Since Blue Dog Senate Caucus founder Evan Bayh decided not to run for re-election, we have an open seat race here in Purplest Indiana. Polls have been showing Republican Dan Coats with a quite substantial lead over Democrat Brad Ellsworth, 56%—42%. It isn't impossible for Ellsworth to win, but it's really tough.
The mudslinging is well under way. Notice anything funny in this Web site banner?
Bad B r ad! (Yuck, yuck, yuck, so clever it makes me sick) Ellsworth is for out-of-control spending! Coats is for moving jobs out of Indiana! My candidate sucks less than your candidate!
Aren't political circuses fun?
In February, Blue Dog leader Sen. Evan Bayh declared that it was all too much for him, and that he would not run again. Republicans rejoiced, and claimed this seat as theirs in November. However, embattled Hoosier Democrats have not conceded.
Campaign tweet
bradellsworth Where @DanCoats goes, job losses follow. Today, the people of Wabash, IN fight back. Watch: http://www.ellsworthforindiana2010.c...
Yes, yes, but what do the candidates really stand for? (I know, they won't stand for much, ha ha.)
Where are they on the issues? How good is their support and funding? Let us slip away from the center rings and take a look around in what is sometimes laughingly called
The real world (of politics)
Supposedly Napoleon said
Amateurs discuss tactics. Professionals discuss logistics.
In politics, that means fundraising, rallies, and organizing. The Center For Responsive Politics at OpenSecrets.org showed Ellsworth with more money in June, but that is no longer true. Coats has spent much more than Ellsworth so far, and Ellsworth doesn't know when he can run TV ads again. Evan Bayh is helping Democrats, however, both by campaigning with them and
Sen. Bayh gives more cash—$500K on top of previous $1M—to Indiana Democratic Party
On The Issues rated Evan Bayh a Populist-Leaning Liberal, just outside the Moderate box. (Scroll to the bottom of the page, below the long list of his positions on issues, to see where they locate him on the Social Issues and Economic Issues scales.) A little to the left of Moderate Dianne Feinstein of California. Brad Ellsworth is significantly less Liberal, sitting in the left side of the Moderate box.
Former Senator Dan Coats, however, is a Right Conservative. Not 100%, to be sure. Not as far out as Hard-Core Conservatives like Mitch McConnell, Jeff Sessions or Jim DeMint, but rather more so than Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels, on the same On The Issues scales.
- 100% on Right to Life
- Terrible on civil rights
- For teacher-led prayer in schools
- Absolute right to gun ownership
- Privatize Social Security
- Defund, repeal, & replace federal care with free market
and on, and on, and on.
Compare and contrast
I heard this story from the Brad Ellsworth campaign not long ago. It pretty well sums up the stark choice that Americans face in November.
Edward,
This morning's Indianapolis Star features a profile of Brad that is an absolute must-read. From his years growing up in southwestern Indiana and his start in the Vanderburgh County Sheriff's office, all the way up to his current run for the U.S. Senate, the article captures the authenticity and dedication to service that makes Brad who he is.
I wanted to make sure you had a chance to read it.
Ellsworth wants his deeds to do the talking
The Indianapolis Star
September 8, 2010
Unlike most who enter politics, Brad Ellsworth didn't get his first taste studying political science in college, working on a campaign or idolizing presidential heroes.
He wanted a bulletproof vest.
As a young deputy on the Vanderburgh County Sheriff's Department during the mid-1980s, Ellsworth watched as a debate unfolded on the County Council between Democrats who wanted to spend $40,000 to equip officers with vests and Republicans who opposed the idea.
"When I got on the department, I had that swear-off-politics attitude," Ellsworth said. "But these councilmen were willing to protect us, and that's how I got involved, supporting them."
One of the reasons we feel so confident about Brad's chances in November is the more people get to know Brad, the more they like him. So after you've read the article, please share it with your friends and family so they can learn a little more about Brad as well.
Thanks so much for all your hard work.
Cori Smith
Campaign Manager
Paid for and authorized by Ellsworth for Indiana.
Contributions to Ellsworth for Indiana are not tax deductible as charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes
All content © 2010 Ellsworth for Indiana, PO Box 62, Evansville, IN 47701
Wow! A positive campaign message. Investing (not "spending") tax money on something worthwhile for the community.
And now, let the circus continue
Help us stop Brad Ellsworth
Bailouts. Stimulus. Government takeover of business. Record-setting deficit budgets. Healthcare.
Time after time, Rep. Brad Ellsworth has voted for out-of-control spending. Despite overwhelming opposition to these policies from Hoosiers, Brad Ellsworth has shown he would rather listen to Washington Democrats.
Now he wants to run for U.S. Senate. Help us get the message out to Hoosiers that "Brad for Indiana" is "Bad for Indiana" by making a contribution below.
As if.
Now, what does all this Tea Party trash talk really mean?
In my Diary series on Translating Dog Whistle Code I have been taking words and phrases one at a time. Now I feel ready to do an entire Web page. The reason I'm ready is not just that we have a sufficient basis for talking about it, but that this one hits home here in Purplest Indiana, where Republican Senate candidate Dan Coats is in full Tea Party attack mode against Democratic Senate candidate Brad Ellsworth. (I have volunteered for the Ellsworth campaign.)
