Iowa On Obama-No Regrets, A Few Worries

DES MOINES — En route here for a nearby event, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said earlier this week, “Iowa will always be a special place for the president.”

It ought to be.

It’s no stretch to say that were it not for Iowa, which set him on a path to win the Democratic nomination and ultimately the White House, President Obama wouldn’t have the title.

But is Obama still special to Iowa? Nearly 100 days into his presidency, the answer is a qualified yes.

From waitresses to governors, Iowans want him to succeed and think he’s off to a good start despite tough circumstances. They’re patient about the country’s recovery – a reminder that Iowa has been less hard-hit than some other states.

But Republicans, and even some Democrats, are concerned about the amount of spending he’s piling up and the liberal wing of his party that helped lift his anti-war candidacy here is beginning to worry about his plans for Afghanistan.

While few in the state are ready to render a verdict on the man who just over two years ago introduced himself as “the skinny guy with a funny name,” there is one telling statistic: Obama is still enjoying favorable approval ratings in Iowa – 64 percent, according to a Des Moines Register Iowa Poll earlier this month.

It’s a number, said Gov. Chet Culver, that reflects the relationship Obama forged over his many visits to the state and the dizzying start that he’s off to in Washington.

“I think they’re really impressed with the intensity of the effort,” said Culver, a Democrat, after the president spoke to a group of workers at a wind energy factory in Newton Wednesday. “He is certainly getting a lot of points for working extremely hard to turn things around, not only domestically but internationally. They know him, they know how committed he is.”

Over at the Latin King restaurant, a venerable Italian place on Des Moines’s east side, Larry Chase cuts to the chase over a glass of after-lunch wine with three pals.

“Anybody who’s from Iowa knows, sometimes you’ve got to clean the barn,” said Chase, a self-described independent Republican who has a packaging business. “And he’s got a lot of [manure] in the barn he’s got to get rid of. Maybe he can get rid of it, maybe he can’t.”

Regardless of their political leanings, Iowans agree that Obama faces a crushing burden and that the rejuvenation of the economy won’t happen immediately.

“It’s going to take some time, but yes, he’ll get the job done,” said Dorothy Schabilion, a waitress at the Latin King who voted for Obama and took a moment to chat in between running credit cards. “It took eight years to get this way so it’s going to take some time to get back.”

But even Schabilion called the level of spending “outrageous” – a recurring sentiment among Iowans.

“I think a lot of people are withholding judgment [about Obama], but I also think there is grave concern about the level of debt,” said former Gov. Terry Branstad of the citizens he served for sixteen years.

Branstad, a Republican, pointed to the same Register poll that showed Obama’s popularity to note that Iowans are a pay-as-you-go lot of people.

Seventy-one percent of those surveyed oppose Culver’s hotly debated plan to spend hundreds of millions on a road and infrastructure bond – a sort-of statewide stimulus being hashed out this week in the statehouse.

The frenetic, end-of-session bustle was on in the elegant capitol, with legislative leaders dashing between chambers to cajole members and lobbyists who gathered outside, anxious to pick up the latest intelligence or make their final pitch.

State Rep. Wayne Ford, a Des Moines Democrat, cited the same poll as Branstad when asked what he heard from hs many working-class constituents about Obama.

“Most of the time we’re hearing: ‘He’s doing a great job, I’m very excited - - but I hope my kids don’t have to pay for all these situations,’” said Ford, while standing just outside the House chamber where he’s served for over 12 years.

But while acknowledging that Obama’s presidency, “money-wise, is one of the most expensive in American history,” Ford said that “impact-wise, it will be measured along with [Franklin] Roosevelt.”

State Attorney General Tom Miller, a man who, Obama noted in Newton Wednesday , backed the president when “nobody could pronounce my name,” made the case for the cash flow.

“We face a very serious economic situation and we’ve got to spend some money to stimulate the economy,” said Miller.

“And if we’re going to solve these [long-term] problems we’ve got to spend some money,” he continued, citing energy, education and health care. “The alternative is to do nothing – and that’s not a good alternative.”

Obama is getting some unprecedented help here to make that case. 

In a move that veteran Iowa political hands find remarkable, the vaunted Obama for America campaign structure is being revived in an effort to promote the president’s agenda.

Led by Derek Eadon, an Iowa-based staffer during the election, the state branch of Organizing for America hopes to keep the thousands of activists who parted with their time and money last year involved in promoting the president’s program.

Right now, Eadon is in the midst of a 17-stop “Listening Tour” throughout the state where he’s gathering supporters and discussing with them how they can keep their communities engaged in the Washington governing process.

Next month, the volunteers will host their own house parties to bring in more activists.

“We can’t stop growing our movement now,” wrote Eadon in an e-mail to the Obama e-mail list in Iowa to promote the tour.

They’ll do traditional grass-roots lobbying of members of Congress but also broader community service projects.

It’s all intended to keep the fervent group of supporters together and expand its reach, all with an eye on having an infrastructure in place for 2012.

Yet there is one issue that may threaten the cohesion of Obama’s base: Afghanistan.

Iowa is traditionally a dovish state and some Democratic activists here are beginning to worry about the increase of American troops in a conflict where the definition of victory is uncertain.

“That’s one of the areas where there is concern,” said Ed Fallon, a former state representative and outspoken Des Moines liberal who is otherwise thrilled with Obama. “There is a little bit of rumbling starting up. People are concerned about the direction we’re taking there.”

Herman Quirmbach, a Democratic state senator from Ames and an Iowa State professor, is similarly enthused about the president but said that “a lot of people are worried that we may get sucked in and stuck [in Afghanistan].”

“I think we need to define some limited, achievable objectives and then we’ve got to get, out” said Quirmbach, warning against “nation-building.”

Back at the Latin King, though, the focus is almost entirely on the economy. Chase, the independent Republican, is worried that “the taxpayers, the middle class, are the ones who are going to have to bear the brunt of [the deficit spending].”

Jim Loffredo, a “Democrat who doesn’t vote” who runs a family-owned produce-shipping business, told his buddy to ease off.

“Give the guy a chance – wait until at least August so, and then make the case,” urged Loffredo.

The patience is in part explained by Iow’s economic situation. The businessmen at the table said the downturn hadn’t hurt them as much as some of their contemporaries in other states, a sentiment echoed by others.

“We’re doing better than ever and just had an amazing month,” said Ben Smith, who helps run Smitty’s, his family pork tenderloin restaurant on Des Moines’s southside.

Smith, a Rush Limbaugh fan, is worried that Obama will raise taxes but said that for now they’re doing a great business.

“We haven’t had real estate boom and bust as they have on the coasts,” explained Quirmbach. “Our banks have retained a higher lending standard.”

Wells Fargo, one of the city’s major employers, announced on the day Obama was in town that they were hiring 5,000 more employees to help process mortgage applications. A portion of the new positions will be added to the nearly 13,000-strong workforce the company already has in the state.

It’s that sort of progress that reassures Iowans that a rebound may be close – and it’s what comforts Obama backers about his political standing.

“He’s really off to a good start but it’s going to take time,” said Culver. “We have gotten to know him as well if not better than any state in the country, so we’re cheering him on every day and we know what he’s capable of accomplishing as president.”

Ford demurred about whether Iowa had a special stake in Obama, noting that the president “truly made himself.”

But he added with a grin, “Yeah, I’m gonna take ownership" -- before noting again that Obama had done it himself.