If you vote for Democratic state Rep. David Orentlicher on Nov. 7, your kids will be murdered. And if you vote for Republican challenger Kathryn Densborn, that'll be the end of days for your poor parents, or your loving spouse. Choices. Choices.
This is like picking between Charles Manson and the Boston Strangler.
Or so it would seem after reading the blather landing in District 86 mailboxes these days. The negative mailers coming out of the Democratic and Republican political parties are so ridiculously negative that they would seem funny -- if not for the corpses and crying children in the photos, that is. I'm not exaggerating.
This Halloween season, there's no reason to rent a horror flick. If you're in the mood for some death and gore, just browse through the latest campaign mail in District 86.
The Republicans reported raising $1.9 million this year, with $2.6 million total this election cycle. They had spent $2.1 million this year and had $502,000 in cash on hand.
The Democrats reported raising $1.1 million this year, with $1.7 million total this election cycle. They had spent $1.4 million this year and had $307,500 cash on hand. ... House Minority Leader B. Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend, has so far outraised House Speaker Brian C. Bosma, R-Indianapolis. Bauer had raised $546,912 this election cycle, spending $69,862. He had cash on hand of $474,485.
Bosma had raised $436,343 this election cycle, spent only $16,315 and had cash on hand of $420,028.
Both legislative leaders generally use their campaign funds to support other candidates in their caucus.
Indiana House Republicans did their 6th signing of giant sheet of paper today, this time promising to boost veterans benefits. From the Indianapolis Star:
Veterans and active-duty soldiers would receive heftier tax credits, deductions, childcare assistance and other benefits under an election-year plan offered today by House Republicans.
The proposals, which lawmakers said would be put before next year's General Assembly, include:
- Exempting active-duty pay of Indiana Reservists and National Guard members from state income taxes.
- Increasing tax deductions for active-duty soldiers from $2,000 to $5,000.
- Expanding the state’s Military Family Relief Fund to include childcare assistance and cover all active-duty personnel.
- Limiting public access to soldiers' military discharge papers, which contain personal information.
House Speaker Brian C. Bosma, R-Indianapolis, made the announcement in front of the stoic Downtown memorial for the sunken battleship, U.S.S. Indianapolis.
Indiana House Democrats are hoping to link their Republican opponents to Governor Mitch Daniels:
There's no doubt that Daniels has irked many people through some of his initiatives.
Statewide daylight-saving time has been an emotional and divisive issue in Indiana for years — a reason that numerous attempts to pass it failed over three decades. Daniels said it would eliminate confusion and improve commerce, and he twisted enough Republican arms to get it done. ... All House Democrats voted against the bill that led to a 75-year lease of the toll road in northern Indiana for $3.8 billion. Daniels says the money will help fund hundreds of highway projects, but Democrats said it was a bad financial deal and argued that a major state asset should not be run by a foreign entity. ... Whether the strategy works remains to be seen. Legislative races often boil down to personalities and local issues, McCann noted. But it's possible Daniels could hurt some Republicans.
He has certainly turned off Dale Shake of Washington, Ind., who said he was a lifelong Republican who voted for Daniels in 2004. He said he received a poll call that asked him to rate the governor's performance between one and five.
"I came back and said, 'Do you have anything below that one?"' said Shake, 65. He said he was upset about the northern Indiana toll road lease — even though he lives in Daviess County in southwest Indiana — and the time switch.
He said he had known and liked Crooks' Republican opponent, Ron Arnold, for years. But because of Daniels, he's going to vote for Crooks.
Daniels said Democrats were misrepresenting his record and making some claims that were outright false.
Daniels touted his record, saying a budget deficit he blamed on Democrats had been erased; many inefficiencies and wrongdoing in state government had been eliminated; and a huge transportation funding gap had been filled by money from the toll road lease.
"Indiana was sitting still. I thought that was a mistake so we've acted," he said.
Republican House Speaker Brian Bosma said it is "a concern to us when the governor's numbers are not what he wants and the president's numbers are not what we want, but both are great leaders nonetheless."
"But this election is not about that," he said. "It's about who can lead at the local level, and the Republicans out there are way ahead in that regard," he said.
The Indiana Democratic Party sent out this news release, making sure everyone knows that Indiana is still losing jobs:
Indiana lost 2,200 jobs in August, according to data released today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The loss was the fifth-highest in the nation last month.
