Governor Branstad’s campaign team is touting the 58 percent job approval rating Branstad recorded in the recent Des Moines Register “Iowa Poll.”
His campaign sent an email to supporters this morning with a link to the newspaper’s story about the poll, but Branstad himself downplayed the data during his weekly statehouse news conference.
“I have a kind of a standard answer,” Branstad told reporters. “The only poll that counts is the one they take on Election Day.”
But Branstad did suggest his standing with voters was boosted by the bipartisan agreements that emerged from the 2013 legislative session that wrapped up May 23.
“I’m really deeply humbled by the broad base of support that we have from the people of Iowa,” Branstad said. “I think it’s a tribute to the fact that we’ve worked in a very collaborative way with both parties in both houses of the legislature.”
Branstad and his likely running mate — Lieutenant Governor Kim Reynolds — laughed this morning when asked which Democrat Branstad might like to face in 2014.
“Listen, I’m a very competitive person,” Branstad said.
Reynolds, who routinely stands beside Branstad during news conferences, placed her hand on Branstad’s arm and chimed in with: “I was going to say, I don’t know if you’ve noticed he’s a little bit competitive.”
Branstad and Reynolds laughed, before the governor continued. “I’m not going to try to choose who they pick…but you know I do love to campaign.”
Branstad will go to Hiawatha on Wednesday to sign the tax package that cleared the legislature into law. He told reporters it never hurts for a politician to go to eastern Iowa, where “a lot of people” — meaning voters — “live.”