Based upon figures released to AI by the Marion County Election Board today, absentee balloting is up slightly from recent off-year elections. Typically in Marion County, about 5.1% of the total votes cast in an off-year election are cast in the form of an absentee ballot. As of the close of business today, the Election Board reported about 8,600 mailed-in absentee ballots and another 2,200 walk-in absentee ballots, or a total of 10,800. That's up about 400 votes from the last off-year election for which absentee ballot numbers are available, and absentee balloting will continue through Tuesday, when the last eligible absentee ballots to be counted will arrive. Here's some figures from the most recent off-year elections:
2002: 198,341 total votes cast (absentee ballot numbers N.A.)
1998: 205,242 total votes cast (10,449 absentee ballots/5.09%)
1994: 199,134 total votes cast (10,225 absentee ballots/5.13%)
1990: 197,997 total votes cast (10,025 absentee ballots/5.09%)
As of the May, 2006 primary, there were 614,583 registered voters in Marion County. In the last general off-year election in 2002, there were 549,086 registered voters in Marion County. It should be pointed out that the clean-up of the statewide voter registration database this past summer resulted in about 553,000 registered voters statewide being purged from the active voter registration list, or about 10% of all registered voters. The actual active number of registered voters in Marion County is probably much closer to the 2002 number. It didn't make sense to me that no absentee ballot numbers would be available for 2002, but that's what the Election Board's website indicates.
To the extent that the number of actual absentee ballots is predictive of voter turnout, indications are that voter turnout might be up this year compared to recent off-year elections, although not as much as some might think given the current perceived atmosphere of voter discontent. It's also possible that more people are voting absentee this fall because of uncertainty over the state's new voter ID law.
Friday, November 03, 2006
Varvel On Carson's Win-At-All-Costs Campaign
Star political cartoonist Gary Varvel hits the nail on the head with his latest creations today. He captions his latest creation: "Did you hear about the mailer put out by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee for Julia Carson? She is doing her impersonation of Sergeant Schultz, "I know nothing!" The mud-slinging can only mean one thing. The polls must be too close for comfort."
I prefer the last sketch he shared as one of his other idea with Carson in the back seat telling Dickerson not to look at her as the car splashes mud on him.
Win-At-All-Costs Campaigns
The Star's editorial board calls out Rep. Julia Carson's campaign for re-election for what it is: "[A] mean-spirited, win-at-all costs campaign." "Both the DCCC and Carson owe Dickerson an apology," the Star writes. The DCCC and Carson made their position on this clear yesterday. They both adamantly refused to apologize to Dickerson during a joint appearance of the candidates on Amos Brown's afternoon radio talk show on WTLC-AM--to which Carson wore dark sunglasses--indoors.
Political columnist Matt Tully weighs in with his view that Democrats are betting on Carson's racist attacks on Republican Eric Dickerson working. Tully's recount of the reaction of the two candidates' reaction to the latest attack is quite telling. Tully writes: "Carson says she is 'really mad' at her party for sending out the fliers. 'I had nothing to do with it,' she insisted, adding she does not believe in going negative, even though she was the one who first leaked word of Dickerson's arrest. Tully writes of Dickerson's reaction: "Dickerson says Carson's claim of ignorance is a lie. But the attacks, he said, are helping his campaign. 'It's really buzzing now,' he said."
Tully thinks the attack shows the Democrats are really nervous about Carson's re-election chances. He also reminds us of Carson's obvious hypocrisy on the issue. He writes: "In 2002, Carson faced a tough challenge from Republican Brose McVey. Many people believe that race turned in Carson's favor on the day another Republican sent a flier featuring a blurred, fuzzy picture of Carson." "That message sold [for her]," he adds.
Tully closes with the reminder that negative campaigning often works. As much as I would like to think differently, I believe it will probably work. I grew up in a rural county of Illinois where no blacks lived and people spoke very honestly about how they felt about minorities. There are just enough white voters in the 7th District who will accept the DCCC's and Carson's message to 7th District's white voters that black men are bad and are not fit to serve in Congress. As she and Amos see it, "Racism in the defense of Julia is no vice."
By the way, the racist flyer which the DCCC claims wasn't specifically targetting white voters, did not arrive in my mailbox or my immediate neighbors. Is that because we live in the 46202 zip code where a large number of African-American voters live?
