Democrats Hit Dry Hole On Savage Attack

Gov. Mitch Daniels has by this point become accustomed to the drumbeat of daily attacks, commonly personal and below the belt, from some corners of the Democratic Party. The latest victim of these attacks is Cam Savage, spokesman for the Governor's re-election campaign. As Mary Beth Schneider reports, Democrats want an ethics investigation just because they like saying the words in the same sentence with Gov. Daniels' name as often as they can:

The Indiana Democratic Party is asking for an ethics investigation into Gov. Mitch Daniels' campaign spokesman being on the government payroll for 16 days earlier this year.

Cam Savage, who is press secretary for Daniels' re-election campaign, was hired by the governor's office to be a communications consultant.

The personal services contract was discovered this past weekend by Jennifer Wagner, press secretary for the state Democratic Party, during a routine search of state records.

Jane Jankowski, Daniels' press secretary in the governor's office, said Savage worked for the governor from May 1 to May 22, and was paid $3,888.89 for 16 days of work. She declined to comment on the ethics complaint.

Savage denied any wrongdoing.

"I did a lot of stuff. I was at a lot of meetings. I worked on correspondence and communications-type stuff. I was working. I don't know how else to put it," he said.

The contract called for Savage to be paid $5,833 per month from May 1 through Oct. 31 -- about $35,000.

Savage said he took the job not knowing he would soon have the opportunity to work on the governor's campaign.

"I didn't know I'd be offered the campaign job, and I jumped at the chance to take it," he said.

For $3,888.89 the Democrats will insist on making Savage's life a holy hell for the next few months to distract him from his duties for the Daniels' campaign. State GOP Chairman Murray Clark is outraged by the attack on Savage. "This is typical character assassination, a personal attack on a young person who's done nothing wrong," Clark said.

It is worth noting that these same Democrats remained silent in the face of a Star report that CCC President Monroe Gray earned $83,000 a year for a community relations post in the Indianapolis Fire Department and could produce no evidence of any work he did. When Mayor Bart Peterson's Deputy Mayor and spokesperson Steve Campbell met with area reporters to answer campaign-related questions throughout this past election as a city employee, no concerns were expressed from these people that he was doing anything wrong. And you won't hear them complaining about other government workers who have been known to hang out at the state Democratic Party during normal working hours from time to time. Hypocrisy at its worst.