The Hoosierpundit

Who Dey, Who Dey, Who Dey Think Gonna Beat Them Colts?

2009-11-15T23:50:00.003-05:00

Answer: Not the New England Patriots.

That was good football. Best game of the year.

Indianapolis: 35
New England: 34

The Senate Battleground Expands: Connie Sipes to Retire, Not Seek Reelection

2009-11-12T19:40:00.000-05:00

House Republicans have touted some impressive recruitment efforts of late, and the efforts of Senate Republicans have gotten a bit less attention (not least because there are a lot fewer Democrats in the Senate and a lot more Republicans, relatively speaking, and the majority in that chamber is not at stake in 2010).

But that's not to say that there hasn't been activity. At last Friday's Floyd County GOP event, I was reminded by several people (not least the hard campaigning of the candidates and their supporters) that there is a spirited Republican primary underway in Senate District 46.

That seat is currently held by Connie Sipes, but it won't be held by her after next November.

She's retiring:

INDIANAPOLIS – State Sen. Connie Sipes, D-New Albany, will not seek re-election next year, ending a 12-year tenure at the Statehouse that included a climb into the chamber’s Democratic leadership.

Sipes was to make the announcement Thursday night at a Democratic dinner in New Albany. Floyd County Commissioner Charles “Chuck” Freiberger was expected to use the event to say he was running for the District 46 seat.

Already, two Republicans – Jeffersonville City Councilman Ron Grooms and New Albany-Floyd County Schools Board member Lee Ann Wiseheart – have announced they will also seek the seat.

Sipes planned to endorse Freiberger at the Floyd County Democrats’ Jefferson-Jackson dinner Thursday.

“He has extensive leadership experience in county government and as an educator, and he has demonstrated his commitment to the community as well as a keen understanding of the local issues,” Sipes said in remarks prepared for the dinner.

Sipes, a former elementary school teacher and principal, said she intends to fulfill the rest of her term, which ends in 2010.

Democrats first appointed Sipes to the Senate in 1997 to fill an unexpired term and since then she has been elected to three consecutive four-year terms.

She has been active in education and health issues since she came to the Senate. Last year, her Democratic colleagues picked Sipes to be the minority caucus chairwoman, a job that makes her part of the leadership team that guides caucus positions and decisions.

Freiberger is in his third term as a commissioner. He previously served on the Floyd County Council for 12 years. He has been a teacher at Floyd Central High School and Highland Hills Middle School for 26 years.

Sipes' decision to not seek reelection was, I told, a long time in coming and her anointed Democrat successor--whose campaign will be birthed on the night that Howard Dean addresses the Floyd County Democrats--is not unexpected either.

The real question, I suppose, will be whether Sipes does indeed sit out the full term, or whether she resigns and retires early so that Democrats can pick a successor to her in a caucus and give that chosen one a minor leg up on Republican challengers Wiseheart and Grooms.

It wouldn't be the first time that legislators from either party have left a seat mid-term in order to make election chances for their party easier, particularly Democratic legislators (see: Denbo, Jerry).

Mike Sodrel on the Move?

2009-11-12T07:02:00.001-05:00

In the past couple of days, I've started to hear a new rumor among the Indy insiders and among a few in the 9th District.

The rumor goes like this: Mike Sodrel isn't going to run for Congress. People wanting him to run for Congress just got him to do an event at someone's house before he spoke at a Tea Party in Corydon. Since no announcement happened at either event, he's obviously not running.

Let's consider those things for a moment.

First of all, the organizers of the Corydon Tea Party made clear when they invited Mike Sodrel (and everyone else) that there would be no campaign speeches (and certainly no campaign announcements) at the Tea Party. They also strongly indicated (both to me and to Congressman Sodrel) that they did not want a partisan event and they preferred that the event itself not get overshadowed by any sort of campaign announcement that day.

Mike Sodrel honored their request. In fact, at the end of the Tea Party, the organizer allowed candidates for elected office to come up in front of the crowd (but not speak). A lot of people pushed Mike to go up and join them. I was standing nearby, and Sodrel told them, "No, I promised them that I wouldn't do anything like that today." He didn't say, "I'm not running."

He said that he wasn't going to announce that day, probably out of respect to the Tea Party organizers and to honor of the promise he made to them. It would have been very easy for Mike Sodrel to have walked up and joined the candidates at that moment. Certainly, many in the crowd (by their earlier reaction to his speech there) would have cheered him doing so.

But Mike Sodrel also would have gone back on his word to those that organized the event, and his sudden announcement would have potentially overshadowed the event itself. The stories would have been "Sodrel announces Congressional campaign at Tea Party" not "500+ gather at Tea Party to protest Obama agenda."

Second of all, if you were at the lunch for Sodrel on Saturday or the Tea Party he spoke at later that same day, you probably saw a familiar face with Mike Sodrel. That would have been Diego "You're the MAN!" Morales, who has been a volunteer or a paid staffer with every Sodrel campaign since 2004 (and maybe even 2002).

When Sodrel was elected in 2004, he singled Diego out at his victory celebration a few weeks after the election. "You ran, Diego," he said. "You RAN." Diego was with the campaign in 2006. And when Sodrel decided to run in 2008, the first person who joined the campaign was Diego Morales.

