Republicans Would Elect that Indicted Ham Sandwich in Indiana Right Now

WIBC Morning and Midday host Tony Katz blasted former Democratic nominee for Governor, Jennifer McCormick for being out of touch with local issues on one of his shows. He claimed that she is out of touch with Indiana issues and cares more about things like Project 2025 links than what goes on here in the state. 

This comes after McCormick called out Timothy Wesco's ridiculous bill that could conceivably lock someone in a marriage if they have children and cannot produce a witness to testify to the "irretrievable breakdown of the marriage" among other things. It's House Bill 1684 if you're interested. McCormick linked that to parts of Project 2025.

That made Tony Katz apoplectic...as he often is when not smoking a stogie (and don't try to take away his stogies). Katz said, "This is why you lost. You’re uninspiring as as the kids would say, you’re boring. Most importantly, you are interested in national progressive claptrap and not being focused on Hoosiers."

We can talk about McCormick as a candidate. I think she ran a pretty darn good campaign against Micah Beckwi...er...Mike Braun for Governor, but Indiana, specifically the Indiana GOP, has a darn good track record of electing its nominees to state office. That includes a recent run of some real humdingers! Richard Mourdock, Charlie White, Todd Rokita, Diego Morales, Curtis Hill, Micah Beckwith...should I go on? 

It took a "Mourdock Moment" to help elect Joe Donnelly to the U.S. Senate in 2012, and I'm not even sure that would matter anymore in today's political climate. Had Richard Mourdock said that a woman who conceived a child as a result of a sexual assault was something "God  intended" in 2024, he might be a U.S. Senator. I think it certainly sounds like something that might come out of Micah Beckwith's mouth.

Jennifer McCormick didn't lose because she was wrong on the issues. Jennifer McCormick lost because, unlike the previous time she ran and won statewide office, she wasn't a Republican. That's the bottom line. Indiana Republicans would elect a ham sandwich if it ran on a statewide ticket even if that ham sandwich was the proverbial one that was indicted by a grand jury.

That's just where we are right now in Indiana politics.

Time to Plow Those Roads?

 Finally, my street is thawing out from the early January snowstorm. It's been three freakin' weeks of slipping and sliding around after our huge snow.

The problem is that no one seems to want to take the blame for this. DPW ended the policy of hiring contractors for a 6+-inch snowfall and still no one seems to know exactly why. The reasons given have been ridiculous. "We are now plowing connector streets," seems to be the official line from DPW. Of course, that begs the question that many have asked, "How in the hell am I supposed to get to the connector streets I can barely get to the end of my neighborhood street?"

Someone a few weeks back stated that this is why people are moving out of Marion County and into the suburbs if they can afford it, and I have to agree. 

Hopefully, the next time we get a major snow, cooler heads will prevail and the city folks throw some money the way of the contractors, and we won't have to wait until the snow melts. 

At least my old friends, the potholes on my way home from work, are back on West 10th Street. I've resorted to naming them. I try to swerve and avoid Big Frank right along the eastbound lane of West 10th each day. I say hello. His mouth is getting bigger.

I guess that's the next battle. 

Opportunity Knocks, Will the Democrats Answer?

The Indiana Republican Party is going to you know where in a handmaid's tale...er...handbasket, and the Indiana Democratic Party stands ready to scoop up the opportunity and dunk it in the basketball ring.

So...um, about that.

Opportunity has not just knocked. It's kicked the door in. As a Democrat, part-time blogger and political observer/hack, I have to wonder if anyone's home.

Yeah, the GOP has nominated self-proclaimed Christian Nationalist Micah Beckwith as its Lieutenant Governor candidate. He pairs with Mike Braun about as well as a tie on Mike's campaign buttondown. Braun is the sensible one on the ticket, which is scary since he once questioned the Supreme Court's ruling on Loving vs. Virginia. The landmark case that prohibited discrimination against interracial couples wanting to marry.

Braun, a U.S. Senator whose main accomplishment in office so far is to get on TV as much as possible, is running on a ticket with the vulnerabilities of a computer still running Windows 95. There's Jim Banks, the crazy U.S. Representative and Trump syncopant who seems to think the WNBA officiating is cause for a Congressional inquiry. There's Todd Rokita who is, well, Todd Rokita. We all know him by this point. That brings us back to Beckwith who is about as qualified to run a state as I am to run a Weightwatchers aka WW franchise. 

This should all be easy, right? Just point out who these people are and tout your superior candidates. 

On the Dem side, there's Jennifer McCormick, the former Republican State Schools Superintendent who lost her position due to the elimination of direct elections for that position. There's Valerie McCray, a clinical psychologist, who wants to be your next U.S. Senator. She's the first Black woman to sit on a statewide ticket in Indiana. 

Then, at the convention, voters will have to choose between attorney Destiny Wells, a combat veteran, and attorney Beth White, the former Marion County Clerk and Deputy Mayor of Indianapolis, to get the candidate for Attorney General to face Rokita.

That also leads us to the Democratic Lieutenant Governor candidate to run with McCormick. Uh...well...you see, what happened was...we'll get back to you about that. Bob Kern is running at the convention, and he may actually be the nominee since no one else seems to want to step up and run. Kern, a perennial candidate, has an interesting past that he never hides from but would be no doubt fodder for the GOP's attacks should he get the nomination. 

So, here we are. A golden opportunity to do something in the state of Indiana as Democrats and...uh...the party doesn't have its ducks in a row. It's not surprising. Since the Dems last held state office, and even before that, it's been a struggle. Evan Bayh got pummeled by Todd Young. Joe Donnelly got retired by Braun. Pete Buttigieg left the state for Michigan leaving his former chief of staff, Mike Schmuhl, in charge. There are good people in place, but my fellow Dems just don't have anything together right now.

