Monday, October 09, 2006

So what SHOULD a Lt. Governor do, then?

David Yepsen has a new blog post up today, about an interesting stance Jim Nussle took in his meeting with Register editors and reporters:

Nussle, in an interview with reporters and editors of The Des Moines Register, said “I think it’s wrong that Sally Pederson is chairman of the Democratic Party. That is not the right role for the lieutenant governor. I’ve not called a press conference to say you ought to resign because there’s also nothing that says you can’t.”

Nussle said “it’s beneath the office to be that overtly political.”


Nussle goes on to say that he'd like to involve BVP in more policy issues, and Yepsen does a good job of showing that the role of Lt. Governor really has no identified responsibilities as long as the existing governor has a pulse.

So what should Iowa's second-ranked elected official be doing with their time? Perhaps more importantly, is there anything they should be prohibited from doing? I tend to think no. Feel free to offer your thoughts.

KL

1 comment:

Chris Woods said...

I definitely think that having Sally Pederson as Lt. Gov. and Party Chair was a fine decision and she's led the party well. But that leadership in the party came after her leadership on a number of policy initiatives that Gov. Vilsack put her in charge of--particularly mental health parity. Until the state constitution defines the office of the lt. gov. with certain roles, obligations, and responsibilities, I agree that there shouldn't be a limit on what they can or cannot do as long as its legal.

Should the Culver-Judge team win, I'd like to see Patty Judge take a strong leadership role in looking at healthcare policy as well as focusing on agricultural issues, as those are some of her areas of expertise. She isn't just a figurehead, but a party leader as well, just as Pederson is and numerous other elected Democrats in this state.