Marion County City-County Councilman Ed Coleman Switching Parties From GOP to Libertarian

(*Update #1* According to a source at tonight’s Decatur Township GOP meeting, Republican Council President Bob Cockrum announced that Ed Coleman has left the GOP, his committee assignments have been stripped and that this is the first time a Third Party has had a seat at the Council.)

After rumors swirled on Hoosiers for Fair Taxation (though the post was pulled) and Advance Indiana, sources confirm to me that Marion County City-County Councilman Ed Coleman is switching parties from Republican to Libertarian.

Coleman, who was first elected as an At-Large candidate in the Republican take over of the Council and Mayor’s office in 2007, has come under fire from the fellow Republican Councilmen and the County party for bucking party line on votes as well as voting against the Mayor on issues he deemed too intrusive for government…even local government. Coleman, who apparently has been mulling a switch for quite some time, was originally targeted by Democrats as a potential new party member, but conservative political convictions kept him from such a switch.

Sources also indicate that after some party bucking votes, Coleman would receive nasty text messages from people such as former State Rep. Jon Elrod, fellow Councilman Ryan Vaughn and Marion County GOP Chairman Tom John.

(*Update #2* I have been informed via a confidant of Ed Coleman’s that Jon Elrod did not send him any nasty text messages.)

(*Update #3* Councilor Ryan Vaughn called me and categorically denied sending any nasty text messages to Ed Coleman regarding any votes that may have bucked the party)

Now I’m sure the howling from GOP faithful will begin fairly soon. But keep one thing in mind here. The Republicans will still control the Council. Coleman will still likely vote more with them than with Democrats. But he will surely be castigated for his move. The question is, should he be?

Coleman’s move is not uncharacteristic while serving as an elected official. It’s not even uncharateristic for this decade. Some will probably make the notion that he should step down. Did Jim Jeffords? (I will admit, at the time, I was one of those who said he should) Did New York city Mayor, Michael Bloomberg after he switched mid-term from being a Republican to an Independent? One of the more well known party switcheroos came from Texas Senator Phil Graham in the 1980’s. He switched from Democrat to Republican, stepped down and ran for his seat again. He was so popular in Texas he won re-election.

Ed Coleman, the Libertarian Party of Indiana and the Marion County Libertarians will be holding a press conference tomorrow at the Columbia Club at 10:30am to discuss in more detail as to why he is making his switch. Your faithful Hoosier Access correspondent will be there to cover all of the action.

(Originally posted to Hoosier Access)

Flashback Monday: Remember When Transparency Was Chic on the Obama Campaign Trail?

So do I.

But apparently, that didn’t apply with the Stimulus Bill, which the President is about to sign, and didn’t apply to Congressional Democrats, who not only shut out Republicans in the Stimulus Conference Negotiations, but they, along with the other members of Congress didn’t even get a chance to read the bill before voting on it. This after Democrats promised a 48 hour window and Obama promised a five day window to allow Americans to read what was in the bill.

That’s the Hope and Change we all expected once Barack Obama was sworn in, right?

So Much for Democrat Promises

Remember the promise Democrats made to the American public to read the Stimulus Bill before voting on it? Yeah, didn’t happen. Well before voting on the bill, Republican Minority Leader John Boehner (who is pretty ticked in the video) got up on the floor of Congress to chastise the vote because not one member of the House had read the new version before voting. Apparently, they had only about twelve or so hours to read the entire 1,071 page, 8-inch-thick bill before the vote took place. New Jersey Democratic Senator Frank Lautenberg believes that no colleague of his will have a chance to read it either before voting.

Democracy at work.

To no one’s surprise, the bill passed 246-183. Also, to know ones surprise, no Republicans and seven Democrats voted against it. None of the Hoosier Democrat Congressmen voted against the bill. Previously, Brad Ellsworth had.

Senator Andre Carson???

There's a buzz around D.C. today that President Obama is seriously considering Senator Evan "Willow Tree" Bayh as a replacement for Senator Judd Gregg (who was a replacement for Gov. Bill Richardson, who was a replacement for Karl Marx, who sadly is deceased) as a nominee for Secretary of Commerce.

