V17, N8 Sunday, Oct. 9, 2011 ‘08 primary forgery brings probe Fake signatures on Clinton, Obama petitions in St. Joe By RYAN NEES Howey Politics Indiana ERIN BLASKO and KEVIN ALLEN South Bend Tribune SOUTH BEND — The signatures of dozens, if not hundreds, of northern Indiana residents were faked on petitions used to place presidential candidates on the state pri- mary ballot in 2008, The Tribune and Howey Politics Indiana have revealed in an investigation. Several pag- es from petitions used to qualify Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama Then U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton signs an autograph while touring Allison Transmis- for the state’s sion in Speedway. She almost didn’t qualify for the Indiana ballot for the 2008 pri- Democratic mary, which she won by less than 1 percent over Barack Obama. President Obama primary contain is shown here at Concord HS in Elkhart. (HPI Photos by Brian A. Howey and Ryan names and signa- Nees) tures that appear to have been candidate Jim Schellinger. The petitions were filed with the copied by hand from a petition for Democratic gubernatorial Continued on page 3 Romney by default? By CHRIS SAUTTER WASHINGTON - Barack Obama has often been described as lucky on his path to the presidency. But Mitt Romney is giving new meaning to the term “political luck,” as one Re- “A campaign is too shackley for publican heavyweight after another someone like me who’s a has decided against joining the current field of GOP candidates for maverick, you know, I do go president. Yet, the constant clamor rogue and I call it like I see it.” for a dream GOP candidate has ex- - Half-term Gov. Sarah Palin posed one of Romney’s most glaring weaknesses. There is no enthusiasm for his candidacy. Romney, like Rich- HOWEY Politics Indiana Page 2 Weekly Briefing on Indiana Politics Sunday, Oct. 9, 2011

ard Nixon in 1968, is the candidate haps, beyond. But no candidate except no one seems to like but many are Rick Perry will have the resources to growing to respect as he plods his way truly compete with Romney for the to the nomination amidst a turbulent nomination. national political environment and Perry’s impressive haul of $17 www.HoweyPolitics.com against a weak field. million in the first six weeks of his But unlike 1968, there are campaign provides him with a chance two active wings in the Republican to revive his candidacy. But Perry’s Howey Politics Party. (Then, the conservative wing of stumbles after entering the race as Indiana the Republican Party was still licking front-runner have melted much of is a non-partisan newsletter its wounds from the beating Barry the enthusiasm for his candidacy. His based in Indianapolis. It was Goldwater took in 1964). By ending his positions on immigration and requir- founded in 1994 in Fort Wayne. tease and closing the door shut on a ing vaccinations for teenage girls have presidential run, New Jersey Governor alienated many conservatives who Chris Christie has made clear Romney have also yet to forgive Romney for Brian A. Howey, Publisher is the establishment wing’s undisputed providing the prototype for Obama’s Mark Schoeff Jr., Washington candidate for the GOP nomination. health care reform. Thus, it was Her- Jack E. Howey, editor Christie, like Mitch Daniels, man Cain rather than Romney who Beverly K. Phillips, associate passed on the race because it was has benefited from Perry’s problems. hard to identify a primary or caucus Meanwhile, the list of potential editor state he could actually win. Unlike vice presidential candidates--including Texas’ Rick Perry, Christie’s entrance Indiana’s Daniels, Florida Senator Subscriptions into the contest would not have made Marco Rubio, Virginia Governor Bob $350 annually HPI Weekly him the instant frontrunner. In spite McDonnell, and perhaps even the re- of all the media hype leading up to his luctant Christie—makes one wonder if $550 annually HPI Weekly and announcement, Christie was running Republicans have turned their process HPI Daily Wire. 4th in national polls. But a Christie upside down. With a bench like that, 'Call 317.627.6746 candidacy would have given Romney why are Herman Cain, Michele Bach- a genuine establishment rival in the man, and Ron Paul winning the party’s race. Moderate candidate Jon Hunts- straw polls this year? Contact HPI man, on the other hand, has to hope The answer is neither Howey Politics Indiana for a “murder-suicide” scenario—Rom- establishment rank-and-file nor Tea 6255 N. Evanston Ave. ney needs to finish off Perry while Party activists have ever felt comfort- Indianapolis, IN 46220 self-destructing himself--to have any able with Romney, whose standing in www.howeypolitics.com chance at the nomination. the polls has rarely risen above the Irrespective of what Romney mid-20’s. Nor have Romney’s smooth [email protected] does, the race for the conservative or debate performances tempered their 'Howey’s cell: 317.506.0883 Tea Party candidate for president con- unease. 'Washington: 703.248.0909 tinues even as Sarah Palin announced Even with the media pro- 'Business Office: 317.627.6746 to no surprise that she would also not nouncing him the apparent nominee be a candidate. That race, which just or perhaps because of it, Romney will a couple of weeks ago seemed to be now become a more frequent target © 2011, Howey Politics Indiana. firmly in Rick Perry’s hands, is now of an angry, nasty conservative base. All rights reserved. Photocopy- wide open. Herman Cain’s recent win Republican blogs have been viciously ing, Internet forwarding, fax- in the Florida straw poll has pushed attacking him for months, but Romney ing or reproducing in any form, him ahead of Michele Bachmann and has emerged from Republican debates whole or part, is a violation of in a tie with Perry within the crazy-talk virtually untouched. That could change crowd. in upcoming debates as Romney federal law without permission Some candidate with Tea replaces Perry as undisputed frontrun- from the publisher. v Party support will emerge after Iowa ner. The next debates give Perry a and South Carolina as the conservative chance to make a comeback with the alternative to Romney and there will conservative base on social issues by be a showdown in Florida and, per- drawing contrast with the more mod- HOWEY Politics Indiana Page 3 Weekly Briefing on Indiana Politics Sunday, Oct. 9, 2011

erate Romney. Buchanan have been pressing Romney to reconsider his With the field set, Romney should be able to con- snub of Iowa. But Iowa’s conservative bent makes a real solidate his support within the Republican Party. But Tea Romney Iowa run at this late juncture unlikely). Party conservatives comprise more than half of the primary A candidate who wins Iowa and/or South Carolina voters and caucus goers. If doubts about Romney persist, will emerge as the alternative to Romney. If that someone his return to status as frontrunner could become a curse. is Rick Perry, then there will be a real race for the Repub- No real votes have been cast in the Republican lican nomination that could further divide the conservative nomination process. When they are, a new media trajecto- and establishment Republican wings. v ry begins. Someone other than Romney will win Iowa since Sautter is a Democratic consultant based in Romney isn’t even competing there. (Some pundits like Pat Washington, D.C.

genuine. Forgery 2008, from page 1 Erich Speckin, a forensic document analyst, examined the Indiana Election Division after the St. Joseph County Voter petitions at the request of The Tribune and Howey Politics. Registration Office verified individuals’ information on the He said there is clear evidence, based on the consistency of documents. the handwriting, that about 10 pages in the Obama peti- St. Joseph County Prosecutor Michael Dvorak’s tion were filled in by the same person, and another person name appears twice on the Clinton petitions. After The apparently filled in six or seven pages. He said it’s possible Tribune faxed one of the signatures to him, Dvorak identi- another two people filled in several more pages. Each page fied that signature as his own and confirmed that he had in the petition contains up to 9 signatures. signed the petition. Dvorak did not respond after a copy “It’s obvious. It’s just terribly obvious,” Speckin of the second signature on the same petition was faxed to said, pointing to one of the writer’s idiosyncrasies repeated him by The Tribune. throughout the petition’s pages. Spokeswoman Lora Bentley later said the prosecu- tor could no longer comment on the matter because it was Consequences now under investigation. The full extent of the fakery, which appears to be Falsifying a ballot petition is a Class D felony in limited to the state’s 2nd Congressional District and spe- Indiana. According to Dale Simmons, co-legal counsel for cifically St. Joseph County, is not yet known. The situa- the Elections Division, the statute of limitations for Class D tion, however, calls into question whether either Clinton felonies is five years. or Obama, both of whom were U.S. senators at the time, should have been on the Indiana primary ballot. ‘Terribly obvious’ Candidates for president, senator and governor The Tribune has talked with more than 30 people be- must submit ballot petitions signed by at least 500 regis- sides Dvorak whose names are on both the Clinton and tered voters in each of Indiana’s nine congressional districts Schellinger petitions. All but one of them have confirmed to quality for the statewide ballot. their purported signatures on the Clinton petition are not Clinton edged Obama by about 2 percentage points HOWEY Politics Indiana Page 4 Weekly Briefing on Indiana Politics Sunday, Oct. 9, 2011

in the Indiana primary but lost the overall Democratic nomination. Obama, of course, went on to be elected president, defeating Republican Sen. John McCain in the general election. County voter registration offices are responsible for verifying that those who sign the petitions are registered voters in that county. Staff in the offices check to make sure each signer’s name, birth date and home address match the information on his or her voter registration card. The chairs of the two major parties, Democrat and Republican, each appoint one member to serve on the two-member voter registration board in the county. They also appoint a first deputy and three staff members each to work in the voter registration office. In St. Joseph County, certified petitions are stamped, initialed and signed by both members of the board - Republican Linda Silcott and Democrat Pam Brunette, in the case of the Obama and Clinton petitions - and then returned to the person who submitted the petition. That person is then responsible for delivering the petition to the state Election Division by noon on the final day candidates can declare they’re running for office. In 2008, that deadline was Feb. 18. The front of the Clinton and Obama petitions bear a stamp and the initials “pb” for Brunette, whose signa- ture appears on the back of the petitions beside Silcott’s. Brunette said she had not heard any complaints about invalid signatures on the 2008 presidential petitions. She said the office’s employees typically wouldn’t know if a signature had been forged unless someone else calls at- tention to it. “We’re not handwriting analysts,” she told Howey Politics, “so our job is basically making sure that the pa- pers are complete.” Brunette added that a huge volume of petition pages circulate through voter registration in advance of the candidate filing deadline. Identifying the person or persons responsible for petition irregularities is not a simple task. Dozens, per- haps hundreds, of volunteers participated in the Clinton and Obama petition drives in the 2nd District, both inde- pendently and as part of candidates’ official campaigns. Receipts that would have included the names of people who submitted the petitions no longer exist. Silcott said voter registration is required to keep those records for only two years. But Speckin says further analysis could likely reveal who faked the signatures.

