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Culver stops short of calling for lawmaker’s resignation

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Representative Kerry Burt (far left) listens to Governor Culver during an event at the capitol earlier this year. Governor Chet Culver isn’t calling for a state legislator’s resignation, but the governor says he expects fellow Democrat Kerry Burt of Waterloo to be facing not one but two criminal cases soon.

Burt was elected to his first term in the Iowa House this past November.  In February, Burt was arrested Ankeny and charged with drunken driving. Recently-released video of Burt’s arrest shows Burt claimed to have been drinking with the governor that evening. During a brief question-and-answer session this morning with statehouse reporters, Governor Culver was asked about Burt’s claim.

"I was with Mr. Burt for all of about 30 minutes at a dinner with about 15 people. I have no idea what he did after I left that dinner at 8:55," Culver said. "I was home at nine o’clock. He was arrested at 2 a.m. and I have no idea, really, what he did between nine and two."

Culver insisted he’s not peeved Burt tried to "name drop" to try to get out of the drunken driving arrest.

"In this job you get used to kind of rolling with the punches," Culver said. "And (Burt) had a (0.13) blood alcohol level and he said a lot of things, I’m sure, that he regrets at this point."

Burt at one point is heard on the video tape claiming legislators cannot be arrested and, at another, he asks the policeman to be let go as a "professional courtesy" to a fire fighter. Culver isn’t calling for Burt’s resignation, however.

"That’s really a decision Mr. Burt needs to make along with his family and his constituents and perhaps his lawyers," Culver said. "But we have two criminal proceedings moving forward and the outcome of those proceedings might impact his decision, I would imagine."

A state audit concluded Burt used a relative’s address to enroll his children in the Price Lab School at the University of Northern Iowa, thereby saving over $35,000 in tuition. Culver denies having "inside information" about a pending indictment in that case, but nonetheless Culver hints Burt’s August trial on the drunken driving charges may not be Burt’s only trial.

"I expect there will be information forthcoming with more details," Culver said.

Culver himself provided a few details about his own drinking on the evening Burt claims to have been out on the town, drinking with the governor. Culver notes that he did attend the same Iowa Pharmacy Association legislative reception as Burt, followed by dinner in Des Moines with Burt and about a dozen other legislators.

"There was some alcohol that was served at the pharmacy reception," Culver said. "I had a glass of wine and had a quick dinner and went home."

The arrest report released this week by Ankeny police indicates the policeman who pulled Burt over heard metal grinding on the pavement and saw one of the tires on Burt’s vehicle was shredded. Burt told the cop he had hit a concrete barrier along Interstate 35.

"Obviously this is a very serious legal matter and I think very troubling to see how dangerous this situation really was," Culver said. "But because it’s a pending legal matter I’m not going to comment further."

Listen to all of Culver’s comments by clicking on the audio link below.

AUDIO: Culver comments on Burt…MP3 3 min

Braley says visit by House Speaker will put human face on disaster

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Iowa Congressman Bruce Braley, a Democrat from Waterloo, says he talked with House leaders and others about disaster relief almost every day while he was at the party’s national convention in Denver last week. The talks included a visit with Iowa Democrats by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Braley says even with all those conversations, it’s still important for Pelosi to make a scheduled visit to Iowa.

Braley says her visit will have an "enormous purpose" as it’s one thing to talk to someone about the need for assistance, "it’s another thing for you to see it with your own eyes and hear about from the people that have been affected." Braley says he found out first hand the importance of seeing the damage in person.

Braley says when he rode into Parkersburg the day after it was hit by a tornado, he had a much deeper appreciation for the needs of the residents there. He says the same thing was true as he visited flood damaged areas in his district. Pelosi is scheduled to visit Iowa on September 8th.

Democrats look to November with convention over

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The Democratic National Convention may be over, but the general election battle is still ahead. Some of the state’s most involved Democrats have big plans for the 66 days that lay between now and November 4th.Twenty-three-year-old Robert Jarvis of Oskaloosa was a delegate to the just-concluded convention in Denver.

Robert Jarvis "I never even expected to be standing here today back on January 3rd," Jarvis says of his convention experience. "I didn’t even quite know what a delegate was, but I knew I wanted to be involved more than I had before." Jarvis has quit his job and has no idea where he’s going after Denver.

