Republicans redrawn: New Iowa chairman rallies for a sharper, hipper party

(Sentinel photo by Magdalene Landegent) Matt Strawn, chairman of the Republican Party of Iowa, spent Wednesday morning in Le Mars, visiting with local party supporters about how the party can emerge stronger from recent elections. He also said that Iowa would be a hot political stomping ground leading into the 2010 and 2012 races. [Click to enlarge]

He was talking about the Republican party.

Strawn, elected chairman of the Republican Party of Iowa in January, sat around a Le Mars Truck Stop table with half a dozen local supporters and discussed how the GOP should emerge from the rubble of its 2008 campaign efforts.

His ideas: be fresh, be tech-savvy, be distinct.

"Do we learn our lessons from the mistakes of the past?" Strawn asked. "Yes, we have."

Married and the father of two, Strawn began his campaign with a YouTube video on the Internet and is pushing the use of current technology like Facebook, Twitter and text messaging to reach voters.

"We did a terrible job with technology as a party in 2008," the Ankeny man admitted. "Is the sole reason that Obama won the youth vote the technology? No, but it's part of it."

But those technologies, he said, are what the 30-year-old and under demographic is using.

"As a party we're telling those people we don't understand them, and we don't understand their lives," he said.

Strawn posts short updates on Twitter -- including his stop in Le Mars -- so people can track what he's up to.

"It helps people feel more connected to their leadership," Strawn said.

And, he said, it's a cheap way to get the word out.

Strawn, an Iowa native who spent 10 years in Washington D.C. as a congressional aide, also spoke about being more concrete as a party.

"If Republicans are going to be a relevant force in politics in Iowa," Strawn said, "let's really show that there is a clear difference in the parties."

The citizens, he said, need to know the party's philosophy, but also the solutions the party has in mind.

"We talk about 'fiscal years' and 'legislative bureaus' and people's eyes glaze over," Strawn said

According to Fortune magazine, he said, Iowa is ranked 49 out of 50 in terms of new business creation and entrepreneurship.

"We need an honest debate on why that's the case," Strawn said.

His solution, the traditional Republican view of a less-involved government.

"It's private individuals that are investing their own capital to create long-term sustainable jobs in Iowa," Strawn said. "Sometimes politicians need to understand the best thing the government can do to assist private industry and job creators is to stay out of their way."

Incentives to draw businesses to Iowa can be important, he said.

Just as important, he said, is working with Iowa colleges and universities to find what incentives will keep graduates in Iowa and grow Iowa business.

Strawn grew up on an Iowa farm near Van Horne and was the student council president at Benton Community High School.

"That wasn't a real partisan position," he joked.

Strawn said he never aspired to become the Iowa Republican party chairman.

But as a 35-year old with a young family and a small business, Strawn feels his profile helps him connect with a lot of Iowans.

One of his big pushes is to involve not just new candidates in upcoming elections, but young candidates.

Along with the party is showcasing 16 "rising stars" in the Iowa GOP that are 35 years of age and younger or first-year legislators.

Those "stars," including Sen. Randy Feenstra, of Hull, are traveling the state to develop a foundation for upcoming elections.

"We're building all the infrastructure statewide for our nominee to plug into," Strawn said, speaking of the 2010 election for governor.

He wouldn't disclose his candidate predictions, but did say he anticipates "a robust and competitive primary."

"I don't think the entire field will be clear until later in the summer," he said.

As for the 2012 presidential race, Strawn was equally mum.

"We may not even know who our nominee is at this point. That person may not even be on the national stage. We have elections in 2010, some key gubernatorial races."

But, he admitted, the 2012 activity is already well underway among Republicans, and Iowa is no exception.

He spoke of Nevada Sen. John Ensign's visit to Le Mars Monday, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour's plans to headline at a Republican event in Des Moines this month, and the news that Mike Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor, will be in Spirit Lake June 10 to headline at a fundraiser for likely 2010 gubernatorial candidate Bob Vander Plaats.

"I think we're going to see an incredible amount of activity in Iowa in the next year and a half," Strawn said.