Inconsistencies The people contacted by The Tribune who denied signing the Clinton petition included ordinary citizens but HOWEY Politics Indiana Page 5 Weekly Briefing on Indiana Politics Sunday, Oct. 9, 2011

also county council member Mike Hamann, former county more, Trent added, whoever signed the document in his sheriff and auditor Joe Nagy, county attorney Pete Agostino name wrote his birth date incorrectly. and two South Bend police officers. Some reacted with shock and confusion when told their Capt. Phil Trent, the spokesman for the city’s names and signatures were on petitions for the presidential police department, looked at pages from the Clinton and candidates. Schellinger petitions where his name appears. He con- South Bend resident Robert Hurst told Howey firmed that his signature was valid on the Schellinger peti- Politics that he wouldn’t have signed a Clinton or Obama tion, but said he did not sign the Clinton petition. What’s petition, because, “I liked both of them, and I didn’t decide HOWEY Politics Indiana Page 6 Weekly Briefing on Indiana Politics Sunday, Oct. 9, 2011

until Election Day.” Several signatures, including those of county It’s time to modernize Democrat Party Chairman Owen “Butch” Morgan, appear multiple times on the Clinton and Obama petitions. Morgan initially did not respond to several requests via Indiana’s ballot access law phone and in person to comment on his signature and on By BRIAN A. HOWEY the petition process for this story. His attorney, Shaw Fried- INDIANAPOLIS - Indiana Republican Chairman Eric man, later responded in an e-mail that questions should be Holcomb tells the story of his arduous task of compiling directed to him. ballot certification signatures for his man Mitch leading into The Democratic chairman’s name and signature the governor’s 2008 reelection campaign. appear three times on the Clinton petition - as “Owen D. Seeking petitions from a small Southern Indiana Morgan,” “Owen B. Morgan” and just “Owen Morgan.” One county, he walked in, asked for copies, and found an indif- of the signatures is marked “duplicate” on the page, but ferent clerk. There was some gentle sweet talk, an an- the other two appear to have been accepted by voter regis- nouncement that he was going to tration. get a bite of lunch and, if possi- In addition to being chairman of the county Demo- ble, the petitions could be copied, cratic Party, Morgan also is chair of the 2nd District for the well, that would be swell. Indiana Democratic Party. On the way back from Howey Politics also identified similar groupings of lunch, Holcomb picked up a names on the Clinton, Obama and Schellinger petitions. In bouquet of flowers from a nearby most cases, the corresponding signatures do not appear to florist, and presented them to match. the flattered clerk, who quickly One person’s last name became “Miller” instead of complied with his request. “Gillis” when it was copied over to the Clinton petition. An- Talk to any campaign other’s last name originally was written as “Wesser” before manager or the operative put the writer wrote “Webber” over it. in charge of collecting the bal- “Most people can sign their name and also print lot petitions, and if their heads it,” Speckin, the handwriting expert, said of such errors. aren’t bandaged from beatings “Even at a low-level education, most people can cash their on the wall, there are hints of mental duress and the kind paycheck. ... I don’t think I’ve ever misspelled my first or of exhaustion associated with building the Rube Goldberg last name since the first grade.’ contraption of Indiana election law. He noted that none of the names on the Schellinger peti- Talk to a Republican or Democrat who’s run state- tion are corrected or misspelled, because legitimate signa- wide and you’ll hear the same sentiment: it is an absurd tories will almost never make such mistakes. requirement that needs to change. “That’s a good (example) of what happens when people There should have been no doubt that U.S. Sen. sign petitions,” he said. Hillary Clinton could qualify for the Indiana presidential Speckin is an internationally known forensics docu- ballot in 2008. So, too, should have Sen. Chris Dodd and ment analyst. His firm, Speckin Forensic Laboratories, is Fred Thompson had they lasted that far into the primary headquartered in Okemos, Mich. process. Speckin says he has worked on more than 50 That short cuts were possibly taken in the 2nd ballot-petition cases in many states during his career. CD in 2008 is not an excuse for not following Indiana elec- The Obama campaign and the Office of the Secre- tion law. But there should be new threshholds for candi- tary of State did not immediately respond Friday afternoon dates to qualify for the ballot without such a wasteful, time to separate e-mails seeking comment on the faked signa- consuming process. If a candidate is a federal, state or v tures. local officeholder, that should suffice. Or if a candidate can get the signature of a percentage of party chairs in a given Nees is a junior at Yale University. The Koko- district would be another. Or, perhaps, even 100 signatures. mo native has interned for Howey Politics Indiana, Indiana has updated its election laws - voter files Sen. Dick Lugar, and The White House. and voting equipment - this past decade. Some changes, like the unopposed municipal candidates not listed on the ballot, have been bad. But improving ballot access could be made more efficient and fair, to give Hoosier voters choices. v HOWEY Politics Indiana Page 7 Weekly Briefing on Indiana Politics Sunday, Oct. 9, 2011

New Jersey, New York, and Virginia. Fred Thompson failed Candidates rush in 2008 in Delaware and the District of Columbia. In Indiana that year, a contested gubernatorial pri- By RYAN NEES mary between Jim Schellinger and Jill Long Thompson put NEW HAVEN, Conn. - The fabricated petitions that the task in sharp relief. “2008 was the first year that I really the Tribune and Howey Politics Indiana have uncovered saw this being a big deal,” Harris said, “because it was a were the product of a petitioning process that has con- sign of strength.” founded campaigns over and over again. There had been worry on both sides of the The fake signatures uncovered during our inves- gubernatorial race about not making the ballot because tigation of 2008 primary petitions to place Barack Obama of the difficulty in satisfying the requirements of Indiana and Hillary Clinton on the Indiana ballot were part of an Code 3-8-3. Collected petitions must be returned to county effort to meet the requirements of the nation’s second voter registration offices ten days before the deadline to toughest primary ballot placement law. file a declaration of candidacy in the election. In 2008, the “It’s a very, very cumbersome process,” says Jeff deadline came Feb. 19. As late as Feb. 14, Howey Politics Harris of Indianapolis, a veteran Hoosier campaign hand reported that Jill Long Thompson’s gubernatorial campaign who helped the Clinton campaign gather petitions in 2008 was some 1,000 signatures short. Long Thompson ulti- but says he was not aware of improprieties. “I don’t think mately met the requirement. people realize how difficult it is. You’ve always got to as- But Long Thompson’s media consultant, Chris Saut- sume that 50-60 per cent of them are going to be wrong. ter, said that Schellinger’s campaign had been so worried You get a lot of people who have moved, who aren’t reg- about its numbers that it turned to paying canvassers for istered, that kind of thing. In some counties, with clerks of signatures. “Unlike Schellinger, who hired a firm to handle the opposite parties, they make it difficult. It takes an army the process, Jill utilized dozens of volunteers across the of people to do it.” state,” he said. Long Thompson met the requirement, while Mandatory primary ballot petitions are required two former Schellinger campaign workers denied the cam- by state law of candidates running for president, senator, paign paid for signatures. and governor. To appear on the statewide primary ballot, The competition among the Presidential campaigns candidates must gather signatures from 500 registered vot- was initially more muted. Sen. John McCain apparently ers in each of Indiana’s nine congressional districts. County fell short of the required number of signatures in his own voter registration offices validate the signatories’ residency primary that year, with little fanfare. Though an Indiana and registration status, and the Indiana Secretary of State’s blogger challenged the petitions, the Indiana Elections Elections Division certifies the petitions. Commission ultimately declined to act. Gathering the signatures is a towering task that The Democrats were more concerned. Kip Tew, requires candidates to have a broad, decentralized cam- the state chairman for Barack Obama’s Indiana campaign paign organization. Many signatures turn out to be invalid. that spring, said his team started collecting them in July Signatories either list an address inconsistent with their 2007. “The Obama network by January in that year was in registration record, were never registered to vote at all, or pretty good shape,” he said. “We used the Obama website may not know in which Congressional district they reside. to get volunteers and we tapped into that and created a Their handwriting may be illegible. Until signatures are veri- group in each district to go out and get signatures.” fied by a county voter registration office, campaigns seldom Between November and January, Tew said, the know how many of their petitions will be rejected. Obama camp completed most of the “arduous but not Only Virginia, according to Richard Winger, difficult” work of gathering the petitions. The deadline editor of Ballot Access News, requires more than Indiana: came just two weeks after it became clear the Presidential 10,000 signatures. “Most states since the 1970s have primary would endure. For on Feb. 5, Barack Obama would passed laws that say if you’re prominently discussed in the edge Clinton on Super Tuesday, adding new urgency to media, you’re automatically on the ballot. [The laws] sound both campaigns. vague, and they are vague; but oddly enough they tend to Though the election has come and gone, the fabri- work out,” Winger said. cations themselves could be criminally prosecuted. Nationwide, states use a mix of media thresholds, “The point of collecting signatures is to demon- mandatory petitions, filing fees, or state party selection, strate that you have the support of the people, so copying according to a 2004 Ballot Access News analysis of the signatures flies in the face of the intent of that statute and requirements. In some, candidates automatically appear on is of course not in compliance with it,” said Anita Wouden- the ballot if they have qualified for state matching funds. berg, an election law attorney at Bopp, Coleson, & Bostrom The requirements so regularly disqualify candidates that in and a member of the Vigo County election board. v 2008, said Winger, Chris Dodd failed to make the ballot in HOWEY Politics Indiana Page 8 Weekly Briefing on Indiana Politics Sunday, Oct. 9, 2011