"I’m actually not sure that I’m even going home," he says. "One of the promises that I made in my speech to ask the Iowa delegates to send me to national, I said that the young people were not going to fall asleep at the wheel so I’m actually taking a job with moveon.org as a field organizer to get people out to vote, to turn out young voters."

Delegate Paula Martinez of Carlisle says she leaves Denver, ready to do the work to turn-out the vote. "Make calls, knock doors, have meetings, get volunteers," Martinez says. "…Just work ’til I drop." Lieutenant Governor Patty Judge warned the Iowa delegates at the Democratic National Convention they don’t want a repeat of 2004.

"I can remember the sickening feeling that I had the night of the last election," Judge said. "We cannot let that happen again." Delegate Sandy Opstvedt of Story City, a member of the Democratic National Committee, says 2008 has already been different from 2004. "I’ve seen more people working this time toward the election process than I ever have in history," Opstvedt says.

Opstvedt credits the lengthy primary fight between Hillary Clinton and eventual party nominee Barack Obama. "(It) was just a phenomental event because it got so many people involved in the process and many are staying in the process — most are." Stephanie Imoff of Ames says the convention accomplished it’s goal.

"It’s amazing and I can’t wait to get everybody ‘fired up and ready to go’ back home," she says. Delegate Sandra Pope of Ottumwa says she’s been awestruck and isn’t quite ready for the convention to be over.

"To me it’s like, you know, when you get that favorite dessert and you taste it for the first time and you just want to keep it in your mouth for awhile," Pope says. "This is that moment that I just want to keep on tasting it, over and over." This past week the Obama campaign’s chief of staff told the Iowa Democrats in Denver that Iowa is one of 18 battleground states in the fall election. That was Obama campaign chief of staff Jim Messina. Read more on-line at radioiowa.com.

Long-time Obama backers in Iowa celebrate the moment

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Nancy Bobo As Barack Obama prepares to formally accept the Democratic Party’s 2008 presidential nomination, some of the Iowans in Denver to watch the spectacle are reminded of the Obama campaign’s spartan beginning in Iowa. 

Nancy Bobo of Des Moines was among the first to volunteer to work for Obama’s campaign. Back in February of 2007, a week before Obama officially entered the race, Bobo showed up at the Obama campaign office in Iowa. She met with the two Obama staff members.

"It was a tiny little office with a folding table, two folding chairs, two laptops," Bobo says. "When we met that day, it was just Paul and Emily and they were interrupted repeatedly with phone calls of the first staff arriving in Iowa."

Back then, some dismissed Obama’s campaign as folly, since Hillary Clinton was seen as a shoo-in. "She certainly was," Bobo says. "I remember when we were 45 points down last summer at one point and this hope we speak of didn’t look so apparent on the horizon and, you know, there were just so many people who worked so hard to get to this point."

Bobo’s relieved Obama has secured her party’s presidential nomination, but she’s looking ahead to the general election. "I’m here for the full ride, to the end of it," Bobo says. "We’re going to work as hard as we can to make sure this happens in November."

Kathleen Weber of Dubuque, another Obama campaign volunteer, is thrilled to have a ticket for Obama’s biggest speech yet. "I’ve been working on that campaign about four years, I think," Webber says. "You know, we first saw him after the ’04 convention in Galena, Illinois, and I’ve been on board from the get-go, so it’s been quite a haul."

Webber, a voting delegate at the convention, says Wednesday was a milestone, too. "I was so moved yesterday. It was very emotional for me when I signed my name on that ballot for Obama," Webber says.

Sixty-three-year-old George Dixon of DeWitt wept on the convention floor when he and the rest of the delegates formally voted to give Obama the nomination. Dixon says he never thought he’d live to see a black man like himself reach that milestone. "It’s one of the proudest moments of my life. It’s an historic moment and I’m just overwhelmed, totally overwhelmed," Dixon says.

Dixon and Iowa’s other 56 delegates to the convention set out for Mile High stadium at two o’clock mountain time, as the security lines were long and the crowd large for this evening’s event.

AUDIO: Hendrson report . 1:40 MP3

National union leader mocks Governor Culver

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AFSCME leader Gerald McEntee and Iowa Senator Tom Harkin talk with delegate. A national union leader sent a zinger toward Governor Chet Culver this morning during a public meeting of Iowa Democrats in Denver.

Gerald McEntee, president of AFSCME — the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union, noted that both Culver and Iowa’s lieutenant governor are attending their party’s national convention in Denver and McEntee suggested a top AFSCME staffer in Iowa was minding the store back in Iowa.

