V26, N2 Thursday, Aug. 20, 2020 Biden’s agenda and Indiana needs to evolve, too, with HPI analyzes Dem’s additional steps to come so that we agenda; Harris’s meet the growing economic shocks. idealogical moorings We must prepare By BRIAN A. HOWEY now to take further INDIANAPOLIS – With Joe decisive action, in- Biden accepting the Democratic cluding direct relief, presidential nomination tonight, that will be large in Howey Politics Indiana reviewed his scale and focused campaign’s policy positions. We will on the broader do the same with President Trump health and stability and Vice President Pence next week of our economy.” during the virtual Republican Na- He added, “The tional Convention. American people Two areas that could have deserve an urgent, a major impact in Indiana are his robust, and profes- proposed pandemic response, and sional response to how the former vice president and the growing public senator will approach the epidemic health and economic that has receded from public view crisis caused by the over the past six months, the one coronavirus (CO- dealing with opioids. VID-19) outbreak. On the pandemic, Biden Continued on page 3 said, “This is an evolving crisis and the response will need Holcomb and race By BRIAN A. HOWEY INDIANAPOLIS – By any measure, Gov. Eric Holcomb’s mid-day address on Tuesday was extraordinary. Stating that Indiana stands at an “inflection point” and promising Hoosiers that he is prepared to become a racial “Donald Trump hasn’t grown “barrier buster,” the governor traced the nation’s racially charged lineage from Thomas Jefferson’s “Declaration of into the job because he can’t. Independence” to the Civil War, the Jim Crow era leading up to the civil This president and those in rights movement, and the current power - those who benefit from Black Lives Matter movement. That it came a week be- keeping the things the way they fore the virtual Republican National are - they are counting on your Convention with President Trump emanating a series of racial dog cynicism.” whistles ranging from his defense - Former President Obama, of Confederate statues to equat- ing a Black Lives Matter mural as a addressing the DNC last night Page 2 “symbol of hate,” to Patricia and Mark minating in an officer kneeling on McCloskey (the St. Louis couple point- the neck of Mr. George Floyd for 8 ing guns at a group of black protest- minutes and 46 seconds until his last ers) receiving invitation to address the breath was snuffed out,” Holcomb RNC, is fascinating timing. said. “I admit, I can’t put myself in By Wednesday, Holcomb’s a Black person’s shoes, can’t fully Howey Politics Indiana bold move brought criticism from his appreciate the everyday indignities WWWHowey Media, LLC right and left flanks. While most of and slights our friends and associates c/o Business Office the Indiana press equated Holcomb’s have had to deal with, let alone the PO Box 6553 address to simple policy – Indiana fear of some things I’ve never had State Police to be equipped with body to think about. So, I’ve spent consid- Kokomo, IN, 46904 cameras – there was something far erable time since Mr. Floyd’s death www.howeypolitics.com deeper here. connecting with and listening to Holcomb Brian A. Howey, Publisher began with a state- Mark Schoeff Jr., Washington ment, saying racism is “another kind of virus Mary Lou Howey, Editor that is equally vora- Susan E. Joiner, Editor cious and it’s in turn forcing us to a reckon- Subscriptions ing as a state and na- tion – one that’s built HPI, HPI Daily Wire $599 on ‘equality for all.’” HPI Weekly, $350 “Our country Lisa Hounchell, Account Manager is unique in that we (765) 452-3936 telephone were founded on the (765) 452-3973 fax promise that all men [email protected] were created equal – as our Founders Black leaders and stakeholders, one wrote: ‘endowed by their Creator with conversation leading to the next, and Contact HPI certain unalienable Rights ... among the next and the next.” [email protected] them Life, Liberty and the pursuit of It took a good several min- Howey’s cell: 317.506.0883 Happiness,’” he continued. “And yet, utes before Holcomb delivered policy. it’s just a fact, the concept wasn’t put He announced he was creating a Washington: 202.256.5822 into practice even before the ink was cabinet level chief equity, inclusion Business Office: 765.452.3936 dry. Quite the contrary. Laws were and opportunity officer; would outfit established that classified African all “front line” Indiana State Police © 2020, Howey Politics Americans as ‘property’ and prevented troopers with body cameras by next Indiana. All rights reserved. women from voting. There’s nothing spring; and directed the State of equal about that.” Indiana’s Management Performance