Republican State Sen. John Waterman of Shelburn is exploring whether to enter the Indiana gubernatorial race as an independent candidate. “There’s a lot of disgruntled people,” said Waterman in an exclusive Howey Politics Indiana interview Friday morning. Waterman, who was elected to the Senate in 1994 after two terms as Sullivan County Sheriff, added, “I know in this area, people are living paycheck to paycheck. There’s no communication with the governor’s office. He’s got this open door policy that doesn’t work. Nobody will call you back. There’s a lack of interest in education. The schools are in bad shape and nobody wants to talk about it. Economic development in Southwestern Indiana is zilch.” Waterman said that “right now, things are exploratory.”
I don’t know much about this guy but it sounds like he knows a key constituency, local officials, who could form a formidable coalition. Never underestimate the power of the local politicians who can stand in your living room to influence elections in a big way. Again, my lack of knowledge of this guy makes me wonder how much of a threat this guy is to Mitch “Govfather” Daniels and Jill Long Thompson? It’s definitely the first big monkeywrench thrown by either party in this race, I would stock up on a lot of popcorn, folks, this is gonna be fun to watch!
I have a number of random thoughts which don’t make up any one post so much as they are things I want to put out there for discussion or at least journal purposes.
Presidential Veepstakes and other Cart Before the Horsetrading News
Hillary just won Indiana and of course that means we start picking apart the vice presidential contenders…on Obama’s ticket? I guess we Hoosier voters were the deciderer, just not really. Michelle Obama is already shopping for formal china patterns and measuring for drapes in the family quarters from the way the media is portraying last Tuesday’s results.
Superdelegates keep declaring their warmth for Obama, first at a trickle, but with 9 declarations on Friday that is fast becoming a stream. I expect we will see presumptive nominee talk increase the closer we get to the convention. I suspect we are in for a fiasco at the convention and I for one do not look forward to it.
Goobernut…Guberva…Governator…That Damn Governor’s Race
Jill Long Thompson finally won the nomination for Governor in the primary and credit for the W is being passed along to the Steelworkers of Lake County who did their GOTV operation there which ended up being the key to the win. Kudos for a smart strategy by the JLT camp for using natural allies to perform key campaign work in a tough fundraising and media climate.
Jim Schellinger lost a tough and close race, but managed to concede apparently without appearing on camera to do so. In fact since some press releases went out before the final concession by email blast nothing has been heard from the candidate. Kind of disappointing in some sort of way, but the man is entitled to some privacy if he wants it. I wouldn’t have been so anxious to see cameras either after that whole ordeal.
Congressional Races Looking Great For November
Turnout in Indiana was so overwhelming it nearly crashed our election system. Turnout for Congressional races in all districts was way up. The number of voters taking Democratic ballots were off the charts. Even once safe districts like the 6th where my friend Barry Welsh secured the uncontested nomination had some eye popping numbers. Nearly 58 thousand voters cast Democratic ballots to 22 thousand Republican primary ballots. If these numbers hold in the fall Congressman Welsh will be replacing one of the most reactionary wingnuts in Congress - 6th District Rep. Mike Pence (R- Iraqi Markets).
I am still reluctant to talk about my 7th District primary adventure with Dr. Woody Myers. Suffice it to say the best man lost in my opinion, and as for what my intentions are for the fall…I’ll get back to you on that one. I’ll be in the 7th district to vote as far as I know, thats all I can tell you right now.
All Your Politics Are Belong to Locals
The Indiana House and Senate have elections this year too and I am proud to be a part of the John Barnes for Indiana House District 89 team! John is an east side resident through and through and will represent the district light years better than the current retiree, Republican Larry Buell. Larry is one of those guys who has been there forever, no distinguishing efforts, just sat on ass mostly. One of those worthless pols who are just collecting a check and loving it that constituents never let him buy a food or beverage item when he visits their shops.
John is running against a charming fellow named Chris Swatts who fancies himself internet savvy for buying up the domain John used two years ago in his run for House against Larry Buell, an election he lost by 500 votes. So remember everybody, you can visit John’s real website at www.barnes4staterep.com and not the old domain which now points to the Chris Swatts website. Classy guy, I’m gonna love beating him this fall.
So that is about all for now, I will post something again real soon. Sorry its been so long since I had anything new here, but thans for continuing to read my rantings and ravings. See you soon!
With the recent silliness which abounded around these parts in recent days and weeks, a very important development in the War on Stupidity took place which kind of went unnoticed, but served as a signal flare or dog whistle to the wider anti abortion community nationwide from right here in Indy. Carl Brizzi, Marion County Prosecutor and grandstanding politician extraordinaire, last week put forth the idea that in light of the recent brutal attack on the bank teller who lost her 5 month old twin fetuses that we should change the Indiana feticide law.
Brizzi and his GOP cohorts, using the cover of a law enforcement angle, have decided it is time we change the statute under which a fetus in Indiana is considered viable from 7 months to some nebulous time earlier in the gestational period. This is a backdoor way for the anti-choice crowd to try to criminalize abortions and this is going to be a giant battleground next year when this is taken up by the General Assembly.
Now let me state for the record my exact views on abortion. I am personally morally opposed to them and were I to ever be in a situation where my wife or girlfriend announced to me she was pregnant and what did I think we should do about it, I would immediately embrace fatherhood and be prepared to deal with the consequences of that decision. Ultimately, in the end, however, that decision I believe is best left to the person who must carry the fetus to full term, then deliver the child.