Since the last election, Morales went to work with Todd Rokita, and then went on a trip to Africa. The first place he showed up after his return was with Mike Sodrel at Lori Davis' farm this past Saturday (Lori Davis worked on all four of Sodrel's campaigns and worked in his Congressional office), and he rode there with the Sodrels. And he rode with them to the Tea Party, too.

I don't find that a small coincidence. I also don't find the recent visits back to southern Indiana of some former Sodrel campaign staffers and advisors (some of them currently living out-of-state) to be a coincidence either.

Long-time readers of this blog know that I don't believe in coincidences in politics.

I don't know what Mike Sodrel intends to do. But I also know that, if he was running, Diego Morales would almost certainly be around. And Diego Morales is back around again.

I also know that Sodrel would be talking with former campaign staffers and advisors if he was serious about running again. And some of those very people have been back in southern Indiana visiting with old friends lately for some reason.

Like I said, I don't believe in coincidences.

Todd Young's Latest Campaign Event

2009-11-12T06:37:00.008-05:00

...is being hosted today by Michael Bailey, who filled 9th District airwaves with ads like this when he ran for Congress last in 2000:

Young can be forgiven for not remembering Bailey's campaign; he still claimed residence in Carmel when Bailey ran for Congress and hadn't bought his home-away-from-home in the People's Republic of Bloomington yet.

It will be interesting to see how Kevin Kellems, who Bailey defeated in the primary in 2000 and who has been a long-time Young supporter, will get along with Bailey (who back in 2006 wrote a letter-to-the-editor in the Corydon Democrat endorsing a good-old-boy Democrat over a Republican for commissioner in a close race in Harrison County).

It's particularly interesting when you consider that Bailey's campaign model (bottom-up, grassroots) has been adopted by Travis Hankins, while Kellem's campaign model (top-down, backed by Indy insiders) has been adopted by Todd Young.

When I spoke earlier this week with some influential Hoosier pro-life movement leaders about Bailey, I was surprised at the harshness of their opinions about him and about the race more broadly.

"This doesn't help make Todd Young look more appealing to pro-lifers and social conservatives," one told me. "What it shows is he doesn't have a clue about them." Ouch. Another went on to tell me (in not so many words) that Bailey's campaigns (in 1992 and 2000) damaged the pro-life movement in Indiana. (EDIT: To answer one reader email, that's their opinion, not mine. I won't personally hazard a guess on the impact the ad had on the pro-life movement at large; watch the ad and decide for yourself. I think history may speak to its political impact.)

In politics, I've found that you meet many people. You find people with very strongly-held political beliefs, like Michael Bailey. And you also find people who have no strongly-held political beliefs at all, like Todd Young. It's rare to find them together (at least for very long).

It will be interesting to see if Todd Young wants Michael Bailey to co-host a fundraiser for him in Indianapolis, say at the Broad Ripple GOP Club, any time soon.

EDIT: An astute reader notes that Todd Young's website and Twitter account make absolutely no mention at all of this event, despite flyers for it having been handed out at the Corydon Tea Party. Very strange. I can't imagine why.

Photo of the Day: Everybody Goes Hunting in a Corn Field with a Hummer, Right?

2009-11-12T06:19:00.001-05:00

Another Democrat to Filibuster ObamaCare

2009-11-12T06:14:00.000-05:00

Ben Nelson of Nebraska:

In a warning sign for the White House, Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska tells ABC News that he'll vote to block any health care bill that looks like the bill passed by the House.

"Well, first of all, it has more than a robust public option, it's got a totally government-run plan, the costs are extraordinary associated with it, it increases taxes in a way that will not pass in the Senate and I could go on and on and on," Nelson said in an interview that is part of ABC News' Subway Series with Jonathan Karl.

"Faced with a decision about whether or not to move a bill that is bad, I won't vote to move it," he added. "For sure."

The $1.1 trillion price tag on the House bill, Nelson said, is "absolutely" too high.

Jen Rubin adds:

It seems as though the House Democrats who walked the plank may now, as on cap-and-trade, be hung out to dry if their efforts are now portrayed as the unacceptable, pie-in-the-sky handiwork of the party’s far Left. We’ll see if Nelson has company among other Red State senators who don’t think voting for PelosiCare is good for their political health.

Obama's Usefulness on the Campaign Trail

2009-11-12T06:06:00.001-05:00

Geraghty has the numbers:

Votes for Democrat Jon Corzine in Newark, New Jersey, in 2005: 39,573.

Votes for Corzine in Newark in 2009, two days after Obama hosted a rally for him there: 35,669.

Votes for Jon Corzine in Camden County in 2005: 76,955.

Votes for Jon Corzine in Camden County in 2009, two days after Obama hosted a rally for him there: 66,996.

Votes for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tim Kaine in Norfolk in 2005: 27,791.

Votes for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Creigh Deeds in Norfolk in 2009, roughly a week after Obama hosted a rally for him: 24,004.

Never mind that Obama couldn't get Corzine and Deeds over the top; he couldn't ensure that they did as well as they or other Democrats did in the same races for the same offices four years ago, in the heavily Democratic cities he appeared in.

