Jon Elrod, the Republican opponent for the seat Andre' Carson (Democrat) defends in IN houe District 7, has dropped out of the November election campaign. This has been historically a strongly Democratic district in Indianapolis, served for many years by Andre's grandmother Julia Carson. After her death in December Andre' won her seat in a special election this spring, but has to run again in November for a full term. For a picture of Indiana politics that indicates waning conservative power you may enjoy reading a revealing article in today's Indianapolis Star by local columnist Matt Tully showing the direction of this race with a blip of the govenor's race, too:
Reality: Elrod gets it; Waterman, not so much
It's been an interesting week for Indiana Republicans.
On one end state Sen Jon Elrod accepted the political reality when he dropped out of his undoubtedily doomed bid agained US Rep. Andre' Carson for the 7th district congressional seat. At the other end, state Sen. John Waterman, a former southern Indiana sherrif known for wearing camoflage suits, raging againest homosexuals and mumbling almost incoherently. Standing in-front of a home on the Indianapolis' Northside on Tuesday, Waterman wore a short-sleeved shirt with a clip-on tie and confused expression.
The lawmaker announced he would be running as a member of the "Taxpayer's Party." a protest group that is the brainchild John Price, who tried to lure other conservative Republican senators into a race before settling on Waterman.
Waterman didn't say much other than briefly criticizing property taxes, ISTEP [the IN State student testing program] and complaining that fellow Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels' office did not cater enough to him.
"I would have a lot better open-doot policy to legislators," Waterman said as a neighborhood cat plopped down on the sidewalk by his feet.
Of course, part of Waterman's effort is based
on a belief among of the Far, Far, Far Right that Daniels is conservative enough. The effort has led to bit of Statehouse buzz. but it's probably not worth thinking about; even Waterman admits he's unlikely to collect the 33,000 signatures needed to qualify for a ballot spot.
Rep. Elrod, meanwhile, confirmed weeks of rumors, by dropping his congressional bid and announcing He would instead run again for his Statehouse seat. If you recall, Elrod announced last year he would leave the Statehouse in hopes of winning a seat in Congress.
The outcome? Elrod ran in the March spectial election, lost to Carson, and was thus unlikely to raise the cash to get much party backing for a rematch. So we'll call Elrod's decitioan a smart political move, but one that makes him look like an opportunist, desperately seeking whatever office he can win.
Noneless, the Republican have high hopes, knowing they must hold on to seats such as in and around Downtown that Elrod occupies, in order to take back the Indiana House. Problem is, Elrod is likely to have a tough time in what is shaping up to be a rough year for Republicans. His Statehouse district favors Democrats, and Democrats have not only a stong contender in Mary Ann Sullivan, but also plenty of ammunination.
"Jon Elrod can't decide whether he wants to be in Washington or representing the hard-working men and women who elected him to the Statehoue." county Democrats mocked Elrod in a news release.
The mockery was fair:
Elrod, however, made the best decision available to him. There's nothing like the pain of losing twice to Carson in the same year..
The Indianapolis Star
June 20, 2008
This column, along with another article in today's Star indicating Indiana will be in play for the Presidential election for the Democrats in a much stronger position than in recent history, gives me hope this may become a formerly RED STATE. Indiana is definately leaning PURPLE.
Excuse my 2nd diary. I'm having difficulty getting the article from the Indianapolis Star appearing in a blog quote box. This is fustrating, but I want to share the good news with KOS.