I think this is absolutely brilliant, and not just because "Willow Tree" supported Hillary during the primary, thus giving credence to this alleged "Team of Rivals" our Community Organizer-in-Chief is building (and not just because Bayh might have actually paid his taxes).

It's brilliant for several reasons, but try and follow my logic (for graduates of Perry Meridian High School, I'll go slowly):

1) This might come as a shock to many, but Bayh is in serious danger of losing his seat, which is up in 2010. This would spare him the embarrassment of being the second "Birch Evan Bayh" to lose to an unknown Republican.

2) As you might have learned from the recent Illinois debacle, our governor would then be able to select Bayh's replacement, who would then face re-election in 2010.

3) My Man Mitch should select Congressman Andre Carson to fill the seat. I'm not kidding. Think of how bi-partisan and forward thinking Mitch would be to name Indiana's first black Senator. What a legacy.

4) Carson would then be forced to run for re-election to his new Senate seat in 2010 (as mentioned), which is a problem for him for a host of reasons:

• He has absolutely no chance of ever winning a statewide election in Indiana. Frankly, Gabrielle Campo could beat him for that 2010 Senate race. This has little to do with his race, but more because of his power base (outside of Lake County, the Carson Machine wouldn't be able to pull off their normal shenanigans). It has everything to do with his Marxist views and the fact that the media isn't as likely to give him a free ride during a Senate race the way they have during his Congressional campaigns.
• There would then be (another) special election to fill Andre's now-open 7th District seat. Without the Carson Machine delivering ballots to the counting place four hours after polls close, or opening ballot boxes right at the precinct, or the other usual tactics they have patented, the Marion County Republican Party would have the chance to put a real challenger in that race, instead of un-employed recent college grads.
• After Andre loses his Senate re-election bid, he'd be forced to raise even more money during a presidential cycle to run against the incumbent Republican who now holds that seat. Considering 2012 will be a much better year for the GOP (hopefully they actually run a Republican at the top of the ticket this time), it will be quite a challenge for Andre to get his seat back.
  

Your thoughts?


Cross-posted at CircleCityPundit.com

That's Why They Call Him Donnie Baseball

He may be the Dodgers batting coach, but he'll always be a Yankee to me. For some reason, I now have Billy Joel going through my head...

BREAKING NEWS: (INDIANA) State Department of Education rewrites Flex-time Policy

Foughty Rewrites the Rules!

Fellow Hacks, Flacks, and Dumpster Divers:

This is what we live for! I just heard from Superintendent of Public Instruction that the work habits of one of our fellow Dumpster Divers has led to a change in the flex time rules at the Department of Education.

But that's really not what we want to talk about.

Seriously. We spent a solid 30 minutes on a conference call with Dr. Tony Bennett on a wide range of issues. Avid readers will note that education has never been one of our "big topic items" here at the WPBHQ. (Devoted readers will know we're more into blender drinks.) Yet, we were impressed with this guy. Dr. Bennett talked about real issues that effect the education of the little curtain climbers that we're all depending on to provide the tax revenue we'll need in our old age.

What are we getting for our tax dollars? How do we invest in our good teachers and help those less than adequate find another profession? This guy actually thinks about this stuff.

Parents - get in the game. Indiana finally has a SPI who actually cares about the "chil'in's" and not the next election. He deserves our support. Skeptical, "hold his feet to the fire" support. He earned the chance to show Hoosier families what is possible.

If you want the real analysis, go where you always go ... Hoosier Access. Otherwise, take our word for it - Give this guy a chance.

Rehab Sux. Part Deux: Adventures in Chemistry

He's baaaaaaaaaaaaack!

Fresh off the court-ordered, all-expense-paid, vacation at the trendy - albeit compulsory - Meditations Rehabilitation and Addiction Treatment Center in beautiful downtown Orange, New Jersey, your erstwhile and revitalized - dare I say it, intrepid - Dumpster Diving sage is back.

