A former student, Anneke, sent me an e-mail recently:

“Dear Dr. S — My mother sent me your column from The Des Moines Register about [Terry] Branstad and ‘selective nostalgia.’

An older woman from Forest City, who is a die-hard Democrat, hopes Branstad will run again because she really liked him as governor and, of course, he was from her area of the state.

About five years ago, I was getting on the plane here in Chicago to fly to Des Moines to take care of our family business. My father had died the year before, and I was running the corporation long-distance.

I saw this man at the gate here at O’Hare walking around, talking to people, and I thought to myself, ‘I should know that man.’

When we boarded, he and his wife were seated with me, so I leaned over and said, ‘I should know you,’ and he introduced himself as Terry Branstad.

We made some small talk, and I told him that my father and brother were big supporters of his. Then he learned I had worked in Argentina, so he spent the rest of the short flight asking me about that.

As we were landing, I gave him my business card, and he saw my last name ‘Ver Daart’ [not her real name] and exclaimed, ‘Is Willem Ver Daart your dad and Johnny Ver Daart your brother?’ And I said yes. ‘I heard your dad died last year, and I’m so sorry to hear that. How is Jaap doing with the company?’ So we chatted a bit about all that.

I was impressed with his ‘politician’ skills. I am just in shock that he will be running again. Just like Brett Favre and all those washed-up sports guys.”

Anneke was impressed with Branstad’s people skills, personal touch and nostalgic appeal across party lines, but she was concerned about an aging politician and compared him to “washed-up sports guys” making comebacks.

Several of my students suggested that in 2010 we need to jazz up political coverage with music — listen at www.insideriowa.com or my blog, www.insideriowa.blogspot.com.

One suggested as a theme song for Branstad the rap song “Washed Up,” by KJ-52, whose lyrics include: “Chorus wait up, hold up, it’s over.”

This can also be the theme song for Sen. Charles Grassley.

Another student suggested “All Washed Up,” by The Urge: “Hey, you’re all washed up; would you please shut up; take a walk that way.”

The 2010 political season will be interesting with an aging Sen. Grassley running against Roxanne Conlin the “washed-up lawyer gal” and Iowa gubernatorial candidate in 1982.

The theme song of the Conlin campaign will be “Roxanne” by The Police, a real problem since the song “… is about a man who falls in love with a prostitute.” Or it could be the more positive “I am Woman” by Helen Reddy:

“I am woman, hear me roar

In numbers too big to ignore

And I know too much to go back an’ pretend

’cause I’ve heard it all before

And I’ve been down there on the floor

No one’s ever going to keep me down again”

One student said it was cool that some of the “classic” politicians were running, and she suggested “Come Back” by Pearl Jam,

Maybe older politicians bring the experience we need. “Wake Up the Dead,” would be good too!

Regarding 40-year-old washed up sports guys, here is the line from this week-end’s game, courtesy of the Edmonton Sun, “Brett Favre had the last word: Vikings 38, Packers 26. After 16 years spent building an iconic presence in Green Bay, Favre came back to Lambeau Field as the devil incarnate to lead Minnesota to a dominating victory over his old team.” Then there are bike racer Lance Armstrong and Dara Torres, who made a fabulous comeback to competitive swimming at age 41.

A song for Gov. Chet Culver is “Stay [Just a little bit longer, please],” by Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs: Perfect for an incumbent.

Steffen Schmidt is a University Professor of Political Science at Iowa State University. He provides weekly political analysis for Iowa Public Radio, and periodically in Spanish for CNN en Español. He also serves as chief political and foreign correspondent for http://insideriowa.com/