Mark Massa’s campaign is stepping up its efforts in the race for County Prosecutor. It’s unveiling a new television ad today going after Democrat Terry Curry and his record on sex offenders. It’s pretty heavy hitting. It will be interesting to see how the Curry camp responds.
Wow, there’s nothing like two weeks before an election to have multiple story lines pop up all over the place. So let’s get started.
Indiana Democrats continue to accuse Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dan Coats of lying about when he began to pursue his lobbying career. State Chairman Dan Parker has another news conference slated for today to provide what he says is more proof of Coats’ dishonesty. I spoke to the Coats campaign earlier today and they did not appear worried. I would love to see some polling data a week from now to see if this storyline has picked up traction and resonated with soft Coats supporters or Independents.
The war of words grows between Democrat Terry Curry and Republican Mark Massa over the David Bisard case. Curry says he would reinstate the DUI charges against Bisard. (He said this on my morning radio show late last month.) Massa says he would re-file the charges, if the facts establish consent, and be willing to go to the Indiana State Supreme Court. I knew it was a matter of time before the Bisard case made its way into the Prosecutor’s race.
Meanwhile, in the race for Marion County Sheriff Democrat John Layton is potentially turning what could be a political molehill into a mountain. Marion County GOP Chairman Tom John has filed an ethics complaint against Layton for what he says were the use of Sheriff’s deputies and squad cars in his ad for County Sheriff. Layton’s campaign has yet to comment and the Marion County Sheriff’s department referred inquiries to Chairman Ed Treacy. State law prohibits using government resources for political purposes. The easy way for Layton to put the story to bed is just say “he did not use government resources” and provide the documentation if the deputies were paid actors and the squad cars were rentals. It will take all of five minutes. Say what you will about Charlie White, but at least he denied committing voter fraud. Layton should at least say he did not misuse government resources. But then again, he may not want to respond. Word on the street is that he has a decent lead in the internal polling that’s been done so why screw it up?
Speaking of Secretary of State, my GOP sources are telling me that their internal polling of the Indiana Secretary of State’s race as of last week shows Republican Charlie White – 39%, Democrat Vop Osili – 26%, Libertarian Mike Wherry – 5%, Undecided – 30%.
And in case you were wondering, I’m told that as of 11 a.m. Wednesday morning there were nearly 9300 absentee and early ballots cast in Marion County so far. That number was about 8300 at this time in 2008. Now granted early voting began two days later in 2008 than 2010, the experts say midterm election turnout tends to run about 60% of presidential years. These numbers say we could see some pretty interesting results in two weeks.
When you see an opening, no matter how small, take advantage of it. I am sure that slogan is on the wall right now over at Indiana Democratic State Headquarters. For months Democrats have been pushing the issue of Republican Dan Coats’ ties as a former lobbyist. To date, I would argue, that charge has gotten little traction as evidenced by the Coats’ 10-15 point lead in the polls.
However, Democrats hope a statement by Coats during Monday night’s debate will bring new life to an old attack. During the debate, Democratic candidate Brad Ellsworth accused Coats of pursuing his lobbyist job with the firm of Verner, Liipfert, Bernhard, McPherson and Hand while he was finishing up his term in the Senate. Coats said he did not engage in any negotiations with the firm.
In a “gotcha” moment, state Democrats unveiled articles and a time line where they say Coats did engage in talks with the firm. State Chairman Dan Parker went so far as to accuse Coats of telling a “bald-faced lie”. The Coats campaign dismissed the claim. Advisor Kevin Kellams told the media that Democrats were just trying to distract the public from Ellsworth’s record and that Coats statement was just a misstatement made in the middle of the debate.
While the flare up makes for interesting fodder in political circles and the blogosphere, I always question whether these types of stories will resonate much in the land of real people. Had Coats made this “misstatement” earlier in the campaign I think it would have more impact. This late in the game, I think most regular people tune out after they hear the word lobbyist. Many Hoosiers I speak to say they care more about jobs and job creation and what the candidates are going to do for them to make the future better and they really aren’t all that concerned about the past. And they are critical of both candidates for not offering up enough specifics and details.
So while the political attacks make for good headlines, if the candidates really want to make some headway instead of headlines, maybe they will offer up a thoughtful public policy position or two between now and Election Day. It would be nice.