"Chet Culver: good governor, good record — but he’s even going to make it better, right? We hope. We’ve had some discussions with the governor," Entee said, then pointedly joked at Culver’s expense. "(AFSCME’s) Marcia Nichols isn’t here, right? Marcia Nichols is the acting governor of Iowa right now, just so everybody knows it, and she just signed the ‘Fair Share’…We now have that governor."

Governor Culver has drawn the ire of unions for vetoing a bill which would have expanded the collective bargaining rights of union members who work in the public sector, and that includes AFSCME members. Culver, who was sitting in the audience, got red-faced, but stayed through the end of McEntee’s speech and applauded with the rest of the crowd at its conclusion.

The other legislation McEntee mentioned, the so-called "Fair Share" bill, would require non-union members to pay a fee for union services they use on the work site. "We’re talking to the governor about it and the state legislature, both the senate and the house," McEntee said, singling out Senate Democratic Leader Mike Gronstal of Council Bluffs as a friend of unions.

McEntee vowed that unions like AFSCME will be active in the fall campaign, but acknowledged that some white union members are reluctant to vote for Democratic nominee Barack Obama because he’s black. "I say to all those people out there in our own union and every other union in the United States: ‘If that’s the reason you can’t vote for Barack Obama, that is bullshit and you have to change your mind,’" McEntee said, to a standing ovation from Iowa Democrats. "…That is total bullshit and it should not stand today in America."

Senator Tom Harkin praised McEntee afterward for that statement, but Harkin added that when he ran for president back in 1992 he "took some heat" for using the word "bullshit" in his speeches. Audio of speech below.


AUDIO: McEntee speaks to Iowa Democrats. 18:00 MP3

US House leader assures Iowans flood help coming

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House Majority Leader Stenny Hoyer speaks to Iowans at DNC. A top Democrat in the U.S. House today assured Iowans there’ll be a disaster aid package for Iowa flood and tornado victims soon.

House Majority Leader Stenny Hoyer of Maryland says it’ll be “one of the first items” on the agenda when Congress reconvenes in September.

“You know we have a lot of afflictions from time to time: health, terrorists, and sometimes nature deals us a very tough blow and Iowa’s had a very tough blow from nature,” Hoyer says.

Hoyer spoke this morning to the Iowa Democrats who’re in Denver for their party’s presidential nominating convention. “I want to tell you (Iowa Democratic Congressmen) Dave Loebsack and Bruce Braley and Leonard Boswell were very concerned about adjourning. We didn’t have all the things we needed to get together to do what we needed to do,” Hoyer said. “We didn’t have an assessment of exactly how much we needed to do, but as I told Chet — your governor — as I was walking through the door, if we can rebuild Baghdad, we sure can make sure that we rebuild Iowa.”

The Iowa Democrats got to their feet and applauded. “It always brings a rising ovation when you say, ‘I’m here to give you money,’ Hoyer joked, to laughter from the crowd.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the top Democrat in the House, will visit Iowa on September 8th to view flood and storm damage first hand.  Congressman Dave Loebsack, a Democrat from Mount Vernon, said farmers in his district are suffering right along with the city-dwellers. 

“We hear a lot about FEMA and HUD and community development block grants, but we also have to be thinking about USDA and the rural areas as well,” Loebsack said at the Iowa Democratic Party gathering in Denver. “We have a lot of crop damage, folks, and we can’t forget what’s happened in those areas.”

As he did yesterday, Congressman Bruce Braley, a Democrat from Waterloo, said there’s currently money into the pipeline for storm victims in Iowa, but the Bush Administration, according to Braley, is guilty of footdragging in getting it into the hands of Iowans.

Braley touts biking in Denver

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Bikes Congressman Bruce Braley of Waterloo is encouraging his fellow Democrats to ride a bike in Denver. Braley’s a member of the "bike caucus" in congress and the group has arranged for over a thousand bikes — and helmets — to be available, fore their way around Denver.

"Especially now with what’s going on with energy and gas prices, we’re doing everything we can to promote alternative transportation," Braley says. "…What we’re trying to do is get everybody from all over the country focused on how we encourage people to use less fossil fuel and one of the ways to do that is promoting things like riding your bike to work and getting kids to ride their bike to school the way a lot of us did when we were growing up."