of its current malaise. It wasn’t the governor’s purpose to Processing the political write a how-to political handbook, but this being a political publication, it is worth ferreting out some of the kernels that represent Daniels’ mindset as he adroitly maneuvered points in Daniels’ book through the local, state and national landscape. By BRIAN A. HOWEY There are admissions of error. “Once in office, MICHIGAN CITY, Ind. - Heading into the twilight after some early slips into tit-for-tat harshness of rhetoric, of Gov. Mitch Daniels’ career as a Hoosier politician, one I learned that cheek turning is more effective than name thing is clear: he has cut an indelible if not legendary swath calling, and have held to the practice with very few slip- across the campaign and policy spectrums. ups,” Daniels writes in the chapter “Can We Talk?” He was It extends back four decades when he became almost certainly referring to his 2005 temper tantrum when an acolyte of the legendary House Minority Leader B. Patrick Bauer had his caucus walk Marion County Republican out, prompting Daniels to label him a “car-bomber,” an Chairman L. Keith Bulen, explosively crude term given the haywire events happening then emerged on the staff in the Iraq War half a world away. of Indianapolis Mayor Rich- There were other glimpses of gubernatorial an- ard Lugar. Daniels served on ger, like finger-wagging responses during the Major Moves the Republican Senatorial sequence in 2006 when he was heckled in places like Campaign Committee with Angola and Hammond. But the Gov. Daniels we saw in people like Albert Mishler. He the Statehouse hallways when surrounded by protesting managed Lugar’s tough 1982 teachers earlier this year was, well, restrained. “It is not Senate reelection campaign always easy, when confronted with purely partisan obstruc- against U.S. Rep. Floyd tion, falsehoods, or personal insults,” Daniels writes. “I Fithian, coming in one of the once remarked that I thought I might bleed to death from worst recessions since the biting my tongue too much. But success is the only realm Great Depression, before as- that matters” and is “far more likely for those who practice cending to the White House politics of goodwill, civility and restraint in the presence of as President Reagan’s politi- its opposite.” cal director. He turned down an offer from Gov. Robert D. Exhibit A on this would be Gov. Daniels during the Orr in 1988 to fill Dan Quayle’s U.S. Senate seat. this year’s House Democrat five-week walkout, when he On the policy side he headed Indianapolis Mayor appeared almost sanguine, but firm, despite his revolution- Stephen Goldsmith’s Service, Efficiency and Lower Taxes for ary agenda leading into a potential presidential campaign Indianapolis Commission (SELTIC), and directed the Hud- hanging in the balance. He was urged by allies and com- son Institute, both vanguards to the way he approached mentators to retaliate. his governorship. After two years in President George W. “I need to clarify some confusion I person- Bush’s White House as budget director, he returned home ally caused yesterday,” Daniels said on Feb. 23. “I began to run – in almost every aspect – two gubernatorial cam- extemporaneous comments that the activities of the last paigns that knocked off a popular sitting governor before two days – I think I gestured to the atrium – were entirely winning an 18-point reelection landslide in the face of appropriate. I was talking about the protesters and those Barack Obama’s capture of Indiana’s 11 Electoral College who came to protest their views and the strength of their votes. views. They are welcome here. It was not to condone the Like Frank O’Bannon, Evan Bayh, Lee Ham- House Democratic caucus which was completely unac- ilton, Bob Orr, Dan Coats, Ray Madden, Julia Carson and ceptable. The House Democrats have shown a complete Doc Bowen, Daniels is undefeated as a politician. Whether contempt for the Democratic process. The way that works, you agree with him or not on the issues, he has become a if you seek public office, you come and do your duty. You rare political figure who matched his prowess at the ballot don’t walk off the job and take your public paycheck with box with a once-in-a-generation policy boldness, willing to you.” expend all of his political capital when others at the begin- Daniels then said, “I think they deserve another ning of this paragraph often hoarded the same. chance. Let the heat of the moment cool, I hope. I can From this political perspective, Daniels’ book tell you what won’t happen, we will not be bullied or “Keeping the Republic: Saving America by Trusting Ameri- blackmailed at pursuing the agenda we laid in front of the cans” offers fascinating political nuggets apart from his people of Indiana. That agenda is going to be voted on. If far-reaching prescriptions of how to bring the nation out it takes special sessions from now to New Year’s, we will HOWEY Politics Indiana Page 9 Weekly Briefing on Indiana Politics Sunday, Oct. 9, 2011

hold them.” Asked about the impact of “I’ve worked for you for five years and we’ve the walkout on the 2012 elections, Dan- never met face-to-face. I’m coming to the iels said, “I don’t know what to say to state to see my mom. Do you mind if I drop people who think only in political tactical by?” Daniels observes, “I was startled and terms. They cannot comprehend people embarrassed, and rectified my shortcoming, who are just interested in results. If I but was an indicator of the extent to which was actually thinking about this theoreti- we had charted our own course, and kept cal question you ask I would be pursuing ourselves free of outside influence. Chris an entirely different course. If I thought would not likely have pushed me to attack of this in partisan terms, I should be opponents, but she is the exception to the sending thank you cards.” general rule. For most of the mercenaries, Daniels expressed contempt for this is the first and most constant counsel.” the political consulting class in his book. Indeed, for many political figures, the “The mercenaries, with no particular pollster has a frequent seat at the table and stake in any program of public improve- is on the candidate’s speed dial. ment, and who most assuredly will not It’s worth noting that Daniels was hardly be around should a winning candidate a teflon public official. In the months follow- attempt to implement one, tend to rec- Gov. Daniels after winning reelec- ing the Major Moves sequence in 2006, his ommend negative tactics as the first and tion in 2008. (HPI Photo by A. approval rating fell below 40% and there foremost element of any campaign,” he Walker Shaw) was anxiety in some GOP quarters that his writes. “Their highly formulaic, repetitive reelection prospects were in considerable and boring attack ads germinate in a compost of laziness, doubt. One thing is certain: Daniels has not been a finger- indifference to principle, and contempt for the intelligence in-the-wind public official. There was no Dick Morris-styled and standards of the voters they believe they can manipu- “triangulation” on the second floor. late.” He expresses contempt for those who do. “A sure This comes from the candidate who wrote his own sign to me of a mediocre officeholder in the making is the TV ads and – save his State of the State, Inaugural speech- candidate whose first announcements are about who he es and CPAC address – speaks extemporaneously most has hired to handle polling, fundraising, media advertising of the time. While there were contrasting ads in the 2004 or ‘general consulting’ whatever that is. These are the mer- campaign against Gov. Joe Kernan, Daniels joins a short cenaries – the guns for hire – who dominate the conversa- list of long-time officeholders like Lugar and Hamilton who tion of most elections. People who believe they must buy have refused to go negative. credibility through the reputations of others are unlikely to “Laziness is human enough, and reworking the know their own minds, let alone assert them when given same obnoxious body slam ads year after election year is bad or dishonorable advice.” a lot easier than creating new and fresh material,” Daniels The governor notes that during the television writes. “As long as the pliable candidate is willing to accept age, “our politics was, as we now say, ‘toxic’ enough. The that this is the route to victory and glory, the mercenaries Internet explosion, which has opened and democratized can keep reselling the same old elixir over and over. Mes- the process in some ways, has unfortunately only exacer- sages that attempt to convey much substantive content, bated the lethality of the toxic. Half-truths and non-truths let alone a constructive new idea, are disdained by the can now go global before the target first hears about mercenaries as ineffective and in any event plagued by the them.” He talked of his Hudson Institute speech in Wash- ‘tyranny of 28,’ that being the maximum number of sec- ington when he was to pay tribute to founder Herman Kahn onds an advertisement has to express the point it wishes to and mentioned the “value added tax.” Daniels said he didn’t make.” support it and, in fact, said something few Republicans “The worst contributor to the mercenary mind-set would acknowledge: “Given the shape we’re in, no solution is the assumption that the typical voter is indifferent to real should be dismissed out of hand.” ideas, or too dense to grasp them,” Daniels writes. “The But the press picked up on the VAT and the eye voter is, in short, a child and children are easily persuaded opener for the governor was the Internet/Cable induced to shy away from bogeymen. Hence, the first objective of “All Politics, All the Time” that prompted a Politico reporter any campaign is to ‘define’ one’s opponent in some scary or to write, “Taking on his party’s shibboleths is certainly despicable fashion before he does the same to you.” nervy, even for someone who has positioned himself to be- Daniels writes that his pollster, Christine Matthews come the tell-it-like-it-is candidate. The question becomes of Bellwether Research, called him one day to ask a favor: whether the strategy is savvy or naive.” To which Daniels HOWEY Politics Indiana Page 10 Weekly Briefing on Indiana Politics Sunday, Oct. 9,, 2011

