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For Vilsack, only the packing remains

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By Todd Dorman | Wednesday, January 10, 2007 1:37 AM CST | () comments

DES MOINES — The day of his final Condition of the State was also packing day for Iowa’s outgoing governor.

Gov. Tom Vilsack said the past eight years worth of mementos would be cleared from his formal Statehouse office Tuesday. Gone is the Willie Stargell baseball bat, his copy of the book “The World is Flat,” his collection of children’s figurines and boxes of pictures and awards.

By Thursday or Friday, Vilsack and his wife, Christie, will also clear out of the governor’s mansion at Terrace Hill to make way for Governor-elect Chet Culver and his young family.

The Vilsacks will take up residence in a Des Moines apartment, although they’ll spend most of their time on the presidential campaign trail.

“It is unbelievable how much stuff we have,” Vilsack said, lamenting that he spent last weekend packing. “I feel sorry for my kids already. Twenty-five, 30, 40 years from now, they’ll be wonder why we kept this stuff.”

His address won’t be the only change.

A state trooper will no longer drive Vilsack around. With that in mind, Vilsack said he recently purchased a new car — a fuel-sipping, energy-conserving hybrid.

“First of all, the parking won’t be quite as good,” Vilsack said. “I drove myself periodically to church. The highways won’t be quite as safe as they were.”

Vilsack will now become a full-time candidate. He faces long odds in a presidential race that features several better-known names.

Just hours after finishing his last big exit as governor, Vilsack was scheduled to be campaigning in Cedar Rapids.

Todd Dorman can be contacted at (515) 243-0138 or at todd.dorman@lee.net.