A month before Marion County Republicans hold their slating convention, they still don't have an announced candidate to face Mayor Bart Peterson this fall.
Republican Party Chairman Mike Murphy, who plans to step down at the slating convention, said his party "won't punt like the Democrats did" when they didn't run anyone against U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar in November.
"Anytime the mayor has $3 million in the bank, people are going to be very careful in researching before they run," Murphy said. "I'm not going to deny that it's a challenge, but the mayor has vulnerabilities."
City-County Councilman Isaac Randolph is widely expected to run.
Murphy said others also are considering it, including Eric Dickerson, who lost his challenge to U.S. Rep. Julia Carson in November.
Murphy said he's also approached U.S. Attorney Susan Brooks, who he said "would be a great candidate, but she has a federal job, so she can't do anything political" unless she steps down.
Well, it seems clear to me from this item that the GOP is not in the least bit prepared to slate a candidate it will go to bat for in raising the necessary funds and building the organization it will take to defeat Mayor Peterson. Dickerson would be wise to keep his powder dry until the Carson seat opens up. U.S. Attorney Susan Brooks, a former attorney for Ice Miller where Peterson was also once a partner, is being awfully quiet about her plans if she actually has any serious interest in running for the job. And recall that the Marion Co. GOP couldn't even muster enough votes among precinct committeepersons for Ike Randolph at a special election last year to replace former Sen. Murray Clark. Randolph lost out to Mike Delph, who lives in Hamilton County. The party doesn't seem to be doing anything to give anyone real encouragement to take on Peterson, which I find very sad. I still think Randolph will likely end up as the nominee as I predicted last month, but I don't think he will get anymore support from the party than Greg Jordan got four years ago, which was next to nothing.
Getting Rid of Ike on the council is one benefit to his running for mayor.
ReplyDeleteHaving to listen to his incessant whining for nine months is not a plus. I like talk radio, and he's a frequent flier on the locals.
Bart is at near 70% on internals and even on some Republican polls, I'm told. That is very, very difficult to overcome.
But partisan difficulties are not confined to the Indy mayor's race.
Mitch is at almost-record-low approval numbers, and there isn't a serious Dem candidate there yet.
Maybe if Indiana reformed its archaic campaign finance laws, it wouldn't be so daunting for someone to run for office. Now, if you don't have the money, it's almost impossible.
If the Bayh for governor rumors are true and a Peterson/Daniels detente agreement is in place, we can expect nothing from the GOP in the way of a serious candidate with good funding. Looks like another four year term for everyone's favorite conservocrat. Maybe we could draft someone to make an indie for Indy bid.
ReplyDelete$3 million dollars can buy alot of votes, reason why the pro-Bart media is publicizing it. He has been a lousy Mayor, so he will need $3 million plus to win reelection. Line up everyone and see how much they are willing to spend this time to get him reelected. the office is for sale.
ReplyDeleteThat $3 million isnt to buy votes - it's to buy expensive TV airtime and repeated mass-mailings.
ReplyDeleteAs for Bart's popularity :: polls reportedly and repeatedly show a 70% approval rate. It would take a multi-million dollar mudslinging campaign to knock that down.
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ReplyDeleteAgain Murphy is putting forth info that is not true.
ReplyDeleteOn Friday Eric Dickerson clearly stated on Amos Brown’s Radio Program that he will not run for office in 2007. Dickerson made it very clear to the Radio audience and he has informed the GOP (a week ago) that he is not interested.
This is some of the same B...S... that the GOP has been spreading for 20+ years now.
A qualified candidate may not come forward if he thinks the party has a good candidate.
Murphy's big mouth is one reason Carson is back in office right now, instead of Dickerson. Murphy needs to keep his big mouth shut and let the new leadership get on board and get in charge.
Dickerson would give Peterson a good race and could beat him. The GOP would have to support Dickerson without being the puppet master. Dickerson isn’t going to go for that.
Bart will need more than money to get reelected. There will be street money passed around to precinct committeemen and ward chairmen, ministers and certain so-called community leaders, like before, and if he doesn't pay up he won't be reelected.
ReplyDeleteLots of unsubstantiated charges being flung in here by anonymous sources. Don't forget about the unicorns flying in from Carmel and Greenwood to campaign for the GOP!
ReplyDeleteIf you have proof of serious campaign illegalities, be a good citizen and please report it to the Republican County Prosecutor who can deal with it responsibly. Otherwise, its just churning up the crap and stinking up the place!
The Indy star online poll is interesting. 61% of voters gave the Mayor a grade of C or worse. And a whopping 28% give him a grade of F. If this isn't a big wake up to the GOP that this could be a huge mayoral race, I don't what else is. And Wilson, before you start ranting, I didn't make up these numbers, they are facts. And we all know what a hard time you have when the truth stings a little.