Democratic candidate for Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry has unveiled an ad that is slated to hit the airwaves later this week. I have it below. It’s not as hard hitting as I thought it would be, but it gets his name out, which is most important. My favorite part of the ad is the group shot at 27 seconds in. County party Executive Director Adam Kirsch is on the end. He’s the guy in the suit smiling. Whenever I’m around Adam he never smiles, so it’s nice to see that for a change.
I just got a look at John Layton’s newest ad for Marion County Sheriff. Seems typical, except there are uniformed deputies in it as well as Marion County Sheriff squad cars. I’ll have to do some checking but I think that may run contrary to Indiana law. You would think that with all the recent controversy surrounding Republican Secretary of State candidate Charlie White, people would know better. Meanwhile, take a look at it for yourself.
Dan Coats was a lobbyist. Brad Ellsworth supports the Obama-Pelosi agenda. We need smaller government.
If you missed Monday night’s debate from the IUPUI Campus I just told you in 15 words virtually everything that you missed. I was expecting more from 8th District Congressman Brad Ellsworth, former U.S. Senator and Ambassador Dan Coats and Libertarian Rebecca Sink-Burris. I was hoping for details and substance.
Instead, all I got was the same old stuff. No one really said anything they haven’t already been saying for months. There were a couple places that did surprise me, Brad Ellsworth’s support of charter schools puts him out of sync with most of his party in Indiana. And all three candidates basically had the same position when it came to abortion and sex education.
Other than that, there wasn’t much. Ellsworth went on the attack early and because he got to speak first and Coats third, Coats spent most of his early time responding to Ellsworth’s charges and not really able to answer the question that was brought up. As the debate went on, I thought Coats finally got the measure of his opponent and did a better job responding to the attacks. Meanwhile Sink-Burris tried to come across as the grown up in the room pointing out to the bickering between the two main candidates as why individuals should vote third party.
Unfortunately, these type of debate formats never allow for specifics and details. It is more punch and dodge. So if I was an undecided voter, I’m still undecided. If I had to call a winner, I would say Coats, only because while Ellsworth got some good punches in, he didn’t move the needle enough.
Luckily, for all parties there are two more debates scheduled. And hopefully, someone will offer up something more than Dan Coats used to be a lobbyist, Brad Ellsworth supports the Pelosi-Obama agenda, and free markets are the answer to everything.
In the great debate on early satellite voting, I was pretty much agnostic on the whole matter. While Democrats and Republicans argued over procedures and protocols, I personally thought the effort should have been put on Election Day vote centers. So on Election Day, you can vote anywhere in the county and not just in your precinct.
However, as you know, what ended up happening was that the Marion County Election Board couldn’t reach an agreement on satellite voting so Clerk Beth White used her authority to allow satellite voting at Juvenile Court at 25th and Keystone and Traffic Court at 10th and Post Road. During the hearings on satellite voting dozens of community activists came out saying how they needed satellite voting and even one preacher accused Republicans of engaging in 1950s Jim Crowesque discrimination. Everyone yelled and scream about how the people were demanding satellite voting. My question is where are they?
During the first seven days of early voting, about 850 people actually showed up to vote. Note, there are more than 585,000 registered voters in Marion County. 571 of them had voted by 4 p.m. Friday. And 286 people voted over the weekend. According to the Clerk’s office 99 people voted this weekend at the City-County Building, 56 at Juvenile Court and 131 at traffic court.
No offense, but 850 people doesn’t sound like a high demand to me, so it makes me wonder what was the point. Early voting is expected to cost the taxpayers at least $50,000 between now and Election Day, so hopefully more people will take advantage of it since so many people made a big deal out it.
With three weeks to go until Election Day, I’ve decided to use Sunday mornings as a time to do a bit of prospective analysis on this year’s upcoming contests. While there’s no doubt there is a Republican wave coming, the big question is whether it will hit shore? I’m sure it will, I’m just not ready to predict how much damage it will do.
