"I would move out of Iowa if I wasn't so old."

[DFW]

7. I know. Like about fifty times by me alone.

He just didn't think the timing was right, and the last election unfortunately showed he was probably right. But he got some good coaching early on. I was with him at a fundraiser in Washington DC several years ago, during his initial campaign for State Auditor, and told him he should really talk to Howard Dean. He said he'd love to, but how does one go about "just talking to Howard Dean?"

I said, "well, in your case, like this." I pulled out my phone, dialed Howard, gave him a brief rundown on who Rob was, and asked if he would talk to him. Howard said, "sure put him on." I pulled Rob over, and said, "Rob, here's Howard." I thought they were going to talk for five minutes. They talked for over half an hour. I don't know what they said, but Rob DID win his election (his first for State Auditor) that fall.