Posts Tagged ‘indiana’

Richard Mourdock Well Within GOP Mainstream

Posted on: October 24th, 2012 by Kyle. | No Comments

Indiana’s Republican Senate candidate, Richard Mourdock, once again stirred up a controversy over his remarks regarding rape. “I struggled with it myself for a long time, but I came to realize that life is that gift from God. And, I think, even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happened,” Mourdock said in a debate with Democrat Joe Donnelly on Tuesday. Donnelly was quick to respond that he does not believe “my God, or any God, would intend that to happen.”

Mourdock isn’t the only GOP Senate candidate with a forced-birth policy for rape victims. They closely mirror comments two months ago by Republican Senate hopeful Todd Akin of Missouri, who is also a Tea Party supporter, when he famously said that rape victims do not get pregnant. “Well you know, people always want to try to make that as one of those things, well how do you, how do you slice this particularly tough sort of ethical question. First of all, from what I understand from doctors, that’s really rare. If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down. But let’s assume that maybe that didn’t work or something. I think there should be some punishment, but the punishment ought to be on the rapist and not attacking the child,” Akin said at the time.

Mourdock should not be considered an extremist within the modern GOP. He represents the party’s mainstream thought on social issues (which happen to be radically different from the rest of America). Mitt Romney cut an ad for Mourdock just yesterday — the only Senate candidate in the country to personally feature Romney. Even after the comments surfaced Romney stood by his endorsement of Mourdock. Romney’s own VP nominee, Paul Ryan, does not support abortion in any circumstances including rape or incest. Instead they would rather return to the times of back alley coat hanger procedures. This is what you get when you knock off respected middle-of-the-road conservatives like Dick Lugar for fire-breathing right-wing ideologues like Richard Mourdock. The GOP must now reap what they sowed.

Dick Lugar Falls to Tea Party Challenger

Posted on: May 8th, 2012 by Kyle. | No Comments

The state of Indiana has lost a statesman today. Voters went to the polls to unseat incumbent Senator Dick Lugar, who has served in the Senate since 1977, in a low-turnout primary where fewer than 20 percent of eligible voters participated. Lugar was the mayor of Indianapolis prior to his election to the Senate. His service to Indiana is unquestioned, earning him the respect of Republicans, Democrats and independents alike, but that goodwill was not enough to prevent a 22-point loss to a far-right Tea Party challenger.

Lugar’s popularity was so immense that six years ago Democrats did not even bother fielding a challenger in a wave election where the party won control of the U.S. House and Senate. Three of those House seats that Democrats won came from Indiana. Among them was Representative Joe Donnelly, who today won the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate in November against the man that defeated Lugar, State Treasurer Richard Mourdock.

Senator Lugar: America and the New Nuclear Strategy

The blowout loss of a high-profile man like Lugar without so much as a scandal – essentially the face of the Republican Party in Indiana for three decades – signifies a remarkable shift to the right among Indiana Republican voters. Lugar is a man of principle, not ideology. Republicans have said today loud and clear that they prefer purity over conviction. It is a rejection of civility and compromise. Mourdock has said that there is “too much” bipartisanship in Washington and has proudly embraced out-of-state special interests. His entire campaign has been vaulted by super PACs that can receive unlimited amounts of money from corporations.

Mourdock’s victory sends a signal to other Republicans in Congress – who are already intransigent enough – that working with the other party on anything is an offense worthy of a primary challenge. This follows a pattern that developed in 2010 where far-right Tea Party candidates defeated more mainstream Republican candidates in Alaska, Colorado, Delaware and Nevada. General election voters punished the GOP for lurching too far to the right. They lost each of those races in 2010. Indiana could be the latest state where the Tea Party costs the GOP a Senate seat.

Mitch Daniels Backs Indiana Right-to-Work Bill

Posted on: December 28th, 2011 by Kyle. | No Comments

Indiana’s Republican Governor Mitch Daniels says that a top priority for the upcoming 2012 legislative session will be a right-to-work bill that would cripple unions and lower wages by making dues voluntary. “When Indiana gets a chance to compete for new business, we win two-thirds of the time,” Daniels told a South Bend reporter. “Unfortunately a quarter to half the time, we don’t get to the table because business is only interested in a state with this protection. We just need to have those shots on goal because we know we’ll capture more than our fair share if we do.”

The facts are not on his side. Right-to-work states like South Carolina have a considerably higher unemployment rate than Indiana (10.5% vs. 9%) and their workers have lower wages. Daniels should get his talking points straight before he makes false and misleading claims about the jobs situation in Indiana. Unions are not the problem, Indiana Republicans’ willingness to sacrifice wages and workplace safety is the problem.

