Stricken by Srickland by David Yepsen

David Yepsen is the Des Moines Register's political columnist

Stricken By Strickland
Posted 1/1/2008 12:44 PM CST on Des Moines Register

With friends like Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, Hillary Clinton doesn’t need enemies in Iowa.

The Ohio governor comes to Iowa to campaign for her, then goes back to Ohio and bashes the Iowa caucuses and the state.

(Ordinarily losing campaigns only bash the Iowa caucuses - and the state - after the votes are cast. Strickland seems to be getting an early start.)

In an interview with the Columbus Dispatch, the governor said the caucuses “make no sense” and were “hugely undemocratic” because they “exclude too many people” who can’t attend a caucus meeting.

“I’d like to see both parties say “We’re going to bring this to an end.” He told the paper he’s comfortable with the New Hampshire primary because “at least it’s an election.”

He also said “Iowa is not an attractive place to be in the wintertime” and the state “is not a representative state and the caucus is not a fair way to register public opinion in my judgement.”

Strickland said he made “the trip to hell and back” to Iowa on Dec. 9 in which he got caught in a snowstorm and didn’t make it home until 6 a.m. the next day after his plane was re-routed to Las Vegas.

All of this caused much heartburn inside the Clinton campaign. On Monday, Newsday caught up with President Bill Clinton on the trail in Iowa who told them “Look, every other state would like to be first -- he was just being a good governor for Ohio. It didn’t have anything to do with the campaign and obviously we don’t feel that way about it.”

A spokesman for Clinton’s campaign said the senator “absolutely supports Iowa’s first in the nation status. Senator Clinton has worked her heart out campaigning in Iowa because she knows it plays a unique and special role in the nominating process and that role must be protected. As she has said many times she is glad Iowans are entrusted with this responsibility because they take it so seriously. On this issue Hillary and Gov. Strickland strongly disagree.”

Clinton has been saying that since the begining of the campaign, the spokesman said, noting that Strickland isn’t scheduled to be back in the state to campaign for her.

Some observations:

1. When Strickland first started coming out here, everyone figured he was angling to be Clinton’s running mate. So did he muff his chances of getting such a nod from her?

He was clearly off message and it’s the sort of distraction his candidate doesn’t need just days before caucus-goers go vote in what could be a close election for her.

If he can’t be trusted to campaign in Iowa early in the game, what would he fumble as a running mate just before November? If this is what he thinks of Iowa and the caucuses, what does he think of other toss-up states?

2. He’s also ahead of the curve. The morning after the caucuses, there will be no shortage of Iowa bashers, particularly from the camps of those who do poorly.

Iowans are used to people who can’t win a game complaining about the rules afterwards. If Clinton loses to Obama or Edwards, Strickland’s comments will form the talking points for the Clinton campaign as they head to New Hampshire to make her the “comeback girl.”

3. Yes, we do have winters in Iowa and they are a pain for everyone. Apparently Ohio doesn’t have winters.

And my daughter’s overnight in the lovely Cincinnati airport one January wasn’t a trip from hell.