The Return of the Mitch?

 

Mitch Daniels
Photo: Purdue University

Purdue President Mitch Daniels has been in the news a lot lately. 

First came the somewhat surprising news that he would be retiring from his post as President of Purdue University. Then, nearly immediately, the speculation began about what the former Indiana Governor and Federal Budget Director under George W. Bush might do in his retirement.

Hint: the speculation is that he's not moving to the Villages in Florida.

Politico's Adam Wren, one of Indiana's finest political reporters, has reported that friends of Daniels say he is "fascinated" by the idea of returning to the Governor's Mansion that he never lived in when he was Governor of Indiana from 2005-2013. Daniels defeated incumbent Governor Joe Kernan in 2004, and he easily won reelection over former U.S. Representative Jill Long Thompson in 2008. The term-limited Daniels left office and quickly was named the President of Purdue University in 2013. Since then, he's been the head Boilermaker.

Wren also floated the possibility on Twitter that some Republicans are trying to convince Daniels to challenge Joe Hogsett for Mayor of Indianapolis in 2023. Hogsett, a former U.S. Attorney, is also a possible Gubernatorial candidate in 2024. Many forget that Hogsett was once Indiana's Secretary of State back in 1989. He won election to his own term by beating Bill Hudnut in 1990. He also lost statewide races in 1994 for U.S. Senate and in 2004 for Attorney General. Hogsett definitely has been around the block a time or two of Indiana's 92 counties and is also a former Indiana Democratic Party Chair.

Whatever Daniels decides to do, it should be an interesting time as the statewide GOP becomes more and more another agent of Donald J. Trump's hostile takeover of the party. Trump loyalist Diego Morales bounced Secretary of State Holli Sullivan at the Republican Convention on Saturday. He'll be their statewide ticket leader in November. The GOP also passed a very far right platform on Saturday signaling the continued movement away from a guy like Daniels and his former Chief of Staff and curent Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb. There's not a guarantee that Daniels, who by most accounts would be far more to the center than to where his party now sits politically, would win a primary against a Trumper like Jim Banks or Mike Braun or Todd Rokita.

Personally, I think Mitch is enjoying the attention having been out of the political spotlight for a while. It must be nice to still be wanted by some in the party. The next few months will reveal much about Daniels' future plans as well as those who might run against him. 

Two Weeks To Go: Election Hodge Podge

Lots of different things to talk about, so I decided to just post this hodge podge look at everything I'm thinking about. 

• Let's begin with the 5th District race between Victoria Spartz and Christina Hale. The campaign has taken a particularly negative turn. The PACs and the Spartz campaign have been the main culprits launching pretty much spaghetti against the wall attacks at Hale hoping something sticks. As Mary Beth Schneider reported on Twitter a few days ago, any negative policies the GOP says Hale voted for that became law had to also have been supported by a ton of Republicans too in the General Assembly. Indiana has had a GOP supermajority in both houses now for several sessions. Hale's ads continue to hammer home the health care debate over preexisting conditions. To my count, her campaign has explicitly only lobbed two negative ads at Spartz. One that was on health care where the State Senator is on tape saying health care is "not federal issue" and another with a couple giving a testimonial on how the Affordable Care Act helped their child. The PACs and the DCCC have hammered Spartz hard with some cringeworthy but probably effective ads. I would love to see some recent polling on this one. Given the amount of money coming in, I'd say it's probably close still. Hale and Spartz each released ads in the past showing each with a lead. Independent polls have slightly favored Hale.
• The 5th District race has kind of taken the air out of the other Congressional races in Indiana, but Jeannine Lee Lake's race in the 6th against Mike Pence's brother, Greg, has gotten attention for the wrong reasons. Lake has told WTHR that she has been receiving threats and that her campaign RV was vandalized. Lake also went on Facebook Live following an incident where someone allegedly fired a weapon in her vicinity. It's sad where politics have led us in 2020. My best to Lake as she continues her courageous attempt to unseat Greg Pence. Let's hope that law enforcement helps keep the candidate safe as she continues campaigning.
• The race for Governor should be ramping up, but, as Adam Wren reported in Politico, the campaign has become a referendum on Eric Holcomb's mask mandate. Libertarian Donald Rainwater has found broad support and has more cash on hand than Democrat Woody Myers by his staunch opposition to Holcomb's pandemic response. Myers is trying to open up the conversation on doing more in Indiana to control the surging COVID-19 case numbers, hospitalizations, and deaths. It's really a shame Myers has not been able to break through. In the Politico piece by Wren, former Indiana House Speaker and 2012 and 2016 Democratic nominee for Governor, John Gregg goes off calling Myers the "most disappointing candidate the Democrats have put forward" for Governor in his lifetime. I like John, but I don't think he needs to be criticizing too heavily on that regard. Yes, Myers has struggled to raise money and campaign in what should be a downwind season for Dems, but Gregg didn't run a perfect campaign in either of his runs, either. Holcomb remains the heavy favorite. Will he get 50 percent, though? I think you'll see him around 55 percent on Election Night. Then, without the need for reelection as Indiana Governors are term limited maybe he'll return to the pre-election season Holcomb who might move Indiana back on the "Back on Track" plan out of Stage 5. Since moving to Stage 5, Indiana has seen cases of coronavirus explode.
• Which leads me to the next point: The Indiana Democratic Party. Boy, have we reached the same crossroads again here. The Indiana Dems have proven that they cannot run a multiple fronts campaign again forcing all their resources in one or two directions. This time, the Dems seem to be placing their advocacy behind a few state races, Hale's race (though much more federal and PAC dollars seem at play here) and the race for Indiana Attorney General between Jonathan Weinzapfel and Todd Rokita. All the while, John Zody continues to hold on to his Chairmanship. It's understandable that Dems would have an uphill battle in Indiana, but it shouldn't be, in my estimation, nearly as bad as it is right now. 
• The fact that Republicans are running ads in the Indianapolis market for several General Assembly races really underscores how concerned that they are about them. While they are in no danger of losing their majority, Dems could pick up enough seats to end the supermajority in the House at least. There are also some great opportunities in the Senate where progressive voices could gobble up Republican seats. It bears watching.

That's it for now. As I write this, I'm watching Colts football. Back to the game.