Last week, the Indiana Department of Workforce Development issued a news release about the numbers stating that employment "declined slightly" in August.
"It goes to show how out of touch this Governor and his administration are when they don't think losing 2,000 jobs is a big deal," said Indiana Democratic Party Chair Dan Parker. "I'm guessing it was more than a slight decline for the Hoosiers who no longer have jobs."
If their tables at last week's HobNob were any indication of competitiveness, Brian Bosma must be fairly confident:
Each legislative district in the Indianapolis area was assigned a single table, divided carefully down the middle by a strip of red ribbon. State Rep. David Orentlicher, D-Indianapolis, filled his side of the District 86 table (the left side, of course) with T-shirts, stickers and pamphlets.
On the right side, Republican Kathryn Densborn, trying to unseat Orentlicher, had hats, pamphlets, stickers and other items to hand out.
Pretty much every inch of the table was filled, reflecting the closeness of the race between them.
A couple of tables away, though, it was a different picture. Democrat Susan Fuldauer had filled her side of the District 88 table with campaign literature and talked about the race at length to anyone she could.
Her opponent?
House Speaker Brian C. Bosma, R-Indianapolis.
Bosma's side of the table was bare. Nothing. Zip. Nada.
He didn't need any buttons or pamphlets, he said.
"For this crowd," he said, referring to the Chamber of Commerce members, "they know who I am. They know where I stand. They don't need a slick item with my picture on it."
Perhaps have wondered how the House GOP would ever fulfill their 30-minute BMV guarantee. Matt Tully found out:
Under the propaganda program, a branch visit starts when you reach the welcome desk and ends when you grab your wallet and hand over your cash.
So the 20 minutes I spent standing in line waiting to reach the welcome desk? Never happened.
And that 10 minutes I spent waiting for my new license to be printed after I paid? Never happened.
That's how 45 minutes became 15. And that's how the BMV can preposterously boast about such speedy service.
Welcome to the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles -- a place where clocks came off the walls so we feeble-minded Hoosiers wouldn't realize how long we'd been in line. At the new and unimproved BMV, time is a very squishy thing.
The squishiness raises all kinds of issues.
For instance:
If the BMV is counting only one-third of my visit time, could I have paid only one-third of my license renewal fee? That would have saved me $14.
The Indiana Week in Review panel discussed whether Brian Bosma's very public crusade for Christian prayer at the Statehouse will help Republicans court religious conservatives---even though nearly every Legislator supported a motion condemning the injunction by a federal judge that dealt Bosma a defeat late last year...
According to Tray, Indiana donors gave $122,500 to the Republican State Leadership Committee, and $75,000 to the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee through the end of June.
This Labor Day, Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels didn't hit the pavement to campaign for the GOP's state legislature candidates. In fact, Daniels has largely stayed away from the campaign path throughout this year's elections.
After all, what can he say? "Sorry I sold off your toll road, and want to privatize everything I possibly can. Sorry the BMV is a complete mess, and I took away employees' right to collective bargaining, and the Republican-controlled legislature still hasn't done anything to help with your property taxes. Sorry your local domestic violence shelter almost shut down because the FSSA couldn't get its act together. But vote Republican for more of the same!"
A I-69 group says the interstate project might come to a hault if Democrats win back the Indiana House this fall. The organization, called Hoosier Voices for I-69, is run by Steve Schaefer, a Republican that's run for a House seat in the past.
Bauer said last week he supports building I-69 to Evansville, but he would have preferred to finance the interstate's construction by issuing two 20-year bonds - utilizing higher tolls - which he said could have generated $2 billion or more, without raising taxes.
Steve Schaefer, executive director of Hoosier Voices for I-69, said Monday that Bauer "worked hard to thwart the only real plan to pay for I-69."
"Bauer's plan to borrow and bond more money falls hundreds of millions of dollars short of completing a fraction of the number of projects that Major Moves will accomplish," Schaefer said in a written statement.
Though Terri Austin's House district isn't generally considered competitive, she's working to save nearly 1,200 Anderson jobs at a Guide plant, and deserves props. With Senator Tim Lanane, the two are calling on Governor Daniels to craft an incentive package for the company to keep its plant open.
Two House Democratic challengers, 