It seems that there has been an election and several other interesting developments since my incarceration, er, departure. Thanks to all the other hacks, flacks, and reasonably intelligent contributors that posted to the site in my absence.

You will all be happy to know that we got the Osterizer lubed, blades replaced, and washed the thing out (finally) sooooooooo, let's fire it up and get back to business.

First things first. Lobotomy has been outlawed in 42 states. Therefore, it is safe to assume that I am still able to operate the Osterizer.

Two ... I haven't had sex in a looooooooong time. Misogyny is a distinct possibility in several future posts. Get over it.

Three ... I forgot where I put the key to the liquor cabinet and it's not funny.

Four ... well, piss on number four. It wasn't important.

Just as soon as I'm done going through the mail that's piled up here at the WPBHQ, I'll call all the crew and we'll start deciding who's going to cover what. We might even try to recruit some talent to post insightful and hard-hitting investigative journal ... what? Must be the drugs. We never do anything insightful or hard-hitting.

It's good to be out, I mean, back. Thanks for all the cards and especially to the guy that sent the "care package" (you know who you are!)

Watch Space: Truly the Final Frontier?

Well, those towel-headed neanderthals have actually done it. Iran sent a rocket into space.

We now know they have the ability to shoot an intercontinental ballistic missile. (C'mon, if they can shoot a multi-stage rocket into space, they put a nuke on one and point it toward Tel Aviv - or, I dunno, Washington ... London ... Paris ... Berlin. Remember, they only have to get close. Close counts with hand grenades and Thermo-Nuclear Warheads.)

These guys think that by fomenting genocide, they can hasten the arrival of the 12th Imam, their "Messiah", and get the world "right" ... depending on your definition of what's right, I guess. You think Obama's "stimulus plan" is scary? Try these wing-nuts with the bomb. Geithner's got nothing on these "twelvers"

Hey, I'm not suggesting Armageddon, and I'm not ready to hang out on the Circle, out in front of WIBC, wearing one of those sandwich boards. You know, the one with "The End is Near" hastily scrawled on cardboard. Still, I think somebody needs to point out that these guys actually launched a friggin' rocket and it didn't crash - or blow up on the launch pad.

I'm just sayin' ... we may have bigger problems.

Stimulus, We Don't Need Your Stinkin' Stimulus

And then there were three ... Two Senators from Maine, and some knucklehead from Pennsylvania (who's probably an Eagles fan). Doesn't the GOP has a litmus test or something? Where do they find these people? I hereby renounce my affiliation with the Republican Party (or, what's left of the thing that used to be called the Republican Party.) I am now a Depublicradendent.

Just a parting thought as I leave the GOP. Does anyone else wonder what's going to happen when the Chinese and Japanese, Saudi and EU guys quit buying our debt - or jack the interest rates to 12%?

So I am on to my new career as a Depublicradendent. First things first.

Great Stimulus Idea number 26: (You see, I have been thinking about this for a while) Send every balding, middle-aged, white guy in America three free drink tickets and admission to the Girls, Girls, Girls Show Club on 38th Street or, better yet, Amateur Oil Wrestling Night at the Snafu Lounge ... Now That's Stimulus, my friends. (@mjezierski would probably give up Saturday night at the laund-ri-matic for that one, Mr. Obama.)

81% of the American people are just 81% of the American people. Piss on 'em.

Great Stimulus idea number 27: See Great Stimulus Idea number 26, only for next week too.

See, it's true. I know as much as any Senator about stimulus. So, I am hereby announcing my candidacy for the Senate. A free pass to PT's for all! (Hey, it's better than a Chicken potpie or a good 5-cent cigar - and those guys were Presidents!)

You see my peeps, I am just looking out for your stimulation. Nothing else matters to me.

