Posted on 03/09/2005 10:19:50 AM PST by RushCrush
Gov. Tom Vilsack’s nomination of Ruth Harkin to the state Board of Regents has caused muffled grumbling among some Republicans who think the primary reason is her marriage to U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin.
While Ruth Harkin is highly regarded for her intellect, character, business acumen and career success, they say, she has little or no working knowledge of the institutions the Regents oversee, doesn’t live in Iowa, didn’t send her children to college here and isn’t familiar with the problems — financial and otherwise — facing the state’s universities.
Yes, she serves on the board of the University of Iowa College of Business, they say, but that isn’t the same as the Board of Regents, where the range of potential problems and policy decisions is far broader.
To which I say: Even if all these things are true, if anybody has reason to be upset with the nomination, it isn’t the Republicans. It’s Ruth Harkin.
Doing what the Regents do is tough work under the best of circumstances. The circumstances under which she is getting the job are not the best by a long shot.
I got the impression from the Regents I’ve known that one of the most valuable aids they have is the information and insights they pick up by living in the state and rubbing elbows every day with people whose lives are touched by the institutions. She won’t have that resource to help her.
Her friends and neighbors in Virginia won’t discuss experiences their children are having at Iowa, Iowa State or UNI. She won’t hear talk about the regents institutions at social gatherings or trips to the store. She won’t be exposed to news about events that don’t directly deal with the institutions but have some influence on, or are influenced by, them.
Moreover, the Regents make difficult decisions, which means they make people unhappy. In Harkin’s case, she’ll have the additional burden of cynical (not to say paranoid) Republicans seeing political motivation in every vote, while other critics look for evidence that her distance from the state is hampering her performance.
Already people have been asking about her travel costs between Iowa and her home, as if that were a major consideration. (She said she expects to pay them. Whew! Guess we won’t have to increase tuition again after all.)
On a positive note, she got off to a good start Wednesday night.
She was among a group of VIP guests at the ISU-Missouri basketball game in Ames. I kept an eye on her when I wasn’t abusing the officials and am pleased to report she rooted for the right team. This is reassuring, as we’ve had Regents in the past who would have cheered for the Tigers because they were wearing black and gold.
That’s one hurdle overcome already, but others lie ahead. People who worry how she might return the favor of the appointment should note that the governor did her no favor by making it.
Mike Deupree’s column appears Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. He can be reached at (319) 398-8452 or mike.deupree@gazettecommunications.com (Previous columns at www.gazetteonline.com)
The woman can't be too intelligent. She's married to a crazy man.
More RINO bu!!sh_t.
---well-after all, former Senator Tom D'Arschloch's wife was the most qualified person on earth to serve as head of the FAA--
All one needs to see is that picture of Harkin/Kerry/Ortega taken a few years back to get one's blood boiling!!
Granted, this Regents position is for the Senators wife...but there's guilt by association.
ping!
Huh?
Who's the RINO? Where's the BS?
This is one of Mike Deupree's more brilliant columns (and he's had some great ones over the years).
Wait, I think I know what happened; perhaps you missed the heavy dose of sarcasm?
I thought Vilsack was a dem?
U. of Iowa is a cesspool of leftist ideology. Its staff could care less about the students.
The security for students is less than marginal and there are cover ups galore in that area. UI is a lawsuit waiting to happen.
It might make CU and Ward Churchill seem minor by comparison.
Like HRC, another "feminist" gets a job because of who she's married to.
How solid is Vilsack's support in Iowa? This seems like a singularly stupid thing for him to do.
Vilsack isn't running for gov again (he - or someone close to him - has national delusions), so he could care less. But Ruth Harkin is an egregiously partisan slap in the face.
My apoplogies -- in fact, I did think Gov. V was a Rockefeller Republican. 50 pushups for Snick.
He's not running again, so he could care less. Now he's just into finding jobs for his communist buddies.
Unfortunate. Kind of like bill clinton's pardons and other shennanigans on the way out the door.
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