observed: “It seems never to have entered his mind that, questions.” He cited one poll in the book by the Wall Street first of all, I wasn’t calculating some political effect from Journal that showed Republican primary voters supported my comments. I was paying tribute to a man.” For young the concept by a 65-8% margin. reporters, the world of today is that every public appear- The even greater irony was that on the eve of ance and utterance is “contrived for optimal political effect.” Daniels’ fateful presidential race decision, he had signed Daniels sees political drift, where advocates of the most restrictive abortion laws in Indiana history, and change aim their fire at “supposed adherents” who don’t some of the most far-reaching in the nation. In doing so, go far enough, “often play(ing) right into the hands of the he ceded the bully pulpit on the issues to others, made status quo.” He cites extreme politicians coming from ger- possible by the profound legislative gains he helped orches- rymandered districts and “the 24/7 cable and blogosphere trate a year earlier. media environment” which “certainly features and over-ex- Daniels’ book greatly expands on his CPAC speech poses the most strident voices last February in Washington. The title of and viewpoints.” the book is in the penultimate paragraph. Daniels picked up on In that speech, Daniels said, “I suspect a phrase HPI coined following everyone here regrets and laments the sad, the 2010 mid-term campaigns: crude coarsening of our popular culture. It “Political pornography.” It was has a counterpart in the venomous, petty, my wife, Beverly Phillips, who often ad hominem political discourse of researched my phrase and the day. The public is increasingly dis- looked up the Webster’s defini- gusted with a steady diet of defamation, tion of pornography: “The de- and prepared to reward those who refrain piction of acts in a sensational from it. Am I alone in observing that one of manner so as to arouse a quick conservatism’s best moments this past year intense emotional reaction.” was a massive rally that came and went Daniels noted that HPI from Washington without leaving any trash, “cited numerous examples of physical or rhetorical, behind? A more af- Democratic tactics in Indiana firmative, ‘better angels’ approach to voters legislative races, such as a law- Gov. Daniels addresses the Reagan Dinner at is really less an aesthetic than a practi- yer who was falsely accused CPAC last February. (HPI Photo by Brian A. cal one: with apologies for the banality, I of malpractice (Jud McMillin), Howey) submit that, as we ask Americans to join us a coal miner who was said to on such a boldly different course, it would have poisoned his environment (Matt Ubelhor), and the help if they liked us, just a bit.” pharmacist who supposedly sold on-demand abortions Rich Lowry of the National Review Online, (Steve Davisson).” observed, “Daniels did not get the memo about CPAC. Daniels wrote of the Davisson example: “This same The etiquette is that presidential wannabes should hew candidate, who was not the owner, but just an employee of to a narrow band of harsh and harsher denunciations of the pharmacy, was the target of an especially vicious tactic. liberalism, or anything suspected of having a liberal taint. A female Democratic campaign worker was recruited to go Daniels, in contrast, seems temperamentally incapable of to the pharmacy – the candidate was not working that day unseriousness; he is the anti-panderer. He gave a speech – with a prescription for the morning-after pill. From there at CPAC that was characteristically thoughtful, standing out she went straight to a print shop, where a photograph of in his willingness to tell hard truths about the nation’s fiscal her hand holding the prescription was converted into a condition and to challenge his audience.” direct-mail postcard attacking the candidate as an abortion- In considering the political points of the book, the ist and a hypocrite for having claimed to be pro-life.” question is whether a politician without Daniels’ once-in- Then there is the “truce” Daniels suggested in a-generation acumen can pull it off? After five Baron Hill/ the summer of 2010, putting social issues aside to ad- Mike Sodrel gutter fights, could a candidate in the old 9th dress what he terms the “Red Menace” of debt afflicting CD stay positive – and headline it in contrast with his mud- the nation. It made Daniels a target of right-wing criticism slinging opponent – and win? Can Indianapolis Mayor Greg in his own party. “I chose the word truce here specifi- Ballard and Fort Wayne Mayor Tom Henry win in a demo- cally because it must be totally mutual, it involves neither graphically hostile cities and not throw a speck of mud, as surrender nor even retreat, but simply a decision to stand they did in their 2007 races, including Ballard’s upset? down for a time.” Daniels noted the “irony” of the harsh- The political pros are skeptical. There is, emphati- est criticism came “from those with whom I agree on those cally, only one Mitchell Elias Daniels Jr. v HOWEY Politics Indiana Page 11 Weekly Briefing on Indiana Politics Sunday, Oct. 9, 2011

40 hour work week and a measure of dignity and protec- Daniels has long-time tion against unfair firings. I know railing against labor is in vogue with country club Republicans in the counties out- side Indianapolis who want to forget the modest upbring- contempt for NW Indiana ings of some of their parents and who often have benefited By SHAW FRIEDMAN from the efforts of labor. LAPORTE - Mitch Daniels’ new book only reconfirms But Daniels’ insistence on telling off an entire his long-time contempt and disgust for an entire region of region of his own state is an ugly stain on his legacy. For the state - Northwest Indiana. In it, he perpetuates old and instance, despite the fact that the Cline Avenue bridge stale stereotypes like “governmental corruption” and he needs repairs, Gov. Privatization, the man who sold off our rips the area as hostile to new employers for what he calls Toll Road to the Spanish and Australians, now says there “labor union aggression.” is no money left in the “Major Moves” fund to rebuild the Wow. No wonder Jon Stewart on the Daily Show bridge. That $4 billion from what he described as a “deal recently wondered how our Governor can claim to want of a lifetime” was supposed to last us 75 years. Instead, civility in our political discourse, but then uses such divisive Daniels suggests the bridge, which carries 35,000 vehicles and polarizing language. a day should now become a toll bridge! Let’s face it; this consum- The Governor and his minions have displayed mate political animal has long the same kind of “let them eat cake” indifference when it detested an area of the state comes to job creation in northwest Indiana. that supports Democrats and LaPorte County Commissioner Willie Milsap re- he simply keeps citing “corrup- leased a study in January showing that Daniels’ IEDC tion” and strong labor presence has routinely ignored regions like LaPorte County when it as a reason employers are comes to siting new plants and industries. Milsap showed “more likely to flee” from here that even though a quarter billion dollars in state economic than invest here. Talk about incentives had been doled out by the Daniels’ administra- self-fulfilling prophecies - if the tion since 2006, only $300,000.00 in incentive money had Governor won’t promote our flowed to LaPorte County. assets here, like Lake Michigan, No coincidence that LaPorte County has delivered access to major transportation some of the best margins in the state to Daniels’ Demo- routes and a good, skilled labor cratic opponents. base - how in the world does Daniels has shown himself to be highly vindic- he think prospective employers will give us a second look? tive and unwilling to reach out to former opponents. Worst As I recall when the Governor took the oath back yet, to penalize average Hoosiers in Democratic counties in January 2005, he swore to defend the rights of citizens and to write off an entire region as corrupt or stained in his all over Indiana, not just in the wealthy GOP suburbs sur- eyes by assertive labor officials is just plain wrong. rounding Indianapolis. Yet years of history have shown him Yet, it’s par for the course for a Governor who has to be highly contemptuous of northwest Indiana and willing been willing to ignore and discount an entire region of his to paint with a broad brush. There are nearly a million own state. Hoosiers who call Lake, Porter, and LaPorte counties home and yet this Governor routinely brushes aside the needs Shaw Friedman is a LaPorte attorney and a regular of these three counties and it looks to most observers as contributor to HPI. nothing more than political spite. Hammond Mayor Tom McDermott was right on the money when he said that for the Governor to call all Lake County elected officials crooks because of the peri- odic indictments of a few, would be like painting all Marion County Republicans as “perverts” because of the well publicized sex scandals involving State Rep. Phil Hinkle and Daniels’ former BMV Commisioner Andrew Miller. Same with Daniels’ fervent excoriation of orga- nized labor in this region. Those are the same labor unions whose members have fought and died to improve worker health and safety, brought us Medicare and Medicaid, the HOWEY Politics Indiana Page 12 Weekly Briefing on Indiana Politics Sunday, Oct. 9, 2011

