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IowaPolitics.com: GOP's new executive director works to prep general election ground game 1/13/2010 By Lynn Campbell IowaPolitics.com The new executive director of the Republican Party of Iowa began his new job this month by touting the state party as one of the “brightest stars” in the country, refuting rumors about his past, and knowing he must put together a ground game that will be ready the day after the June 8 primary. Jim Anderson, a Pennsylvania native who most recently served as deputy political director of the Republican National Committee in Washington, D.C., took over last week as the Republican Party of Iowa’s executive director. The relative newcomer to Iowa worked here for about six months last year as state director for the RNC’s Victory campaign. “Being at the Republican National Committee, you’re fortunate to see what’s going on throughout the country through state parties,” Anderson said in an interview with IowaPolitics.com. “I was able to notice that Iowa has turned into one of the bright stars, the brightest stars in the country as far as state party. The current leadership has done tremendous things, have gone through great strides to make this a state that is going to be competitive in 2010.” Anderson said the Republican Party of Iowa last year increased its donor base by 50 percent, which he said is a great stride in a tough economy. “Being able to see what was going on here in the state of Iowa, combined with knowing the opportunity that lies ahead in 2010, I just thought being back on the ground, being a part of all this different campaigns and running the state party, helping the state become victorious in 2010 is where I really wanted to be, rather than being behind the desk,” he said.
IowaPolitics.com audio
The popular pseudonymous blogger Krusty Konservative has been very critical of Anderson, even saying that Anderson was recently fired from the RNC “when he inserted himself into a personnel issue at the RNC.”
But in the interview, Anderson said that’s simply not true. “I resigned from the RNC simply for the reason that I spoke to you about earlier, the difference between sitting behind the desk and actually being out in the field and being a part of a winning operation, a winning state party, a successful state party,” Anderson said. “I don’t know where those rumors came from. My resignation letter sits in my personal file at the RNC.” Anderson also refuted the assertion that he and Republican Party of Iowa Chairman Matt Strawn have been “buddies.” He said the two met for the first time last year when he was in Iowa for the RNC Victory campaign. They worked together on that and the McCain campaign, but he said that’s the extent of their prior relationship. Anderson replaces Jeff Boeyink, who left the party to manage the 2010 campaign of former Gov. Terry Branstad. Strawn said he was turned on to Anderson by people he talked to nationally. He described Anderson as “the most qualified and talented person that we interviewed” with experience at the grassroots, political operative level. “We’re in a different phase with the party. When Jeff and I took over in January (2009), we were literally rebuilding the party from the ground up: Creating a professional class of staff, recreating data lists, a brand new voter program, auditing what’s done in the past,” Strawn said. “We accomplished all that.” Strawn said the Republican Party of Iowa is now in the execution phase of the plan. “Jim’s background in political ground game involvement, he’s the ideal person to execute,” Strawn said. “We’ve made tremendous strides making the Republican Party of Iowa a relative force in Iowa politics over the last year and putting together that plan. Now it’s his responsibility on behalf of Republicans to execute the voter program and some of those proprietary things.” As for the party switching leadership in the middle of the 2010 campaign cycle, Strawn said that’s just the nature of politics. He said good people won’t stay in one place for very long. He doesn’t believe Boeyink’s leaving for the Branstad campaign hurt the party’s effort of staying neutral in the primary. “The days of two or three party insiders choosing our nominees are over. It needs to be Republicans going to the polls next June and choosing for themselves who our standard-bearers will be,” Strawn said. “I think when Jeff moved over to the Branstad campaign, people saw it for just that. It was Jeff doing it. In no way was there any implicit support or anything from the leadership. It was a personal decision he made.” Anderson got an early introduction to state party politics at this week's Republican legislative breakfast at the Embassy Suites, an annual event that kicks off the legislative session. The party is also busy preparing for the precinct caucuses, which will be held on Saturday, Jan. 23. But Anderson’s larger job will be making sure Republicans have a ground organization ready to hit the ground running on the day after the June 8 primary election. He acknowledged that it will be tough to overcome the voter registration gap with Democrats of more than 100,000. “I think it’s probably to overcome this in the next 11 or 12 months, but one of the things that certainly may help is a competitive primary,” Anderson said. “Iowa’s tough because 90 percent are already registered. You have to get people to switch. It’s hard to find new voters. Having a competitive primary is one of the ways we can do that.” The plan is for Anderson and his team to be at state party headquarters working on the mechanics of the upcoming election, while Strawn will work on messaging. That started Monday with the kickoff of the legislative session, which also capped off the Republicans’ 2009 solutions tour. “We think we’re in a position to take the majority back in the Legislature and win the governor’s office,” said Strawn, describing what he called a lack of leadership by Democrats, more than 110,000 Iowans out of work and a budget that’s $1 billion out of balance. “The decisions that have continually been made by Governor Culver and this majority have set the stage for a legislative session that politically will be favorable for Republicans.” |
