What does Democratic candidate for Mayor Brian Williams have in common with Republican candidate for Sheriff Bart McAtee?   Apart from both likely supporting Frank Anderson in the last race for Sheriff?  They are running for those offices  against the wishes of their political parties, but the similarities probably stop right there.

McAtee lost county slating two Saturdays ago to Dennis Fishburn, who received about 55-percent of the delegate vote.  He announced Tuesday that he was going to run against the slate for Sheriff.   Williams has caused the ire of the Democratic establishment by filing more than 200 precinct committeemen candidates last Friday to run in the May primary.  I can only imagine the conversation in the room when both County Chairman got news of what was going on.  To be frank, I thought Ed Treacy only used that kind of language when referring to me when telling people my parents weren’t married when I born.

I’ve asked both men why they are running against the establishment.   McAtee says he made his decision was made because none of his supporters told him to get out of the race.  Williams says democracy should not be decided by a handful of people.  It’s no secret that I am not a big fan of slating, so to that extent I will give both men credit for bucking the system. 

However, McAtee’s problem in the primary will be having to explain to his Republican voters that he gave money to Democrat Frank Anderson.  And he told his fellow GOP member that he gave Anderson money because the Sheriff gave him a 40-percent raise.  In addition, a lot of the McAtee family is on the Sheriff’s payroll and that did not sit well at slating, thus the 55-percent vote for Fishburn.

Williams’ problem is that his efforts to run for Mayor have come across as an attempt to take over the party.  As one Democratic insider told me, “if you’re going to shoot the king, shoot to kill.”   There has been a lot of chatter about whether Williams’ candidates are valid.  That won’t be decided until a hearing next week.  Although Williams may be swimming upstream, what I don’t think some Democrats have grasped,  is that he brought more than 200 people to the process and he can access a lot of cash.   So if he wanted to circumvent the slating process next year and launch his own bid for Mayor, he’d make life very miserable for a lot of Democrats.  After all, there’s nothing worse than a bunch of ticked off people who think they’ve been shut out of the process.

So what’s the difference between Bart McAtee and Brian Williams?  If Williams loses his fight, he’ll still be around next year, and could cause even more grief for Democrats.  If McAtee loses, he’s pretty much done.

A few weeks ago I accepted an invitation from a local tea party group in Indianapolis.  They asked me to come speak on politics and the political process and how to get involved.    Normally when I go speak to a local group I usually scribble my notes shortly before going on, but this one I put in some extra effort.

The first rule of public speaking is know your audience.  From my observation of the tea party movement, I knew they were all mad at the government in general and incumbents more specifically.  However, the point I wanted to get across to them was that being mad isn’t enough to effect real, lasting change.  You need to transform that anger into informed action.

The first question I asked was how many of them were upset at the stimulus bill?  Everyone raised their hands.  The second question I asked was how many knew how many stimulus dollars had been spent in their congressional districts?  Not a single hand went up.   I explained to them that example personified their biggest challenge; moving beyond anger and slogans and into the realm of  policy and process.

I told them it’s one thing to say you want to “return to Constitutional governance” and follow the framers’ intent.  It’s another thing to know exactly which framer you’re talking about?  Madison, Patterson or Hamilton (my personal favorite).

It’s one thing to talk about allowing insurance to be sold across state lines in order to bring competition to health care and lower the costs.  It’s another thing to address  the issue of  what to do when an out-of-state insurer denies coverage and a decision must be made over who has jurisdiction of the claim, the insurer’s home state or where the policyholder resides.  Of course the bigger issues is does an out-of-state insurer want to follow another state’s mandates regarding basic coverage?

It’s one thing to want to grow your organization beyond its homogeneous base, but you don’t do it by referring to inner-city residents as welfare dependents.  You do it by engaging them and making sure the principles of freedom, liberty and personal responsibility can apply to their daily lives, where for a significant number of residents everyday is a challenge to survive.

I told them to form working groups on issues such as education, health care, economic development and come up with position papers that meet their political philosophy.   So when someone like me asks for specifics, they can give an informed response; which goes a long way to establishing credibility.  I also told them it never hurts to win and election or two because winning tends to cure a lot of ills.

As much as it may surprise some of you, I was very well-received by the audience.  I showed them respect and told them I understood their frustration, but in order to grow and survive it will take some message management and getting into the weeds of policy and understanding the political process.  For the record, I recommended they get involved in the Democratic and Republican parties if they want to influence both from within.  Remember, I am an arms dealer at heart.