I'm for manual stimulation, simulated stimulation, and stimulation of the nation. I want to palpitate to stimulate, urinate to stimulate, and populate the show clubs of America with stimulating undulating. I want to be the Senator who's doing the administration of stimulation across the nation! So vote for me - it'll be stimulating! Liberating! and, you will not be fornicating! (Well, you might be, but I'm for "don't ask-don't tell stimulation") There is no down side, for cryin' out loud. I'll solve the whole gasoline problem by giving everybody a three day work week so you can get all the stimulus you need from other non-fossil fuel energy consuming activities. We'll have more time to grow things in our backyard gardens.

Since people will have less money, they will buy fewer things - less stuff = lower demand, but with fewer folks actually working, it wont make any difference. Yet, we'll all be so stimulated!

I am a friggin' genius.

Thank you Mr. and Mrs. America and ... thank you, Mr. Knucklehead guy from Pennsylvania.

PS: Any chance we can get your two gal-pals from Maine to Amateur Night this weekend? Doesn't look like you'll be doing anything constructive over the weekend.

“Keep Your Fork, There’s Pie!”

This just in, sources down at the Statehouse inform me that serious legislation will be passed tomorrow!

From an email I just received:

“…tomorrow the Indiana General Assembly will declare Sugar Cream Pie as the official pie of Indiana. I hear they may wash it down with “water,” the official state drink, as declared in the last General Assembly by the great and noble wise fathers of that august deliberative body.”

Never say that our elected leaders at the State House don’t put the people’s business first before silly and unimportant issues.

Just how enduring is pie to not just our state, but to our nation? From a 1902 editorial in the New York Times.

“It is utterly insufficient (to eat pie only twice a week), as anyone who knows the secret of our strength as a nation and the foundation of our industrial supremacy must admit. Pie is the American synonym of prosperity, and its varying contents the calendar of the changing seasons. Pie is the food of the heroic. No pie-eating people can ever be permanently vanquished.”

In response to an Englishman’s suggestion that Americans should reduce their daily pie eating to two days per week.

The “People’s Business” indeed.

(Originally posted to Hoosier Access)

Lessons from the 2008 trenches, part 1

As promised I am bringing you part 1 of our series on Lessons from the 2008 trenches. Our first contributor is Ben Porritt. Ben served as the national spokesman for the McCain-Palin campaign and a co-founder of Outside Eyes strategy group in Southern California.
CF What campaign on the GOP side showed real innovation in fundraising?

BP - Although mainstream pundits never took Ron Paul seriously, the amount of money he raised as a dark horse candidate was outstanding. The disappointing factor in giving this award to Ron Paul is that our party never took him seriously. Ron Paul brought a fundraising engine to the GOP side that had only been replicated by Governor Dean in 2004. The difference is that the Democrat party took notice and invited him in to help with the revolution. Our party made Ron Paul look like a fringe candidate who offered very little. Maybe I am wrong on this but this is how it looked from the outside—which is where I was until July.

CF What campaign on the GOP side had the most effective use of New Media?

BP - Although we were overshadowed by Barack Obama’s $600 million force and unlimited text messaging, the McCain campaign had an amazing online team which made up one of our bright spots.
Stephan Dinan of the Washington Times posted a story in March crediting McCain’s blogger outreach as the simple aspect that kept the Senator alive during tumultuous times. During biweekly conference calls with McCain, bloggers provided the Senator the only opportunity outside of staged events to deliver his message. After the implosion the mainstream media was busy asking questions regarding financial longevity and writing the Maverick’s obituary. McCain found solace with bloggers who were interested in talking policy, Iraq, and Senator McCain’s favorite pork-barrel spending.
McCain treated the blogosphere not as an addendum to the mainstream media, but a completely separate application that offered him the opportunity to have a conversation that didn’t concentrate on soundbites.
Throughout the campaign, during the debates, and conventions our new media apparatus was aggressive and in my opinion better and more active than any other GOP or Dem candidate running.

CF What campaign on the GOP side showed the greatest comeback?