Braley, who is 50 years old, says not only did he ride his bike to school as a child, he rode his bike every morning on a paper route, delivering The Des Moines Tribune in his hometown — Brooklyn, Iowa.

Braley would bike to his office in the nation’s capitol, if it made sense. "I don’t because I live about a block and a half from my office," Braley says, "but I did ride the last day of RAGBRAI this year."

Braley says one of his goals in congress is to find money to restore and expand a couple of bike trails in Iowa that were heavily damaged by flooding. "I’ve seen what happens in areas like southeast Minnesota along the Root River Trail, the enormous economic development that’s taken place there," Braley says.

"You look at the Cedar Valley Nature Trail between Waterloo and Cedar Rapids. with both of those communities suffering the devastation they have. Two of the bridges are out on that trail and yet if we an find a way to make that the same kind of trail facility as the Root River trail it could be enormous in terms of getting that entire corridor to bounce back economically."

Iraq war vet wearing boots at DNC in Denver

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Boots Lots of delegates at the Democratic National Convention in Denver wear crazy costumes to try to capture the attention of the cameras. One Iowa delegate, though, is quietly making a statement with his footwear.

All week long, to every event in Denver, 24-year-old Jacob Krapfl of New Vienna has been wearing a pair of sturdy boots. "I’m wearing the boots I wore when I was overseas to remind me of where I’ve been and who I’m fighting for here," Krapfl said during an interview with Radio Iowa.

Sergeant Krapfl Sergeant Krapfl did two tours of duty in Iraq. He spent six months traveling highways there, searching for roadside bombs.

For his second tour, Krapfl was assigned to guard a military hospital in Baghdad. He left the Army, returned home to Iowa to farm, and is going to college full-time, too.

Now, about four years after his service in Iraq, Krapfl is serving as an Iowa Democratic Party delegate in Denver, supporting Barack Obama — and wearing his old Army boots.

"I wore these on my second deployment. My second deployment was four months long in central Baghdad. They’ve seen things that nobody else should," Krapfl says, his voice cracking with emotion. "We’ve got 150,000 pairs of boots on the ground in combat right now and every day a family’s told that their loved one’s going to come home, only being able to wear one boot and over 4,000 of those pairs of boots have been sent home, wrapped in a flag."

During the roll call of the states yesterday at the Democrartic National Convention, nine delegates from Iowa cast their votes for Hillary Clinton. The other 48 Iowans voted for Barack Obama. Krapfl is the Iowan who announced the tally. "It’s well worth it," Krapfl said of his convention experience. "I’ve been learning a lot."

Krapfl was on C-SPAN Wednesday morning, answering call-in question from viewers. One caller asked Krapfl if he believed Obama would conduct himself as admirably as Republican presidential candidate John McCain did when he was taken as a prisoner of war in Vietnam.

Krapfl recounted his answer during his interview with Radio Iowa. "Every soldier’s taught that if you’re taken prisoner it’s first in, first out, no matter your rank, and McCain did the right thing. He got out when it was his turn," Krapfl said. "And I said I believe Obama has the intestinal fortitude to the right thing and that’s what would lead him into being a great president."

A top Obama campaign organizer spoke yesterday morning to the Iowa delegation in Denver, reviewing Obama’s chances of winning the general election vote in various states. Jim Messina, Obama chief of staff, suggested this about John McCain’s home state: "If Senator McCain continues to be the schmuck he’s being, we’re going to play there, you know, and go tell some truth."

Read and hear more of what Messina had to say over on the Radio Iowa blog.

Pelosi speaks to Iowans, briefly addresses disaster

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Iowa Congressmen Dave Loebsack and Bruce Braley listen to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The top Democrat in the U.S. House spoke this morning with Iowa Democrats at their party’s national convention in Denver, spending only a few seconds addressing the plight of spring-time storm victims in the state. 

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi spoke for about 11 minutes, beginning by pointing out Iowa’s three Democratic Congressmen — Leonard Boswell, Bruce Braley and Dave Loebsack. They were seated near the front of the room.

"I want you all to know, and I’m sure you do know, but from our perspective, how hard they are working to help get the disaster assistance that Iowa so sorely needs," Pelosi said.

The crowd applauded. Pelosi added the three were working with Iowa’s governor, who she initially — mistakenly — identified as "Chet Edwards." There is a Chet Edwards — he’s a member of congress who Pelosi often mentioned as a good candidate for vice president.