in court as a great nickname). It is also regularly selected IPFW not a farm system among the top 10 nicknames in America. I was also one of the original founders of the IPFW By MARK SOUDER Alumni Association. And, of course, for 16 years I repre- FORT WAYNE - First, let me say that I have met sented the IPFW campus in Washington. people from the Indianapolis region who realize that Fort Not only do I have a strong right to express Wayne is not an actual fort surrounded by Indians (i.e. Na- my outrage at the stubbornness of Purdue West Lafayette tive Americans). Many of them, however, think of us largely bossing around Fort Wayne and refusing input, but an ob- in terms of a kind of “farm system” for Indy. Anyway, up ligation to do so. For 40 years, I have battled for more au- north they like Toby Keith and pickup trucks. Why, they tonomy for IPFW. As student body president I tussled with not only like pickups, but also make them. And disgusting John Ryan, then IU vice president for regional campuses. unionized GM pickups of all things. As student convocations co-chair with Sharon Gabet, we Purdue West Lafayette has pulled had such successful programs that all students who desired the Central Indiana establishment attended free but the general public paid enough that we card again. This time, the control- were regaining most of the dollars. ling Purdue campus has decided that We had put together a plan to reinvest that money IPFW (Indiana University-Purdue in a “poor man’s concert” (low-priced) at the coliseum University Fort Wayne) Chancellor featuring Mac Davis (which he agreed to promote on his Michael Wartell must go regardless appearance on Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show). Every stu- of what the university and regional dent would get in free with their card, and even a modest community think. Chancellor Wartell success enabled us to get the Beach Boys to agree to make has led the efforts of IPFW becom- their first reunited appearance in Fort Wayne through our ing a Division I university not only in convocations program. With all students free, a reason- sports but in academic programs and able price and a sell-out we would have earned back the facilities. entire year’s convocations budget. Except that Purdue West Chancellor Wartell’s grave offense Lafayette was appalled. They said we weren’t supposed is turning 65. No matter that the same establishment sup- to make any money! (Remember, all the students got in ports Senator Richard Lugar for reelection who will be 80 free.) So they seized the money. The Beach Boys came in if reelected, and 86 if he chooses to retire at the end of his with a promoter, sold the place out at higher prices, and no term. In other words, a reelected Senator Lugar - a major students got in free. And students were taxed for the next supporter of Purdue for decades - would be Chancellor year’s convocations program. Wartell plus a 21-year-old college student. A huge double As congressman, my meetings with Purdue standard, unless Purdue is also opposing Sen. Lugar. University President Steven Beering were rather frosty as What has the entire community furious is the insult we argued whether or not I could earmark funds for IPFW. of it all. The high-handedness of ruling from afar is bad “Absolutely not,” was his rather huffy, stuffy reply. President enough, but it is compounded because it is IPFW’s 50th Martin Jischke, on the other hand, had a great discussion anniversary. In spite of a faculty senate resolution request- with me about the increasing need to accommodate the ing an extension and clear local editorial support for him, other cities of Indiana, not just dominant central Indi- the Purdue University Board of Trustees continues to stiff ana. The man was on fire, to be frank. He knew Purdue’s the will of northeast Indiana. While they already gave one engineering and the Krannert School of Management were regional chancellor an extension, they argue that giving potential economic engines, especially combined with agri- Chancellor Wartell one for the 50th anniversary would culture. He made Purdue an Indiana powerhouse. establish precedent. I mean, next Fort Wayne will want a Then IPFW staged the play “Corpus Christi,” which chancellor to stay on for the 100th anniversary. blasphemed Jesus Christ, not to mention Mary, Joseph, and Let me interject here that I am not a neutral the apostles. I followed then State Sen. Bud Meeks’ lead source. I earned my undergraduate business degree from in saying that I would not earmark funds for them, which IPFW. When I was student body president there, the uni- led, among other things, to Paul Helmke challenging me in versity had little identity. The geology club, which helped a primary. We later reconciled and I steered millions there. excavate some Mastodon bones in the area, had the terrific But the heavy lifting was done by the Meeks brothers, Bud idea to adopt the nickname “Mastodons.” Though it was and Bob, State Rep. Randy Borror, Senate President David behind some juvenile common high school name (tigers I Long, Senate Education Chairman Dennis Kruse, and the believe) and over objections, I jammed it through and we rest of northeast Indiana’s powerful legislative delegation. announced it to the world. It is still, I believe, the only offi- Through all this, I never supported independence cially approved U.S. Circuit Court endorsed nickname (cited HOWEY Politics Indiana Page 13 Weekly Briefing on Indiana Politics Sunday, Oct. 9, 2011

for IPFW like IU-Southwest received. But – BUT – this case Purdue West Lafayette. Purdue and IU are powerful, but of overriding the will of our region to insult our chancellor they seem to be choosing to force each legislator to decide on the cusp of IPFW’s 50th birthday (they did say that he this: Am I with my home area or with the powerhouses would be invited and recognized, which was patronizing of central Indiana who want to run everything? Up in Fort at best) should lead to some serious study by our legisla- Wayne, we’re independent citizens too. It is about time this tive delegation over whether to cut the control cord with is recognized. v

of one county will have benefits for businesses in other A need for counties. Similarly, the gains from economic development in one county benefits citizens in neighboring counties. Regional cooperation, however, is not a major theme of the metropolitan campaigns I have followed this year. Realism rather than regionalism should be the point leadership in Indiana here. In many instances, cities, towns, and counties must stand alone in competition with their neighbors. Simultane- By MORTON J. MARCUS ously, however, they need to band together statewide to INDIANAPOLIS - Next month Hoosiers will vote to overturn the myopic General Assembly’s anti-local govern- retain or replace their mayors. These are important elec- ment record. Many non-incumbent candidates for mayor tions that have statewide implications. Nearly 80 percent of proclaim their readiness to reduce local government red- all Indiana jobs are in 14 metro areas. Despite the evi- tape for business. They propose special offices, but most dence of how many counties are linked to our central cit- of the time they do not assure us their efforts will maintain ies, candidates for mayor all though the Hoosier Holyland regulatory standards. Due diligence by government is often campaign as if each city were an island. seen as red-tape by inexperienced and impatient business Some metropolitan areas owners. are single counties; Columbus is an One way to reduce red-tape is for the cities and example. Some are multi-county towns to have a strong alliance that promotes statewide crossing state lines; Evansville’s standards, licensing, and practices. This does not elimi- metropolitan statistical area (MSA) nate local permitting and inspection, but there would be extends into Kentucky. Some Indi- statewide regulations setting forth standards that meet ana counties are in MSAs that are the various conditions present throughout Indiana. Such centered out of state; Jeffersonville regulations offer consistent expectations for businesses. and New Albany are in the Lou- They must be passed by the legislature but written by local isville MSAs. Each MSA, however, government officials familiar with the diversity of the state. has an urban core and extensive Similarly, local government officials should be de- inter-county commuting. signing the state revenue and expenditure rules that gov- Most mayoral candidates ern their administrations. Indiana has top down mandates will expand on how their number dictated by an overreaching state government. The state one priority is jobs. They mean jobs in their city. This is can enable and encourage local governments to address misguided. They should be talking about jobs for their imperative issues such as multi-jurisdictional fiscal sharing. residents, regardless of where the jobs may be located in Today local governments think in terms of how the metropolitan area. Yet the candidates for mayor do not much money some project will bring to them or cost them emphasize - most do not even recognize the fact - jobs and directly. Benefits and costs to citizens are secondary to the the well-being of our residents are linked with the jobs and returns to the local government. Hence, Community A does well-being of our neighboring counties. A favorite theme of not reach out with money to help attract industry to Com- most mayoral candidates is job training. Unless job training munity B. is specific for known jobs with waiting employers, it may Have you heard from your mayoral candidates how be little more than a boondoggle to boost Ivy Tech and the they plan to work with neighboring communities? Do you pirates of private vocational training. Most candidates for see any mayoral candidates who might lead our MSAs into mayor have no realistic plan for job training. They stand a strong statewide effort to liberate our cities and towns ready to form committees, but in today’s fiscal environment from their current fiscal bondage? v they are not prepared to commit dollars. Mr. Marcus is an independent economist, speaker, Labor is highly mobile. A jobs program for residents and writer. HOWEY Politics Indiana Page 14 Weekly Briefing on Indiana Politics Sunday, Oct. 9, 2011

20th percentile. Perry has touched the third rail, scared With Chris and Sarah seniors, and his rattling the Texas sabre (a war for every Texas president) on the potential of invading Mexico and its sinister drug war is incendiary stuff. out, a Romney-Perry “You have a situation on the border where Ameri- can citizens are being killed, and you didn’t see that back showdown lurks when George Bush was the governor,” Perry said in an interview with MSNBC. Asked whether the U.S. should By BRIAN A. HOWEY consider deploying troops inside Mexico, Perry said the INDIANAPOLIS - That Sarah Palin decided to be federal government should consider all options “including a “maverick” and “go rogue” during the very same news the military.” cycle of the passing of Steve Jobs is a fascinating juxtaposi- “Obviously, Mexico has to approve any type of as- tion of American culture and politics. sistance that we can give them. But the fact of the matter There couldn’t have been a more evident contrast is these (drug gangs) are people who are highly motivated between an unlikely ceiling collider and a man who shat- for money, they are vicious, they are armed to the teeth. tered the world as we knew it, And I want to see them defeated,” he said. “And any helping to transform politics means we can to run these people off our border and to along the way. save Americans’ lives, we have to be engaged in.” With the Republican field A cheaper might to be to decriminalize marijuana now set without Mitch Daniels, (or at least allow Americans to grow their own), tax and Chris Christie and Jeb Bush, regulate it. the current field has the feel The Dallas Morning News reported that in August, of 1992 when the top tier of Perry gave President Barack Obama a handwritten letter Democratic potentials gave demanding the federal government do more to secure the way to Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton, the last successful presi- border. dent with America at peace, robust economy and employ- After the first six weeks of Perry in the race, his ment, and budgets in the surplus. numbers plummeted in the latest Washington Post/ABC With straw polls tending to be pipe dreams for News poll. Romney leads with 25 percent, which is identi- people like Michele Bachmann and Herman Cain, the Re- cal to his support from a month ago. Perry and Cain are publican race appears to be drifting toward a Mitt Romney tied for second with 16 percent, numbers representing a vs. Rick Perry showdown, and Perry arrives in Indianapolis 13-point drop for Perry and a 12-point rise for Cain since next Wednesday sans his frontrunner status. He does, early September. Rep. Ron Paul (Tex.) is the only other however, have that $17 million wad of cash accumulated in candidate in double figures, at 11 percent. Just behind him a mere seven weeks from Daniels’ Texas Rolodex. are former House speaker Newt Gingrich (Ga.) and Rep. Both are flawed candidates. RomneyCare is not Michele Bachmann (Minn.), both with 7 percent. popular with Republican Tea Party types and the former Meanwhile, President Obama insisted he is the Massachusetts governor hasn’t been able to escape the HOWEY Politics Indiana Page 15 Weekly Briefing on Indiana Politics Sunday, Oct. 9, 2011

