V21, 39 Thursday, June 9, 2016 Why the people are so damn angry New economic realities putting the ‘American Dream’ out of reach of the middle class By BRIAN A. HOWEY MICHIGAN CITY, Ind. – Ameri- cans and Hoosiers are angry. They are seeking political retribution. They are finding Republican presidential nomi- nee Donald Trump as the answer. But the critical question that has remained largely unanswered is why? Why are We the People so pissed off? Appearing at two events in Angry Donald Trump supporters confront U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz in Marion on the eve of the Elkhart last week, President Barack Indiana primary on May 2 Obama laid out the template for the doesn’t always yield the wisest decision making. sizzling anger that is fueling one of the most unpredict- At the Lerner Theater in Elkhart, PBS moderator able political climates in modern times. And Prof. Robert J. Gwen Ifill listened as Obama made what Howey Politics In- Gordon of Northwestern University, a macroeconomist and diana called an “economic victory lap,” where the president economic historian, supplies an array of data that helps reminded the Republican-dominated county that the 20% understand why the political decisions of 2016 are almost Continued on page 4 certainly being framed in the context of an emotion which Party of Lincoln stained By BRIAN A. HOWEY INDIANAPOLIS – On May 17, 1860, the Repub- lican convention campaign team of native son Abraham Lincoln met with the Indiana and Pennsylvania delega- tions in Chicago. What emerged hours later was that the Hoosier delegation would vote “Oh, look at my African-Ameri- as a solid bloc for the president who would go on to become the can over here. Look at him. Are Great Emancipator, a worldwide you the greatest?” statesman of biblical propor- tions. - Donald Trump, pointing out “We worked like nailers,” said Richard J. Oglesby. An a black man attending a employee of Chicago Tribune campaign rally in California publisher Joseph Medill would report: “We are going to have last week Indiana for Old Abe for sure.” How did you get it? Medill Page 2 asked. “By the Lord, we promised of the liberal New Frontier and Great them everything they asked,” he was Society agendas of Presidents Kenne- told. dy and Johnson, but when it came to It is a proud chapter that the watershed Civil Rights Act of 1964, began with the Indiana Republican Halleck was one of its most emphatic Party in its nascent form. The party advocates. was only six years old and it played a With this history, watching the decisive, early role in Lincoln’s improb- Indiana Republican Party of today is to able 1860 presidential nomination see a proud, vivid organization stoop and subsequent victory that autumn. in a strange moral decay. Howey Politics Indiana After that election, in a shrewd deal, Many in its “establishment” WWHowey Media, LLC 405 the former nominee of the nativist stratas watched in horror the ascen- Massachusetts Ave., Suite but anti-slavery Know Nothing Party, dency of Donald Trump, beginning last 300 Indianapolis, IN 46204 Lt. Gov. Oliver P. Morton, ascended to autumn. When it looked as if a Trump the governor’s office, appointing the nomination might be possible early www.howeypolitics.com elected governor Henry Lane to a U.S. last winter, this establishment sat on Senate seat. Gov. Morton would forge its hands. There were a few endorse- Brian A. Howey, Publisher a strong relationship with President ments of Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush, Mark Schoeff Jr., Washington Lincoln. He was an emphatic backer but GOP leaders, ranging from Gov. Jack E. Howey, Editor of the Emancipation Proclamation. Mike Pence to Sen. Dan Coats and And he shrewdly kept Indiana in the Chairman Jeff Cardwell, did nothing Mary Lou Howey, Editor Union by establishing a state Maureen Hayden, Statehouse arsenal, negotiating private Mark Curry, photography loans to fund the war effort, and suspending what had become a Copperhead Gen- Subscriptions eral Assembly after the 1862 HPI, HPI Daily Wire $599 elections. HPI Weekly, $350 For his decisive Ray Volpe, Account Manager leadership and moral bear- 317.602.3620 ings that made the Indiana Republicanism a stanchion email: [email protected] for “The Party of Lincoln,” Contact HPI Morton’s statue along with two Union fighters guards [email protected] U.S. House Speaker Schyler Colfax (left) and Indiana the eastern approach to the Howey’s cell: 317.506.0883 Gov. Oliver P. Morton set the early civil rights tones for Indiana Statehouse to this the Indiana Republican Party during the Civil War. Washington: 202.256.5822 very day. Business Office: 317.602.3620 There were other examples of Hoosier Republican- to advocate or coalesce behind a true © 2016, Howey Politics ism who have stood the test of time. conservative who shared in the party’s Indiana. All rights reserved. House Speaker Schuyler