I was always a fan of “A Different World.” It was a spin off of the old Cosby Show on NBC. It was predominately African-American kids at a historically black college. I was in love with Jasmine Guy’s character, Whitney Gilbert. The point of the show was how kids from different backgrounds, but united by ethnicity, had to deal with the new world they would live in, called college. The world after the Nov. 7 election, reminds me of that. We have now have divided government at both the state and federal level. And the prosecutor’s office notwithstanding, Democratic Uni-Gov in Marion County.

I do not agree with those who say the world is going to come to an end or the terrorists will think America was right for the taking. Terrorists are going to do what they are going to do regardless of who is in charge. So pardon me if I don’t play into fear. Here’s what I will say.

At the national level, Republicans lost for a simple reason, the American people were tired of them. After 12 years, the people just said, hey, it’s time for you guys to go. There was some of the argument that the GOP strayed from its conservative roots, but as I look back into my crystal ball, I don’t see how Chris Chocola, Mike Sodrel, JD Hayworth, George Allen and Rick Santorum all strayed from their conservative roots. There was something else at play. It’s called people were tired of the war, tired of corruption, tired of the GOP.

As far as Democrats, they earned their victory. The challenge for them is to not run so far to the left that prove the GOP right. Nancy Pelosi will have a heck of a time reigning in Charlie Rangle, John Conyers and Henry Waxman. But somehow, I think the desire to stay Speaker of the House means she won’t let them get too far off the plantation.

At the state level, Democrats did a good job of winning legislative districts that were primarily Democratic. What’s interesting is the GOP won all the statewide races. And the Indiana Congressional delegation went from 7-2 Republican to 5-4 Democratic. To me, it shows Indiana may now be the new battleground state. We’ll see in 2008.

Locally, the Democrats did one hell of a job with their straight-ticket voting campaign. They won every office but County Prosecutor, which I argue had they had a stronger candidate, they could have likely won that race as well. The challenge for the GOP will be to field a candidate for next year’s mayoral race who can cut into that straight-ticket base. Carl Brizzi is living proof that the straight ticket can be beaten. However, I don’t see near-term situation where Brizzi (a good friend, full disclosure) can run without being crucified in the press. Hoosiers are kind of funny about individuals running for one office, getting elected and then turning around and running for another office. The danger for Marion County Dems is to not believe their own press about their victory. There is already talk that Sheriff Frank Anderson (the highest vote getter on the ticket) may try to run for Mayor in 2011. Let’s not put the cart too far before the horse. The next GOP candidate for Mayor has to be someone who cut into the Democratic base. Brizzi did it, so the next candidate will have to as well.

Overall folks, elections are the prime example of the free market place of ideas. Voters get to pick from the ideas they like and choose them. When they get tired of one party, they throw them out, and put a new party in place. We’ve been doing this since the founding of the Republic. I guess it isn’t really that much of a different world after all.

Instead of writing some long, drawn out piece about the election and statistics and analysis on results and numbers on the Democratic sweep, I decided to give a little advice to the major players in town. Here it is.

Indiana Democrats — Congrats! Emotional appeals always win over logic. It worked!

Indiana Republicans — Just like with gay marriage, emotional appeals work over logic. See Democratic message.

Bart Peterson — Congrats on getting three more townships! Now consolidate the fire and get ready to deal with the ticking financial WMDs that are coming in 2007 and 2008.

Mitch Daniels — Say hi to Pat Bauer.

David Long — Say hi to Pat Bauer.

Carl Brizzi — Experience matters!

Melina Kennedy — Experience matters!

Frank Anderson — Congrats on being king of the ballot! Now make peace with the officers, crime is about to get out of control again.

Julia Carson — Thank the Lord for straight ticket voting.

Eric Dickerson — Best showing by an R in 10 years. Give it another shot in two years. Baron Hill and Mike Sodrel did.

Partisans — This is how democracy works! Move on. You’ll live longer!