There's a valuable lesson for vulnerable Democrats sweating their votes on the health-care bill. If you vote yes, you will probably outrage right-leaning voters in your district, and many independents will fear you've made things worse.

But sometime between now and Election Day 2010, President Obama will come to the biggest city in your district and hold a big rally. Thousands will turn out, you will dominate the news cycle, and it will be the best day of your campaign.

And then, in all likelihood, you will lose, because everyone in that crowd of thousands was going to vote for you anyway, and what you won't see are the tens of thousands who didn't show up because they don't care that President Obama thinks you deserve to be reelected.

So, which Hoosier Democrat up for reelection in 2010 is going to call Obama in for a rally after they've voted for many unpopular elements of Obama's agenda? Will it be Joe Donnelly? Brad Ellsworth? Baron Hill? Evan Bayh?

It seems likely like that Obama's appearance at such an event won't matter and might even (among Hoosiers) hurt the person Obama wants reelected.

I'm reminded of George W. Bush's campaign rally for Mike Sodrel in October of 2006. It was a big campaign rally. Thousands turned out. It dominated the news cycle. It was the best day of Sodrel's campaign.

And then Sodrel lost anyway, because there were tens of thousands who didn't show up because they didn't care that George W. Bush thought that Mike Sodrel should have been reelected, and there were probably a couple of thousand people that decided that if Mike Sodrel's reelection was so important to George W. Bush, they should vote against Mike Sodrel.

It's going to be interesting to see if Baron Hill (or another Hoosier Democrat) puts himself in that position come next year.

Dick Lugar Calls for Obama to Hit Reset Button on Cap-and-Trade Bill

2009-11-12T05:57:00.000-05:00

Let's see, I wonder if Obama will listen.

I mean, after all, we were sold this great line by Obama and Brian Howey about how Dick Lugar was such a mentor in the Senate to the newly-minted Senator Obama, and how Obama greatly values his counsel.

Let's see how valued that counsel is now, when it's saying something Obama doesn't want to hear and urging him to do take a position beyond supporting something that will pass by a simple voice vote in the Senate.

Contentions:

Many conservatives have been arguing for a do-over on health care. Here comes a model for how to do it. The subject is different but the process is similar. Cap-and-trade has reached a dead end. There aren’t the votes in the Senate. The bill, which would impose huge mandates and enact a new energy tax, makes no sense in a recession. Sen. Richard Lugar says “enough”:

Sen. Richard Lugar (Ind.), the top Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee, met Tuesday with United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, along with the panel’s chairman, John Kerry (D-Mass.), and Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.), who are working to forge a bipartisan compromise on climate legislation.

Lugar said he welcomed the opportunity to discuss global warming, but he emphasized that his constituents are more focused on the economy and did not see the bill authored by Kerry and Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) as politically viable.

“I don’t see any climate bill on the table right now that I can support,” said Lugar, one of the half-dozen Republicans that Democrats are courting on the issue. “We really have to start from scratch again.”

In short, when a bill makes no sense substantively and hasn’t garnered wide support, just stop. Start over. Figure out limited reforms that won’t break the bank and won’t put Democrats in swing states at risk. In the end, there’ll be a big signing ceremony, the White House will get credit, and the opposition will be muted. Could work for cap-and-trade. And for health care.

Republicans, I suspect, are hoping that the ideologically consumed and hubris-ridden White House and Democratic Congress don’t figure this out. Right now, the GOP sees a win-win: either awful legislation collapses or it passes and becomes the target for 2010. Should the Democrats come to their senses, the win-win calculus would fail. But Republicans needn’t worry; common sense seems not to be in the offing.

Meanwhile, in Ohio, King of the Swing States

2009-11-12T05:52:00.001-05:00

From Poll Tracker:

Two months ago, Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, a Democrat, enjoyed a 10-point advantage over his likely Republican challenger in 2010, John Kasich. But now, the two split the vote down the middle, according to a Quinnipiac University poll conducted Nov. 5-9.

Ohio voters see Kasich -- a former congressman (1983-2001) and onetime host of a talk show on the Fox News Channel -- as better able to rebuild the state's economy and handle the budget, the poll found.

The 1,123 Ohio voters who participated in the telephone survey are evenly divided on the governor's race, with Strickland and Kasich each garnering 40 percent of the vote. Strickland's approval rating barely outpaces his disapproval rating, 45 percent to 43 percent, marking his lowest job-performance approval numbers since he took office in 2007.

When asked whether they viewed Kasich favorably or unfavorably, 69 percent of the voters said they didn't know enough about him to have an opinion. Peter Brown, assistant polling director at Quinnipiac University, noted that the numbers "say a lot more about Ted Strickland than they do about John Kasich, because so few Ohioans know that much about him."

Strickland's handling of the state's economy got a thumbs-down from voters: More than half (52 percent) disapprove of what he has been doing, and only 33 percent approve. When asked who would do a better job rebuilding the economy, 41 percent of those surveyed backed Kasich, while Strickland was favored by 33 percent.

The poll's margin of error is plus or minus 2.9 percentage points.

