A couple of weeks ago, Taking Down Words posted a police report filed out in Lawrence by Lawrence Township Assessor Paul Ricketts' Democratic foe, Ron Ryker, supposedly alleging that Ricketts tried to run over him with his car. Someone asked me at the time why I didn't post anything about it. I read the police report TDW posted at the time and came to the conclusion that on the bare facts contained in the report, which was based on the alleged victim's own statement, no crime had been committed. Indeed, the alleged victim tells the Star today he only filed the report for protection and had no intention of pressing charges against Ricketts. If he was so concerned by his well-being, why hasn't he bothered to file for a protective order as he freely admitted to the Star he had not bothered to do weeks after this alleged attempt on his life took place? Yet, someone went to the trouble of making sure that a copy of the police report got into the hands of the right person, who made sure it would get posted on Taking Down Words.
I have no dog in this fight, but it seems to me Ricketts may have a point when he claims this is all part of a smear to help defeat him in his re-election bid. By wading into another one of these silly Lawrence Township political disputes, the Star lends credence to a big fish story that isn't worth printing. The incident described in the report is so similar to the encounters that frequently occur in small towns after a contentious school board or city council meeting, which I remember all too well growing up in a small town. Now, could the Star please turn its attention to the issues and candidates in the 7th District congressional race, which really is one of the hottest and closest races in Indiana whether the Star wants to admit it or not?
4 comments:
Gary, as much as I would like to agree with you, I just don't think the 7th CD is as close as you think. Sure, I'm sure a poll that had an inacurate sample (oversampling certain demographics, undersampling others) could be made to make the case the ED has already won, unfortunatly, I think the GOTV of the Ds and the Congresswoman will win it agian.
Oh, one more thing, I think a poll in Marion County needs to be 40% D and 30% R. (Although I'm not sure where the baseline is now). But a few things are certaintly in Carson's favor:
2004 numbers, Ds carried everything in Marion County.
2006 primary, more Ds voted in the primary than Rs (despite a Congressional fight for the Rs and nothing for the Ds).
Sad to say, I don't see Carson taking a loss, probably a 5-6 point win.
Bad move AI to comment on Larrytown politics! Such a post will attract trollerie such as Larry, Daryl and his brother Darrell ... it's an inbred congerie up there !
Both sides had a fight in the 06 Congresisonal primary, 5:46...with lots of money and political shenannigans thrown around.
Baseline D-R vote is difficult, because it's shifting almost in front of our eyes.
A betting man would look at the surveyor's race in 2004: subtract that vote total from the races higher-up the ticket, the there's your independents, plus or minus a few.
Using that formula, you can probably get by with 42.5% Dem, 37-38% Repub, the rest unknown or undecided.
And in the past several elections, undecideds tend to trend ab out 3-2 Dem. For high profile races, anyway.
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