Civility Rules Night in Indiana Gubernatorial Debate

Indiana Gubernatorial Candidates
Eric Holcomb (R), Woody Myers (D), Donald Rainwater (L)
Photos from Official Sources or Campaigns

The Indiana Gubernatorial Debate was Tuesday night, and there was something there for everyone. I'm not sure it changes the race much, but it did provide an opportunity to see the three candidates out there pushing their own values and views.

As far as the red meat goes, there really was little in the way of insults or interruptions fired at each other. By and large, it was an hour of candidates following the rules of the debate and a moderator named Andrew Downs who did a great job keeping the hour moving.

The biggest area of disagreement came on COVID-19 restrictions. Governor Eric Holcomb defended his record on the COVID-19 response despite the fact that since the state moved to Stage 5 of the "Back on Track" plan the cases, deaths and hospitalizations have been on the rise. Holcomb touted his partial shutdown of the state and the so-called mask mandate (which is less of a mandate and more of a pretty pretty please) as reasons why Indiana's dealing with the pandemic well. 

Dr. Woody Myers, the Democratic nominee, was the only candidate to say he would go further than what's going on right now in the state. Holcomb said he'd put restrictions in place and let the courts decide later on those restrictions in order to keep Hoosiers safe. He promised a real mask mandate with teeth if he's elected Governor and promised to listen to scientists. Myers is, of course, a medical doctor.

Then, there was Donald Rainwater. The Libertarian candidate, Rainwater seemed to call into question the science of mask wearing and mask mandates. Unsurprisingly, many of his supporters have been very critical of this part of Governor Holcomb's response. Rainwater also said that COVID-19 had not caused businesses to go out of business in Indiana. He, instead, blamed that on Holcomb's response to the virus. 

Rainwater and Holcomb sparred a bit over the duties granted by the Indiana General Assembly to the Governor of Indiana. Myers criticized the Governor for not calling a special session of the Indiana General Assembly to deal with the pandemic.

Holcomb painted a rosy picture of things in Indiana on the economy touting the number job commitments companies have said they'll bring to Hoosiers. Several times, he praised state agencies for their response to environmental issues and management of the pandemic. Myers and Rainwater both used the opportunity to attack the Governor's record on these topics. 

In his opening and closing statement, Myers promised to reappoint Superintendent of Public Instruction, Jennifer McCormick to the soon-to-be appointed position. McCormick has endorsed Myers over her fellow Republican, Holcomb. Myers also spent time hammering away at Holcomb and the GOP's record on teacher pay and education. Rainwater promised to return schools to local control. Holcomb touted the one-time only pay raises many teachers in many districts negotiated and the commission he formed on teacher pay as reasons why he's dealing with that issue. Holcomb has refused to release the findings of that commission until after the election. 

Guns were also a meaty issue in this debate. Myers said he did not support constitutional carry and endorsed background checks. He also talked about his experience as an ER physician dealing with the effects of gun violence. He touted his Moms Demand Action endorsement. Holcomb noted that Indiana has made it very easy to get a gun permit by making it a free application process. Rainwater came out in complete support of constitutional carry.

Again, it was a very good debate, but I didn't see any Mourdock moments. It's likely that this did not change any hearts or minds other than to make you feel really good about the candidate you were already supporting.

Braun Tells Schools "Take a Little Risk" in Reopening

Mike Braun
Official Senate Photo

Mike Braun wants teachers, students, parents and school leaders to, "Take a little risk," and reopen schools for full in-person instruction. 

Anything less, Braun apparently thinks, is a "head in the sand" approach.

Citing Notre Dame and Purdue University as examples, Braun criticized Arizona education leaders casting doubt on the August 17 mandated start. Ironically, he also encouraged schools to mitigate risks and, "Be safe." Braun made his comments on Stuart Varney's program on Fox Business.

That's your Senator, Indiana. 

Braun, of course, loves nothing more than attempting to please Donald Trump at all times. He showed a little independence earlier this year in pushing qualified immunity reform, but he snapped back into line when he received a little pushback. 

This seat is the same seat once occupied by Richard Lugar and Joe Donnelly. Can you imagine either of them telling parents to risk the lives of their students? Can you imagine them asking teachers to risk their lives so brazenly?

All of these comments come as the CDC and the United States Government have provided confusing and constantly changing guidance for schools on how to open safely. At first, the CDC provided clear guidelines, but Vice President Mike Pence and President Trump pushed back and undermined the agency who revised the plan making the guidance less strict.