However looking at some of the recent signs in Marion County, if I were a Democrat in Indiana, I would seriously be thinking about calling 2010 a year and start drawing up plans for my 2012 comeback. Here’s why…
According to my friends at WISH_TV Channel 8, 7th District Congressman Andre Carson is only polling at 50%. Now that doesn’t mean Marvin Scott is going to Washington, D.C., but it does indicate that if the most popular Democrat in a Democratic County is only hitting the halfway point, what impact will that have on the rest of the ticket locally and what does that say about the broader statewide attitude towards Democrats?
Another indicator is that same poll showed Democrat Terry Curry with a seven-point lead over Republican Mark Massa in the race for Marion County Prosecutor. However the Massa camp recently released a poll (with a larger sample and countywide) showing them four points ahead. Frankly, I think the race is a statistical tie and will come down to the wire.
By the way, that same poll had Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard with a 58% approval rating, and that was the 7th District. When you include the rest of Marion County, that number is likely to be in the mid-60s; and this is after this summer’s Indianapolis Metropolitan Police controversies.
And lest I forget, I’m still trying to get a read on what voter turnout will be. As of this blog posts writing, only 151 voters came out Saturday to participate in early voting at one of three polling sites. There were 571 voters who came out this week, for a total of 722 registered voters coming to the polls early out of more than 585,000. I know it’s way early, but for all the talk of get out the vote, these numbers are abysmal.
Granted there are still three weeks left and anything can happen. However, I ran into a very good Democratic friend of mine who is active in the local party and about as sharp as you can get and even he was nervous about what was going to happen November 2.
That says quite a bit.
I know when you see a blog post by me regarding the state’s largest public school district, you know it probably isn’t going to be flattering. Well, you’re right. The good news is though at the rate Indianapolis Public Schools keep losing students they won’t be the largest school district for very long.
The latest scheme the district is launching in an effort to save the sinking education ship is to adopt a year-round model as opposed to the traditional 9-month calendar. IPS is trying to sell the concept of 9 weeks on, 3 weeks off, to its parents and the public, although virtually no one showed up for the first meeting at Arlington.
This may surprise you but I actually support the year-round school concept. No offense to summer vacation supporters, but the 9-month calendar is based on a time when we were primarily and agrarian society and kids need to be home to work on the farm. In addition, most nations spend more time in schools than their American counterparts. I think you could make adjustments for summer work study programs, but a year-round calendar is a pretty good idea.
The problem with mixing a year-round calendar with IPS is the equivalent of rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. First of all, the school district is losing students (950 this year), therefore state dollars. Secondly, and more importantly, the basic assumption of a year-round calendar is that students get a better education. Remember these stats from IPS’ 2010 State of the District report?
Now the school district does have some redeemable qualities, five of of IPS’ magnet schools received nationwide recognition as Outstanding Magnet Schools, but you have to ask does that outweigh the districts other problems? I don’t think so.
IPS is on the verge of virtual takeover by the State of Indiana next year for failing to meet state mandated standards and instead of addressing serious internal issues, the school district is making questionable hires during a time of fiscal uncertainty. It faced a $26 million shortfall this year and the only thing that saved the District was stimulus dollars that won’t be there next year.
So you tell me, should going year-round be IPS’ main priority right now? There’s like nothing putting more water in a bucket with a hole in the bottom to make it look full.
The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Officer accused of killing one motorist and injuring two others in a traffic accident, is maintaining he is innocent.
David Bisard was involved in a crash on August 6th on the city’s northeast side. He tested positive for being under the influence of alcohol, however those tests were thrown out because proper protocols were not followed.
While Bisard has not spoken publicly about the case, in text messages I have obtained, he tells his fellow officers he is innocent of the charges being levied against him and he complains about being abandoned by his fellow K9 officers…
I am so displeased with the k9 unit save for 2 people…u guys don’t believe in me at all…i am innocent & u all have let outside people influence ur opinions of me…i haven’t heard from any of you except for the 2. I sent this to you because I had a lot of respect for you before all of this and I don’t care if you spread it around the unit but you had better relay my innocence because that is what i am INNOCENT
I will let you draw your own conclusions about Bisard’s message. However, even though the alcohol charges were dropped, he still faces reckless homicide charges and I frankly don’t see how you can put on an effective defense without taking the witness stand to testify to your state of mind.
And by writing these text messages, they are now part of the public record and anything you say can, and likely, will be used against you in a court of law.