“underdog” - understandable with a 9% percent unem- $5.6 million last year and $1.4 million in the first half of this ployment rate. “I’m used to being the underdog,” Obama year. said during an interview with ABC News and Yahoo!News. Mourdock picked up endorsements from the Con- “We’ve made steady progress to stabilize the economy” fol- stitutional Patriots of Carmel, and the Leadership Institute lowing its worst crisis since the Great Depression. Still, he Morton Blackwell. The Constitutional Patriots cited Lugar’s added, “The unemployment rate is way too high.” support of the DREAM Act, Supreme Court Justices Kagan Many of us thought nothing could top the 2008 and Sotomayor and cited Mourdock’s attempt at trying to presidential election cycle. Well, hold on to your saddle, stop the “government takeover of the auto industry.” your Rambler, your Escape, your Godfather Pizza delivery Late last week the Mourdock campaign went on truck. This is gonna get interesting. the offensive with a campaign website posting that accused the Lugar campaign of “lies.” U.S. Senate: Lugar to report $840K The “lies” included attempting to tag Mourdock U.S. Sen. Dick Lugar is expected to post $840,000 with a $700 million loss on the Indiana Public Employees on his third quarter FEC report. It comes on top of $3.5 Retirement Fund. “During this time, Mourdock had no million cash on hand after the 2nd Quarter FEC posting. authority, control or responsibility for this fund whatsoever,” Freedomworks is expected to endorse Richard noted campaign manager Jim Holden. “In fact, this fund is Mourdock on Oct. 21, though it’s another bone-headed overseen by a board appointed by the Governor.” scheduling conflict for the treasurer. It comes on the same Which is an interesting strategy: blame it on one of day that House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan is the state’s most popular governors. speaking to the Indiana GOP’s Fall Dinner. The Mourdock campaign also noted: “Most recent- The Tea Party inspired Mourdock Money Bomb ly, in an email and an attack web ad, the Lugar campaign raised $66,000 - $16,000 over its goal - according to the shamelessly misrepresented Mourdock’s record as State Indiana Tea Party website. Treasurer by claiming he missed meetings of the Indi- Mourdock also landed the endorsement of the ana Board of Finance. The truth? Mourdock, like all other national Tea Party Express. The group also gave Mour- statewide elected officials, serves on numerous boards dock a $2,500 check which is interesting in that it didn’t and is represented on many of these boards by appointed max out. The Mourdock campaign hopes that 527 groups designees In fact, since Mourdock took office in 2007, the will open their wallets in 2012. In 2010, according to the Treasurer’s Office has been represented at EVERY meeting election analysis done by the Center for Responsive Poli- of the Board of Finance. During this same period, Governor tics, the Tea Party Express’ political action committee, Our Mitch Daniels has been represented by a designee at every Country Deserves Better PAC, raised and spent nearly $7.7 meeting rather than attending personally. Does Dick Lugar million, including $2.7 million on so called “independent plan to run web ads attacking Governor Daniels for never expenditures,” the Indianapolis Star reported. Those can be attending a single meeting in person?” especially helpful to campaigns, as they allow a group to In a rare moment, Mourdock and Lugar came to- directly advocate for a candidate’s election or defeat rather gether and endorsed President Obama’s trade agreements than simply handing over a check that’s limited by cam- with South Korea, Colombia and Panama. U.S. Rep. Joe paign finance rules. Donnelly said he opposes the agreements because he fears Politico reports that Tea Party affiliated groups – they will result on job losses. Americans for Prosperity, FreedomWorks, Club for Growth, Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour endorsed Leadership Institute and Tea Party Express – raised $79 Lugar: “If we hope to build a Republican majority in the million last year. That’s a 61-percent increase from their U.S. Senate and roll back the disastrous policies of the haul in 2009, when the Tea Party first started gaining trac- Obama Administration, Dick Lugar is the man for the job tion, and an 88 percent increase over their tally in 2008, in Indiana. Dick Lugar was a conservative before the word according to a Politico review of campaign reports and conservative became cool. Hoosiers know that he is the newly released tax filings. And the two biggest groups – real deal.” Horse Race Status: Leans Lugar Americans for Prosperity and FreedomWorks – tell Politico they’re planning to raise and spend a whopping $156 mil- Governor: Knecht joins Pence campaign lion combined this year and next, laying the groundwork Robyn Knecht (Finance Director for Coats for Sen- for what could be a massive Tea Party organizing push ate campaign in 2010 and most recently Deputy Finance against Democrats and the occasional moderate Republican Director for Speaker John Boehner) joined the Mike Pence in 2012. for Indiana campaign team as a senior staffer this week. The Tea Party Express – which, unlike the other big Robyn headed up Coats’ fundraising efforts in his success- groups, is entirely funded by limited and disclosed PAC do- ful Senate campaign and will be a huge boost to an already nations – raised $1.4 million in 2008, $2.1 million in 2009, robust Pence fundraising operation. “We are pleased to HOWEY Politics Indiana Page 16 Weekly Briefing on Indiana Politics Sunday, Oct. 9, 2011

welcome Robin to our team. A seasoned professional and Ill., district office. Later, he joined Ellsworth’s staff, where veteran of a successful statewide campaign in Indiana, he became district director, in charge of the congressman’s Robin will be a tremendous asset to Mike Pence as he Evansville and Terre Haute offices. Since Ellsworth’s failed works to build an even better Indiana,” said Kyle Robert- Senate bid in 2010, Scates has worked as a sales executive son, Pence for Indiana campaign manager. for R.W. Armstrong, a design and management consulting Jim Wallance began airing his second TV ad, which firm. features Wallace flying over an Indiana community in a Vietnam-era helicopter, debuts in Indianapolis on Thurs- Indianapolis Mayoral: Flying blind day. “When I decided to run for governor, I knew I had the For the first time in decades, there hasn’t been any qualifications Indiana needs to face the tough challenges independent media polling in a mayoral race in the state’s before us,” says Wallace in the new spot, referring to his capital city and we are now just a little more than three experiences at West Point, his service in the U.S. Army, weeks out. Marion County Democrats produced a Riggs Poll and more than two decades creating jobs and managing earlier this month that had Melina Kennedy leading by 2%. budgets here in our state. It was designed to change the perception that Kennedy was behind and was heavily circulated among the Demo- 5CD: Reske enters cratic donor base. The Ballard campaign believes it still has State Rep. Scott Reske officially entered the 5th a “strong lead.” Both assertions are predictable. Everyone CD race. “I think this district deserves to be represented believes this race will tighten simply because this is now a by a pro-business, pro-jobs moderate who will focus on Democratic city. solving our nation’s toughest problems,” Reske said during What are the tell-tales of this race? a speech at Pendleton’s AMVETS Post #2, where he is a Ballard has run one contrast (or negative) ad out of member (Anderson Herald-Bulletin). “As an engineer and the first six. Kennedy began running negative ads begin- a military officer, my job was to solve problems and deliver ning on Aug. 26. results, and we should expect the same from our Con- We’re skeptical the Kennedy focus on education gress.” About 50 people were in attendance. will motivate voters to throw out Ballard. People vote for mayors on public safety, city services, and jobs. Kennedy 8th CD: Scates enters Dem primary has been hammering Ballard on the jobs front for the last A former aide to U.S. Rep. Brad Ellsworth is enter- several weeks. The critical question here is whether swing ing next year’s Democratic primary for the 8th congressio- voters (probably in the 8 to 12% range at this point) will nal district seat (Bradner, Evansville Courier & Press). Pat- pin the bad economy on Ballard. To put it another way, rick Scates, a Posey County resident who was Ellsworth’s Hoosiers appear to be blaming President Obama for the district director, is now the third candidate into the primary. bad economy and not Gov. Daniels. He joins Warrick County Democratic chairman Terry White Ballard is in the midst of a continuing public works and former state Rep. Dave Crooks of Washington, Ind. blitz, announcing an array of projects like bike paths and They’re battling to take on either freshman Republican trails on Friday. The Georgia Street renaming controversy U.S. Rep. Larry Bucshon or Kristi Risk, the tea party activist seems like of silly, but it does produce flashes of early Bal- who is challenging him in the GOP primary. “After the last lard when he didn’t seem as mayoral as he does now. Wish election, it seems like the partisan gridlock has gotten 100 we could give you a morning definitive picture, but there times worse than what it was, and we lost a lot of the Brad are a lot of unknowns here. Horse Race Status: Tossup Ellsworth-type people out there who were willing to reach across the party lines,” Scates said. He said he considers Goshen Mayoral: Candidates debate himself a conservative Democrat who would fit in the “Blue Democrat Allan Kauffman, the incumbent mayor, Dog” caucus. “I don’t want to say that I’m just like Brad, and Republican Don Riegsecker debated about jobs last but I’ll take myself out of that same type of mold that he Monday in a ciy with an 11.6 jobless rate. “We do not have did,” he said. Will Ellsworth help his old staffer publicly? a reputation as being business friendly,” Riegsecker said, “Brad and I have talked quite a bit as I’ve been deciding and the city doesn’t act like it realizes that it is competing if I was going to get in this. Anybody running for the 8th globally for every business. Riegsecker said he would form District is going to want Brad’s endorsement, and I am a taskforce to aid any company interested in looking to hopeful I will get it,” Scates said. Scates, 34, grew up on move to Goshen. Kauffman said that he had not talked with his family’s farm near Carmi, Ill. He became a part-owner any companies moving to Elkhart or elsewhere because of the farm and ran the family’s business of selling irriga- Goshen had too many barriers. If the people of Goshen like tion center pivots. In 2005, he took a job on the staff of the city, though, he said, then others will want to move to then-U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, for whom he ran the Marion, Goshen, too, and companies will follow. “People don’t move HOWEY Politics Indiana Page 17 Weekly Briefing on Indiana Politics Sunday, Oct. 9, 2011

