On Oct. 16, former Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad resigned as president of Des Moines University and announced he was officially exploring a run for governor. Would his candidacy be good for the Iowa Republican Party? Two Opinions writers weigh in.

YES

In a Republican field of neophytes, unknowns, and intransigent ideologues (I’m looking at you, Bob Vander Plaats) former Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad’s candidacy would bring an established name to the primary race.

Branstad’s moderate, fiscally focused brand of conservatism is too far to the right for me — I’m liberal, what can I say? — but even he looks good next to the politically amorphous Chet Culver.

He enraged unions when he vetoed a pro-labor collective-bargaining bill in 2008. He infuriated equal-rights advocates with his delayed, calculated response to the Iowa Supreme Court’s gay-marriage ruling this spring. And Republicans have reacted apoplectically at nearly every major decision he’s made.

Still, Culver’s campaign coffers are flush with cash, and he’s the incumbent.

After wiping out the Republican field, Branstad would diminish Culver’s incumbency advantage and would have no trouble raising money — effectively countering Culver’s two biggest strengths.

Branstad even led Culver in a recent Daily Kos/Research 2000 poll, 48 to 43 percent.

Would he ultimately top Culver in next fall’s election?

I think so. Regardless of the final results, however, Branstad would undoubtedly help Republicans increase their chances of reclaiming Terrace Hill.

— by Shawn Gude

NO

Iowa Republicans must not have much confidence in their future.

Terry Branstad’s recent resignation from Des Moines University has certainly scared the Democrats, who’ve already released a hilarious attack ad at the erstwhile governor. Perhaps Democrats should be scared. A September Des Moines Register poll gave Branstad a 70 percent favorability rating for his time as governor, while Gov. Chet Culver has slipped to 50 percent.

Culver has had a rough time recently. The economy has forced him to make some very tough and unpopular decisions. The recent film tax-credit scandal hasn’t helped. It looks like a Republican would be able to beat Culver next election, should the challenger not shoot her- or himself in the foot before then.

If that is the case, then why would the GOP desperately reach back to a politician who hasn’t been in politics for a decade? The Iowa GOP, much like the national GOP, has become a wasteland — the result of factional warfare between fiscal and social conservatives. Branstad’s nomination harks back to simpler times when the GOP wasn’t warring with itself.

But perhaps ideological warfare is exactly what the GOP needs more than anything else. The party of Lincoln and Reagan must reidentify itself and find a distinct ideology.

It cannot do that by looking to the past.

The GOP needs to look to the future at younger candidates, such as Cedar Rapids businessman Christian Fong. Republicans may be afraid of Fong’s youth and relative inexperience, but that is exactly what the party needs. Fong represents many of the values Branstad championed as governor, but in new ways. It’s a brave new world for the GOP, and it needs a politician who can lead them into that future — not back to its past.

— by Justin Sugg