Pelosi continued, recognizing Boswell in particular. "Thank you, Leonard, for your great leadership."  Pelosi then talked about the Iowa Caucuses, this convention in Denver and issues like health care for children. Pelosi wrapped up with a thank you, the crowd applauded, she stepped away from the microphone, and then doubled back.

"Oh, and did I tell you that at the invitation of the delegation and your governor I’ll be visiting Iowa on September 8 to see firsthand what the challenges are so that I can follow their lead in doing what we have to do to meet our responsibility to the people of Iowa?" Pelosi asked. Then, the three congressman surrounded Pelosi to talk about the trip. The discussion lasted about a minute.

Peggy Whitworth of Cedar Rapids then approached Pelosi.  "We need to have her see what has happened to our community and I know it’s hit all over the state, but Cedar Rapids really took it on the chin — business, government, the cultural community — (have) all been devastated," Whitworth says. "We need to have the federal help. This is something that only the federal government can do."

A few moments later, Congressman Braley told Iowa repoters there is plenty of federal disaster aid available today, but Braley accuses the Bush Administration of red tape and foot dragging in getting that help to Iowans. Click on the audio link below to listen to Pelosi.  Read more about it over on the blog.

AUDIO: Pelosi speaks to Iowans. 14:00 MP3

Harkin: It’s time to "put away the Hillary buttons & put on the Obama buttons."

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Governor Chet Culver was among the first to speak from the stage at Tuesday’s Democratic National Convention in Denver, briefly reminiscing about Barack Obama’s victory in the Iowa Caucuses and accusing John McCain of being in the backpocket of big oil. 

A few hours after Culver gave his four-and-a-half minute speech, New York Senator Hillary Clinton took the convention stage, a poignant moment for some of her supporters.

Many delegates still intend to vote for Clinton tonight when the roll call of the states is conducted. Former Clinton backer Angel Gonzalez of Iowa City won’t be among them. He believes Michelle Obama closed the deal with her speech on Monday night.

 "I looked around the stadium and I didn’t see any division. I saw people who were excited to be a part of this historical convention. I saw people who were screaming, crying," Gonzalez says. "It was, I think, the cathartic moment that Hillary has described was necessary to put this to bed."

Gonzalez, a native of Puerto Rico, voted for Clinton on Caucus Night, but grew disillusioned later that month. "Especially after comments in South Carolina by Bill Clinton, and other factorsled me to believe that it wasn’t a good thing," Gonzalez says. "So I then decided to run as an Obama delegate."

Sarah Swisher, a union organizer, first endorsed John Edwards, then switched her support to Hillary Clinton. Swisher, though, is among the former Clinton backers who’ve made the move to Obama. "I kept waiting to kind of get this sort of Obama infection that people get, especially in Iowa City where I’m from, and I think I’ve got it and I think I got it, actually, a couple of months ago.

There are a few Iowa Democrats, though, who haven’t gotten Obama fever. Helen Miller of Fort Dodge, a state legislator who’s an Obama supporter, says the time has come for the the ill will to cease. "To sit after what we’ve gone through for the last eight years and talk about how we can’t be supportive because we dodn’t get the girl that we want — that sounds like high school to me," Miller says, "and we need to get over it and get moving."

Senator Tom Harkin offers even more cryptic advice. "She ran a good campaign. It was a tough campaign, but there is only one nominee and that’s Barack Obama," Harkin says. "…Now’s time to put away the Hillary buttons and put on the Obama buttons."

But former Iowa First Lady Christie Vilsack isn’t ready just yet. "It’s my job to be here as a delegate. I’m here as a Hillary delegate. I’ll leave as an Obama supporter, but I’m here a Hillary delegate and part of my affiliation with her is because I think that’s really important," Vilsack says. "I think it’s important for women to be elected to office and for women to help other women."

Katherine Marcano, a flood victim from Cedar Rapids, spoke briefly last night at the convention, making her case for electing Obama in November, as she told the crowd said she is done waiting for action on a variety of issues. Marcano met with Obama when he visited Cedar Rapids at the end of July, recounting her flight out of the flood zone and her stay in a Kirkwood College dorm while her apartment was flooded and uninhabitable.

Read her remarks and the text of the speech Governor Culver delivered over at the blog.  Click on the audio link below to listen to Culver’s speech at the convention.

AUDIO: Culver convention speech. 5:00 MP3