Team Vander Plaats

Political learning curve

In 2002, in his spirited first campaign, Vander Plaats fell just short in a three-way primary, capturing 32 percent of the vote behind would-be nominee Doug Gross' 36 percent.

"This isn't my first rodeo," he said with a wry smile.

Still, he does not like to call his bid for 2010 his third, saying he abandoned his 2006 campaign and accepted eventual nominee Jim Nussle's invitation to be nominee for lieutenant governor for the good of the party. Vander Plaats faced intense pressure to quit the race after his annual fundraising report showed he lagged far behind Nussle.

Vander Plaats describes the past eight years as a building process in which his stature has risen with each campaign he's been involved in. The argument goes like this: He came close in 2002, was enough of a threat in 2006 to be Nussle's running mate and guided Huckabee to victory in 2008.

In the process, "he has really developed a grasp of the issues," said Rose Kramer, a longtime backer and Dubuque County GOP activist. "He's traveled to all corners of the state."

Today, Vander Plaats has signaled his willingness to tangle with Branstad, a four-term governor. Vander Plaats has faulted Branstad for signing legislation in the 1980s introducing state-sponsored gambling to Iowa and twice raising the sales tax during the two economic recessions that befell Iowa and the nation during his 16 years in office.

Putting cause above self

Vander Plaats has consistently courted votes of social conservatives, emphasizing his strict opposition to abortion rights. He's made his opposition to the Iowa Supreme Court's April decision legalizing same-sex marriage a centerpiece of his campaign.

But he and his aides argue there is more to his appeal than a laundry list of priorities dear to the Republican base.

His decade teaching and later as a principal, he says, gives him strength against Culver, also a former teacher and coach.

One of his top priorities is abandoning the state's model core curriculum guidelines in favor of local standards that would allow school districts the flexibility to try different approaches. Among them, he said, is allowing districts to experiment with paying math and science teachers more than other teachers.

Vander Plaats, who was not a union member as a teacher, said he would be prepared to fight the Iowa State Education Association on the issue. In 1994, Branstad was endorsed by the ISEA.

The Des Moines Register's September Iowa Poll showed 79 percent of Iowans who described themselves as part of the Republican base saying they would vote for a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.

Vander Plaats has promised to stop same-sex marriages by executive order until such a vote. Constitutional experts have questioned the legality of such a move.

Most Iowans are ambivalent about gay marriage, the poll found. His emphasis on the issue reflects his contention that people will support him for sticking to his principles against the odds - as his father and fellow soldiers did at Iwo Jima.

"They stood in the gap in that case against a ruthless dictator. They put the cause above the self," he said. "Leadership is putting the cause above the self."