You saw the entire page text above, apart from the donation form and accompanying legalese. Let us examine the Coats campaign's complaints point by point.
Bailouts
Government takeover of business
Those would be the George W. Bush "bailouts" and "takeovers", right? The ones where the banks and car companies are repaying the loans and buying back the stock they sold to the government, and the government is making a profit? Those?
Stimulus
Because, as we all know, stimulus cannot stimulate the economy. Only tax cuts for the rich can do that.
Have you heard of horse-and-sparrow economics? The horse gets the oats, and the sparrows get whatever comes through.
Record-setting deficit budgets
Out-of-control spending
You mean the Bush administration deficits and out-of-control spending?
Because Saint Ronnie told us, "Deficits don't matter" in the Starve the Beast/Southern Strategy campaign against social programs for Blacks and other unworthy riff-raff. It is worth any amount of economic and other damage to the nation if it will maintain the privileges and entitlements of Real Americans. Republican strategist Lee Atwater:
[Y]ou're talking about cutting taxes, and all these things you're talking about are totally economic things and a byproduct of them is [that] blacks get hurt worse than whites.
Unless, of course, we are talking about evil Democ"rat" Commie Nazi deficits run up to provide just such social programs as an investment in our future, including health care, education, and jobs.
Healthcare
Obamacare! Socialist Commie Nazi Kenyan Mau Mau tyrant Antichrist!! OMG, he's Black!!!
Because Milton Friedman, Ronald Reagan, and many others have taught us that Social Democratic policies such as a national health program are the exact equivalent of Soviet Communist tyranny at its worst. No matter for how many decades Western Europe, Canada, Japan, and others with national health plans have totally failed to implode.
Overwhelming opposition to these policies from Hoosiers
Under the principled leadership of Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels, who has resolutely refu—eagerly sought stimulus spending in Indiana.
Rather listen to Washington Democrats
Oh, so he should listen to Washington Republicans? Lobbyists? The Tea Parties? You?!? You make me laugh.
Wants to run for U.S. Senate
You haven't noticed? He is running for U. S. Senate.
Purplest Indiana
Accourding to Ragin' Cajun James Carville,
Pennsylvania consists of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, with Alabama in between.
Much of southern Ohio and Indiana fits the same description. Some of it is economic migration out of Mitch McConnell/Jim Bunning/Rand Paul Kentucky, but it's nothing new around here. There are still reported to be Sundown Towns in Indiana, that is, towns where no Black person can stay past sundown.
Anti-government sentiment has been prevalent in such areas since the days of the Whiskey Rebellion against Washington and Hamilton's Revenooers. The protests stretched from western Pennsylvania all the way south to Georgia. (Alabama and Mississippi were parts of Georgia's western territory at the time, and Indiana had not yet been carved out of the Northwest Territory.) The later Western territories from Kentucky to Louisiana had similar attitudes.
The Blue areas of Indiana are The Region, around Gary in the northwest, where the steel mills all used to be; and Bloomington, home of Indiana University, southwest of Indianapolis. Democrats are embattled nearly everywhere else, where Republicans elect people like Mike Pence and Dan Burton.
Back to the campaign
Edward,
Want to know how Dan Coats is funding his barrage of attack ads against Brad Ellsworth? According to a new analysis from the Center for Responsive Politics, Coats has taken more money from Wall Street interests than all but one other Republican candidate in the entire country.
It's no surprise that Coats' Wall Street buddies have his back. Coats helped deregulate the financial industry, which caused the current economic collapse. He got rich doing their bidding as a Washington lobbyist. And he's helped big corporations ship American jobs overseas in order to exploit cheap foreign labor.
Brad isn't Wall Street's preferred candidate, but we have something even better: you. By making a contribution today, you can help us fight back against Dan Coats' attack ads and get our positive message out. And if you donate $35, we'll send you our brand new, limited edition Ellsworth for Indiana long-sleeve t-shirt.
Click here to make a contribution. For a limited time only, if you donate $35, we'll send you our new long-sleeve Ellsworth for Indiana t-shirt.
Thanks so much for all your help. Together, we'll expose the truth about Dan Coats and send Brad Ellsworth to the U.S. Senate.
Thanks,
Cori Smith
Campaign Manager
Paid for and authorized by Ellsworth for Indiana.
Contributions to Ellsworth for Indiana are not tax deductible as charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes
All content © 2010 Ellsworth for Indiana, PO Box 62, Evansville, IN 47701
What passes for moderation in Indiana
Protecting Life
Brad’s faith taught him that life is sacred and should be protected at every stage. He is pro-life, and has consistently fought to uphold the ban on federal funding for elective abortions. In addition, Brad supports legislation that moves us toward the common goal of reducing the number of abortions through preventing unintended pregnancies and providing resources to pregnant women.
See, the Redneck candidates are anti-abortion, and also anti-sex-education and every other kind of effective method of reducing the number of abortions.
NRA-PVF Endorses Brad Ellsworth for U.S. Senate
NRA backs Democrat in Indiana's US Senate race
It's definitely hold-your-nose time for Hoosier Democrats. But having to hold your nose is better than being dropped right in it.
Further Reading