Political columnist Matt Tully weighs in with his view that Democrats are betting on Carson's racist attacks on Republican Eric Dickerson working. Tully's recount of the reaction of the two candidates' reaction to the latest attack is quite telling. Tully writes: "Carson says she is 'really mad' at her party for sending out the fliers. 'I had nothing to do with it,' she insisted, adding she does not believe in going negative, even though she was the one who first leaked word of Dickerson's arrest. Tully writes of Dickerson's reaction: "Dickerson says Carson's claim of ignorance is a lie. But the attacks, he said, are helping his campaign. 'It's really buzzing now,' he said."
Tully thinks the attack shows the Democrats are really nervous about Carson's re-election chances. He also reminds us of Carson's obvious hypocrisy on the issue. He writes: "In 2002, Carson faced a tough challenge from Republican Brose McVey. Many people believe that race turned in Carson's favor on the day another Republican sent a flier featuring a blurred, fuzzy picture of Carson." "That message sold [for her]," he adds.
Tully closes with the reminder that negative campaigning often works. As much as I would like to think differently, I believe it will probably work. I grew up in a rural county of Illinois where no blacks lived and people spoke very honestly about how they felt about minorities. There are just enough white voters in the 7th District who will accept the DCCC's and Carson's message to 7th District's white voters that black men are bad and are not fit to serve in Congress. As she and Amos see it, "Racism in the defense of Julia is no vice."
By the way, the racist flyer which the DCCC claims wasn't specifically targetting white voters, did not arrive in my mailbox or my immediate neighbors. Is that because we live in the 46202 zip code where a large number of African-American voters live?
Thursday, November 02, 2006
Right To Life Misrepresents Judges' Records
A part of the election ballot that gets little attention in advance of the election is the retention ballot for judges of the state Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals. Typically, the lack of attention to the retention ballot results in overwhelming votes to retain sitting judges. This year, however, Indiana Right to Life is mounting a campaign to unseat judges standing for retention. Not surprisingly, disinformation is being fed to voters in the process. In particular, the group is targeting one supreme court justice and four court of appeals judges, all but one of whom was appointed by former Gov. Evan Bayh (D).
Incidentally, I'm reporting on Right to Life's position on these judges via Micah Clark of the American Family Association of Indiana because it adds to the entertainment value. Clark's organization is a nonprofit and, as such, cannot endorse or oppose candidates for public office, but guys like Clark and Eric Miller never let that get in their way. Here's how he explains it:
On Court of Appeals Judge Edward Najam, Right to Life says he “wrote the majority opinion in a ruling that Indiana parents may not bring wrongful death suits for the death of unborn child, regardless of whether the child is viable or not.” I don't know about the rest of you, but I really don't want to see my insurance rates go up a whole lot higher than what they already are. If you allow double recovery for one husband because the wife he lost was one month pregnant and not for the husband who lost a wife but was planning to have children, it doesn't seem really fair to me. Ironically, Right to Life is dinging Najam even though he was the only dissenting vote against the recent Court of Appeals ruling allowing same-sex parent adoptions in Indiana. Court of Appeals Judge Ezra Frielander is dinged by Right to Life for writing the majority opinion in that case. Friedlaner, the group laments, [W]rote the majority opinion in a ruling recognizing parental rights of same sex couples.”
Court of Appeals Judge Terry Crone earns the groups enmity for “rul[ing] that Planned Parenthood need not deliver documents on minors to the Attorney General in the AG’s investigation into whether Planned Parenthood is properly reporting child sexual abuse in Indiana.” Actually, the ruling upheld the constitutional right to privacy with respect to one's medical records, but let's not confuse you with the facts.
Finally, Court of Appeals Judge Patricia Riley is nixed because she “ruled that same sex orientation should have no bearing on parental custody, supported same sex adoption in Indiana, and overturned a court order barring divorcing parents from exposing their child to Wiccan satanic practices.” Yes, it's true that Judge Riley thinks that child custody issues should be based on the long-standing standard of the "child's best interest" and not based on the sexual orientation of the parent. Yes, she interprets Indiana's statutory adoption law to allow unmarried individuals, whether gay or straight, to adopt a child if the adoption is in the "child's best interests" because the statute makes no such distinction between adopting parents. And yes, Judge Riley slapped Marion County Superior Court Judge Cale Bradford's hand for telling the parents of a child they could not expose their child to the Wiccan religion without a showing that either the physical health of the child is endangered or the emotional health of the child is impaired because that's what the statute passed by the General Assembly says about the matter.