BP - You almost have to give this to Ted Stevens just for being part of the game. After being found guilty of seven felony charges he was still able to force overtime.
Here’s hoping we can put Norm Coleman in this category. Four years ago, Norm Coleman seemed destined for bigger things and now he is holding on by the grit of his teeth. Minnesota is a very odd state. In the last decade they elected Paul Wellstone, Jesse Ventura, Tim Pawlenty, and Al Franken has obviously been competitive. These people have nothing in common. It is possibly the most amazing state in the country.

CF What GOP pollster was the most accurate?

BP - I think the biggest obstacle in declaring a winner here is the simple fact that we were inundated with polling in 2008. We saw more polls during the month of October than we did the entire 2004 election, making it impossible to determine who is the most accurate. On a national level which is where most of my focus was, we were behind nearly every day post Sept. 15 (give or take). So I think the pollsters clearly got it right.
I do think that this election finally took its toll on national polls. When will people realize that the only thing that matters in presidential politics is 12-15 state polls where the race will be decided. And looking back, I am still shocked that we lost Indiana… (CF …me too.)


CF What GOP mail vendor had the most creative and effective designs?

BP - I am a huge supporter of Faulkner Strategies, although I have seen some work from two Southern Californiavendors in the past that I was extremely impressed with. One is Jim Bieber of Bieber Communications and the other is Eric Brown of Dynamic Marketing. Both are creative, innovative and do strong work delivering the message.

CF What GOP campaign showed the best ability to integrate it’s website into its’ over all campaign operation?

BP - Again I would go with Ron Paul and add Mike Huckabee. Right out of Joe Trippi’s 2004 handbook both of these campaign’s used the website as a viral stomping ground for support. These campaigns used their website as more than a virtual doorfront, it was a meeting place of ideas that brought people together using Meet Up, etc.
As we all know the bulk of Mike Huckabee’s support came from the Christian right whose social circles are well defined by churches, home-schooling, or small groups. Huckabee was able to transcend this and move his supporters in and out of their common place to spread his message.

CF What GOP candidate has the biggest ideas for the future of our party (even if they lost)?

BP - For what she stood for I think Sarah Palin did a lot in this regard.
Much has been said about the selection of Sarah Palin. Was it the right choice, a political choice, or the reason we lost? Questions aside it provided the GOP something we desperately needed, which is a different voice. For decades our party has succeeded yet suffered from an old guard unwilling to hand over the reigns or at the very least address the changing electorate.
At a time when our party is badly outnumbered in Washington there is one simple prescription for our ailments. We must recruit different Republican candidates and leaders from a precinct level up.
At a minimum Sarah Palin proves that the Grand Old Party is ushering in new voices. We will always survive, but in order to succeed we need to bring in more Hispanic, African American, Asian, and female voices to our party all across the country.

CF What GOP campaign showed the best use of its email list?

BP - Being at the top of the ticket certainly has its advantages and the email list is one of them. Until the general election funds took over, the McCain campaign used its email list extremely well and were able to raise substantial dollars while doing it. Outside of fundraising our lists were used to drive crowds and host tele-townhalls. I though we did this very well.
Chris Faulkner
Posted in Uncategorized. 2 Comments »

GOP bright spot for 2008 was Indiana

In 2008 one of the nation’s longest GOP streaks for President was broken. Barack Obama was the first Democrat since LBJ in 1964 to win Indiana. So with Obama’s wave of change sweeping over our state the GOP must have taken a beating and lost the Governor’s race right?Nope, not even close. Mitch Daniels won reelection by 18 points.How big was the win for Governor Daniels? By the numbers it went like this:With 1,563,873 votes Governor Daniels received more votes than any other Hoosier candidate for office…ever.

Daniels received 24% of the Democrat vote.
Daniels received 20% of the African American vote.
Daniels won the Independent vote by 18 points.
Daniels won EVERY age group including young voters (51%-42%

A Republican Governor won reelection in a purple state in 2008 not by playing it safe but by being a leader.How did he do it?