Take an unpopular President, an unpopular war, a Congress out of touch with real people and what do you get you get? Congressmen-elect Donnelly, Hill and Ellsworth. On the local level, straight-ticket voting was the life saver for Marion County Democrats. It helped them that beat most of the Marion County Republican Get out the vote. When township trustees and assessors at the local level are getting beat in predominately Republican townships, you know there is trend going. The one ray of sunshine in all this for the GOP is Carl Brizzi. Brizzi’s margin of victory was much smaller than the experts anticipated, only five points. But still a win in a Democratic County in a Democratic year. The analysis will be occurring for days on this, but the one thing I can say, is never underestimate a ticked off electorate. The Democrats won this one fair and square. They outdid the GOP. Give them their due. Please spare me that the American people voted for the terrorists to win. That gets real old real quick. If you don’t like the results of this election, get out and work harder next time.

It’s Election Day. Take your ID and go vote. There will be plenty of time for bickering later. Analysis tomorrow.

Someone forgot to tell the Melina Kennedy Camp I’m on their e-mail list because I got this in the mail this weekend. Give it a read and then read my comments at the end.

Kennedy for Prosecutor
Melina Kennedy
November 1, 2006
The KENNEDY CAMPAIGN is calling you to action!
The Problem:
Issues about a candidate’s record and experience are fair game. But in this tough political season throughout the nation, we have seen some candidates appeal to stereotypes and prejudice. Carl Brizzi’s record on issues of importance to women is already tarnished “for example his 9% conviction rate on domestic violence cases.” Unfortunately, Brizzi’s counterpart Marion County Republican Chairman Mike Murphy has desperately tried to divide our community along gender lines by trying to make an issue of the 9-month period Melina went on inactive status as an attorney when she was pregnant with twins.
Chairman Murphy went so far as to say, “the nine-month lapse reveals Kennedy was not serious about being prosecutor or a lawyer.” Now in the last days of the campaign, and on the heels of Brizzi’s television and website advertisements with hired actors and cartoon images disparaging Melina, some Brizzi supporters are raising the issue again. And never in the seven months since the issue was first raised has Brizzi disavowed Murphy’s words.
The Truth: Melina and her husband Bob Kennedy were advised by their doctor that Melina should take as much off of her professional plate as possible during that high-risk pregnancy. She did that, delivered healthy children, and went back to active status as an attorney.
The Call: The video clip
Attached to this Neighborhood Notes tells Melina’s story about protecting the health of her family. Please watch it and forward this email to EVERYONE YOU KNOW so that they know the truth.

It’s not a bad e-mail, per se, even though the quote from Mike Murphy comes from my Indiana Barrister blog posting from March 28, 2006 (A Kennedy Campaign Conundrum). Good to know I can be a source. At least when the Brizzi people used a quote from my work they cited it in their campaign commercial and let me know they were doing it. The problem here is someone forgot his or her history. When I approached Melina about this issue seven months ago, I was expecting her camp to tell me the lapse was due to her having twins and a difficult pregnancy and I was going to let the story go. (I had already done the research.) Instead, they didn’t attribute the lapse to the pregnancy, now they are. They originally said it didn’t matter and wasn’t an issue. Now they’re sending out e-mails to tell their supporters this is an issue. I wish they would have told me that seven months ago, and it never would have been a story to begin with. Oh well, better luck in four years.

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. The Election is almost over. No more attack ads, no more positions being taken out of context, no more misrepresentations about elected officials’ voting records and no more “hey, can I come on your show and talk about…” Now while at the beginning of the campaign season, I had to admit it was a lot of fun. Now, like relatives who have overstayed their welcome, it’s time for them to go away.

If I had a magic wand, I would ban all campaign advertising a week before the Election. There is really nothing of substance at this point anyway. Just more attack ads, misleading quotes and general clutter. If someone hasn’t made up their mind by now, there’s nothing you can really do for them. So the ads serve no real point except to throw out last minute charges and annoy the voters.

But since the ads aren’t going away, and neither will the politicians, might I make a little suggestion. When a candidate or their supporter comes to your door this weekend, ask them a question. Ask them, “what’s your candidate’s position on the Emerson utility legislative proposal?” Of course there’s no such thing, but watch what they say and have fun. Hey, if the politicians are going to bug us, the least we can do is return the favor.