Yeah, Rachel Maddow Is a Hypocrite

2009-11-12T05:49:00.001-05:00

Obama '09

2009-11-12T05:44:00.000-05:00

Defining Blasphemy

2009-11-12T05:42:00.000-05:00

Mike Sodrel's Big Weekend

2009-11-09T01:56:00.003-05:00

I blogged late last week about an email that was sent out by Dee Dee Benkie, Indiana's national committeewoman on the Republican National Committee, and Larry Shickles, the former 9th District chairman, for a lunch for Congressman Mike Sodrel.

First of all, to put an end to the many inquiring emails I have received since I made that post, Mike Sodrel made no announcements this weekend at any of the three events he attended.

And, yes, Sodrel attended three events this weekend. At least, he attended three events where I personally saw him. He may have been at others, too. He attended a social event on Friday put on by the Floyd County GOP. He attended the aforementioned lunch on Saturday in Harrison County. And he attended, and spoke, at the Tea Party in Corydon later Saturday afternoon.

The lunch on Saturday a successful event, particularly given the very short notice (less than 48 hours) given with the timing of the invitation email. The event lasted for about two hours and had a pretty steady flow of people through. Folks came from even the far corners of the district, and there were even attendees from Monroe County, Bartholomew County, Dearborn County, and Ripley County.

Your humble correspondent left before the event was over (I had a Tea Party to get to, and I knew that parking in downtown Corydon was going to be awful so I wanted to get there early; everyone else at the event that followed me to the Tea Party said that they wished that they had left early too), but I am told that some more people came after I left.

If the point of the event was for Mike Sodrel to stick a proverbial toe in to "test the waters" for a potential campaign, he probably found the waters comfortable and to his liking. He made no announcements, but found a lot of encouragement. Sodrel spoke about the state of the country and the state of the Republican Party. With regard to the former, he talked about the dangers presented by the current Congress and the Obama administration. With regard to the latter, he talked about the victories in New Jersey and Virginia and (of particular interest) the race in NY-23.

The night before, Friday night, Sodrel showed up unexpectedly at a social event held by the Floyd County GOP. Interestingly, he showed up about ten minutes (if that) after Todd Young left. The two quite literally could have passed each other, with one coming into the building and the other leaving. The contrast between the reception the two got was quite interesting to see.

Mike Sodrel and his wife Keta were soon surrounded by people wanting to know whether he was going to run and frequently encouraging him to do so. One person, quite seriously and sincerely, asked Keta Sodrel whether they should be praying for Mike (not to run, but for wisdom in the decision). Keta didn't tell this person not to pray, and she certainly didn't indicate that she had any problem with Mike running. I was surprised that she appeared to have no issues with Mike running.

At the Tea Party, the next afternoon, Sodrel got a standing ovation from the crowd when he got up to speak about cap-and-trade, and again when he finished. Some people even shouted, "We like Mike!" and others shouted for him to run against Baron Hill.

Before and after the event, Sodrel was surrounded by people asking him whether he was going to run, with many encouraging him to do so. Again, to use the tired old "testing the waters" cliche, Sodrel probably found the waters at the Tea Party also to his liking.

Of particular interest to me was the reaction that Sodrel got from the crowd at large. The Tea Party was not a partisan event, and the organizers went to great lengths to avoid making it so (as I noted in passing, here). They were particularly concerned that Sodrel (and State Treasurer Richard Mourdock) would be seen as too partisan and might offend conservative Democrats that attended the event.

I spoke with a couple of conservative Democrats that were present afterward (one of whom told me last year that he couldn't bring himself to ever vote for a Republican, despite his huge dislike for Obama). None were offended, though several didn't like the handing out of campaign literature. Another said that he had changed his mind about Sodrel now but had always voted for Hill in the past (this same Democrat, a union member, grumbled to me about Mourdock stopping the Chrysler bailout).

If this past weekend was Mike Sodrel's way of testing the waters, he certainly found nothing to dissuade him from running, and plenty to encourage him. His reception from conservatives of all political stripes at the Tea Party in Corydon was particularly noteworthy.

Corydon Tea Party

2009-11-09T01:35:00.002-05:00

Corydon played host on Saturday to a Tea Party, held on the square on the grounds of the First State Capitol. It was a beautiful day and between 550 and 600 people turned out to hear a variety of speakers talk about issues facing America, including the First Amendment, the Second Amendment, the right-to-life, health care, cap-and-trade, bailouts, and other topics.

My Flickr account, here, has some photos that I took during the Tea Party.

Speakers included State Treasurer Richard Mourdock and former Congressman Mike Sodrel. Both of them gave good speeches (on bailouts and cap-and-trade, respectively) and got particularly positive reactions from the crowd. Patriot Paul, of Indianapolis Tea Party fame, read the Declaration of Independence. Dr. Dan Eichenberger of Floyd County spoke about health care. Jason Higdon of New Albany spoke about the First Amendment. Norman Dennison, who also organized the event, spoke about the Second Amendment. Dr. Frank G. Simon spoke about the right to life. A brief open forum at the end allowed several other speakers the chance to address the crowd before the event ended.