I would prefer we lived in a world where abortion is unnecessary. Unfortunately, ours is not such a world and it is an issue we have to confront. It is the most emotional issue Americans face and it is never going to go away. Zealots on both sides of the issue have staked out ridiculous black and white positions with no room for grey area policy.
The fight last year against the Same Sex Marriage bill, SJR-7, was a victory for Hoosier progressives and others who don’t want to see our laws hijacked by the far right wingnuts who inhabit our state. We will need a coalition at least as large as the one against SJR-7 to fight the zealots on both sides of this issue if pragmatic Hoosiers wish to prevail on this.
The tragedy that befell the bank teller was a very sad day in Indy. I feel horrible for the family that lost their twins. I too hope that we can adjust our laws in such a way as to properly classify criminality involving heinous crimes such as the one that took place at the Huntington Bank. I don’t think we should drag the abortion debate into that process though, and we all know the wingnuts are going to try to do so when this battle begins.
[Dusts off the chair]
[Billows up a cloud of thick dust]
Cough cough cough.
Ahem.
Well, that was quite an experience we all just had wasn’t it? I gotta tell you, I got a lot of stories from this election cycle. The most depressing part of this fact though is that I probably can’t relate 90% of them via this blog for various reasons, amongst them privacy concerns, decorum, a desire to keep my most paranoid theories out of public view and a healthy dose of professional respect for everyone involved. I will, however, share some of the lighter moments in what I am going to call The Circus from henceforth.
We as Hoosier Democrats just lived through a true 3 ring circus with the Presidential, Gubernatorial and Congressional primaries all happening at once. Here in the 7th district it was extra crazy having to vie for media attention amongst this atmosphere. Any other year and our race would have been a major national story. It had drama, it had characters, it had style, it had lots and lots of comedy and just as much bulls**t and uh, more bulls**t (h/t Jeff).
I will never be able to relate the whole story via this blog, so please don’t expect me to discuss everything that happened. Suffice it to say that a story as complex as this one could never be fully appreciated or understood. In fact, I honestly truly don’t know myself what really happened. I think we experienced some abnormally interesting times and must just move on from here secure in the knowledge that we may never fully realize the consequences of what occurred.
Until I return full time I thought I might place the official widget for the Myers 2008 Datastream, a constantly updated widget that contains updates from all of the various social network profiles we have gathered on our Profilactic mashup page. A master RSS feed is then gathered into a single feed which updates the widget and can be placed on your favorite social network profile.
Spread the word about Dr. Myers! Copy and paste the code in the box below into your profile on MySpace!
Monticello Politics will be on hiatus until the conclusion of my duties with the Dr. Woody Myers campaign. This site and it’s archive will remain available and I will return as soon as my status with the Myers campaign changes. I can always be reached via email should you need to contact me.
Well I know it has been quiet around Monticello Politics for a couple of weeks but I wanted to let you all know some exciting news! I am officially joining the Dr. Woody Myers for Congress campaign as their Internet Coordinator and official campaign blogger. I will be keeping the Bloosiersphere updated on the goings on of the campaign and will be reaching out to other bloggers to advocate on behalf of the man I consider to have the best chance of winning the Democratic nomination for Congress in May.
So if you have any questions, comments or any requests for Dr. Myers I would be happy to take care of those for you. Contact me anytime at finifinito@gmail.com and I will get right back to you!
I am truly stunned. This is shock and awe like I have never seen anywhere before. I am pleased to see the editorial staff of America’s Worst Newspaper The Indianapolis Star “grew a pair” (h/t Ruth Holladay) and defied the Carson Machine to endorse Jon Elrod for the Special Election this Tuesday.
I will not go so far as to officially endorse Jon Elrod over Andre Carson, but I do recommend that Democrats who oppose Andre Carson cannot in good conscience go to the polls on Tuesday. Save your votes for the Primary fight in May. May the best candidate win the Primary.
Democratic insiders in January pushed Carson ahead of stronger candidates in slating him for the special election. In fact, Carson likely will be only the fourth best-qualified Democratic candidate in the May primary, behind state Reps. Carolene Mays and David Orentlicher and former state health commissioner Woody Myers.
Carson, a former investigator with the state Excise Police, is engaging and energetic. He also has a remarkable life story, including childhood memories of living in a Salvation Army shelter.
But he struggles with specifics on key issues when pressed to move beyond talking points.
In the special election, The Star recommends Elrod over Carson and Shepard. It’s early in Elrod’s career to be chasing a seat in Congress, but he’s better prepared for the job at this point than his Democratic opponent.
Regardless of Tuesday’s outcome, Democratic voters should eagerly look forward to the May primary, when Mays, Myers and Orentlicher lead a deep and talented field.
Last week there were some questions being raised that John McCain may not be a ‘Natural Born’ citizen. His father was serving in the military and was posted overseas when he was born; this is a serious Constitutional argument.
My family emails daily and often we get on an issue and we can have long strings of intelligent discourse. My eldest son who lives in the land of ‘Cheeseheads’ (Wisconsin) questioned what did the authors of the Constitution really mean by ‘Natural Born.’ The NRA and Religious Right insist we continue to interpret this document the same way it was two hundred years ago; since the Constitution was written prior to modern medicine, we, as a family, agreed that to qualify as ‘Natural Born’ you must be born in the USA without pain killers, epidurals, c-sections or using LaMaze breathing techniques and the father may not be in the delivery room. Video verification should also be made publicly available to confirm being ‘Natural Born.’
Our next president must be ‘Natural Born’ in every sense of the word.
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