Now that the race for the Republican Gubernatorial nomination if finally beginning to heat up I decided that I was going to do a quick comparison of the announced candidates. As it stands right now we have three officially announced candidates for the office with a fourth supposedly close to announcing his candidacy. Because we only know the intentions of the three that have entered the race they will be the only ones included in this comparison.

Bob Vander Plaats

Vander Plaats finds himself in a position that he had never occupied in his previous campaigns, the frontrunner. He has achieved this with the help of his friend and Iowa caucus winner Mike Huckabee. Huckabee announced his endorsement of Vander Plaats at an event held at Arnold’s Park on the shores of Lake Okoboji. Just one day later he received another key endorsement, Hollywood legend Chuck Norris. It is yet unclear just how far this endorsement may carry him, but it has given him the front runner status in this race.

Vander Plaats does have some hurdles that he needs to overcome if he is to win not just the Republican nomination but also the general election. There is a perception that he is a perennial loser because this is his third attempt at the states highest office. He must convince many that he can indeed win this race.

Another hurdle that he has in his effort to win Terrace Hill is the perception that he is a one issue candidate. Many people feel that Vander Plaats is campaigning solely on the social issues and that he is ignoring the fiscal issues. People that follow politics closely know that this is not the case, but in the world of politics quite often perception is often reality at the ballot box.

Christopher Rants

Christopher Rants is a name well known to Republican activists across the state. He has the potential to be the frontrunner in this race, but he will have several hurdles to overcome before he can achieve this feat. While he has tremendous name recognition, this can be both a blessing and a curse. Like Vander Plaats, Rants has some hurdles that he must overcome if he wants to win the Republican nomination for governor.

The first hurdle that he must overcome is his apparent oust as House Minority leader. At the beginning of this years session of the Iowa General Assembly his colleagues in the Iowa House of Representatives felt the need to replace him with Kraig Paulsen. Through the laws of perception this replacement could be an indictment of his leadership skills. It now Rants to address this issue and alleviate the concerns of the people across the state. Perhaps his best bet to overcome this obstacle is to secure the endorsement of current House Minority leader Kraig Paulsen.

Another challenge to Rants gubernatorial aspirations is the number of bad bills passed during his tenure as House Minority leader. This includes legislation such as the smoking ban and the model core curriculum bills. Under his leadership Republicans failed to stop these bills. I really don’t know how he is can overcome this hurdle. As I have stated before, this is something that he must overcome if he is to achieve the Republican nomination.

Christian Fong

Fong is really an unknown in the race. He is the newest candidate to announce his candidacy, but he has never run for office before. Of the few things that we do know about Fong is the fact that he is serves on the board of Generation Iowa, a state program designed to entice Iowa’s young professionals to remain in the state and he blogs at the Hawkeye Review.

Like Vander Plaats and Rants, Fong has some hurdles that he is going to need to overcome if he wants to win the Republican nomination for governor. First and foremost is his lack of name recognition. While he is undoubtedly well known in his home town, he is a virtual unknown across the state. He will need to rectify this situation quickly if he wants to have a chance in June 2010.

Another hurdle has popped up for the young candidate due to the thorough research of the blogger known as Constitution Daily. In his research for some background information on Fong CD has uncovered some questionable political donations. It would appear that Fong has donated to the campaign of two Democrats in Eastern Iowa; Elesha Gaymen and Tyler Olson. And then to top it off Fong also donated to the Democrat PAC known as ActBlue. These contributions are going to be the biggest hurdle of Fong’s campaign. Can he adequately convince Iowa Republicans that his donation to liberal Democrats was justifiable? If he can’t his candidacy is over before it even begins.

All three of these candidates have to prove that they can overcome the challenges set before them. Some of the challenges are rather large, such as Christian Fong’s donations, Christopher Rants ouster from House Minority leader, or Vander Plaats perception of being a one issue candidate. The first candidate to really do that will most likely be our nominee for governor.