Several campaigns had a presence at the rally, including Richard Behney for Senate and Travis Hankins for Congress (both had tables set up). Todd Young, wearing a pink shirt (or a shirt with thin white and red stripes that sure looked pink from a distance), also showed up a bit after the event started and worked the crowd introducing himself to as many people as he could approach while the speakers were talking (apparently to the irritation of many, as several people spoke to me about it afterward).

Several local county candidates were also present, including Marion Wallace (a candidate for county council), Michael Gregory (a candidate for county sheriff), and Rod Seelye (also a candidate for county sheriff). There was even an individual present from HuckPAC. There was one other candidate present (running for something outside of Harrison County, I think), but I didn't catch her name.

A variety of local media covered the event.

The Courier-Journal:

About 500 people rallied in downtown Corydon Saturday night to express their displeasure with the government.

The event was sponsored by the Corydon Tea Party, which bills itself on its Web site as "a concerned citizens group of patriots from Southern Indiana's 9th Congressional district."

“I’ve never been so frightened and appalled by what our government has done,” said one of the protesters, Gary Massard of Corydon.

He carried a U.S. flag, while his wife Tracy carried a sign that said “For the first time in my adult life I am afraid of my government!”

“I’m a pragmatic, independent person,” he said. “It’s time for people like us to stand up.”

A notice promoting the event said Tea stands for “Taxed enough already.”

The Corydon Tea Party was organized by Norman Dennison, an electrician from Mauckport. He and a group of volunteers put together a slate of speakers and organized volunteers to host the event.

The organization is similar to many others that have formed across the country to protest the country’s current political direction.

According to its literature, the Corydon Tea Party favors limited government, fiscal responsibility, personal responsibility, the rule of law and national sovereignty.

The event’s speakers included Indiana Treasurer Richard Mourdock; Jason Higdon, president of Citizens for Constitutionality Now; former 9th district congressman Mike Sodrel; and conservative activist Dr. Frank G. Simon.

“People in D.C. are hearing us and they do not like what we have to say,” Higdon told the crowd.

“We are so tired of our government running roughshod over us,” said Kristine Roy of New Albany. “They don’t care.”

Georgetown’s David Kunnecke agreed. “The government is out of control. They are spending like a bunch of five year olds in a candy store,” he said.

“These are good people,” said Dennison about the enthusiastic crowd gathered around the gazebo on the square. “They want responsibility in government. They see a tremendous amount of corruption in government.”

Many of those present had traveled to Washington D.C. on September 12 for a national Tea Party protest.

Keith Chew, a school teacher from Brazil, Indiana drove three hours to attend the Corydon rally.

“I’m going to every one of them I can,” he said.

He carried a sign that said "Hitler gave great speeches too" on one side.

“I took this sign to Washington D.C. on 9/12.”

The Corydon Tea Party is not disbanding after Saturday’s event. “This group is going to stay together,” said Bryan Robertson, the assistant event organizer.

The group gathered names and e-mail addresses at the event of those interested in staying involved with the group. A Web site has been set up at www.corydonteaparty.org to provide additional information.

“We anticipate having a good number of members after today,” Robertson said.
“This snowball is getting bigger and bigger and bigger and it’s all across the nation,” Dennison said.

Fox 41 (which also had a segment on their nightly news):

There was another grassroots gathering in the name of patriotism Saturday. It was the 2009 Corydon Tea party in Harrison County, Indiana.

The participants have concerns about the direction the country is heading. Members say they were compelled to start the group after the September 12 Tea Party in Washington, DC.

"I was basically thinking there might be 1,000 people out here, but 500 would be fine, 200 would be fine, 100 would be fine. It's just people that have a concern and a desire that this nation stands and doesn't falter under the pressure of what looks like to be the financial abyss that is coming," said Norman Dennison, host.

Dennison says he was in D.C. this week, with others from Southern Indiana to oppose the President Obama's health-care proposal.

And WAVE 3 (which also had video on their nightly news, though I can't find the segment online):

CORYDON, IN (WAVE) - Healthcare reform would fulfill the biggest promise of President Obama's campaign, but hundreds who gathered in Corydon, Indiana Saturday evening said it's the biggest mistake lawmakers could make.

With protest signs in hand and patriotism on display southern Indiana residents stretching from New Albany to Indianapolis let their voices be heard in the Capitol Square.

Regarding healthcare reform, Tea Party organizer, Norman Dennison, told the crowd, "There are guys up there in Washington D.C. that want this so bad because they desire power over the people more than they desire to do good."

While members of Congress debate the $1.2 trillion bill, Steve Boehman said he couldn't sit on the sidelines anymore. "I'm kinda a newbie at all this, this is my first protest ever," he said. "Who knows the answer? I know I don't want bureaucrats deciding on whether I need an operation or healthcare."

Tracy Massard held a sign saying for the first time in her life she was afraid of her government. "We have the best healthcare system in the world," she said. "People from other countries come her for our healthcare and we're destroying it. And the money that's going to be spent on this healthcare bill I believe will lead to the economic collapse of our country."

Nancy Richardson says government cutbacks have already hit her in the pocketbook costing her $2000. "I have already lost my Medicare supplement plan that I had because of the cutbacks in Medicare and it just scares me."