Photocopying, Internet forward- Holcomb mentioned the Hub to create a Public Disparity Data ing, faxing or reproducing in any Civil War which cost the lives of Portal to show how state programs form, whole or part, is a violation 24,000 Hoosiers, then said, “Over the are working. Holcomb will require a of federal law without permission ensuing decades, anti-slavery states third-party review of state police and from the publisher. like Indiana still attracted those who law enforcement academy curricu- thought their birthright gave them the lum and training at the Indiana Law right to carry out heinous acts of vio- Enforcement Academy (ILEA). He Jack E. Howey lence against those who didn’t look or also committed to working with the editor emeritus pray the way they did. Lynching and state legislature to add more civilian 1926-2019 burning down houses of worship were representation to the ILEA Training their means of sending messages of Board. ‘how it would be.’ Jim Crow laws kept “To those who feel impa- people of color separate, prevented tient and that we’re not moving fast them from voting and denied them enough on this journey, I get it,” Hol- equal treatment under the law. comb said. “Protesting is a cherished “It’s in this environment that right that Americans have fought and we’ve seen a number of unarmed died for. To those who subscribe to Black men and women killed, cul- the late John Lewis’s, ‘Getting into Page 3 some good trouble’, I get it. But John Lewis also knew the Democratic gubernatorial nominee Woody Myers key to driving change was nonviolence. reacted with six words: “Much too little, much too late.” “So, I say, if you want change, don’t throw a Conservative activist Monica Boyer posted on brick; use a brick to lay a foundation for something better,” Facebook, “I am sitting here getting my hair done watching Holcomb said. He quoted Martin University President Sean Facebook light up with vile ANGER against the stupidity of Huddleston: “While Black lives matter, Black livelihoods our Governor!!!!!! VERY STUPID MOVE Governor. You don’t matter, too.” lecture these Hoosiers about things you literally have no “I agree, on both accounts,” Holcomb said. idea about. A Democrat Governor is about to be elected in “Another theme I heard is best captured by what Martin November.” Luther King called ‘the fierce urgency of NOW’ – that we Brad Rataike, a long-time Holcomb ally who worked need to use this moment as an opportunity to forge a new, for two years in the Trump White House, told HPI, “There is more inclusive future. We cannot lose this opportunity to definitely something broader than just the body cams. This act constructively. Dennis Bland, president of the Center is the first time in my lifetime that I remember a sitting for Leadership Development, told me, ‘Change is going to governor tackling the issue of race head on. We’ve seen happen. The key is to shape change.’ candidates in elected office talk about ‘Black agendas’ but “That’s what I and my team intend to do: Shape this is not a Black agenda, this is an attempt to shift how change,” Holcomb said. Indiana looks at workforce development and Black employ- The skepticism came from all sides. Indianapolis ment. You don’t make a statewide address about some- Councillor Ali Brown called the “sudden policy rollout about thing like this and forget about it two weeks later. ending systemic racism is welcoming,” but added Holcomb “It would have been easy for Eric to have just resorted to closed-door meetings “when Hoosiers needed waited this year out and never done anything to rock the to see unity on all sides.” boat, but the guy who gave the speech today isn’t a guy State Rep. Cherish Pryor of the Indiana Black running for reelection, it’s a guy who has already started Legislative Caucus added, “It’s a start. I’m pleased to see governing in his second term,” Rataike continued. “The him publicly commit to bettering the lives of Black and conversations he has had in order to develop this speech brown Hoosiers, but words cannot stand without action. are with some people who may never have spoken with the Bill after bill has been filed in the General Assembly with governor’s office before.” the hopes of improving the lives of Black Hoosiers and My take? addressing the root cause of the challenges facing our Holcomb is a student of history. He realized the community. Sadly, they have either failed or received little Trump reelection campaign will likely be incendiary. He took to no support from the Republican Party.” seriously the need to begin a conversation on a subject Democrat operative Brandon Evans observed, that has become a searing topic across his state; his na- “Quoting John Lewis while actively suppressing the Black tion.