to communities that aren’t thriving both physically and so- Republican Jerry Brewton will challenge incumbent cially, and businesses don’t come to where employees don’t State Rep. Tim Neese in the GOP primary. Elected to the want to live,” Kauffman said. “Build it and they will come is Concord Community Schools board in 1990, he planned at not idle talk.” Horse Race Status: Likely Kaufmann the time to serve for two terms, then run for state repre- sentative. But after eight years on the board, the timing Fort Wayne Mayoral: Berry’s validation wasn’t right to seek higher office, he said (Elkhart Truth). Without polling, we sense the Fort Wayne mayoral The owner of Brewton Insurance since 1976, and believes race is tight and could go either way. Mayor Tom Henry is his years of business experience would be a valuable as- staying on the offensive with a mailer this week that takes set in the Indiana General Assembly. He said he’s deeply on Republican Paula Hughes voting for tax increases. The concerned that budget issues dominating Washington Henry family ad is still running, but less frequently. Hughes debates will soon affect the state level, as well. “We’re go- timed her arrival on TV with the first mailer and is the ing to have less money, and we’re going to have to make midst of a fairly heavy TV buy. The ad shows that awful tough decisions,” he said. “And I think I can make decisions smiling Henry inside today’s mailer. Not especially effec- on what’s best for Elkhart County and for Indiana.” His tive but has an excellent flattering picture of Hughes, which Bristol home was in the district of State Rep. Wes Culver, is important for TV. Local observers say there appears to R-Goshen, who Brewton worked for as campaign manager be more energy around the Hughes campaign and Repub- during the 2008 campaign. It would take a “crazy person” licans, sensing the first real shot at winning the mayor’s to run against Culver in a primary, he said. But then he office since the Helmke-era annexations that turned Fort learned that, due to the redistricting process based on the Wayne into a Republican city, are more optimistic than they 2010 census, the political lines were shifting. Brewton now have been in years. There aren’t many yard signs, which lives in District 48, which Neese, R-Elkhart, has represented could be an indicator of low turnout and the Hughes or- since 2003. “More than just being a person that would ganization used a low primary turnout to win a big victory vote the right way,” he said, “I would be a person who going away. would champion the cause of Elkhart County.” The other key element is State Auditor Tim Berry backing Hughes assertions on debt. City Controller Pat HD51: Commissioner Zent enters Roller claimed that city utilities debt of more than $200 Dennis J. Zent,a dentist from Angola, and current million shouldn’t count, technically by state law it doesn’t. Chairman of Steuben County Republican Party, today an- Much of it was mandated by the EPA to clean up the com- nounced he is a candidate for the State Representative seat bined sewer overflows. But her explanation: “The city isn’t currently held by Dick Dodge. Rep. Dodge has announced responsible for the debt, the ratepayers to city utilities are” he will not seek reelection next year. The newly formed is a dubious argument. As one observer pointed out to HPI, 51st district encompasses nearly all of Steuben and La- “We are the same people.” The Journal Gazette observed: Grange counties. Dr. Zent said, “As a Dentist, I am a small Berry’s appearance prompted political criticism from Allen business owner who struggles with the same challenges County Democratic spokesman Kevin Knuth, who said the and concerns all business owners face: over regulation, event seemed like a time for the auditor to push for a lieu- high taxes and constant government intrusion. “Healthcare tenant governor position alongside gubernatorial candidate professionals nationwide are finally becoming alarmed by Mike Pence. “Hopefully he’s better at accounting than he is the increasing interference of the government at all levels.” at transparent political stunts,” Knuth said. An earlier Hughes internal poll showed the chal- HD82: Lemmon enters GOP race lenger with a big lead, and Henry started his TV early and Albion resident Denise Lemmon announced will the sense is this race has narrowed. We’ve also heard from run in HD82. No incumbent lives in the district. Lemmon is Democratic sources that Henry is appealing to Indianapolis executive director for LEAP of Noble County, a community- donors. Horse Race Status: Tossup based literacy agency. Her prior professional experience includes working as program officer for the Noble County SD13: Yarde to challenge Sen. Glick Community Foundation; serving as office manager for State Rep. David Yarde announced Friday he will Whiteshire Hamroc, her family’s international agri-business; challenge State Sen. Sue Glick of LaGrange (Kendallville and working as a speech clinician. “I am excited to have News-Sun). She was appointed to the seat last year and is come to this point in my life where I can step forward and seeking a full term. give back to the community that has done so much for my family,” Lemmon said. Noble County Young Republican HD48: Brewton to challenge Neese Chairman David Ober has also announced his candidacy for the seat. v HOWEY Politics Indiana Page 18 Weekly Briefing on Indiana Politics Sunday Oct. 9, 2011

interview, will determine whether Indiana and Michigan Saving the auto industry, continue to bounce back as “the world automotive center.” The key: Innovation and knowledge. Harris said it will be innovation that determines but for how long? winners in global competition, not the old reliance on labor By JACK COLWELL and material to manufacture the same products in the SOUTH BEND - With the American auto industry same way. collapsing, Kokomo, a city highly dependent on automo- Innovation will bring the best sources of power and tive-related jobs, suffered an unemployment rate of 20.4 design for the autos of the future, he explained. percent in June of 2009. Knowledge must a part of this, Harris said, with All of Indiana, much of the Midwest and perhaps higher education needed in an era when a son no longer the whole nation faced the possibility of the economy being can graduate from high school and immediately get a good driven by the auto industry into a second Great Depression. job in the factory where his father also made a good living. What is known as the The chancellor said there needs to be a partnership “auto bailout,” sometimes still of the auto industry, government and universities to spur with derogatory adjectives by innovation and knowledge. those who opposed it, was suc- Harris said all three cooperated to bring Kokomo cessful in saving the American from the brink of despair to a city with a brighter future, as automotive industry and Kokomo Chrysler invests heavily, Mayor Greg Goodnight “is doing and beyond, all the way to South great things” and IU Kokomo offers its expertise and facili- Bend and on north to Detroit. ties. Economists estimated Now, cooperation between universities, govern- that demise of the auto industry ment and industry could be expanded to the state level would have brought depression- with an Indiana Automotive Council on which Harris serves. type 35 percent unemployment He was appointed by Gov. Mitch Daniels. He praised Dan- to Kokomo, so dependent on iels for leadership in promoting innovation and cooperation. four Chrysler plants and also on Leadership in the automotive industry also is needed, Har- General Motors and Delphi. ris said. He said Ford, which didn’t need a bailout, already Well, Kokomo’s unemployment rate is not 35 seemed to have good leadership and Chrysler seems to percent. Not still at that 20.4 percent. Or even at the 11.7 have that needed leadership now. General Motors? Harris percent of a year ago. In the recently released August jobs has concerns going back to days when GM seemed to resist report, Kokomo’s rate was 9.7 percent. being pulled into the present. That’s just about the national average, not exactly It long was clear that GM maintaining eight brands bringing economic joy to everybody in the city, but better was not feasible, Harris said, so “why did we need the fed- than anybody could have expected _ except for dreamers eral government to tell them to get rid of certain brands?” who thought Barack Obama had some presidential wand He called for turning Michigan’s heavy auto produc- to wave and turn recession into boom times with three tion counties, known as “Automotive Alley,” into “Innovation magic words: “Yes, we can.” Alley” and getting Indiana geared for “fierce” global compe- But what now? tition as well. Indiana University Kokomo Chancellor Michael Har- Harris recently traveled to South Korea and has ris, an economist who has studied the automotive industry made trips to China and other countries to see that compe- for over two decades, including while serving as provost at tition. Kettering University, formerly General Motors Institute, in Cars always will be made in the United States, he Flint, Mich., says it’s time look ahead to “what now?” rather said, but will they be produced by American manufacturers than focusing on past partisan bickering. and will the production center be in Indiana and Michigan “We’ll never know the answer,” Harris says of or in southern states? whether failure to act quickly to bail out Chrysler and “The bailout saved us,” Harris said. But for how General Motors really would have brought another Great long? Depression. He knows that it kept Kokomo from “taking a v terrible hit.” Colwell has covered Indiana politics over five But did the bailout save the day or just put off decades for the South Bend Tribune. nightfall? What happens now, Harris said in a telephone HOWEY Politics Indiana Page 19 Weekly Briefing on Indiana Politics Sunday, Oct. 9, 2011