• Daniels talked about “change” in 2003 before “change” was cool. When first elected, he inherited a dysfunctional state government, hundreds of millions of dollars in debt. Since taking office, he has had only balanced budgets, the biggest tax cut in state history, telecom reform, ethics reform, and millions of dollars have been paid back to schools and local governments. Indiana is now the only state in the nation to have a fully-funded ten-year transportation plan with no debt or tax increase.
• Hoosiers made a connection with the governor’s steadfast leadership and work ethic. Voters recognized his constant focus on attracting a record number of new and diversified jobs, dramatically reducing homeowner’s property taxes, and the state’s immediate, organized and effective response to the severe weather/record floods in the summer of 2008.
• Daniels was supported by a formidable coalition of both typical and atypical interest groups. Because of his approach, he received backing by union building trades as well as the Chamber of Commerce, the Manufacturer’s Association and the NFIB. The FOP and prominent veteran leaders were seen on TV ads pledging their support in their own non-partisan words. The International Association of Fire Fighters supported Daniels and Obama. African American leaders passed out Governor Daniels suggestion boxes to urban barbershops and hair salons. Fluent in Spanish, Daniels earned the support of traditionally Democrat Latino voters.
• Job creation and tough line on fiscal responsibility. The Midwest is a sea of red ink as every state faces serious budget deficits…every state except one. Indiana.
• Daniels kept it real. He has remained in touch and accessible to average Hoosiers through constant statewide travel. His view is always from the taxpayer’s perspective and that showed on Election Day. Voters came to appreciate his preference to travel the state on his Harley Davidson motorcycle and his insistence to stay overnight in Hoosier homes, not in hotels.

Governor Daniels is term limited and will exit office in 2012…hmmm what could he do in 2012?

Calling Gonzo Defenestrater

This fall, the Ryerson Rag endorsed Congressman Dan Burton's unknown Democrat opponent. You know the one who was sued for not paying her rent.

In spite of the Rag's free advertising for the Democrats, Congressman Burton won handily. Now the poor excuse for a political columnist for The Ryerson Rag, one Matt Tully, has penned an article with a list of people who will take on the Congressman in the 2010 primary.

Lessons from the trenches 2008

2008’s electoral results are getting clearer as we close in on a final result in MN and GA. As President-elect Obama sorts out his administration and we all eat turkey sandwiches there are some great lessons to be learned from GOP campaigns of 2008.

In the coming weeks I will interview consultants, campaign staff and candidates to look at the tactics and where they made a difference. Before I start the interviews I want to hear from you on what questions you want answered.

Some of the questions I am considering asking are:

• 
  What campaign on the GOP side showed real innovation in fundraising?
• 
  What campaign on the GOP side had the most effective use of New Media?
• 
  What candidate on the GOP side best leveraged earned media to get traction?
• 
  What campaign on the GOP side showed the greatest comeback?
• 
  What campaign on the GOP side showed the best mobilization of grassroots supporters?
• 
  What campaign on the GOP side had the most effective GOTV organization?
• 
  What GOP media consultant showed the most appreciation for web video and integrated it into their mix?
• 
  What GOP pollster was the most accurate?
• 
  What GOP mail vendor had the most creative and effective designs? (yes, I am biased)
• 
  What GOP campaign showed the best ability to integrate it’s website into its’ over all campaign operation?
• 
  What GOP candidate has the biggest ideas for the future of our party (even if they lost)?
• 
  What GOP campaign showed the best use of its email list?
• 
  What GOP campaign was really good at the small stuff? (yard signs, bumper stickers, t-shirts, etc)

I also have a sizeable list of people to interview, if you have some you would like to see, let me know.Email your suggested questions and interviewees to chris@faulknerstrategies.com

Tech Companies Moving Assets Offshore

The writing is on the wall. The O will raise corporate taxes like you've never seen before. After all its Spread the Wealth.

Yahoo! is planning to move its assets overseas to avoid what is expected to be higher corporate taxes in The O era. The IRS plans enforcement action to counteract it. So what will this lead to? Likely companies completely leaving the USA and potentially refusing to do business here.

You do know most tech company executives are moonbats that likely gave money to The O. Tax YOU but not ME.

Hypocrites.

Marion County Judge To Be Tossed: Guess Which Political Party He Belongs To?

