John Lewis (1940-2020)

John Lewis has passed tonight.

From Troy, Alabama, Lewis, the son of sharecroppers, rose to the highest levels of our government to serve with distinction in the United States House of Representatives. 

Along the way, he inspired so many, including me.

Representative Lewis packed a lot of life into his 80-plus years. More life than maybe many have in two or three lives. It was a life focused on service and on humility. Lewis led a life of perseverance and hope. He never quit on this country even when it quit on him. 

He marched with Dr. King. He spoke at the March on Washington as one of the organizing members. His skull was fractured on the Edmund Pettus Bridge on Bloody Sunday.

John Lewis never let the arrests or the beatings or the epithets stop him. He kept fighting for civil rights. 

He didn't stop. Not even close. Not John Lewis. He wasn't done. He kept working, organizing, mobilizing. He kept serving. Moving forward. Making "good trouble" as he called it. He didn't stop when the Civil Rights Act was passed. He kept fighting for equality even as our country continued to demonstrate every reason for him not to be hopeful. John Lewis didn't stop organizing and mobilizing. He kept doing the work. He kept making "good trouble" and pushing forward.

John Lewis was defeated in his first run for Congress, but he didn't stop there. In 1987, John Lewis became a Congressman from Georgia. He never stopped fighting for what was right. John Lewis conducted sit-ins in 2016 on the floor of Congress to protest inaction on gun control.

John Lewis rose one year ago to the date of his death to protest Donald Trump's tweets many deemed to be racist. "I know racism when I see it. I know racism when I feel it. And at the highest level of government, there's no room for racism. It sows the seeds of violence and destroys the hopes and dreams of people. The world is watching. They are shocked and dismayed because it seems we have lost our way as a nation, as a proud and great people."

Just last month, Lewis was still fighting against racism. It was a battle he never stopped. Though very sick with cancer, he showed us what it's like to never stop fighting up to his last breath. 

In many ways, this is the time we need John Lewis the most, but that would be selfish. He's given his blood, his tears, his effort, and everything else...up until his last breath. It's time to rest. He's gone, and we're left to pick up the pieces and keep fighting: just like John Lewis.

"When you see something that is not right, not fair, not just, you have to speak up. You have to say something; you have to do something."

--John Lewis

Biden Camp Running Strong, but It's July

Joe Biden

The legendary basketball coach at Ben Davis High School, Steve Witty, always used to say, "The toughest thing to do in sports is exactly what's expected of you."

He didn't know that I'd use that quote here and in this context, but I think that quote could also apply to politics. The toughest thing is sometimes doing what is expected, and Joe Biden is running a much-better-than-expected campaign for President of the United States by simply keeping that metaphorical golf ball right in the fairway. It appears that he's taking some advice to heart.

It all starts with the ads the Biden campaign is releasing, and each ad released has been on message, on point, uplifting and positive. 

A great example is this spectacular ad. Each one plays into Biden's strong suit: his empathy. 

But beyond his ad campaign, Biden is also nailing the other aspects of a modern campaign. In the past week, we've seen where he's talking with Bernie Sanders about platform and Elizabeth Warren  about the economy and is listening to them. He's held events with Pete Buttigieg. He's keeping his chief rivals for the nomination more than just involved as supporters. 

Barack Obama allegedly advised Biden to keep his speeches and interviews short and keep his tweets in a similar vein. That's discipline, and that's what we've seen from the former Senator from Delaware and Vice President. Biden, unlike President Donald Trump, demonstrates this in his public speeches by sticking to the script and staying on message. For someone who at times has been known for his gaffes, this is very important.

All the while, Biden is letting the Super PACs do the dirty work on Trump. The Lincoln Project and Vote Vets both have hit Trump hard. The Lincoln Project's Whispers ad that dropped last week is one of the most powerful ads I've seen, and it's targeted right at what Donald Trump values...loyalty.

Of course, the best thing for Biden to do right now is stay visible, which he is. Follow the recommendations of the CDC on rallies, which his is, and continue to let Donald Trump be Donald Trump. The amount of lies, distortions and offensive things that come out of Trump's mouth and social media accounts are unprecedented not to mention his corrupt actions.

With this much of a wind behind him, Biden is now expanding the electoral map in response to recent polls showing him very competitive in Texas where a Democrat has not won since 1976. Today, Biden launched an ad in the Lone Star State which never once mentions Donald Trump and focuses on recommendations to stop the spread of COVID-19. This means Trump will now have to play defense in Texas, a state he carried by nine percentage points in 2016. Polls also show Biden with leads in Arizona and Florida.