Daniels goes on to claim that, “I’d be completely opposed to this if it affected the right to organize. But every right-to-work state has unions and some of them have a higher percentage of union members than Indiana does. I’d be completely against anything that reduced the right to organize. This is only about whether you have to pay the dues or don’t.”

I’ll give the governor credit, he knows how to weasel out of his positions – at least rhetorically – even while still maintaining them. The bill has nothing to do with jobs and everything to do with killing unions. Right-to-work is a way to drain a union’s resources. If you can benefit from a union and not have to pay for it then who would offer up their dues? It’s called free-riding. For a party that would love to see all resistance to corporate power crushed, right-to-work makes a good deal of sense.

An Open Letter to Indiana’s Senators

Posted on: July 25th, 2011 by Kyle. | No Comments

Senators Lugar and Coats,

As a resident of Indiana, I must say that I am deeply disappointed with the way the Republican Party has conducted itself during the debt negotiations. Hardworking Hoosiers are being asked to sacrifice trillions of dollars worth of cuts from the federal budget, yet Republicans cannot ask the wealthiest to spare an extra dime. If the problem of deficit reduction is as urgent as some far-right Republicans claim it to be, then it should be the patriotic duty of these Americans to pay their fair share in taxes.

Shared sacrifice is an American value. It is unseemly to have a hedge fund manager pay a lower rate in taxes than a single mom that can barely make it by on two jobs. To only ask middle class and poor Americans to take the hit is absolutely unacceptable. Challenge the radicals in the Republican Party who are unyielding in their support of the wealthy. Please show some leadership by passing a debt ceiling bill that does not only target the middle class for budget cuts, but also requires top income earners to sacrifice a little as well. It’s the American thing to do.

Kind regards,
Kyle Bell

It’s a Blizzard! 19” Snowstorm Hits South Bend

Posted on: January 8th, 2011 by Kyle. | No Comments

We had a huge snowstorm last night and I decided to go outside to take a look. Video taken at 9:45 a.m. on January 8, 2011.

Election Night Live Blogging

Posted on: November 2nd, 2010 by Kyle. | No Comments

4:42 p.m. (11/3): Well, it’s the day after the election. The GOP had a huge surge in the House, but the Senate was more or less a wash for them. While they picked up 6 seats, it was far less than the 10 that they needed to win to take control. Great news out of Colorado for Democrats: Michael Bennet is projected to win the Senate seat over Tea Party candidate Ken Buck. That puts Democrats at a 53-47 majority, assuming Patty Murray wins in Washington state (which she currently leads in).

2:17 a.m.: “California is always a little different.” -Carly Fiorina …. Way to bash your state in defeat, Carly.

2:04 a.m.: Going to bed on this note – the Tea Party has likely cost the Republicans the Senate. Harry Reid beating Sharron Angle and Chris Coons beating Christine O’Donnell are two seats that would have gone to the GOP if they had nominated the candidates that the NRSC had backed. Thank you Sarah Palin for helping make sure the Senate stays in Democratic hands!

1:50 a.m.: Now that I’ve had more time, I have looked at where the biggest Republican gains took place. The Midwest and South were the biggest losses. New York state and Ohio were the biggest overall shifts with 5 seats, followed by 4 in Pennsylvania, Illinois and Virginia; 2 in Arkansas, Michigan, Mississippi, Georgia, Texas, Wisconsin, and Indiana. That’s a net loss of 19 seats in Midwestern states – half of what Republicans needed to win the House. Throw in Ike Skelton’s loss in Missouri and the losses of the at-large seats in North and South Dakota and the Democrats lost 22 seats in the greater Midwest (I included Pennsylvania since culturally they are pretty similar).

1:30 a.m.: AP is saying that they accidentally put 30,000 votes into the Ken Buck column in Colorado that should have gone to Michael Bennet. If that is the case, the Democrat would have a 20,000 vote lead. Pretty big screw up there!

1:10 a.m.: Despite losing the governorship and two Senate races overwhelmingly, Republicans picked up five seats in New York: 13, 19, 20, 24, 29. I guess I was wrong in thinking the top of the ballot would help these vulnerable Democrats. As I mentioned with Illinois, these are low hanging fruit for 2012.

1:03 a.m.: I beg Sarah Palin to run for president in 2012. We’ll see a 60 seat shift back towards the Democrats if she does.