The Ryerson Rag has the propaganda here:

A panel of judges said today they would recommend removing veteran Marion County judge Grant Hawkins from the bench.

The matter now goes to the Indiana Supreme Court, as soon as next month.

The Indiana Commission on Judicial Qualifications, which brought the charges against the Marion Superior Court judge, has 20 days to file a response to the judges' decision with the state high court.

After that filing, Hawkins has 20 days to file his response.

Hawkins' troubles stem from his mishandling of the case of Harold Buntin, which caused the man to sit in prison for nearly two years waiting to be cleared of a rape conviction after DNA evidence absolved him.

After Hawkins and his court commissioner realized the mistakes, Buntin still was not released for six weeks.

Did I miss something in that article? Oh yeah - nary a mention of the word DEMOCRAT in the article. Why? It's the left-wing Ryerson Rag that's why. Because if it were a Republican judge the article would read thus:

"A panel of judges said today they would recommend removing veteran REPUBLICAN Marion County judge [Name of Judge] from the bench.

The matter now goes to the Indiana Supreme Court, as soon as next month.

The Indiana Commission on Judicial Qualifications, which brought the charges against the REPUBLICAN Marion Superior Court judge, has 20 days to file a response to the judges' decision with the state high court.

After that filing, The REPUBLICAN judge has 20 days to file his response.

The REPUBLICAN judge's troubles stem from a blatant miscarriage of justice of the case of a disaffected person, which caused the wrongly convicted man to sit in prison for nearly two years waiting to be cleared of a false rape conviction after DNA evidence absolved him.

Because the REPUBLICANS are a bunch of robe-wearing bigots.

Typical Rag.

I am not moving to France...

Election Day has come and gone and my Political Party’s nominee for President has lost. I am disappointed but not disheartened. I am looking forward to the debate within the Republican Party to find our true core again.

A couple of things first, congratulations to President-elect Obama and his supporters. In 2000 and 2004 I was dismayed by the lack of respect and abundance of contempt that President Bush (and those of us that supported him) received from those that lost. Regardless of the deep and substantive differences I have with President-elect Obama it would be a mistake to not recognize how historic his election is. He is the first African-American President and represents the completion of another chapter in America’s troubled history on racial equality. His campaign shattered traditional models of volunteer mobilization, fundraising and technology use. All of which are good things for American democracy. I am sure that in the coming months I will have strong words for him in difference of policy but there will be plenty of time for that.

Next, leave Senator McCain alone. Enough of the arm chair quarterbacks and back seat drivers. In most polling I saw, we could not even get 30% of Americans to admit they were Republicans so it is no surprise that we could not get a majority of them to vote that way.

Time and time again I hear voters tell campaigns to “not tell them why the other guy is wrong, tell us what your guy will do!” Maybe we as Republicans should consider that question a bit before we start getting a worked up and wild-eyed. In 1996 we screamed and yelled about how unethical and corrupt President Clinton was. You can ask President Dole how well that worked.

Who are we and why should voters give us a chance again?

Are we fiscal conservatives or fans of big government solutions? Are we social conservatives, moderates or something in-between? Do we believe in free market solutions or tariff managed trade? Do we believe in being “safe” all the time or are we ok with balance of less security for more liberty? Do we believe in “exporting” the gift of democracy or letting others figure it out for themselves? Do we think that there is still some room in our country for people who were not born here but believe in the idea of America as much as we do? Are we helping the “poor” by not making them pay taxes?

I used to think I could articulate the “Republican” position on these pretty well but lately I am not so sure.

Even before McCain conceded I had emails and text messages from friends and journalists asking if Governor Palin would be our standard bearer for 2012. Whoa, let’s hold our horses a bit. We need to know where we are going before we pick a leader. The good news is we have some time on our hands to figure that out now that Democrats control both houses of Congress and the White House.

I have been proud to be a Republican in the past and am sure I will be in the future. Our party has a great history of shaping our nation’s policy and providing the great leaders to do it.