Overall, I think they got the message.   Politics is a lot more work than people think and the romantic fantasy of Mr. Smith goes to Washington is just that, a fantasy.  However, I think the 100 or so people I spoke to got the message and will now turn their anger into informed action, and I think the political process will be better for it in the long haul.

Okay, I’m going to have to talk to you about your TPS reports.

That’s a line from “Office Space” one of the greatest films of the 1990s.   If you don’t know what I’m talking about, rent the movie.  If you do know what I’m talking about you know a TPS Report is a total waste of time.  And it’s the first thing that came to mind when I read this morning that Hamilton Southeastern, Franklin Township and Middlebury Schools are suing the over the school funding formula.   The districts say the school funding formula is inequitable and violates the state constitution.  They argue that their per-pupil funding drops even though their enrollment increases.

Or to put this another way, the school districts are using taxpayer dollars to sue the taxpayers in order to get more of the taxpayers money.

Let me say that again, the school districts are using taxpayer dollars to sue the taxpayers in order to get more of the taxpayers money.

Schools say they are hurting because of the recent $300 million budget cut as well as property tax caps.  They say they don’t like the cuts and want more of your money.     Never mind the fact that the state picks up the operational costs of schools and when the state is low on cash, so are schools.   Never mind the fact that schools nearly 40 cents of every classroom dollar goes to something other than instruction.  Never mind the fact there’s already a procedure in place that schools can go to the taxpayers and ask for more money above the caps, it’s called a referendum.

Of course Franklin Township tried that and the voters said no.  So I guess if you can’t beat them, sue them!

Maybe.  From the Washington Post…

Daniels said Sunday that he is not taking any preliminary steps, and instead would spend the next year focused on the problems of his state.

“I’ve got my hands full, trying to keep things glued together and take care of people who are sideswiped here, do the most essential things in state government, keep ourselves fiscally above water,” Daniels said. “Two, I’ve got some major goals [and] there’s a real chance of achieving in this job.” He said he would need “a friendly legislature” to accomplish his goals, and said that seemed possible given the more favorable climate for Republicans in this year’s elections.

“From now to a year-plus from now, that’s all I’m going to do,” he said. “And if these people are still around, and still not fully satisfied with the field, and if I don’t see anybody who’s raising what I think of as the survival issues for the country, I guess I’d listen, if it’s not too late, which it might well be. I’ve told people if it’s too late, so be it.”

To put this in perspective, Daniels running for President is about as plausible as when someone suggested Obama run for President back in 2004.

I honestly don’t know whether Indiana 5th District Congressman Dan Burton has had a stroke of genius or just a stroke, but his decision not to debate his opponents for the upcoming primary is one that baffles me to no end.

With the latest polling data showing his re-elects at less than 30 percent, more than 40 percent of the Republican voters in the District undecided, and an anti-incumbent mood sweeping through this nation the likes of which a lot of people haven’t seen in a while, you would think Burton would jump at the chance to take on his opponents and prove his case to the voters.  Instead, all I see him doing is jumping off a political cliff.

Ask anyone and they will tell you that half of politics is showing up.  There’s always a risk in a debate and you can never predict the outcome, but by not showing up, Burton is handing his opponents an opportunity on a silver platter.   And I can easily see them ripping him a new one since he won’t be there to defend himself.    Now there is a political school of thought that says showing up does you no good when all you are going to be is the target.  Well it’s better to be a target that can answer back at allegations as opposed to not being there to defend your record.  

For Burton to skip out does a serious disservice to the voters in the 5th District who are going back and forth on whether to give him another term in office.   If  I were one of them and Dan Burton decided not to show up for me at the debate, I’d make it a point to return the favor and definitely not show up for him at the ballot box.

There are quite a few things I’ll be looking out for this week.  Here are some of them. If I’m missing anything, let me know.

Look for a new police chief to be named this week.  My sources tell me IMPD is promoting from within and it will likely be Northwest District Commander Paul Ciesielski.

Look for a potentially heated Marion County Election board meeting this week as challenges are mounted to Mayoral candidate Brian Williams’ precinct committee nominees.    The challenges are expected to come from either Melina Kennedy or Ed Treacy.  There is a question of whether Marion County Clerk Beth White may recuse herself from the process, as she has reportedly endorsed Melina for Mayor.

We’ll find out this week whether Bart McAtee will run for Marion County Sheriff against slated candidate Dennis Fishburn in the upcoming primary.

Don’t look for much at tonight’s Indianapolis City-County Council meeting.  With the exit of  Kent Smith, Republicans only have a 14-seat majority.  Although Ed Coleman, the Libertarian, by my research tends to vote with them 80-85% of the time.

