Accusations, unsavory tales abound

Who is actually winning the TouchPlay battle depends on the day. For weeks we've reported that a compromise was being cooked up that would create strict rules for having the machines - they would need to be under surveillance, physically separated from areas where kids can be, not just roped off, and possibly muted - but allow them to remain. But in the past few days, we've started to hear that political sentiment is swaying toward possibly banishing the machines entirely. An e-mail from Kum & Go owner Bill Krause to Sen. Jack Kibbie (who introduced a bill that would have the machines pulled 30 days after passage) preceded the latest dust-up. Kibbie admitted he received an e-mail, but told Cityview that he would not discuss its contents. A portion of the e-mail was read to Cityview by a third party regarding Krause's "disappointment" in Kibbie's position and that Kibbie's son-in-law would be disappointed, as well. Kibbie's son-in-law works for Kum & Go in Nebraska, the senator confirmed, but Kibbie would not give us further details. However, a top adviser told us, "It was pretty clear to me what is going on - a not-so veiled threat. But Jack wants to handle it in the senate, not through your paper." Kibbie did tell Cityview that, "This issue has never been debated or voted on. They just did it. We worked 15 years to get gambling where we wanted it to be, and then this comes around. We need to get it all out in the open." How open it will be, the senator would not say. Krause, you'll recall, informed gubernatorial candidate Jim Nussle in an e-mail that he would not support his candidacy because the Congressman said he would vote to pull the machines when elected. No one is saying whether or not the $25,000 contribution Krause made to Nussle was returned, but we're told, it was made up for "and then some" by businessman Gary Kirke, whose Wild Rose Casino will be in Kibbie's hometown of Emmetsburg. However, final campaign numbers will not be known until after the primaries are held. Said another source of the situation: "You don't try and squeeze Jack Kibbie when the guy on the other side of the aisle is Jeff Lamberti (of chief Kum & Go rival Casey's). This is going to be a fistfight, and it will be felt all the way 'till November."

All the chatter about Bob Vander Plaats exiting the governor's race - first here regarding a possible run for Secretary of State and then last week in Register political writer David Yepsen's column about a possible Lt. Governor shot - won't amount to anything (at least not yet), a top GOP official wrote to us in an e-mail. "It all probably comes from three, maybe four schools of thought," this individual said. "One would be the pro-Nussle, let's placate Bob's supporters so they don't work so hard against Nussle because he might give Bob a sniff when it comes time to pick. Two would be that they're also thinking they might be able to dry up some of Bob's financial support if they can create the impression that Bob is considering the idea of teaming with Nussle. The third, which is probably true, is wishful thinking from people in the party who want to avoid a big, expensive, divisive primary fight. They say Bob is an annoyance, but Bob is not going to get out of the race. He honestly thinks he's going to win it. And, that's what you have to think if you're in a race. However, all this talk could be some of Bob's people trying to maintain his long-term viability. After all, when he lost in 2002 he really put on a huge push to be Doug Gross' running mate."

As we reported here first, look for Secretary of Agriculture Patty Judge to officially stop her bid for governor in the next week or so. Judge, we've been told by a top Democrat, is now "negative money wise" and her top donors are looking at other candidates. A source close to front-runner Chet Culver, who is aligned with Judge as being pro-choice, while Mike Blouin is pro-life and cannot be pinned down when it comes to how he'd treat the issue, said to "not rule Patty out" as his possible Lt. Governor candidate.

A Culver adviser said that if Blouin's staff's idea of playing dirty is scrounging up faux campaign disclosure board violations then they might as well "throw in the towel." "When you help someone with a campaign after work and have expenses, you get paid back," this person said in response to last week's item about Secretary of State staffers being reimbursed for time spent on Culver's bid for governor.

Sharon Haselhoff is out as Blouin's fundraising consultant. Haselhoff has been a top Democratic finance whiz for years, but a campaign insider said she and campaign manager Matt Paul butted heads when he was named to his post (she wanted it), and when Blouin's campaign didn't hit the needed contribution numbers she left.

Overlooked in the zoo's announcement that it is raising money is the fact that it is staying where it is, not moving downtown. That, coupled with the downtown establishment's harsh criticism of the Rain Forest Project in the Des Moines Register recently, essentially "puts the nail in the coffin" of the project landing in Des Moines, a top business source told us. We've also heard that Ted Townsend himself is no longer the biggest cheerleader of the Rain Forest, especially since his Great Ape Trust has begun to "really be noticed." CV

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