Former 9th District Indiana Congressman and Republican Mike Sodrel still wants his voice heard. He says there is another way to affordable healthcare for all. "Let it be sold across state lines like we sell car insurance so you have more competition in each market. Let small business ban together across state lines."

Despite the overall disgruntled nature of the crowd towards the Obama administration, Sodrel sees a bright spot. "I'm just really encouraged to see this many people take an interest in their government and what it's doing. This is a good thing."

Sodrel says he sees the country shifting back towards conservative values, and says this about a fifth square off with Congressman Baron Hill: "I have not made a decision either way yet. Sure I'm considering it, but I'm not ready to make any announcement yet either."

All in all, it was a great and very successful event.

Liberals Shocked, SHOCKED to See an American President Compared to Hitler

2009-11-09T01:16:00.001-05:00

Robert Gibbs has all of the intelligence of a potted plant.

From a briefing last week:

I will continue to say what I've said before. You hear in this debate, you hear analogies, you hear references to, you see pictures about and depictions of individuals that are truly stunning, and you hear it all the time. People -- imagine five years ago somebody comparing health care reform to 9/11. Imagine just a few years ago had somebody walked around with images of Hitler.

Mary Katherine Hamm has a nice breakdown of the utter stupidity of this:

Let's see if we can imagine that, Bob. Click here, and just keep scrolling.

Or, here. You will be scrolling for a solid five minutes to exhaust the Hitler images employed by the left for eight solid years against Bush, and that's in just two blog posts. They were ubiquitous; far more prevalent that Nazi imagery in the Tea Party movement. Saying what Gibbs said, or repeating it credulously, requires an incredible amount of dishonesty.

Hmm, let's try a search on Flickr, just so we're sure I'm not cherry-picking.

Looking for something more recent? How about Alan Grayson's health-care Holocaust in America crusade, by which Gibbs was markedly less "stunned" despite the fact that Grayson's an elected official making Holocaust comparisons on the floor of the House. Imagine.

Before Gibbs took leave of his senses and all sense of history today, the White House had a more petulant response to the gathering, at which actor Jon Voight spoke. Yesterday, Gibbs very kindly stopped himself from making a "Deliverance" joke about the attendees. Considerate.

I would argue that the White House Press Secretary implying a joke about how protesters are rednecks prone to anal rape would fall into the category of "stunning" and "personally disagreeable," but I digress.

I guess this is what they meant by "audacity."

Tea parties aren't closed events like, say, health care "forums" held by Baron Hill.

They're open events that anyone can attend, and some of them bring signs that the organizers and speakers probably wouldn't agree with. In that sense, they're very much an expression of the First Amendment and the freedom of speech.

It isn't always pretty and you don't always like everything you see or hear. The events also tend to not be partisan, and represent a broad spectrum of America. You find conservative Democrats, independents, and Republicans at these events. Young and old. People that are partisan, and people that aren't. You also find people that are very mainstream, and a few that are a little off the beaten path.

At Saturday's Corydon Tea Party, for example, people brought their own signs. A couple made me wince. Those signs probably wouldn't have been at a more controlled event. But the tea parties aren't controlled events. The reason they have been so successful is because they are generally very open. They even try to be relatively nonpartisan.

In Corydon, organizers hoped to maintain a relatively nonpartisan and uncontrolled event. There were no campaign speeches and they had asked candidates not to hand out literature at the event (in particular because such literature tends to just get left behind as litter, and the organizers wanted to leave the Square cleaner than they found it). Those were the extent of their controls over the event and the crowd.

Some candidates respected their requests. Others didn't. And, unsurprisingly, most of the literature that got handed out got left behind in trash cans (not as litter, surprisingly, but the trash cans were full of discarded campaign flyers after the tea party was over).

But the rules about the speakers and the handing out of literature (the former was closely followed, the latter was broken by several campaigns) were about the extent of any limitations that the organizers put on the event, and I'm not sure that they could have controlled things more if they wanted to.

Shock: A President Comforts the Troops, Doesn't Bring Press Photographers Along

2009-11-09T00:57:00.000-05:00

From the Los Angeles Times:

Last night former President George W. Bush and his wife Laura made a secret visit to the devastated military families at Fort Hood.

The Bushes instructed the mourning military base's commander that they wanted no publicity. With their Secret Service detail, Bush and his wife made the 30 mile trip unannounced from their ranch near Crawford, Texas Friday evening.

Fox News broke news of the visit this afternoon. Other sources said the former first couple spent about two hours meeting with family and soldiers, talking quietly and at times hugging them as they did in private at other times of crisis such as post-9/11.

Most presidents come to feel a genuine respect and affection for the people they lead as commander-in-chief and sometimes the affection is reciprocated.

Very classy.

Do You Feel "Stimulated" Yet?

2009-11-09T00:52:00.000-05:00

PoliticalMath puts it well on Twitter:

We lost nearly as many jobs last month as the stimulus has officially "created or saved" this year.

David Long & Hiring Freezes

2009-11-09T00:48:00.001-05:00

Jim Shella:

State Senate President Pro Tem David Long (R-Fort Wayne) issued a news release today citing steps being taken to cut spending in line with the governor’s cuts announced today. As one of those measures the Senate will ”continue its current hiring freeze.”