12:50 a.m.: 58% of Californians voted AGAINST Proposition 23 that would have removed the carbon restrictions in the state.

12:35 a.m.: Quick House update – Democrats will probably lose anywhere from 55-60 seats when all is said and done. Currently, it stands at 52 seats, which is where things were in 1994. That puts 2010 in the history books as one of the larger wave elections.

12:30 a.m.: Chuck Todd believes that Michael Bennet will benefit from Denver suburban votes that have not yet come in. He currently leads by about 10,000 votes. In Florida, Alex Sink trails by 2 points against Republican Rick Scott. Only half of the vote has been counted out of Miami-Dade County and about a third left in Palm Beach County. Both are heavily Democratic counties with large populations. Sink could still give Democrats a pick-up in a very large state.

12:25 a.m.: Love this site – http://whatthefuckhasobamadonesofar.com/.

12:23 p.m.: Joe Sestak is conceding the Pennsylvania Senate race. He lost be a razor thin 51-49 margin. I have a feeling that this guy will be back. Incredible candidate and a good man.

12:06 p.m.: Carl Paladino has literally threatened to beat New York’s next governor over the head with a baseball bat if he doesn’t do what he wants him to, even though he only got 35% of the vote. Can you get more crazy?

12:00 p.m.: If the current numbers hold up, Republicans will control 11 of Illinois’ 19 House seats. That’s a pick-up of 4 seats in Obama’s backyard. The good news for Democrats is that they will be low-hanging fruit in 2012.

11:37 p.m.: More disappointing news out of Indiana – Democrats have lost control of the House. Republicans now control the Indiana House, Senate and Governor’s Mansion. This means that they can push through any bills that they want without opposition. It also means that they will control the redistricting process. In all likelihood it means that they will try to squeeze Joe Donnelly out of his seat by excluding a city like Kokomo or perhaps some of LaPorte County out of Indiana 2. They already won Baron Hill and Brad Ellsworth’s seat in Southern Indiana, but may try to shore up those districts with more Republican voters as well.

11:21 p.m.: Shifting gears to the gubernatorial races across the country, independents are faring quite well. Rhode Island’s next governor will be Lincoln Chafee, a former Republican Senator that lost his race in 2006. He endorsed Barack Obama for president in 2008 and had the favor returned when President Obama refused to endorse the Democratic candidate in this year’s race. Independent Eliot Cutler won by 5 points in Maine. Independents also waged serious campaigns in Colorado and Minnesota, winning over 10 percent of the vote. Independents are no longer just spoilers, they are serious contenders in races where the two major party candidates are unpopular.

11:15 p.m.: Carl Paladino, the Tea Party psychopath that threatened to “take out” a reporter, has lost the New York governor’s race by 25 points to Democrat Andrew Cuomo. He will probably cost the Republicans a few House seats in the state. Tea Party candidates definitely do not hold sway in Democratic states.

10:59 p.m.: Not looking good for Alexi Giannoulias in Illinois. Almost all of the vote is in from Chicago (Cook County) and he is trailing by about 13,000 votes. Also not good news: he lost the Chicago suburbs by a wide margin. Mark Kirk won Lake County 57-39, McHenry County 59-34, Kane County 56-37, Dupage County 59-36, and Will County 52-41. Why does this matter? Anyone that knows Chicago knows that the suburbs have overtaken the central city in political importance. They have a 2-to-1 population advantage, making up a majority of the Chicago metro’s over 9 million citizens. Kirk is raking in the votes in this all-important part of the region.

10:40 p.m.: Senator Russ Feingold, a quirky liberal that voted against the Wall Street bailout, has lost his race to Republican businessman Ron Johnson. This just goes to show that voters sometimes don’t care about specific votes in Congress. This appears to be a vote against the Democratic Party in Wisconsin, not against Russ Feingold. On the downside, Ron Johnson is a Tea Partier that has said he would support drilling for oil in Lake Michigan. Not the type of Senator any Democrat would want to see take office in a state that voted nearly 60% for Barack Obama.

10:35 p.m.: Democrats were worried that they might lose at least one of their two members of Congress in Maine. Polling seemed to confirm that they were in trouble. It didn’t happen. So far the Democrats in those races have double-digit leads. The only Democrat to lose in New England was Carol-Shea Porter in New Hampshire. The other New Hampshire seat, left open by Paul Hodes who was running for the Senate (and lost), has switched parties as well. New England remains solidly Democratic.

10:30 p.m.: Ben Chandler is winning Kentucky 6, which includes the city of Lexington, by only 600 votes. Expect a recount here.

