The #1 bumper sticker on Indiana automobiles, pickup trucks, and bicycles for three years has been the phenomenally-popular “Ditch Mitch” tags. A close runner-up is it’s cousin, “Not My Man”…a rebuke of George Bush’s “My man Mitch” pitch he made for his former budget director. Add up all the other bumper stickers on all Hoosier vehicles combined, and they don’t equal the anti-Mitch Daniels stickers.
No wonder so many Democrats are in the race for Governor. It doesn’t take a Corporate CEO to figure out that most Hoosiers do not like Mitch Daniels.
State Senator Richard Young of Milltown in southern Indiana was the first to announce. The Senate Democratic leader, Sen. Young is picking up a good deal of support from the loyalists of the late Gov. Frank O’Bannon. No wonder–his campaign chairman is Judy O’Bannon, the greatest First Lady in Indiana’s history. Sen. Young brings legislative experience, a strong base of support in southern Indiana, and a commitment to curtail the selling off of state assets that Mitch Daniels calls “efficiency”. Look for the state’s environmental community to line up behind Sen. Young, as well as most farm groups in the state. With his early campaign literature touting his philosophy of inclusion and empowerment, the activists in Democratic Indiana may start lining up behind him as well.
Jim Schallinger, an architect who lives in Indianapolis but will be highlighting his ties to his hometown of South Bend to avoid being another candidate from Indy, announced his candidacy next. Schallinger’s firm has built many public buildings, including more schools than anyone’s counted so far. He knows a lot of folks in the building and construction industry, which just happens to be a huge resource of campaign cash. A well-known contributor to Democratic campaigns himself, Schallinger’s personal wealth and connections are being touted as his best assets to mount a campaign against the money-hoarding Governor Daniels. He’s called in many favors to line up some early endorsements, and the Bayh loyalists seem to be lining up behind him. He’s never held office before, and he’s touting that as an asset. His early stump speeches are vintage Evan Bayh: family ties to Indiana, an uncomfortably forced folksiness, and a tiny bit of self-deprecating humor on occasion. He looks good and sounds good at first glance, but so did the Manchurian candidate. Russ Pulliam even seems to like him as a Democratic Mitch.
Within the next month, former U.S. Rep. Jill Long Thompson of Argos in Marshall County will be announcing her candidacy for Governor. An articulate, intelligent, and policy-oriented woman, she brings both experience and baggage to the race. A moderate Democrat, her tenure in Congress earned her respect of peers on legislative matters. As a campaigner, though, she’s come up short several times, most recently in 2002. Her challenge to ex-U.S. Rep. Chris Chocola was marred by her failure to respond to Mr. Negative’s constant attacks. Sure, after two more campaigns, the voters threw Chocola out, saying they didn’t like his negativity. Still, if Long Thompson can put together a complete and total campaign effort, she is a credible candidate. She doesn’t have a natural constituency base, save for the few Democrats in her old congressional district, and that may hinder her efforts in a primary election.
Posted by bluehoosier 