See you on Monday.

Under the right set of circumstances, I don’t mind being manipulated. It usually involves two Brazilian strippers, good scotch whiskey and a box of cigars and chocolate. However, since none of those things have shown up on my door step lately, I really wish some people in this town would politely tone things down and just quietly go turn out the vote.

In case you’re wondering, I’m referring to efforts by Council Democrats to go after Carl Brizzi a few days before the election in the race for County Prosecutor. Council Democrats have been fuming about Brizzi since this summer’s hearings on jail overcrowding.

Earlier this week, the Democrats instructed Council Attorney Aaron Haith to investigate whether Brizzi misled the council during hearings on jail overcrowding. I would take the “investigation” more seriously if the Democrats hadn’t been sitting on this information for months. I reached that conclusion based on several factors.

First, the information used has been sitting around for months. Second, it showed up a partisan, although well done, Democratic blog just a few days before Election Day. Third, no one else in the media would pick up the story, which is ironic seeing how I did and I am the partisans’ least favorite media outlet. Fourth, Council President Monroe Gray has an axe to grind with Brizzi over the jail overcrowding hearings and the fact Brizzi is investigating 300 East, a bar that Gray has a financial interest in via his wife. Fifth, the Democratic chairman of the public safety committee has a relative who is a key staffer on the Melina Kennedy campaign. Need I say more?

So with all that said, Brizzi is scheduled to be a guest on the show from 7:30 – 8:00 a.m. And my sources tell me the Democrats are planning to fill the phone lines, ask Brizzi if he lied to the Council about jail overcrowding, have him say no and then cut a 30-second commercial and play it over the weekend. They’re welcome to do it, on someone else’s airwaves. Remember, I don’t mind being manipulated, but since there are no Brazilian strippers with cigar, alcohol and chocolate showing up anytime soon, pardon me if I don’t play that game this morning. Bring me strippers and I might change my mind.

There’s some new information coming to light today on the Indianapolis City-County Council Democrats’ move to see whether they can sanction Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi over what they allege were misleading statements regarding the early release of James Stewart, one of the defendants of the Hamilton Avenue murders.

I confirmed through several sources today that prior to Monday night’s Council meeting, Democrats circulated copies of Democratic blog Taking Down Word’s posting that accused Brizzi of grandstanding on the issue. The link is here. The post had been up for several days but failed to gain traction in the traditional media. Council Democrats and Brizzi had been at odds all summer long over the jail overcrowding issue.

In addition, Councilmember Ron Gibson was purported to make several disparaging remarks regarding Brizzi during the caucus and was extremely gleeful at the prospect of sanctioning Brizzi. Brizzi appointed a special prosecutor this summer to look into whether Gibson should have been indicted over a confrontation he had with a Marion County Sheriff’s Deputy at Indiana Black Expo outside a local nightclub. Gibson was charged with several misdemeanor offenses, including battery and public intoxication.

To further add to the story, Brizzi is also looking into whether any laws were broken regarding 300 East, the bar/restaurant located in the Carson Center on Fall Creek. The wife of Council President Monroe Gray is one of the investors in the bar. And at Monday night’s meeting, Gray signed off on Council Attorney Aaron Haith looking into whether Brizzi could be sanctioned.

In addition to the Brizzi issue, Democrats also ordered Haith to investigate whether they could sanction the Township Assessors for not providing them with assessments necessary to complete the budget this year. There may be some problems here. According the Indiana Department of Local Government and Finance, the Marion County Assessors are not alone. Close to half of the assessors in Indiana do not have the assessment in to their county boards and councils.

DGLF officials say the Council did not need the assessors’ information to complete the budget. Instead, they say officials could have maximized the county’s assessment to get the necessary tax rates and then later come back and lower their estimates once they had the actual figures. A position maintained by Lawrence Township Assessor Paul Rickets.

However, overarching in this debate is whether the Council has any authority to sanction Brizzi or any other official. A check into the Indiana Attorney General’s Office revealed no legal opinions since 2001 that stated local government bodies could sanction other co-equal branches of local government.

