According to my colleague Jack Rinehart at RTV 6, City-County Councilor Paul Bateman is under investigation for his role in a charitable foundation that is missing more than $1.5 million.

Marion County Grand Jurors served a search warrant last week on the headquarters of the Russel Foundation seizing computers, IRS records and other documents.

Bateman is listed as the Chief Operating Officer on the charity’s website.  Bateman would not comment on the warrant to RTV 6, but he would only say he has done nothing wrong.

I will be the first person to stand up and say a search warrant is not guilt and Bateman and I, while having philosophical disagreements at times, have always been cordial to each other.

However, this news can’t be good for Marion County Democrats in general and Black Democrats in particular.   Bateman’s potential troubles come on the heels of Doris Minton-McNeil being arrested on disorderly conduct charges.  And last year Monroe Gray and Ron Gibson found themselves at the center of controversies.

I don’t know who’s running the local Democratic party these days, but these incidents are evidentiary of an absence of leadership and getting people in line.

I’ve gotten a preview of the next budget for Indianapolis, I’ll have more details as they become available, but from what I can gather, things are not as bad we thought they were, they are much worse! So brace yourself for the disaster of almost Biblical proportions that is coming.

Barack Obama is in Indiana today talking National Security at Purdue University.  That motivated me to look at some polling data between Barack and John McCain. Although the national polls show a virtual tie, when you look at the state polling data (which I argue is a more accurate measure) you get somewhat of a different picture.

Using compiled aggregate date from Pollster.com, I’ve put together a list of states where the candidates are ahead and where they are tied.  For purposes of this blog, if there is less than a three point difference in the poll, it meets my definition of a tie.

John McCain

• Alabama – 50-35 
• Alaska – 45-41
• Arizona – 44-40
• Idaho – 52-39
• Kansas – 48-38
• Kentucky – 49-36
• Louisiana – 55-35
• Mississippi – 50-44
• Nebraska – 52-36
• Oklahoma – 42-37
• South Carolina – 45-39
• Tennessee – 41-36
• Texas – 43-39
• Utah – 52-33
• West Virginia – 45-37
• Wyoming – 53-40

Barack Obama

• Arkansas – 42-39
• California – 52-39
• Connecticut – 53-35
• Delaware – 50-41
• Hawaii – 61-31
• Illinois – 50-37
• Iowa – 45-38
• Maine – 55-32
• Maryland – 55-30
• Massachusetts – 53-32
• Michigan – 47-38
• Minnesota – 51-34
• Montana – 48-43
• New Jersey – 47-37
• New Mexico – 48-38
• New York – 51-33
• Oregon – 48-35
• Pennsylvania – 48-38
• Rhode Island – 55-31
• Vermont – 63-29
• Washington – 50-37
• Wisconsin – 50-40

Virtual Tie

• Colorado – 44-42 (Barack)
• Florida – 45-43 (McCain)
• Georgia – 47-43 (McCain)
• Indiana – 42-42
• Missouri – 44-44
• North Carolina – 44-44
• North Dakota – 43-43
• Ohio – 45-42 (Barack)
• Virginia – 46-43 (Barack)

Applying that math to the electoral map, you get the following breakdown…

• Barack – 272 Electoral Votes
• McCain – 134 Electoral Votes
• Undecided – 129

Of course November is a long way away and four months is a long time and anything can happen, but this is what the race looks like today based on the available poll data.

The numbers are in for Mitch Daniels and Jill Long Thompson.  In the interest of trying to keep this as consistent as possible I’m including what they started with, raised this year, spent and how much is in the bank.   That way you can draw your own conclusions.

Daniels

• $6.7 million at the beginning of 2008
• $3.37 million raised this year
• $7.3 million spent
• $2.8 million on hand

JLT

• $437,690 at the beginning of 2008
• $2.5 million raised this year
• $1.46 million spent
• $1.04 million on hand

I woke up this morning with a few thoughts on my mind, most of them were random but there was one that stuck out with me.

I was thinking how nice it would be if as many people in this town got as worked up over the murder rate as they do free tickets to tour a stadium that leaks.

Barack Obama will be back in Indiana on Wednesday.  The Senator and presumptive Democratic nominee for president will be at Purdue University in West Lafayette

He will be holding a summit on national security with Evan Bayh and former U.S. Senator Sam Nunn.

The topics will include bio-terrorism, non-nuclear proliferation and cyber security.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jill Long Thompson had some strong words for incumbent Governor Mitch Daniels and his fellow Republicans. 

Shortly after speaking to a Veterans group on Saturday, Thompson said Indiana needs to do more for veterans in the areas of education and health care.  She also attacked Governor Mitch Daniels,  saying that during his time with the Bush administration  the Governor oversaw the privatization of Walter Reed which she says was responsible for the hospitals many problems.

In addition, she equated Indiana’s Voter ID law with Communist nations forcing their citzens to carry idenitfication.  She said citizens should not have to carry a government-issued ID in order to vote.  She said citizens should be able to use a utility bill or credit card in statement to vote.

JLT says she will roll out more specifics as the campaign moves forward.  She also told me her campaign met its fundraising goal.  Those numbers are slated to be released later this week.

She also dismissed a poll showing Daniels with a double-digit lead; pointing to polls that show a much tighter race.

Here is an update from IMPD on the condition of Officer Jason Fishburn.

Officer Jason Fishburn is showing definite signs of improvement. We are coming close to the end of those initial critical 72 hours and Jason has not shown any signs of getting worse. On the contrary, he has shown signs of reaction to stimuli and his physical condition is improving. Doctors are still cautiously optimistic and will be proceeding with tests to determine the extent of damage caused by the injury. The family is so grateful for the prayers of fellow officers and the community, and have said on numerous occasions that they have felt the support of those prayers and of family, friends, and people they have never met, as they continue through this challenging and difficult time. They know it is through those prayers and blessings from the Lord that Jason is being cared for and looked after. They ask for continued prayers and will try to keep everybody informed of his progress as they are able.

As I observed yesterday’s prayer vigil for IMPD Officer Jason Fishburn, I noticed the elected officials.   I saw the Mayor, City-County Council members Paul Bateman, Susie Day and Ben Hunter.  I even saw State Representative David Orentlichter.

I will admit that in the crowd of hundreds I might have missed a few.  But I didn’t see a lot of other people, particularly the ones who spend a lot of time talking.

It would have been nice if some of the people who purport to be leaders of this community would have showed up.

Maybe they had other commitments or were out of town or just couldn’t be bothered.

Oh well, I’m sure they have some reason.