I guess the question for Senator Braun is to define what a "little risk" is. After he defines it, he needs to tell us if he's prepared for the possibility that opening schools for in-person full instruction could add to the nearly 3,000 Hoosiers who have already died and all the horrible scenarios that come with that.

Indiana schools lack any guidance from Governor Holcomb on what to do right now in day-to-day operation. He's pushed that off on local communities. On the surface, that makes a lot of sense. What's appropriate in Benton County may not be the same as what's appropriate in Marion County. In practice, it's created a lot of confusion among administrators and school boards about whether to open fully in person, use some hybrid of in person and online learning or moving totally online. 

In the absence of any guidance from the state, Marion County created an easy-to-follow protocol and communicated it last week. It remains to be seen as to why the state can't copy Virginia Caine's homework on this. I predict that eventually, Governor Holcomb and the Indiana State Department of Health will follow Marion County's lead because that is essentially what has happened often since March.

But, back to Mike Braun. Using a higher education model to somehow shame local school boards is ridiculous. Purdue, Notre Dame and Indiana are all requiring COVID-19 tests for students returning to campus in some form. There is no such requirement or funding for K-12 students and staff as schools reopen. I'd argue that with a rising statewide positivity rate in testing that it's impossible to know what exactly we're risking.

Arizona's Hayden-Winkleman Unified District Superintendent Jeff Gregorich was more blunt about what's at risk in talking about his rural Arizona district. He told the Washington Post that he's been working hard to open, but he sees no way that his district can safely provide in-person instruction. Gregorich wrote, "Kids will get sick, or worse. Family members will die. Teachers will die."

Hopefully Hoosier voters will remember Braun's callous position on this when he stands for reelection. For a former member of a school board, Braun seems ready to put Hoosier students, teachers, administrators and school staff in danger so he can look good in President Trump's eyes.

In the leadership vacuum that exists in Indiana, Braun should be empowering each local school board to make the best decision for their local district based on the guidance and information they are receiving from local health officials. He shouldn't be telling them to essentially head to the COVID-19 Casino and keep the rabbit's foot nearby for luck.

Spartz Campaign Releases Photo with Unmasked Candidate on Trail

Victoria Spartz
Official Indiana Senate Photo

Indiana State Senator Victoria Spartz is in a neck-and-neck battle with, in the interest of full disclosure, my friend, former State Rep. Christina Hale in Indiana's 5th Congressional District.

Because the race is so tight, it's no wonder that the candidates are out and about knocking doors and talking to voters even in the middle of this pandemic. In that vein, Spartz released a photo on Twitter of a particular moment from her campaigning on Saturday.

The photo, which I'll link here, shows Spartz with one of her daughters campaigning on the doorstep of a voter. The Republican and her daughter both have masks, but they are not wearing them. The voter is also unmasked. None of them are demonstrating social distancing.

First off, let's be fair. I don't know the voter. It's possible Spartz may have known the voter and the woman may have been screened somehow before the photo. I also don't know where the photo was taken. It could have been in Hamilton County or maybe even somewhere else in the expansive district, but, if the candidate was in Marion County, she was in violation of the mask mandate put into effect July 9 by Mayor Joe Hogsett.

Plus, it's just not safe to be going around these days knocking doors without a mask. After all, you're coming into contact with a wide variety of people on your journey knocking doors. If you're going to stop and get up close with people, the least you can do, under CDC recommendations, is to mask up when social distancing isn't possible.

City-County Councillor Ali Brown, who represents part of the 5th District, stated in a tweet that Spartz's behavior was unwelcome in her part of Marion County. "Please don't knock in my district if you aren't going to do the most basic thing to protect constituents. I care about the people who live here," Brown tweeted.

COVID-19 is no joke, and it's something candidates and campaigns are going to have to deal with in every action they take not only to keep themselves and their families safe but to keep the people they come into contact with safe. In the same way that candidates take great care to make sure their image is cultivated in the most positive light, candidates are going to have to demonstrate that they are willing to take steps like masking up.

Of course, there's also the possibility that Spartz may not care about masking up and being safe while door knocking. I think it's fair for reporters to ask her that question now given the photo her official campaign Twitter account sent out.

Trump Goes Low in Wallace Attack Tweet

Bubba Wallace
Photo: NASCAR

Each morning after I wake up, grab a drink and shake off the drowsiness, I grab my phone and open social media to get my first glance at what's going on.

Lately, I prepare for anything. This morning, the first few tweets I saw were responses to a Trump tweet: a Trump tweet that only shows the President keeps going lower and lower and lower and lower.