All of this positive news comes with a healthy dose of caution. We are still some four months from the General Election. In the day and age we live in, anything can happen. It's time to keep working.

Rokita Squeaks Past Hill, Will Face Weinzapfel

Tad Rakouta
U.S. Congress Photo

Indiana Republicans have spoken. Curtis Hill's political career is over, at least for now, and Todd Rokita is back off the dust heap.

Rokita, former Indiana Secretary of State and U.S. Representative, had not had much luck with Republican voters lately. He took a risk and left a safe seat in the 4th Congressional District to run for U.S. Senate against fellow Rep. Luke Messer and State Rep. Mike Braun. He finished a distant second. Rokita also tried to become the Republican's nominee for Governor after Mike Pence left the ticket in 2016. Eric Holcomb obviously won that battle.

Despite all the negative and really creepy things Hill has done in his time as AG, Rokita could only muster 53 percent of the Republican delegate vote in the final round vs. Hill. John Westercamp and Nate Harter also ran for the nomination. The GOP used ranked choice voting in the race which was conducted by mail.

Jonathan Weinzapfel
Campaign Photo

For Hill, it probably could be argued that despite the tacit support of President Donald Trump that the investigation over groping allegations and the resulting loss of his law license for 30 days took him down. Hill's political crash and burn marks a new beginning for Rokita, a man as known for his many wacky statements and disgusting political positions as his ambition. Still, it's a stunning ending to this chapter for Hill. While political comebacks are always a possibility, this seems like a pretty big and certainly final thud for Hill, once the top votegetter of any state officeholder in Indiana history.

Curtis Hill
Official Photo

Hill's loss changes the trajectory of the November race as Democrat Jonathan Weinzapfel, the former Mayor of Evansville, will now face Rokita. On the face of it, it's an easy pivot for the Dems and Weinzapfel. We've already seen sophomoric tactics out of Rokita whose campaign misspelled Weinzapfel's name multiple times in a news release after the former Mayor won the Democratic nod last month over state Senator Karen Tallian. Expect Dems to hit Rokita hard on some of his worst public statements, his ambition and his alleged mistreatment of his congressional staff. It will be an uphill battle for Weinzapfel. A good showing by Joe Biden in Indiana could help Weinzapfel.

What's next for Curtis Hill is anyone's guess. In his spare time, he's an Elvis impersonator. Maybe he can do that. What is clear is that boorish and inappropriate behavior was just not what the GOP wanted this year in their Attorney General nominee.

They didn't want it so much that they chose Todd Rokita.

Vote Vets Ad Claps Back Hard at Tucker Carlson, Trump

Vote Vets has released an ad that hits hard at Donald Trump and Tucker Carlson of Fox News.

They're right. Tammy Duckworth is tough, and she would make a great running mate for Joe Biden. I don't know if he will pick her, but this ad makes a great argument along with this previous ad released back in June by Vote Vets.

Larrison Wins Spot on Council

Jason Larrison
Photo: Jason Larrison for Council Facebook

City-County Council candidate Jason Larrison described himself as a "failed" blogger and comedian to the Indy Star's Amelia Pak-Harvey in an apology for inflammatory old blog posts.

Now, he can describe himself as City-County Councillor.

By a social-media-reported margin of one vote, Larrison has been elected to the City-County Council in a caucus of 23 party precinct officials over Karla Lopez-Owens and Francine Lee.

Larrison will now serve out the unexpired term of Blake Johnson. The next Council election will be 2023 (barring some change at the state level to move municipal elections to an even year).

Larrison had been backed by Mayor Joe Hogsett and his inner circle who spent a lot of political capital in defending Larrison. City-County Councillors and community members raised concerns about Larrison's fitness for office after the controversial blog posts resurfaced.

Those opposed to Larrison's candidacy rallied around Karla Lopez-Owens, a Mexican native, naturalized citizen and immigrant activist. The 12th District on the Council has the city's highest Latinx/Hispanic population of any Council district. Lopez-Owens would have been the only Latina on the Council had she won the caucus.

How we proceed from here will certainly be interesting to watch. There are people who are straight up mad about this, and it remains to be seen if that anger subsides. Twelve sitting Councillors had sent Hogsett a letter endorsing Lopez-Owens and asking for Larrison to leave the race. The Mayor needs to certainly smooth things over with them, if he can.

My feeling is that this will not go away for Larrison, and his margin for error on the Council will be extremely small. The Mayor also is in the middle of a dire time. He's receiving renewed pressure from those on the right and the last thing he needs is a fight from the left. He's brought this one on himself.

Never a dull moment in Indy!