With the dumpster fire that's happening on the right in the Republican Party at this time, Democrats MUST muster some defense. McCormick is a very good candidate. I just fear that the infrastructure that used to be strong in this state on the Democratic side has been lost to time. Our Democratic Party that used to punch above its weight seems to lost that fighting edge. 

It's time to get it back. We cannot see another election where Todd Rokita, Mike Braun, Jim Banks and now, Micah Beckwith, go unchallenged. Get your house in order, Dems! In the end, the calculus still favors the GOP, but they have to at least know we were here and we're not going to take this lying down.

Muni Elections Sure to Get Nasty This Season

We're just a little over a month away from the Municipal Election Primaries, and voters are just now waking up and taking a look at the races for Indianapolis Mayor and City-County Council. It could get quite interesting.

On the Democratic side, you have incumbent Joe Hogsett. He's got a gaggle of opponents which includes longshots like community activist Larry Vaughn and perennial candidate Bob Kern among others. Also opposing him is State Representative Robin Shackleford. Shackleford, a veteran lawmaker, is making the rounds touting her legislative experience as her inside route to success on the 25th floor of the City-County Building. Hogsett is out talking about his efforts to rein in crime and the city's crumbling infrastructure which, let's face it, had been largely neglected for years under previous administrations, R and D.

Over on the GOP's side of the aisle there are also a handful of candidates, but it appears that the two leading candidates have different backgrounds. One one hand, you have the sometimes controversial and never-quiet attorney and radio talk show host Abdul-Hakim Shabazz pitted up against the quiet but extraordinarily wealthy businessman and former City-County Councillor Jefferson Shreve. Shreve has already spent a chunk of change on cable and over-the-air TV ads which specifically go after Mayor Hogsett's record. Shreve has experience on the Council, but he was largely an anonymous backbencher in the GOP caucus. 

This General Election season will be a huge referendum on Democratic Party rule of Indianapolis. The Dems have a huge majority on the City-County Council and sit in the Mayor's Office, so it's easy to pit every ill that the city has experienced, rightly or wrongly, on the Dems. Hogsett is trying to turn back the "third term jinx" which has befallen incumbents like Steve Goldsmith and Bart Peterson. Greg Ballard flirted with running for a third term, but he ultimately declined. The only successful post-Unigov third termer was Bill Hudnut.

After redistricting and the way population has changed in Marion County, the Dems are probably going to lose a few seats on the City-County Council. It was just nearly impossible to draw 20 safe Democratic seats. 

I expect this race for Mayor to get nasty and VERY expensive over the next few months. It's something we haven't seen in years.

Rokita Embarrasses Indiana Yet Again

Indiana AG Todd Rokita
Photo: State of Indiana

Todd Rokita never should have been Attorney General of Indiana. 

But, here we are, Todd Rokita is Indiana's problem because every time he gets the national spotlight, he proves to be a colossal embarrassment to our state and to the Republican Party.

Today's Todd Rokita embarrassment story is that he's investigating the doctor who performed the abortion on a 10-year-old girl who was raped in Ohio and who then became pregnant. The procedure could not be performed in Ohio due to the law there, so she was brought to Indiana where, following the law, the doctor performed the procedure.

Rokita claimed his office was waiting for the documents to prove that the doctor acted under the law.  Fox 59 got the documents by an FOIA request.

Yep, that's our Todd. As my late but very Hoosier Grandma would say, "He's dumber than a box of rocks."

As social media circles cuss Indiana for being an embarrassment for electing Rokita, it's important to remember that even Republicans don't really like Todd Rokita. The only reason he is Attorney General is because his predecessor ran afoul of party bosses after multiple women levied accusations of inappropriate sexual behavior against him, and he wouldn't do the decent thing and resign. 

So, Todd Rokita was available when Republicans needed a replacement for Hill. Available because after giving up his safe seat in Indiana's 4th Congressional District, he pursued the GOP Senate nomination. He finished behind Mr. Blue Shirt, Mike Braun. 

Rokita eeked by the politically wounded Hill and the rest of the competition at the 2020 Republican convention to win the AG nomination despite having by far the most name recognition of any other candidates. I mean, it came down to a guy whose law license had been suspended for 30 days while he was AG or Todd Rokita. Rokita barely won. He raced to victory in November on the coattails of a strong GOP performance statewide.

Eric Holcomb has little use for Rokita who fought him tooth and nail on public health efforts during COVID-19. Rokita already has racked up quite a losing record in court on frivolous cases that have little chance of anything but bolstering his own credentials as an arch-conservative Trump loyalist.

Ultimately, Todd Rokita doesn't care about Indiana. He cares only about Todd Rokita, and it's dangerous to run the Attorney General's office like a crusader for all the arch-conservative causes. It's also expensive for taxpayers. The doctor in this abortion case has, through her lawyer, threatened legal action against Rokita for harming her reputation. I hope she wins. Doubt it will send a message to Rokita, but she deserves to be compensated for this mess when all she was doing was helping a girl who needed her.

More embarrassment from this embarrassment of a public official. I'd ask Todd Rokita to do everyone a favor and just resign and go away, but Rokita doesn't know when to quit. He'll never be Governor or Senator, as James Briggs so eloquently wrote in the Star, and he's either too dumb or too power drunk not to see it. He's still in a position to do a lot of harm to Hoosiers and our state's reputation.