Nussle takes another step toward a run for governor

There’s another signal today that Congressman Jim Nussle is prepared to run for governor. Nussle this morning (Thursday) filed the necessary paperwork to establish an organization that’s already taking donations for a gubernatorial campaign. In a prepared statement, Nussle said he made the move because people have been giving him money to bankroll a race for governor in 2006. Nussle, though, said he is still exploring a decision on whether to run for governor. He sort of stole a campaign line from the current democrat Governor Tom Vilsack, as Nussle concluded his statement by saying he’s “humbled that so many Iowans believe (his) leadership will help make Iowa a better place to live, work, raise a family and retire in dignity.” Nick Ryan, a spokesman for Nussle, stops short of calling creation of a campaign account confirmation that Nussle’s running for governor. “What this does mean is that with the election past us, a number of people have continued to approach the congressman and encourage him to run and they’ve not only offered their support but they’ve started contributing to the effort,” Ryan says. “We started accepting those contributions and the congressman is going to continue exploring this decision and will make a formal decision in the spring.” Ryan did repeat Nussle’s theme that Nussle’s leadership would help make Iowa a better place to live, work, raise a family and retire in dignity. When asked about the similarity to Vilsack’s verbage, Ryan said he didn’t think Vilsack had copyrighted that line. Ryan would not disclose just how much money Nussle has raised so far. Earlier this week, Nussle sent an email message to 25-thousand supporters, linking them to a four-and-a-half minute campaign-style video. As Radio Iowa reported Wednesday morning, Nussle touched on the themes he’ll likely use in a gubernatorial campaign. “I think Iowa’s got a wonderful future ahead of it. We have to have people with a positive outlook, with a vision,” Nussle says in the ad. The video has a biographical section, too, and Nussle offers a rebuff to those who complain his leadership of the House Budget Committee in an era of federal deficits. “On September 10th, 2001, we were running a surplus and the next day we had to make some huge new decisions and challenges that our country that our country needed to deal with at a time that was historic,” Nussle says in the video. A narrator goes on to claim that the tax cuts Nussle backed helped created 11-thousand jobs in Iowa in the past year.