I was able to find all this out in a couple hours. If it was this simple for me, people who specialize in local government should know this as well.

What is more disturbing in all this is that it appears partisan politics (poorly done in my humble opinion) has reared its head one week before an election. At the very least Democrats should have checked to see if they had the authority to sanction other officials before announcing an investigation. Secondly, both Monroe Gray and Ron Gibson should recuse themselves from any matter involving the Prosecutor’s office as they both have connections involving the prosecutor and alleged criminal conduct in Gibson’s case and possible criminal activity in the case of 300 East. At least that way, things wouldn’t look so blatant.

What likely happened is that some individuals in the caucus were so excited about getting Brizzi is they forgot someone would follow up on all this. Maybe they should consult me next time.

With a week to go before the election, City-County Council Democrats are asking their lawyers to see if sanctions can be filed against elected officials they say either gave false testimony this past summer regarding jail overcrowding or failed to do their jobs regarding the budget.

Democrats have asked their lawyers to see whether they can punish Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi over his statements regarding the early release James Stewart, one of the defendants in the Hamilton Avenue murders. Councilmember Mary Moriarty-Adams says Brizzi wasn’t being truthful when he said a front line deputy prosecutor was there arguing against Stewart’s release. Adams says a review of the transcript shows that was not the case.

A copy of that portion of the transcript had been posted for several days on Taking Down Words, a local blog operated by the spokesperson for the Indiana Democratic Party. The posting was extremely critical of Brizzi’s performance as Prosecutor when it came to Stewart’s release, accusing him of grandstanding regarding jail overcrowding.

In addition to going after Brizzi, the Democrats also accuse the Township Assessors, most of whom are Republicans of failing to provide them with county assessment figures, that they say they needed to compile this year’s budget. Council Vice President Joanne Sanders says some of the assessors committed sins of “omission” by not providing the Council with relevant information.

Sanders denies there is politics taking place, but Lawrence Township Assessor Paul Ricketts disagrees, calling it an election year trick.

That sentiment was shared by Matthew Symons, a spokesman for the Brizzi campaign, saying Democrats are upset over criticism that they cut the public safety budget which led to this past summer’s jail overcrowding problem.

Council Republicans say if Democrats go after Brizzi and the Township Assessors they will open their own investigations into alleged falsehoods and purposeful mistatements by the Mayor’s staff regarding the budget and police consolidation.

I was out by the Lucas Oil Stadium construction sight being nosy the other day when something struck me. The ground the stadium is being built on using to be a parking lot for Colts games, so where do all the people park now? That may not seem like a big idea but the more I thought about it, the more and more I figured something just wasn’t adding up.

We’ve already seen the stories about the need for parking and a new garage that will cost the taxpayers a few million bucks. But have you ever thought why the parking spaces were needed in the first place? Well here’s the deal.

The Colts have been promised a certain number of parking spaces for games. In a nutshell they need about 800 spaces. The spaces however, aren’t for you and me. I’m a Seattle, Chicago and St. Louis fan so I’ll take myself out of the equation. The spaces are connected to luxury suites.

Do a little bit of checking and what you’ll find is when you shell a few extra pennies for luxury seats you can also commandeer some primo parking. In addition, the players get some parking spaces as well. These were all promised to Mr. Irsay. So if you put it all together, the city and state, otherwise known as the taxpayers, are being asked to shell out millions for parking spaces, that they can’t afford so some really rich folks can park close to the Stadium to make a rich guy even richer at your wallet’s expense.

The Colts are already making out like bandits ($48 million contract buyout payback, $121 million in naming rights from Lucas Oil, $7 million annually in lease revenue, all game day revenue, up to $3.5 million in non-game revenue and the city has to maintain the stadium). This doesn’t even count the millions in operating cost overruns. And the Colts were also opposed to keeping some ticket prices under $25 for regular folks. And they balked at a ticket fee to help pay for pubic safety in Marion County.

And just for the record, I am not against people getting rich. I’m against people getting rich when the taxpayers have to foot their bills.