The Continuing Incompetence of Beth White

Yep. Some claim Beth White's ability to run an election is improved greatly over the 2007 Municipal Primary disaster where many precincts opened late, and 6 did not open at all.

At least all of the precincts are opening on Election Day, but her competence is still questionable.

In my precinct on Tuesday, we did not receive the early votes and absentees until almost 4 PM. That gave us two hours to sort through them, enter them into the poll book and fed into the scanner if we wanted to get out of the polling place at a reasonable hour.

That didn't happen. We were still "stuffing the ballot box" with the received absentees and early votes at 7 PM. 224 of them buggers. Considering typically it's less than a dozen. Topping it off were three voters who were completely disenfranchised because the Clerk's office sent them the wrong precinct ballot. Those ballot envelopes were marked "Wrong Precinct" and returned to the Election Board. You might think "three voters, big deal". Recall the court fight over voter ID, and how the Dems claimed ONE disenfranchised voter was too many. Here three voters are disenfranchised by an incompetent clerk and her staff, and Dems just shrug their shoulders.

Now the Ryerson Rag published this article where Clerk White has asked a Judge to allow absentee ballots that were never delivered to the polling place to be counted, in spite of election law which specifically states absentee ballots must be delivered to the precinct prior to close of polls.

BETH WHITE SHOULD BE IN JAIL!!

There you go Ed Treacy. Turnabout is fair play.

This Is No Time to Give Up!

(Originally posted to Hoosier Access)

(Post updated to reflect Democrat Scott Reske’s victory in HD 37 after barely holding off Republican challenger Kelly Gaskill)

Here is a note to my fellow conservatives and Republicans.

I did not have the highest of expectation for last night. I had hope that John McCain might some how pull off a miracle (because really that’s what he needed to win), but it wasn’t a lot of hope. And like many of you who may have stayed up fairly late (after the webcast which ended at midnight, I went out and picked up yard signs to get some much needed alone time) I’m still recovering from yesterday’s action. But I came to this conclusion.

It’s time to face the facts. Barack Obama will be our 44th president. And a historic congratulations should be sent his way. But we should take solace in the fact that Democrats did not net major gains in the House or get their filibuster proof Senate, though they could still up with (a worst case scenario) 59 seats.

But there were some positives for us as well last night. Governor Daniels smoked Jill Long Thompson (no surprise there) and Greg Zoeller and Tony Bennett won their statewide races. The Indiana House will end up with only one seat gained by the Democrats after much hand wringing they could end up with as many as a three to four seat gain. On the congressional level. Everybody stayed the same. Many thought Congressman Souder could be a loss in the Republican column, but he showed his tenacity and didn’t just win by a small margin, he kicked his young upstart opponent to the curb.

But now onto my message.

Fellow Republicans, this is no time to give up. This is also no time to resort to childish pettiness, bemoaning and name calling that the left resorts to when they lose. This is a time to step up! We do have a lot of ground to make up nationally, and while our state still leans red, it certainly is becoming a closely and evenly divided state.

We need to re-energize our base and return to what made our party great! I encourage our state and national Republicans to return to the principles and virtues of the Contract with America. We need to raise the level of discourse on the issues that matter most to Americans at this time; the economy and energy independence. And while I believe social values cannot be ignored (though we must never give up on the issue of Abortion), we must understand, as a Party, that in these tough economic times, voters are thinking mostly with their wallets. We must return to a message of fiscal restraint. We must hammer the message of an “all of the above’ approach to energy independence. We must hold our new President’s feet to the fire when it comes to the issues of coal and nuclear power. Nothing can be off the table if we want to break free from the shackles of foreign oil. President-Elect Obama seeks energy independence, but he must seek all avenues, closing off nothing.

We lost the American’s public’s faith in us when we lost our way as a party. We have only ourselves to blame for the situation we are in. Now is the time to make up for our past mistakes. Now is the time to take action and to be the party of solutions and ideas. We gave that away, but it’s time to take it back!

(But should you need it, here is Red State’s Obama Administration Survial Guide)