Trump decided that today, in the midst of a killer global pandemic he mismanaged, was the perfect time to attack NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace. The personal attack against NASCAR's only Black driver comes just two days after the Independence Day holiday and in the middle of a continued discussion about race in our society. 

Trump's tweet is mean-spirited, incorrect and wrong at every level, and one has to wonder why anyone in the most powerful office in the land would ever resort to such race-baiting. 

For one, Trump needs a distraction as the coronavirus numbers continue to skyrocket in most states. He needs someone to change the subject, and, by attacking the only Black driver in the NASCAR paddock, he gets people talking. Secondly, I'll put it bluntly, Trump needs his base, and that base includes the kind of people that wear tinfoil hats, support the Confederate States of America and the racism that continues to divide our nation.

Sadly, caught in the middle of this, is Bubba Wallace.

Wallace led the fight to remove the Confederate Battle Flag from NASCAR tracks. He should be praised for his leadership in helping an organization that was berthed in the tradition and history of Southern culture to divorce itself from the symbol some white Southerners hold sacred. He and his race team brought attention to the Black Lives Matter cause by running it on his car in a race. 

As a leader and as a man, Wallace deserves our accolades and not aspersions from a morally bankrupt failure of a President. He deserves the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his work, and I hope President Biden will award him one when he's in office. Make no mistake, Trump's low personal attack will cause Wallace to absorb more hate directed at him from the President's most racist supporters. Hate that has caused him already to need more security. 

I proudly stand with Bubba Wallace.

Indy GOP Masks True Intentions

Cindy Kirchhofer
Photo: Indiana House Republicans

The Marion County Republican Party once ruled the roost in Marion County. Now, it can't even muster enough people to help run an election...even in heavily Republican areas.

This once dominant party can't even get politics right either. Today, the party released a statement from current chair Cindy Kirchhofer. Let's say...it missed the mark. The statement kind of sort of praises Mayor Joe Hogsett for doing the right thing on making masks mandatory but then somehow tries to criticize him for his implementation schedule.

The statement goes:

"I believe that masks are an important precautionary health measure. However, it's sad but not surprising that once again Joe Hogsett picks politics over protecting people as he issues his mask mandate."

"If Joe Hogsett says masks will save lives on July 9, why wait until then? I fear this isn't about protecting our neighbors but about protecting his political career.“

Now, if you read that statement, it could go a lot of different ways after that first sentence. It could have said, "I believe masks are an important precautionary health measure. That's why I join Mayor Hogsett in urging all Indianapolis and Marion County residents to wear a mask. Here's where you can go to get a free mask from the city of Indianapolis. You can also pick one up at points in the city or call (317) 327-4MAC."

OR

It could have said, "I believe masks are an important precautionary health measure. That's why I am urging Governor Eric Holcomb to join Mayor Hogsett in issuing an order to make masks mandatory across the state of Indiana."

Of course, I'm living in a mythical world and not the one where where Cindy Kirchhofer is the Chair of a failing at the Indy ballot box political party that STRETCHES to score political points on Mayor Hogsett while at the same time trying to also care about mask wearing.

Joe Hogsett
Photo: Indy.gov

It is July 2. Governor Holcomb just announced yesterday that he would encourage but not require masks across the state. I'm sure Hogsett and Dr. Virginia Caine of the Marion County Health Department were waiting for that guidance. So, now, Mayor Hogsett is left with a mandatory order that will require people to not only hear about it but to obtain a mask to comply. Of course implementing it right away isn't an option. A week seems perfectly practical to anyone that isn't thinking with the political point scoring brain.  If she truly did care and think mask wearing was so important than she should be bending the Governor's ear on the subject of a mandatory mask order.

And, let's look at all the things that the Indy GOP could be doing to score political points right now. I just wrote another long post today about Mayor Hogsett's challenges. Yet, Kirchhofer chooses pandemic masks to accuse the Mayor of trying to score political points. Come on Rep. Kirchhofer, you CANNOT be serious.

If anything, the political ploy here was not to take up quarrel with Hogsett's timeline. The political play here for the Republican Party would be to play that libertarian angle. The mandatory angle was the play. Of course, that's the wrong play, but, at least it makes some sense given the traditional GOP party line.

As it stands, Hogsett's order may be disliked by some, but at least he's given everyone a chance to comply. Plus, the numbers in Indianapolis show that we're actually holding our own in comparison to some other areas when it comes to COVID-19. We need to keep it that way, and Hogsett's order will help do it.

By the way, Mitch Gore is running against Kirchhofer for the District 89 seat. You can find his website here.