10:14 p.m.: Brad Ellsworth lost his home county, where Evansville is located, to Dan Coats by an amazing 8 points. Very poor campaign run by the Democrats in Indiana.

9:57 p.m.: Illinois Senate race is looking good for Democrats. Alexi Giannoulias was polling in the low 40s, but currently holds 50.5% of the vote to Republican Mark Kirk’s 44.3%. Interestingly, most polls had Kirk about where he is right now. If these numbers hold up, it will show that the undecided voters broke for the Democrats.

9:42 p.m.: Big news for Democrats in Pennsylvania. A state that looked pretty good for Republicans currently has Democrat Joe Sestak up 54.3% to 45.7%. Sestak is holding strong in the Philadelphia suburbs, winning Philly by 150,000 votes, and Pittsburgh by 45,000 votes. The race will tighten up, but right now, it is looking like Sestak upsets Toomey in a state the Republicans had counted on winning. Only a few weeks ago Toomey was leading by double digits in the polls.

9:37 p.m.: Christine O’Donnell, the Tea Party candidate that cost the Republicans a Senate seat in Delaware has declared that she “won”. “We have won. We were victorious because the Delaware political system will never be the same,” O’Donnell said in her concession speech. She lost 57-40% to Democrat Chris Coons.

9:24 p.m.: “You lie!” Republican Representative Joe Wilson is losing his seat in South Carolina. Hopefully these numbers hold up.

9:21 p.m.: NBC is projecting that the Democrats have lost the House of Representatives. So far Republicans have only officially picked up 8 seats out of the 39 that they need. Depending on how the West Coast comes in, it will either be a bloodbath or a fairly close divide in the House. If you haven’t voted yet and live out in California or other West Coast states, go vote.

8:58 p.m.: Republicans are coming on strong in Indiana. After winning the Senate race early on, two Southern Indiana districts – 8 and 9 – have been called for Republicans. One of them was held by incumbent Baron Hill. As I posted in the election guide, Democrats needed to win this district if they were going to hold onto the House. They are losing it badly – by 15 points. Democrat Joe Donnelly is winning by a slim two thousand vote lead.

8:51 p.m.: Alan Grayson has lost his Orlando-area district. Right now it’s about a 25 point wipe-out.

8:34 p.m.: NBC News is calling the West Virginia Senate race for Democrat Joe Manchin. Out the window goes Republican hopes of winning the Senate.

8:30 p.m.: Republicans picked up their second Senate seat. Democrat Blanche Lincoln loses her seat after badly trailing throughout the campaign. No surprise here. Democrats have won Connecticut’s Senate race. Richard Blumenthal will defeat Linda McMahon, the former WWE CEO.

8:23 p.m.: Democrat John Yarmuth has held on to his seat in Kentucky 3.

8:10 p.m.: John Carney won Delaware’s open seat, giving the Democrats a pick-up, the first pick-up of the night for either party. Republicans now need to win 40 seats from Democrats in order to gain the majority.

8:07 p.m.: MSNBC keeps bringing up Evan Bayh retiring from the Senate and taking a $10 million war chest with him. There’s no doubt that Bayh would have won and kept the state in the Democratic column. My guess: Bayh is running for governor again in 2012. Mitch Daniels will leave office term-limited and leaves an opening for Democrats.

8:02 p.m.: Some good news for Democrats: Ted Strickland is leading in Ohio’s governor race. Too close to call in Pennsylvania’s Senate race, which Republicans were slightly favored to win. They still might, but it should be close. We had it rated as a Toss-Up. West Virginia is looking good for the Dems as well.

7:35 p.m.: Ohio has been called, as expected, for Rob Portman. The Republicans hold onto the seat of retiring Senator George Voinovich.

7:06 p.m.: We are just getting started with poll closings tonight. No surprises here. Indiana is projected to be the Republican’s first pick-up of the night. Kentucky has also been called for Rand Paul. In good news for Democrats, Joe Donnelly leads in St. Joseph County with 63% to Jackie Walorski’s 33%. If that number holds up, it will be a blow-out in Indiana 2.

