Novak Talks Iowa

Robert Novak's weekend piece includes two stories involving Iowa.

The first story is whether Jim Nussle's nomination to replace Rob Portman as the White House Budget Chief means Rudy won't play in Iowa. This is a thought that crossed my mind when I first heard the news last week about the nomination. Rudy hasn't been in Iowa too often and doesn't appear to have the organization you would expect of a front-runner campaign serious about playing. Plus, as Novak points out, Nussle is the biggest name Rudy has in Iowa. Even though a lot of people were rubbed raw when Nussle called the Iowa Straw Poll a "circus," one would think that the campaign would fight tooth and nail to keep that big name if they were truly serious about playing.

Now for the "on the other hand." I've heard that the campaign has started hiring more staffers and field reps in the state. Rudy returned to Iowa the other day, even though he made a major no-no in being 50 minutes late, and the campaign says he will be in the state more and more. You also have to consider the basic fact that Nussle was asked to work for the President of the United States. I've read a lot of people who say it's almost impossible to say no when the President asks you go come work for him. If Tony Snow would leave the good gig he had at Fox News to work at the White House, I can understand why Nussle would do the same.

The other story is about Grassley's latest bill to tax private equity partnerships. You might remember that this was covered here not to long ago. Novak reports that Republican fund raisers have "scolded" the financial services industry for giving so much to Democrat candidates who then turn around and tax business. Grassley, who has little love for hedge funds, thus damages this argument with this bill. Novak is pretty harsh on Grassley, calling it undermining.

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