20 Events Shaping Indiana the Voices of Two Hoosier Centuries Speak out to Us by BRIAN A
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V22, N18 Thursday, Dec. 15, 2016 Bicentennial: 20 events shaping Indiana The voices of two Hoosier centuries speak out to us By BRIAN A. HOWEY INDIANAPOLIS – Can you hear their voices? “We are going to have Indiana for Old Abe for sure. By the Lord, we promised them everything they asked.” “Even in our sleep, pain which can- not forget falls drop by drop upon the heart un- til, in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God.” “Don’t mistake the edge of the rut for the U.S. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and wife Ethel campaign in Indiana in 1968, where he horizon.” won his first primary. “The gloom of this night is the wind- the minds and mouths of Abraham Lincoln’s campaign, ing sheet of my political career.” from Robert F. Kennedy eulogizing Rev. Martin Luther King, Indiana celebrated its bicentennial on Sunday. The from Gov. Mitch Daniels, to the destroyed political career 19th state of the Union has played an indelible role in the of Sen. Ned Hannegan. evolving American experiment. The quotes above stirred political passions from Continued on page 4 Mike Pence, of Washington By BRIAN A. HOWEY INDIANAPOLIS – Gov. Mike Pence has left the building, telling the Hoosier Boy Scouts on Monday in his “last major address” to “be prepared.” The press had scant minutes to realize, in the parlance of the Slippery Noodle Inn, “Dis is it.” The eagerness to “If it is worth a bloody struggle leave Indiana of the Pence team was inescapable. to establish this nation, it is And Vice President-elect worth one to preserve it.” Pence has arrived as an emerg- ing national power center. On - Oliver P. Morton, Republican the 2016 Howey Politics Indiana Power 50 list, Pence ranked candidate for lieutenant third, low for a governor. And on governor, during the 1860 the Forbes Most Powerful People List released on Wednesday, campaign. Pence stood at 69. What we’re watching is Page 2 the emergence of Mike Pence in his slipped, we were getting consistent rightful sandbox. Perhaps the most feedback at the agency head level ambitious Hoosier in a generation, of a lack of direction, a chafing over his decision to run for governor in budget reversions for the sake of a 2012 was all about resume building to $2 billion surplus that were leaving prepare for national office. He would state functions threadbare (something run, serve a term or two if it had to be the Holcomb transition team is hear- that way, then run nationally in 2016 ing loud and clear this month), and or 2020, just as he had pondered a fear over what was a shaky, ominous 2012 campaign until the Mitch Daniels reelection bid. Howey Politics Indiana specter persuaded him otherwise. Our final observation on the WWHowey Media, LLC 405 As governor, you could see 2016 Power 50 List: “With polls show- Massachusetts Ave., Suite Pence systemically checking off the ing his reelect in the upper 30s to low 300 Indianapolis, IN 46204 boxes on behalf of a national resume. 40s, he faces an arduous campaign, He pushed for the income tax cut in with many elements, including who www.howeypolitics.com 2013. He pulled out of Common Core. He Brian A. Howey, Publisher signed social legislation Mark Schoeff Jr., Washington designed to curry favor Jack E. Howey, Editor with the evangelicals and pro-life activists. Mary Lou Howey, Editor He went a bridge too Maureen Hayden, Statehouse far with the Religious Mark Curry, photography Freedom Restoration Act, where his commu- nication skills suffered Subscriptions a temporary lapse. HPI, HPI Daily Wire $599 In formulating HPI Weekly, $350 the 2016 HPI Power 50 Ray Volpe, Account Manager List, our writers and 317.602.3620 readers had watched a governor with a email: [email protected] 60% approval rat- Contact HPI ing at the beginning [email protected] of 2015 fall into the Howey’s cell: 317.506.0883 lower 40th percen- tile, mostly due to his Washington: 202.256.5822 mishandling of RFRA. Business Office: 317.602.3620 Gov. Mike Pence shakes hands with Andrew Pudzer, the in- There was a misread of coming labor secretary, in Bedminister, N.J., as President-elect public sentiment and Donald Trump follows. © 2016, Howey Politics poor staff work. What Indiana. All rights reserved. we meant by that was, for instance, surprising Speaker Brian will head the GOP national ticket, well Photocopying, Internet forward- Bosma on a third $42 million Regional beyond his control.” ing, faxing or reproducing in Cities option. Or letting the “JustIN” So que up Alanis Morissette any form, whole or part, is a propaganda proposal eclipse HIP 2.0, and her 1995 song “Ironic.” violation of federal law without