Andrea Neal, Indianapolis Star: If getting people these projects fed families at a time when unemployment to vote weren’t hard enough already, a new Indiana law was soaring. Sound familiar? Earlier last week, The Times will further stifle democratic spirit on Nov. 8. The measure editorial board met with U.S. Rep. Mike Pence, who is seek- removes from the ballot municipal candidates who are ing the Republican nomination for governor next year. “I’m unopposed. What’s disturbing is that the idea became law a conservative, but I’ve been accused of kind of being a in the first place. In hindsight, key legislative leaders call it Roman when it comes to building roads,” Pence said. That’s a mistake. “I don’t like it,” said Brian Bosma who as House good to know. If you want to bring more manufacturers to Speaker signed off on an election law package that includ- Indiana, you’re going to have to make sure they can get ed the offending language. “It’s terrible public policy.” He their raw materials delivered and their products shipped. and Senate President Pro Tem David Long say they’ll fix the Pence also made a point of saying, “I don’t think there can law next session. But that won’t happen in time for Election be any corner of the state that gets left out.” Oh? I’ve got a Day when folks in some parts will show up to vote -- and bridge to sell you -- on Cline Avenue. The decision to close find little to do. In Johnson County, voters may spend more the Cline Avenue bridge was the first major sign of big time parking, walking into a polling site and checking in trouble in the Hoosier state’s transportation network, but than they will casting ballots, Clerk Sue Anne Misiniec told it was the closing of the Sherman-Minton bridge along the the Daily Journal. New Whiteland and Trafalgar won’t hold Ohio River that finally caught the attention of folks else- elections because there are no contested candidates. In where in Indiana. Gov. Mitch Daniels had his own stimulus Evansville, voters in the First and Fourth wards program, of sorts, for transportation. Major Moves was won’t see their county council candidates listed funded through the $3.8 billion long-term lease of because they are unopposed. The incumbents the Indiana Toll Road, but that money is essentially -- a Republican and a Democrat -- wanted to face gone. So what could fund a Major Moves II to the voters. But when Vanderburgh County Clerk continue paying the state’s share of major infra- Susan K. Kirk asked the state election division for structure projects like replacing the Cline Avenue permission, she was told the law gave her no op- bridge? tion. In contrast, a Wayne County judge granted an injunction allowing two unopposed candidates for Thomas Friedman, New York Times: Gov. Richmond city offices to get their names printed. Across the Chris Christie of New Jersey isn’t going to run. That’s too state, almost nobody seems to like the law except some bad. He had a chance to rescue the Republican Party from county clerks, who lobbied for the measure to save money its dash to the cliff and make President Obama a better in a time of tight election budgets. The measure does not leader, too. Here’s why: When the G.O.P. presidential can- apply to statewide or federal elections. “There are sav- didates were asked during their debate on Aug. 11 whether ings,” said Rep. Kathy Richardson who authored HB 1242, any of them would accept a budget deal that involved the election mega-bill. According to the Legislative Services $10 in spending cuts for every $1 in tax increases — and Agency, keeping names off ballots “may save a minimal they all said no — the Republican Party officially became amount on printing expenses for shorter ballot cards.” In a danger to itself and to the country. The G.O.P. became communities where there is no competition, polling places a danger to the country because it announced, in effect, have no need to open, which could save tens of thousands, that it would not be a partner for the kind of Grand Bar- Richardson said. gain that many economists believe we need — something that provides more near-term investment in the economy Doug Ross, NWI Times: The high winds last that spurs job growth, combined with a credible long-term weekend led me to Michigan City’s Washington Park for plan to increase tax revenues and trim entitlements so the a reminder of the awesome power of nature -- and of country’s debt-to-G.D.P. ratio stays in a safe range. The government spending. Greeting visitors to the beach is a G.O.P. became a danger to itself because, as Tyler Cowen, marker crediting the federal Works Progress Administration an economics professor at George Mason University, for the park improvements. The WPA is being remembered pointed out in this newspaper on Sunday: “Cutting $10 in today as Americans draw parallels between the Great spending for every $1 in tax increases would result in $9 Depression of the 1930s and the Great Recession of today. in net tax reduction. That’s because lower spending today In response to the Great Depression, the Roosevelt admin- means lower taxes tomorrow, and limiting the future path istration pushed Congress to agree to an unprecedented of government spending does limit future taxes, as Milton stimulus program that resulted in, among other things, Friedman, the late Nobel laureate and conservative icon, so the Washington Park Zoo and other park improvements in clearly explained. Promising never to raise taxes, without Michigan City, along the Hammond Civic Center, Brookfield reaching a deal on spending, really means a high and rising Zoo and parts of the Lincoln Park Zoo. The jobs created by commitment to future taxes.”v HOWEY Politics Indiana Page 20 Weekly Briefing on Indiana Politics Sunday, Oct. 9, 2011

Illinois declined, The Journal Gazette according to court records. He agreed Fed deficit stays reported. The difference between to pay the more than $26,000 in tax at $1.3 trillion moves into Indiana and moves out losses he caused. was about 2,000 people during the WASHINGTON - The federal period. The data don’t reflect foreign budget deficit held steady at $1.3 migration. The population changes Frazier to seek trillion in 2011 -- adding another $1.3 came during a period of declining trillion to the $14.7 trillion national mobility nationally. A Pew Research 6th CD seat debt (Associated Press_. Despite all Center study citing U.S. Census figures MUNCIE - Former State Sena- the push-and-pull between President found that 11.9 percent of Americans tor Bill Frazier is launching his sixth Obama and congressional Republi- moved between 2007 and 2008, the run for Congress (Associated Press). cans that almost led to a government lowest level since the late 1940s. “For Frazier plans an announcement tour shutdown and all of the negative economic data that Wednesday to kick off a run for the an unprec- we’ve seen over the last decade, we Sixth District seat being vacated by edented default, don’t see the population decline that gubernatorial hopeful Mike Pence. It’s the amount of you might think would come with a return to the Republican Party for red ink didn’t that,” said John Stafford, director of Frazier, who drew nine-percent of the change a bit. the Community Research Institute at vote against Pence as an independent That’s the IPFW. The IRS figures don’t include in 2000. Frazier was the Republican prognostication business movement among states and nominee against former Democratic from the Congressional Budget Office include only those who filed income Congressman Phil Sharp four times be- for the 2011 fiscal year, which ended tax returns. But businesses have tween 1976 and 1992, coming within Sept. 30. Official Treasury Department been a key target for Indiana, which six points of him in 1980. Frazier also figures come out later this month. launched a billboard campaign early in lost in the G-O-P primary in 1994. He’ll There’s one piece of good news, at the recession that urged, “Come On IN face former State Representative Luke least: $1.3 trillion no longer equals for Lower Taxes, Business and Housing Messer in next year’s primary. 8.9% of the economy, as it did last Costs.” The campaign played on con- year. It’s only ... 8.6%. The bad news: cerns about higher taxes in Michigan Other than 2009, when the deficit was and Illinois during the recession. Fed funding falls for 10% of the economy, this year’s red ink was greater than any other year 1st time since ‘94 since 1945. Spending and tax revenue Last Lake cop both grew, but by equal amounts: INDIANAPOLIS - Federal fund- about $140 billion. That left spending pleads guilty ing fell in Indiana last year, even as it at $3.6 trillion and revenue at $2.3 tril- rose in most other states, according HAMMOND - The last of the lion. to the U.S. Census Bureau. Spending three indicted former Lake County was down primarily because of drops Sheriff’s Department officers changed in federal stimulus help and in defense People, companies his plea to guilty in Hammond federal contracts (Indianapolis Star). As a court Friday (NWI Times). Edward result, only nine states got less federal migrating to state Kabella, 42, spoke in a soft voice as funding per capita than Indiana, ac- he pleaded guilty to conspiring to cording to the Census Bureau’s annual FORT WAYNE - More people give false information to a federally Consolidated Federal Funds Report moved to Indiana than left the state licensed firearms dealer, defrauding describing federal spending in states from 2005 to 2009, but little of that the Food and Drug Administration and and counties. Federal spending in influx came from neighboring states lying on a tax return. He could face up Indiana fell from $61.3 billion in 2009 despite efforts to attract people and to five years in prison and $250,000 in to $58.6 billion in 2010. It was the first businesses from across the border, fines each for the conspiracy and fraud time federal funding had fallen since according to data from the Internal charges and a maximum term of up 1994. And it contrasts with an $8.5 Revenue Service (Associated Press). to three years in prison and $250,000 billion increase in spending the year Indiana’s share of people moving from in fines for the tax charge. Kabella before, thanks largely to the influx of Kentucky, Ohio and Michigan remained underestimated his gross income by aid to states from the federal stimulus level, while the share relocating from more than $58,000 on a tax return, package.