It's a bad time for Sioux City's influence in Iowa politics, but the state GOP is trying to turn over a new leaf.
The Republican leadership shake-up in Iowa continued Tuesday when GOP members of the Iowa Senate elected a new minority leader, Paul McKinley of Chariton. He ousted Ron Wieck of Sioux City.
Recently, Republicans in the Iowa House booted Christopher Rants of Sioux City and replaced him with Kraig Paulsen of Hiawatha as their floor leader.
Over at the state central committee, the jockeying for position continues after state party chairman Stewart Iverson announced he would not seek the job again. (Iverson had replaced Ray Hoffman of - you guessed it - Sioux City.)
But this isn't about something in the water in Siouxland.
Republicans took a beating in the 2008 general election in Iowa, and a losing party always goes through a reconstruction period.
Paulsen and McKinley are likely to shape a broader GOP message, one that goes beyond just attracting the social conservatives already in the party base.
For example, in the statement announcing his election on Tuesday, McKinley said, "I look forward to working to leading the Senate Republicans and working on legislation that lowers taxes, shrinks government, and finds ways to decrease spending unlike the Democrat-sponsored bills that have left this state with a $500 million deficit."
The statement also said, "Senate Republicans will focus on being a spending watchdog for the state, retaining Iowa's pro-business economy, as well as provide tax relief and advocate for smaller government."
Notice there was no mention of God, guns, gays, stem cells or abortion.
While McKinley, a successful businessman, has good conservative credentials on those questions, he is better known for his work on economic development and school-reform issues.
His election is a recognition by Senate Republicans that it takes more than just "firing up the base" to win elections in Iowa. The term "base" implies you build something on top of it.
That's important. Nobody is suggesting members of the Republican Party change their principles. This is to suggest the pragmatic political consideration of talking more about the issues most people care about. Right now, that's jobs and the economy.
We hear a lot from right-of-center radio and television talk-show hosts about how the party can't desert it's principles. To repeat: This isn't about changing principles. It's about different points of emphasis.
This isn't about winning more ratings by being ever more outrageous on the air. This is about winning elections. Republicans who take political guidance from talk-show hosts would also take nutritional advice from a Krispy Kreme box.
Social issues, like Krispy Kremes, are best taken in moderation. A balanced diet is healthier. There is evidence some social conservatives are starting to understand their agenda will go nowhere if the GOP isn't in control. Taking control means attracting voters who may disagree with them on these questions.
Steve Scheffler, head of the Iowa Christian Alliance, who is now also a member of the Republican National Committee from Iowa, said during a recent "Iowa Press" taping there "is not going to be a litmus test" in recruiting candidates. "We have to find candidates that can actually win because a Republican is going to drive the Republican message once they're elected."
Scheffler added: "For whatever reason, a person decides to put an R behind their name I certainly can accept that. When we agree with each other on 65 percent of the issues or more ... we shouldn't be shooting at each other. And so I will be doing everything in my power along with some other Republican leaders to make sure that we all understand that we're friends, we're allies and we're not adversaries and that we better get our act together before we become irrelevant as a party."
David Yepsen can be reached at 515-284-8545.