the governor’s most significant policy On the Forbes’ World Most permission from the publisher. achievement. There was a conversa- Powerful People list, there is Pence tion with lobbyists about who Pence’s at No. 69, with the observation, “The legislative director was, and the ques- next president of the United States tion drew blanks. Pence’s legislative is the current governor of Indiana, a director was inconspicuous.There was darling of conservative evangelicals, no fear of Pence retribution if some- and potentially the most powerful one didn’t fall in line, something that VP in U.S. history. When President- was keenly evident during the Daniels, elect Trump’s staff were interview- Bayh, Orr and Bowen administrations. ing prospective running mates in the As Pence’s political standing spring of 2016, they reportedly told Page 3 one candidate the new vice president would be in charge see a man who would rather inhabit Trump Tower despite of ‘domestic and foreign policy,’ leaving the president free the 50,000 or so windows within the scope range than the to concentrate on ‘making America great again.’ Trump’s White House. Asked about whether he’d serve a full term camp denied the reports, but now that the transition to a last July, Trump’s answer a week before he picked Pence Trump administration is under way, Pence already appears was a startling, “I’ll let you know how I feel about it after to be picking up traditionally presidential responsibilities, it happens.” including receiving daily briefings from the U.S. intelligence This is what we now know about Vice President- community.” elect Pence. This is a man who played his political cards As the Trump cabinet unfolds, there is a sig- adroitly. Pence raced toward a power vacuum when others nificant rightward bent and it has Pence’s fingerprints and fled in the opposite direction. While dozens of heavyweight world view all over it, even though he wasn’t able to land Republicans told the Trump veep searches to bug off, to date a Hoosier into the exclusive club. It belies the pres- Pence not only came to the table, he flew out to Teterboro ident-elect who didn’t seem to have an ideological station, to retrieve the prize as it flickered. It was an absolute roll flitting from position to position with little rhyme or rea- of the dice. Had Trump flicked Pence away with a “get him son. It is filled with climate change skeptics, coal revisionists, an energy secretary who once advo- cated his coming agency be eliminated, advocates of school vouchers, and opponents of increased minimum wage. It came with Pence wresting the transition team helm away from New Jersey Chris Christie, attending the big game interviews while, presumably, skipping face time with Kanye West. MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough asked why Pence was at No. 69 and was told by a Forbes editor that a vice president (or elect) had never been on the list. Scarborough predicted that Pence would end up in the 20th percentile by year’s end, perhaps joining the likes of Elon Musk, Jeffrey Im- melt, Rex Tillerson, Francoise Hollande, Christine Lagarde, and perhaps ahead of the 30th percentile group (Charles Koch, Tim Cook and Rupert Mur- doch). O! The irony! So clearly, clearly Pence is not taking a free ride when he’s already paid, or suffering from the outta here” and gone with Christie or a Newt, the gover- good advice he just didn’t take. nor’s political career would have been in shambles. Many Hoosiers I know are amazed at the transfor- As we now know, Pence not only secured the mation of a mediocre governor who has been thrust into a prize while Trump was sparring with Gold Star families worldwide power center. But history is full of these epi- and beauty queens, he’s been a stabilizing force, and his sodes, of Napoleon escaping a disastrous invasion of Egypt pre-RFRA communication skills have roared back to life. It only to arrive in Paris with a few too many heads rolling was Pence’s homestretch appeal to Republicans to “come away from the guillotine and a gaping power vacuum. home” that became the clarion call in one of the most The epic parlor game at hand is how will Donald stunning political upsets in history. Trump govern? Is he bat crap crazy? Or crazy like a fox? As the singer would say, “And life has a funny Is he winging it? Or does he truly have a master strategy way of helping you out when, you think everything’s gone that only he and his magnificent brain truly understand? Is wrong and everything blows up in your face.” he a Reagan macro guy, or a Carter micro stiff? Will Pence This is an ambitious man who looks in the mirror be pulling the levers of “domestic AND foreign policy? and sees a future addressee at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.