Colfax, a historical values until Pence did for founder of the Republican Party after Ted Cruz in the final days of the pri- Photocopying, Internet forward- winning a congressional seat as a mary. There was a moment when the ing, faxing or reproducing in member of the anti-slavery Indiana runaway Trump train might have been any form, whole or part, is a People’s Party which formed to oppose stopped, but no one moved. violation of federal law without the Kansas-Nebraska Act, played a Such a strategy worked in permission from the publisher. crucial role in the passage of the 13th Wisconsin in March, when Gov. Scott Constitutional Amendment of 1865 Walker, other Badger State Republi- that forever banned slavery. So in- can officials and its conservative talk vested in that process, Speaker Colfax radio network set up a bulwark in an took the rare step of voting for the attempt to derail Trump. They suc- amendment in what would become ceeded as Ted Cruz won the state. But one of the defining moments of the other states down the line, including Lincoln presidency. Indiana, did not mobilize. House Minority Leader Charlie The reward was Trump’s 53% Halleck had been a strong opponent Indiana primary win that allowed him Page 3 to assume the title of “Republican presidential nominee.” Coats, Rokita, Brooks, and Rep. Luke Messer – failed to As it had with Lincoln, Indiana played a key, fateful role. denounce Trump in their roles as attorneys. Influential Republicans stewed. Pence would en- There are dilemmas here. Pence, Holcomb and dorse Trump two days after the primary, saying he would Young will need Trump voters this fall in races that will campaign for him. Sen. Coats came around in late May, likely be close, given the national dynamic that is just now saying that Trump was a preferred alternative to Hillary beginning to form. The fear of alienating them is palpable. Clinton. Congressional delegation members Jackie Wal- But failing to confront Trump is to alienate a wider swath orski, Todd Rokita, Lt. Gov. Eric Holcomb and U.S. Sen- of independent and moderate Republican voters who are ate nominee Todd Young hid behind the phrase that they heartsick over where their party is headed. would “vote for the Republican nominee.” Keep in mind that only about 35% of American And their reward? Instead of switching to a Republicans voted for Trump in the nominating process. So general election trajectory and a move to bind the wounds, we’re talking about 20% of the entire general electorate. unite on a conservative message, and broaden appeal, What happens when a party loses its moral bear- Trump launched into a bitter, insulting, grudge mode over ings? the past five weeks. It culminated in San Diego on May Look no further than 1922 when Republican Gov. 27 when he took aim at a “Mexican” federal judge, Gon- Warren McCray vetoed an “Indiana State Fair Ku Klux zalo Curiel of East Chicago and a graduate of the Indiana Klan Day” bill, earning the enmity of Grand Dragon D.C. University Law School. A few days later, he would point to Stephenson, who then orchestrated mail fraud charges a black person at one of his Califor- nia rallies and blurt, “Oh, look at my African-American over here. Look at him. Are you the greatest?” What has transpired since has turned into what will likely be seen as an astounding and regret- table chapter in the Indiana party’s history. While House Speaker Paul Ryan would call the Trump antics “textbook racism,” U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham would compare Trump to U.S. House Minority Leader Charlie Halleck (left) Sen. Joseph McCarthy, and Sens. Jeff was a conservative who advocated for the Civil Flake and Mark Kirk would announce Rights Act of 1964, while Attorney General Greg they couldn’t vote for the nominee, Zoeller has become the moral conscience of the the Hoosier Republican response was embattled Indiana Republican Party of 2016. an affront to the party’s most es- teemed history. Pence, Coats and Young would term the remarks “inappropri- ate.” This comes after Pence called Trump’s stance on a Muslim ban as “unconstitutional” and against McCray with a friendly prosecutor. This paved the “offensive.” U.S. Susan Brooks expressed concern about way for Gov. Ed Jackson, a KKK member who had received “personal attacks against the presiding judge.” Republican bribes from the organization, escaping conviction only by a Chairman Jeff Cardwell called the Curiel episode a “distrac- hung jury. It was one of the darkest stains in the Indiana tion.” Republican history. It took Attorney General Greg Zoeller, who will While there is no hint of any such legal missteps, not be on the ballot this fall, to provide some moral clar- the notion that a racist nominee would be denounced in ity, telling Doug Ross of the NWI Times, “Our institutions the tepid term as “inappropriate” is an affront to the Indi- are all under attack.