Look for the race for the U.S. Senate to fill Evan Bayh’s seat to still look like a game of political Tetris as all the moving parts get settled.  The first debate amongst the Republicans will be this Saturday in Henry County.

Look for stories to come out soon whether Indiana Republicans who voted against the stimulus bill showed up at any stimulus funded projects or put out new releases touting their successes.

If Marion County Democrats plan to challenge the precinct committeemen candidtes presented by Mayoral candidate Brian Williams, they should be ready to have a fight on their hands.

Williams told me Saturday that he plans to “defend and support his people for PC and they will not lack for infrastructure or resources.”  He says any allegations that his committeemen don’t live in their precincts are nonsense.  And he also says while some may have voted Republican in the past, he’s more concerned about how they will vote in the future.  He also disputes allegations that his team has filed multiple candidates in the same precinct, calling it waste of resources.*

He says Democrats who are upset at his actions are “only fans of democracy as long as it’s an oligarchy.”  Williams says he is playing by the rules set down by the Democrats and it’s good for the party and the process to bring new people into the system.  He  also points out several other candidates and organizations have had individuals file to run including Melina Kennedy and  Barack Obama’s Organizing for America and no one has complained about their participation.

This just keeps getting better and better.

*Sidenote: I’m still trying to figure out what’s going on in Washington 47 where Lacy Johnson, David Orenticher and John Boyd are all running against each other for PC.

Things keep getting more interesting in local Democratic party circles.  I told you yesterday Mayoral candidate Brian Williams had more than 200 supporters file for PC slots.

This morning I’m hearing that there are at least a dozen or so individuals who are running in the Democratic primary who aren’t Democrats.  Some are Tea party people and some have long GOP voting records.   I am not hinting in anyway these people have a snowball’s chance in you-know-where of winning anything, but it’s more grief and hassle local party officials need.

Speaking of filings, when Ron Gibson announced he was running for Mayor, he had 50 supporters with him.  That’s 45 more than I expected to show up.

I also hear there is some growing resentment towards slated Lawrence Township Constable Candidate Terry Burns,  Terry reportedly was told he did not have to pay the slating fee ($6,000) prior to filing for the office, but instead he could just pay it back after he won.  I didn’t the Marion County Democratic Party was in the loan business.  I’m sure a lot of other candidates would have liked to have received that deal too.

And finally, the candidate that just won’t go away.  Tamara D’Ippolito is apparently running around telling supporters she is going to run for the U.S. Senate as the Libertarian candidate.   When I asked Libertarian officials if this was true, they responded “&%#$ NO!!!”

Enjoy your Saturday.  I am!

Although today is the filing deadline for candidates who want to run in the May primary today is also the day Indianapolis Mayoral hopfeful Brian Williams announced that 200 of his supporters have filed to run for precinct committeemen spots in the Marion County primary.

As if Democrats didn’t have enough on their plate this year.

In Marion County, Democrats and Republicans have 590 precinct spots.  Democrats are up for election this year and the Republicans are up next year.

Here’s an excerpt from Williams’ press release put out this morning…

The Williams for Indianapolis campaign (“WIN”) has exceeded both of its 100 x 100 campaign goals in six months. The first goal, finishing calendar year 2009 with over $100,000 in cash on hand, was exceeded. The second goal was to secure over 100 persons who support WIN and who would file for precinct committee persons.

Over the past month, over 200 WIN supporters filed to serve as precinct committee persons. These supporters reflect the diversity of Indianapolis. They represent all nine townships, every City-County Council district and three excluded municipalities.

“I am humbled by the breadth and depth of support our campaign has earned in just six short months. Our goal is to build a city that works for all of us. Working with this team and securing the support of others within the Democratic Party and bringing new people into the political process, we will return inspired leadership to the Mayor’s office in 2011,” said Brian Williams.

If Williams is successful in getting his PCs elected, he can go a long way to taking control of the Marion County Democratic party, or at least becoming a major player and making his chances of getting slated for Mayor next year a lot more likely.

Stay tuned.

If you would have told me a week ago that Evan Bayh would not be running for the U.S. Senate, I would have suggested you put down the crack pipe.  After this week, I may start to take up the habit.

The last time I saw these many people running for something, it was a marathon.

Between Stutzman, Bates, Behney, Coats, Hostetler, Burton, Murphy, McVey, McGoff, Messer, Rokita, Young, Henderson, Herschman, Massa, Curry, Layton, Brown and Bowes, what’s a political pundit to do?

Actually, I was planning to take the weekend off and decompress, but I’m hearing there may be some more political movement today that could shake up the establishment here in Marion County.

No rest for the weary or the wicked for that matter.