Long issued one other news release today. It announces the hiring of Adam Harrison as a GOP Senate Policy Analyst. Is there a disconnect here?

The news releases are available here and here.

The latter also notes, "The Senate will continue its current hiring freeze." I'm not sure how that "current hiring freeze" squares with hiring someone, even if the hire took place before the Governor enacted a hiring freeze.

I'm wondering what the explanation of this was; Shella doesn't say.

David Long might consider filling a vacancy in an existing position to be outside of a hiring freeze. It's not clear and I'm not sure.

"Run, Mike, Run."

2009-11-09T00:47:00.000-05:00

From We the People:

The results are in on the late night vote for the so called "health care" bill and it is no surprise. Baron Hill rode the fence as long as he could, but in the end bowed to pressure from Madame Pelosi and voted yes. After some goodies were added to sweeten the deal for those wavering on the vote, the total for the bill reached $1.4 trillion over ten years. John Yarmuth also voted yes. The final tally was 220 for and 215 against. Five votes, just five votes for a bill that Baron could have killed in committee. It is a sad day for this country and our descendants. If this blatant power grab passes the Senate, our government will control about 15% of our nation's economy. Please contact your senators without delay. Remind them of last Tuesday's elections and what the future holds for them if they continue this madness. One final comment... Run Mike, Run.

I don't have any inside information, but I suspect in my gut that the odds of that final comment are pretty good.

New Democrat Congressman in NY-23 Breaks 4 Campaign Promises in 1st Hour in Office

2009-11-09T00:39:00.000-05:00

This much campaign-promise breaking in such a short time in office must be some sort of (rather dubious) record.

The Gouverneur Times in upstate New York:

GOUVERNEUR, NY - Congressman-elect Bill Owens was sworn in at noon today.

Owens indicated in a press release released shortly afterwards that he was now in favor of the the "Affordable Healthcare for America Act" bill in direct contrast to his earlier position during the election campaign.

According to Politico.com, Mr. Owens assured voters that he felt the public option had no place in the health care reform bill. Contrary to that position, Mr. Owens now indicates that he intends to vote in favor of the bill even though it now contains a public option.

Mr. Owens also indicated during his campaign that he was firmly opposed to cutting Medicare benefits, taxing health care benefits, and increased taxes on the middle class in any way as you can see clearly in the screenshot below, taken directly from Mr. Owens' campaign website.

The House Health reform bill contains sections that cut Medicare benefits, tax existing health care benefits, and increases taxes on the middle class, yet Mr. Owens stated today that he will now vote in favor of those things contrary to what he had promised the voters of NY's 23rd Congressional District that he would vote against.

When The Gouverneur Times attempted to contact Mr. Owens to clarify this information, we received no direct response to our phone or email inquiries. Both FactCheck.org and the Congressional Budget Office agree that HR 3962 contains potentially hundreds of billions of dollars in planned cuts to Medicare, yet Mr. Owens indicates that he supports this legislation and says that it does not cut Medicare benefits. Either Mr. Owens has been snowed or the public is about to be.

HR 3962 also includes a range of various taxes on middle-class families as well as language to repeal tax relief already in place. Has Congressman Owens blindly followed Ms. Pelosi's rhetoric in believing that the end to a tax cut is not the same thing as an increase in taxes or is he hedging his bet with very carefully chosen words?

HR 3962 now also contains language that allows illegal immigrants to be covered under the legislation. When The Gouverneur Times attempted to contact Mr. Owens for clarification of this language, we received no response other than the press release heretofore mentioned. Specifically, we asked if illegal immigrants would be forced to purchase healthcare insurance as citizens will be and whether or not they would be forced to do so at standard rates or if they would qualify for the public option subsidy.

The Associated Press said this morning that: "House leaders said that, in keeping with the Hispanic Caucus' demands, there was not likely to be any prohibition added to the House bill against illegal immigrants shopping in the exchange."

In a speech made to Congress a short time ago, President Obama had stated that the bill would not contain support for illegal immigrants - a statement for which he was called a "liar" by Rep. Joe Wilson. Rep. Wilson was severely chastised for his comment at the time though it would now seem to be true.

The mixed-up mess that was the 23rd Congressional District Special Election was a close race between Democrat Bill Owens and Conservative Doug Hoffman. Many feel that it was unlikely Mr. Owens would have won those crucial few thousand votes if the voting public was aware of his intent with regard to the Health Care bill. The majority of residents in this district do not support the Health Reform bill as it is now written and many feel like they've become victims of a fraud perpetrated by their chosen candidate.

Breaking campaign promises is not unusual for politicians... it's a cliche. This is almost certainly a record though. Mr. Owens broke no less than 4 promises in his first 24 hours in office.

Owens, of course, owes his seat to the treachery of a country-club moderate Republican-in-name-only that was selected by party insiders, withdrew from the race late, and endorsed the Democrat Owens at the last minute.

And Owens also owes his seat to his campaign promise to oppose health care reform, a promise he has now broken.

So much for Owens the "moderate Democrat," and so much for the country club RINO that helped put him in office.

