According to the Des Moines Register, it’s all about the money:
His message to Linn County Republicans attending a campaign kickoff fundraiser at the Longbranch Best Western in Cedar Rapids was that Republicans can learn lessons from a national tide toward Democrats in the 2006 midterm elections.
“The Republican base is a fiscal restraint base,” he said. “That didn’t get done.”
Yep, I’m sure fiscal restraint ranked real high on public opinion polls right before the election. If I remember correctly, there was something about a war in there as well…