ReplyDeleteSuch polls tend to be a tad biased rightwards and are damned unscientific (to be charitable). What are the results from the Star CyberSurvey of the GOP candidate? Got any numbers yet? For that matter, got a candidate yet?
ReplyDeleteSerious professional polls give Bart a 70% approval rating. Fact!
Surely the looney Democrat Wilson is not going to dominate this blog
ReplyDeletewith his rhetoric when other informed voters comment on the local elections. 70% of voters. I doubt very seriously if the Mayor's approval rating is that high when the city has a crime rate that is out of control and a police department that is understaffed. Is Steve Campbell running for mayor. He seems to be the only public official in the news responding to the public about their concerns. Where is Peterson? Campaining in Lake County for governor while using Campbell as a fall guy? All is not well in the city. The murder rate is out of control and his blue ribbon committee is out of touch with reality. The citizens are not pleased with his performance.
Street money has always been apart of winning elections. Just ask Carson and Crawford about it.
Could the anonymous partisan namecallers please chill out? Such invective degrades the political discourse ... facts are always more useful than urban myths and unsubtantiated rumors from faceless gossips.
ReplyDeleteI don't always like the results of scientific polls. But I respect them--they're rarely wrong (damn it). If they were repeatedly wrong, the pollsters would be out of business.
ReplyDeleteSurveying public opinion is a risky and tedious business. Those who do it for a living stratify their sample bases, and make sure the results can be substantiated.
Bart's approval ratings in such sceintific polls are between 66-70% and have been there for over a year. They haven't dipped below 60% in his entire second term.
THAT'S why the Republicans are having a hard time finding someone, and may have to settle for Ike. Which is comical.
I didn't hear the Repubs screaming when their approval numbers and party affiliation numbers were high. They were able to elect completely incompetent countywide officials solely on party label. Those days are gone now. The proof of that shift is in two Dem officeholders elected in 2004: Mary Catherine Barton and Coroner "Dr." Ackles. Neither is competent, by a long shot.
Goldsmith enjoyed good numbers for quite a while, too, and he may have been one of the worst mayors in city history. This stuff cuts both ways.
Sometimes, the voters won't buy what you're peddling.
I think Wilson would probably argue with you if you told him the sky was blue and grass is green, just for the sake of arguing. What a miserable life he must lead, defending the corrupt Democratic machine better known as Marion county government.
ReplyDeleteOnce again, please chill on the anonymous insults and namecalling - it really contributes nothing and just cheapens the conversation...
ReplyDeleteNo what cheapens the conversation is your inability to acknowledge the significant problems with the current administration. And to turn a blind eye to them for the sake of partisanship is really sad. Regardless of your party affiliation, there needs to be major changes in how this county operates fiscally, and claiming a personal vendetta towards those who don't agree with you solves nothing. Maybe, just maybe, we can dismantle the Julia Carson machine and get to the real business of government. But, then again, maybe the stadium will pay for itself too. Good day, sir.
ReplyDeleteFedup, you act as if Bart Peterson is part of the Carson machine. Nothing could be further from the truth.
ReplyDeleteFact 1: The "Carson machine" is trying to flex its muscles, if rummors are to be believed, in the upcoming elections. We'll see how strong they are.
Fact 2: Bart and Julia admire one another, but their political operations are separate. There are people in each camp that despise one another.
This mayor has indeed pushed the city into further debt. But he inherited major problems, long overlooked by prior Republican administrations, that, if solved appropriately and timely, would've cost us much less. And he's trying to find operating efficiencies, in public safety, mostly, but other places, as well. Again, outdated, antique and longtime GOP thinking stymied those efforts over and over. Now we have a united police force. Which has to be cheaper. Fire forces cannot and should not be far behind.
He has his strengths, and his challenges. But he's a good mayor. And no Republican will touch him this year. Politics is a strange creature--and barring an Iraqi invasion of Marion County, there isn't enough time and/or money for Republicans to dent his nearly 70% approval ratings.
Sure, they will likely go down. But below 50%? That's what it would take.
Stop reading and believing IndyU so much. It's entertianing and sometimes newsworthy. But those same 20 people have worked one another into an anti-Peterson lather. Repeatedly.
Anon 224 - the same thing can be said for Mitch Daniels inheriting a bunch of crap from O'Bannon! Sure makes me wonder why someone would want to run for any office. Bart will run, Bart will win and the city gets a load of debt.
ReplyDeleteBREAKING NEWS !!!!
ReplyDeleteRyan Vaughn is the only person to file for Bradford's seat in the special election so he wins by default...
(yawn)
ReplyDeleteThe GOP will have a compotent and qualified candidate for Mayor.
ReplyDelete