Taxpayer, you had me until you mentioned Dan Burton in any sentence that equates him with anything other than sheer self-absorbed lunacy.
America’s worst Congressman–Dan Burton. Hands down.

It’s Thursday–today it’s Woody’s turn to use the Burton brain. I think there’s legislator/lobbyist golf outing-drunken slush fund-whorish event in Columbus or somewhere.

Woddy won’t get hit by lightning because everyone knows God loves him due to the license plate thing.

Ain’t God good to Indiana?

Two, he’s getting less and less positive media. I think it’s actually moved to value-neutral. It was bound to happen.

Three, there are multiple candidates who can beat him, if the stars align properly: Orentlicher, Kennedy, Mays, Sanders, Nytes, Myers, the list goes on.

Fourth, and this one’s tricky: the city’s budget situation will worsen, and he hasn’t a clue how to fix it. He needs allies on the City Council, but they’re led by that arch-genius Cockrum, and assisted by the even smarter Lincoln Plowman, will fuss among themselves about how to fix it. And when Ballard moves hard on that ban on future councilmembers being public safety officers (he will), he’ll throw a few folks into a frenzy.

I actually think he’s going to have some bright spots during the next three years, but not enough. Try as he might, he’s not “one of the boys” among the city’s GOP elite. And they’re a clubby bunch.

Clubby is actually a polite term for selfish, greedy clods.

As far as the Council: as long as the R members of that body do not personally act in any way, shape or form as several of the D members did while they were majority, it will be very difficult for any of the R seats currently held to be won by D challengers. Again, ‘11 is a long way away, and a lot can happen in the meantime.

And I believe that 1:15 just drop-kicked your argument into Hendricks County, TATA.

If May 6 slate loyalty is the barometer by which you measure party depth, then there are hundreds of committeepersons and vice committeepersons who do not meet muster. I attended the special caucus Jan. 12, and party slating a little later. Both total jokes. Actually–that insults all good jokes. I felt zero loyalty to their decision, pre-May 6.

But now that Andre is the party’s officially-nominated canidate, he has the complete support. As he should.

It was the right of many party loyalists to support someone else. Not to rub any salt in the wound, because Andre ultimately won–but to many of us, he was the least-qualified candidate of the top 4.

Still a lot better than anything the GOP could muster.

I’d defy anyone to find a Congressional, Senatorial, gubernatorial or legislative priamry race anywhere in the country, where four such outstanding individuals were competing. It made for a difficult choice for many of us. But now the choice is made.

And if the councill. Democrats want to dump Joanne because she rian agains Andre Jan. 12, well…it’d be their loss. But they’re a pretty sorry group, anyway.

It’s no way to build the party for what should be our ultimate municipal goal: recapture the council in 2011 and make sure Greg Ballard is a one-termer. Which he will be.

UNLESS this kind of party loyalty nonsense wins out.

Thanks.