30 poll showed that 48 percent of Iowans approved of Culver and 47 percent disapproved. Such polls have been taken by SurveyUSA almost monthly since Culver took office.
Culver spokesman Phil Roeder retorted that a CBS News/New York Times poll released last week showed Republicans had only a 28 percent approval rating nationally, their lowest rating in that poll since 1985.
"With numbers like that, I'm not sure the Republicans' best strategy is to go around waving poll results," Roeder said.
Roeder added that more Republican candidates have announced that they are not running for governor than those that are, "which says a lot about the accomplishments and strengths of Governor Culver."
Digital Technology Could Mean More Job Losses for Court Reporters
Iowa court reporters, anxious about their jobs in light of declining state revenues and a study of whether digital video and audio recording technology should be used to replace them, will form their own task force to evaluate the issue from a different point of view.
"Of course we're feeling threatened," said Sheryl Culver, a Polk County court reporter for 26 years and the new president of the Iowa Court Reporters Association. "We don't feel this is the gold standard that our courts should be using."
Karen Teig, a Linn County court reporter for 34 years who's immediate past president of the Iowa Court Reporters Association, will chair the new task force that will be separate from the Iowa Judicial Council's official Digital Audio Recording Technology Committee.
"Reporters are scared," said Teig, who as a court reporter works for the state. "They're scared that they're going to lose their jobs, not only as a result of digital audio recording but also just layoffs. There was an article a couple weeks ago that tax revenues are not what was expected. Everybody's watching that very closely."
The Iowa judicial branch announced Thursday afternoon that it will eliminate or hold open nearly 50 vacant court-staff positions and will lay off about 15 people, including 13 court reporters, as part of a $5.4 million reduction in the fiscal year that begins July 1. The state has 185 full-time court reporters.
"We will reduce our court-reporter workforce by 10 percent and begin pooling court reporters," said State Court Administrator David Boyd. "This will be a big change for our judges. Even so I am confident that we can effectively cover all of the trial courts' reporting needs by pooling court reporters. Pooling is much more cost-effective than our traditional practice of assigning one court reporter to one judge. It will reduce court reporter downtime and save taxpayers nearly $1.5 million."
The idea of using electronic recording technology in Iowa's courtrooms first surfaced as a cost-saving measure during the legislative session when the Iowa judicial branch faced the prospect of steep budget cuts. Five other states use such technology in all of their courts -- Alaska, Kentucky, New Hampshire, Utah and Vermont -- while another 18 states use electronic recording in many of their courts, according to data compiled by Iowa Deputy State Court Administrator John Goerdt.
By July 15, court staff will arrange site visits to nearby states that are already using the technology. Subgroups of the committee will observe court proceedings in those states and talk with judges, attorneys, and court staff there. Likely destinations include state courts in Minnesota; Rock Island, Illinois; Fargo, North Dakota; and the federal district court in Lincoln, Nebraska. There was also significant interest in a small group visiting Salt Lake City, Utah.
Then starting in August, the digital-audio-recording technology will be tested in multiple courtrooms across Iowa.
Culver said she's already visited some courtrooms that use the technology. She pointed out that a machine can't stop the court proceedings to verify words, interrupt when people talk on top of each other, be the referee in the courtroom, or provide services for people who are deaf or hearing-impaired.
Iowa already uses some digital recording in some of its magistrate courts. But Teig pointed out that some states have gone to digital recording because of a dearth of reporters. In contrast, she said, Iowa has a no shortage.
"Court reporters at least in Iowa ... have changed with the technology and have been leaders in technology," Teig said. "We use real-time reporting which is instantaneous voice-to-text translation for our judges, and also to assist the deaf and hard of hearing in our courtrooms. It's my position that the digital recording equipment has been trying to keep up with court reporters. We're the ones who have been on top of technology for over 20 years."
Energy Secretary Backs Increased Ethanol in Fuel
During a visit to Iowa this week, U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu voiced support for increasing the percentage of ethanol in motor-vehicle fuel from 10 percent up to 15 or even 85 percent.
"The Department of Energy is now looking at whether the American automobile fleet can go above 10 percent," Chu said. "If the existing automobile fleet can handle 15 percent, I would say let's make that a target and go to 15 percent. This is very important for decreasing our oil dependence."
The most common ethanol-blended fuel is currently E10, also called "gasohol," created with 90 percent gasoline and 10 percent ethanol. The biofuel can be manufactured from corn. But the U.S. secretary of energy appeared to support a move to E15 or even E85 at some point.
Chu said it costs about $100 in new gaskets and fuel lines to enable a car to accept up to E85, a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline.
He noted that the natural tendency of the automobile industry would be to resist government intervention, but said increasing in percentage of ethanol in motor-vehicle fuels is beginning to be discussed.
Chu also announced during his visit to Des Moines that Iowa has been awarded $16.2 million for energy-efficiency and renewable-energy projects in Iowa.
The money comes from the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act. If it performs well, the state could receive a total of $40.5 million from the program, Chu said. The goal of the program is to reduce a state's per-capita energy usage by at least 25 percent below 1990 levels by 2012.
Iowa will use the recent award to expand the Building Energy Smart Iowa Program. Iowa's plan provides for workforce training and public-information projects. The state plans to make grants of up to $100,000 to public, private, and not-for-profit entities for energy training across the state, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
This weekly summary comes from IowaPolitics.com, an online government and politics news service. IowaPolitics.com staff contributed to this report.