Liberty vs Serfdom: A Visual Aid

2009-11-09T00:37:00.000-05:00

Trust Them

2009-11-09T00:36:00.000-05:00

Because One Dick Lugar Just Isn't Enough: Another Former Lugar Staffer Runs for Congress

2009-11-08T01:07:00.002-05:00

Todd Young being the other former Lugar staffer currently running for Congress.

This one is Phil Troyer, a financial services lawyer (previously of Washington, now of Fort Wayne), who intends to announce a primary challenge to Mark Souder on Tuesday:

Phil Troyer to Announce Candidacy for Congress

(FORT WAYNE) Phil Troyer, a Fort Wayne attorney, will announce his intention to challenge incumbent U.S. Congressman Mark Souder in the 2010 Republican Primary during press conferences to be held at the following times and locations:

Chestnut Hills Clubhouse (off U.S. 14) in Fort Wayne - Tuesday, November 10, 2009 @ 8:00 a.m.

Goshen Public Library - Tuesday, November 10, 2009 @ 4:00 p.m.

Troyer, a former aide to U.S. Senators Dan Coats (R-IN) and Richard Lugar (R-IN) and campaign manager for Rick Hawks' 1990 congressional challenge race, brings considerable political experience to the race. "Frankly, I had no intention of returning to politics," said Troyer. "Working on Capitol Hill was a tremendous opportunity for someone who grew up in small towns like Etna Green and Shipshewana. However, I decided to move back to northeastern Indiana to concentrate on raising a family and building a career outside of government."

Troyer currently serves as General Counsel for a national financial services firm whose parent company was recently named the 2nd fastest growing privately-held company in the country by Inc. magazine. "I have a great job and was not looking to change careers," noted Troyer. "However, when Congressman Souder voted in favor of the $700,000,000,000.00 bailout of Wall Street, I decided someone needed to do something."

I am not thinking that "worked for Dick Lugar" is going to be a big selling point with conservative Republican primary voters. It's certainly not what a smart, conservative candidate would want to start their resume with or list as their first qualification in a campaign announcement press release (unless he's either not smart, or not conservative, or both).

Also, let me get this straight. Troyer work as a lawyer for a big national financial services company. So big that he don't mention its name in his press release, but important enough to his resume that he mentions it anyway.

And, since he works in the financial industry, he's basing his campaign on complaining that Mark Souder voted to bail out the financial industry.

What?

Wow.

Pot, meet kettle.

Anyway, Troyer's challenge to Souder will be the third Congressional primary for Republicans in Indiana, after the 5th District and the 9th District (the latter having probably just gotten considerably less interesting and more, well, over).

Baron, Ellsworth, Donnelly Vote for Pelosi's Version of ObamaCare

2009-11-08T00:14:00.002-05:00

Roll call vote is here.

Baron's statement is here.

Donnelly's statement is here.

Ellsworth, as of this posting, is hiding (probably still begging Right-to-Life to leave him alone) and hasn't put a statement out yet.

Poor Baron. He realized too late that he's probably about to have an opponent capable of holding him accountable for his liberal votes. He hasn't had that so far.

Accountability's coming, Baron, and it's driving a semi truck.

I'm Sure This Means Something...

2009-11-06T00:19:00.000-05:00

From the email bag:

We would like to invite you to join us this coming Saturday, November 7, 2009 at the Keith & Lori Davis Farm in Ramsey, Indiana for a reception and lunch with Congressman Mike Sodrel.

Congressman Sodrel will be joining us on the Davis Farm during this beautiful fall harvest season before he heads to be a guest speaker at the Tea Party Rally in Corydon. The reception and lunch on the farm will start at 1:00 p.m. and should be over by 3:00 p.m..

It should be a fun event and perfect time of the year to enjoy the fall harvest on the farm. No specific agenda other than to get good friends and Republicans together to talk about the important election next year, and the state of national politics.

It was a good week for Republicans with great victories in Virginia and New Jersey. America is awake, paying attention to Washington and they don't like what they see. It appears the "Representative, Non-Representatives" are not listening. With 2010 just around the corner I am sure we will have a lot to talk about Saturday.

As always with this topic Congressman Sodrel always has some interesting insights into the happenings in Washington. It will be a great time to talk about the issues and about our slate for 2010. Heck you never know what can come out of these events and get togethers. Sometimes new candidates are recruited and surprise announcements shock us all. It is important that we have a great slate for 2010 to take back the House of Representatives in Indianapolis and Washington. Fill the courthouses across the state with Republicans and prepare for a great election year.

So we hope you can take time to join us for a couple hours at Keith & Lori Davis' for a great time with Congressman Sodrel. No need to bring anything but yourself and maybe a lawn chair.

For those of you that may not be in a hurry you might want to go on to Corydon after (its only a 10 minute drive) and join the organizers hosting the Corydon Tea Party Rally on the lawn of Indiana First State Capitol Building. There are several speakers planned to address the gathering including Congressman Sodrel and State Treasurer Richard Murdock. We will have directions and information at the Farm Reception for those who want to go.

We hope to see you at the Reception and Lunch with Congressman Mike Sodrel this Saturday from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m.. Great time to catch up on Republican politics and get ready for 2010.

Whatever could it mean?