Goodbye, Jim Nussle

And then there's First District U.S. Rep. Jim Nussle, who managed to give the impression when he announced his intention to become the Republican candidate for Iowa's governor that somehow we owed him.

Conventional wisdom now, after a 10 percent loss to Democrat Chet Culver, is that he was swept away by nationwide dismay at George W. Bush run amuk, the war in Iraq and a Republican congressional majority that had strayed a considerable distance from old-fashioned GOP principles. That surely was the case with Jim Leach, veteran U.S. representative and Republican moderate down in southeast Iowa.

But there's something else at work here with Nussle, buried deep in the Iowa psyche --- After we send senators or representatives to Washington, Iowans discover after a year or two that we don't really like them. There are a lot of advantages to seniority in Congress, no matter the party. And as a rule, as a tribe, we deplore change. So except in extraordinary years like this, we'll live and let live.

That I suppose is a factor in the rise of the outrageous Steve King, re-elected Tuesday in his western Iowa home, where neo-Nazis roam.

But giving a collective finger to congressional delegates who begin to operate under the delusion that Iowans love them is fast becoming a state tradition.

There was Fred (aka "Gopher") Grandy, who decided to challenge Terry "Governor-for-Life" Branstad for the Republican gubernatorial nomination during 1994. Then there was the eminently forgettable Jim Ross Lightfoot, who took on Tom Vilsack during 1998 as the GOP nominee. And now, Mr. Nussle.

Curiously, when we hand these guys their walking papers they seem to take it personally (it really isn't) and instead of sticking around to work for the state they told us they loved so much, high-tail it back to Washington to find some sort of fringe, although highly-paid, alternate occupation.

So we'll see how long it takes Brother Jim, who told us during the campaign how much he loved Manchester and how glad he was to call it home, to get out of Dodge. Betcha the moving van already's been reserved.