Ellsworth Runs First Ad in Indiana Senate Race

Posted on: July 7th, 2010 by Kyle. | No Comments

Democratic Senate candidate Brad Ellsworth is up with his first television ad of the election cycle. The video starts with him talking about his experience as a sheriff as he walks around an abandoned warehouse. He describes how Washington politicians have failed to solve the problems that the American people face, including outsourced jobs. He takes a clear jab at Republican candidate Dan Coats, a former lobbyist, by saying that “the special interests and lobbyists already have enough senators on their side.” Watch it below:

Ellsworth Goes on Offense Against Coats

Posted on: June 19th, 2010 by Kyle. | No Comments

You would be mistaken if you thought that Democrats were going to quietly cede Evan Bayh’s Senate seat. Brad Ellsworth, the Democratic nominee to replace Evan Bayh in the Senate, is going on an offensive against his Republican opponent Dan Coats. The Ellsworth campaign released a “campaign report” to supporters by e-mail. It’s a six page PDF document that basically outlines the arguments that they will be making in the fall.

“Dan Coats chose to lobby for unsavory entities such as Bank of America, which participated in some of the worst excesses that triggered the financial crisis, and Harvest Natural Resources, an oil company owned by the socialist country of Venezuela,” the campaign report reads. They also point out that Coats received only 39 percent of the vote among Republicans. While Coats won the GOP primary, 61 percent of Republicans chose someone else.

It was already clear prior to this that Ellsworth would be running as the former sheriff that he was rather than the Congressman from Southern Indiana that he currently is. It was also pretty obvious that Dan Coats’ role as a lobbyist for banking interests and foreign governments would play heavily into the campaign. You can count on this race in Indiana between Ellsworth and Coats to be one of the most hard fought in the nation this fall.

Tea Party Darling Enters Race to Replace Souder

Posted on: May 21st, 2010 by Kyle. | No Comments

Rep. Mark Souder hasn’t even tendered his resignation yet after having an affair with a staffer and Republicans are already lining up to replace him. One of them, a favorite of the Tea Party, announced his intentions to run on Thursday in Goshen, Indiana. Marlin Stutzman is a first term Indiana State Senator from Howe. He ran in the Indiana Senate primary race for the Republican Party to replace outgoing Democratic Senator Evan Bayh. Stutzman placed second to former Senator Dan Coats, losing by less than 10 percent.

A special election in the 3rd District to complete Souder’s term through this year hasn’t yet been set by Governor Daniels. Republican and Democratic committeemen will pick the special election nominees through caucuses. Democrats are expected to pick their nominee for the fall’s general election, Tom Hayhurst, to run in the special election. Hayhurst gave Souder a run for his money in 2006, coming within ten points of victory, one of the closest elections that Souder ever faced in this heavily Republican district.

GOP Divided in Indiana Primary as Tea Party Loses

Posted on: May 4th, 2010 by Kyle. | No Comments

Today was primary day in the state of Indiana where an open Senate seat sent Republicans into a frenzy. Three major candidates vied for the party’s nomination: former Senator Dan Coats, former Rep. John Hostettler and State Senator Marlin Stutzman. The seat is currently held by Senator Evan Bayh, retiring after serving two terms. His retirement announcement came too late for Democrats to file for the May 4 primary. The state Democratic Party is expected to nominate Southwest Indiana Congressman Brad Ellsworth.

Primary Results

Dan Coats – 39%
Marlin A. Stutzman – 29%
John N. Hostettler – 23%
Don Bates, Jr. – 5%
Richard Behney – 4%

99% of precincts reporting

The vote was a test of the Tea Party appeal in Indiana. Marlin Stutzman started the race as a no-name candidate, but surged with support from the likes of far-right Republicans like Jim DeMint and Mike Huckabee. The fact that someone like Marlin Stutzman managed nearly 30% of the vote, with no name recognition across the state, has to be startling to establishment Republicans looking to pick up Bayh’s seat.

The establishment candidate in this race – Dan Coats – only managed 40 percent support. Will Tea Partiers rally around a Senator-turned-lobbyist? Will they support a candidate who was deemed a “carpetbagger” by his primary opponents for moving to Indiana from Virginia only to run for this seat? Most of them likely will, but uniting the Republican Party in Indiana will certainly be much more difficult than it will for the Democrats, who did not have a bruising primary. That said, Coats currently leads in statewide polling. Brad Ellsworth, meanwhile, has yet to run a statewide ad. I fully expect this to be a close race come November.

Meanwhile, across the border in Ohio, Democrats nominated Lt. Governor Lee Fisher to take on former Bush budget director Rob Portman. He defeated Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner. Ohio is a mirror image of Indiana, where retiring Republican Senator George Voinovich is leaving an open seat for a possible Democratic pickup opportunity. The most recent polling shows Lee Fisher slightly ahead of Rob Portman, although this will likely be a close one to watch as well.