Blogs, Covering Iowa Politics
Culver staff objects to pix of bare-chested governor
Posted on Nov 20, 2009 by James Q. Lynch.
No shirt. No news.
Gov. Chet Culver’s staff has reacted testily to publication of pictutres of a topless governor competing in a Florida triathlon over the past weekend.
After a picture of a bare-chested Culver was posted by CoveringIowaPolitics.com, one of his spokespersons questioned the news value of the picture of Culver entering the water for the swimming leg of the triathlon.
Here’s his e-mail:
Hey James,
We saw you had up a blog yesterday with a photo of the Governor at the triathlon. The Governor finished the triathlon, and he did a pretty good job – especially on the swimming. So, I guess my question is — do you think the only news to come out of this is that the Governor didn’t have a shirt on? And if so, why is that news?
Thanks,
troy
Troy Price
Press Secretary
Office of Governor Chet Culver and Lt. Governor Patty Judge
1007 E. Grand Avenue
Des Moines, Iowa 50319
Phone: 515/281-0146
Fax: 515/281-0217
Well, the picture of triathlete Culver is gone. The sponsors of the event, State of Mind Sports, Inc., of Oneco, Fla., said it had not released the picture for publication.
CoveringIowaPolitics.com posted the picture along with the file photo of former Gov. Terry Branstad, also shirtless.
Then Gov. Terry Branstad participated in a bass fishing tournament near Marquette on the Mississippi River in 1996. Orlan Love/The Gazette
Price did not object to or question the news value of the Branstad picture.
Here’s the original post, sans the topless Culver photo:
Following the lead of Iowa’s longest-serving governor, Gov. Chet Culver appeared in public shirtless over the weekend.Branstad, who’s angling to resume his reign as governor, appeared sans shirt in the summer of 1996 at a Mississippi River bass fishing tournament near Marquette. Branstad, then 49, “seemed as pleased to shed the trappings of office as he did to shed his shirt on a sun-warmed afternoon in which temperatures reached the mid-80s,” according to a Gazette report.
Like Gov. Terry Branstad, who fished bare-chested in 1996, Culver entered the water leg of a Florida triathlon wearing a swimming cap and trunks.
The aide said Culver, 43, a former college offensive lineman, lost 25 pounds while training for the event.
Culver spokesman Troy Price says the governor trained for the triathlon for about nine weeks and will continue his workout regimen. Price says he’ll probably compete in another triathlon, a multi-sport endurance event in which participants swim, bicycle and run.
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