Well, this has been an entertaining exercise for me. For my part, I'm going to show the American Family Association and Indiana Right to Life what I think about their silly musings about our judges and vote to retain each and every one of them.
Incidentally, I'm reporting on Right to Life's position on these judges via Micah Clark of the American Family Association of Indiana because it adds to the entertainment value. Clark's organization is a nonprofit and, as such, cannot endorse or oppose candidates for public office, but guys like Clark and Eric Miller never let that get in their way. Here's how he explains it:
AFA cannot endorse candidates (that’s a role for AFA of Indiana’s PAC). However, as an educational entity, I can report the actions of other organizations. Thankfully, Indiana Right to Life’s Political Action Committee has done some helpful research on the six judicial retention questions on the Indiana ballot this fall. They have found some troubling rulings from four judges on Indiana’s Court of Appeals, and one member of the Indiana Supreme Court. They are recommending voting “no” on judicial retention questions.Moving on to the most important judge up for retention, let's see what they have to say about Justice Frank Sullivan. Clark says, “[He] wrote the majority opinion that expanded taxpayer funding for abortions in Indiana through Medicaid.” This actually involved a case where a pregnant woman was being denied access to an abortion, even though her doctor said she faced permanent impairment to bodily functions if her pregnancy was not terminated. The Supreme Court ruled that to deprive her of access to an abortion was a violation of her right to equal protection under the Indiana Constitution. The Right to Life's explanation of Sullivan's opinion is disingenuous to say the least.
On Court of Appeals Judge Edward Najam, Right to Life says he “wrote the majority opinion in a ruling that Indiana parents may not bring wrongful death suits for the death of unborn child, regardless of whether the child is viable or not.” I don't know about the rest of you, but I really don't want to see my insurance rates go up a whole lot higher than what they already are. If you allow double recovery for one husband because the wife he lost was one month pregnant and not for the husband who lost a wife but was planning to have children, it doesn't seem really fair to me. Ironically, Right to Life is dinging Najam even though he was the only dissenting vote against the recent Court of Appeals ruling allowing same-sex parent adoptions in Indiana. Court of Appeals Judge Ezra Frielander is dinged by Right to Life for writing the majority opinion in that case. Friedlaner, the group laments, [W]rote the majority opinion in a ruling recognizing parental rights of same sex couples.”
Court of Appeals Judge Terry Crone earns the groups enmity for “rul[ing] that Planned Parenthood need not deliver documents on minors to the Attorney General in the AG’s investigation into whether Planned Parenthood is properly reporting child sexual abuse in Indiana.” Actually, the ruling upheld the constitutional right to privacy with respect to one's medical records, but let's not confuse you with the facts.
Finally, Court of Appeals Judge Patricia Riley is nixed because she “ruled that same sex orientation should have no bearing on parental custody, supported same sex adoption in Indiana, and overturned a court order barring divorcing parents from exposing their child to Wiccan satanic practices.” Yes, it's true that Judge Riley thinks that child custody issues should be based on the long-standing standard of the "child's best interest" and not based on the sexual orientation of the parent. Yes, she interprets Indiana's statutory adoption law to allow unmarried individuals, whether gay or straight, to adopt a child if the adoption is in the "child's best interests" because the statute makes no such distinction between adopting parents. And yes, Judge Riley slapped Marion County Superior Court Judge Cale Bradford's hand for telling the parents of a child they could not expose their child to the Wiccan religion without a showing that either the physical health of the child is endangered or the emotional health of the child is impaired because that's what the statute passed by the General Assembly says about the matter.
Well, this has been an entertaining exercise for me. For my part, I'm going to show the American Family Association and Indiana Right to Life what I think about their silly musings about our judges and vote to retain each and every one of them.
The Closure Of Hollywood Bar & Filmworks
Ted Bulthaup, owner of Hollywood Bar & Filmworks takes out a full page ad in the Star today to let Indianapolis residents know why it is closing after 15 years of operating on South Meridian Street. He has a lot of things to say about Mayor Peterson (D) and Melina Kennedy (D), and none of them are very flattering. It really is depressing to hear a small business owner like Bulthaup explain how everything in this city revolves around what the Simon family wants, and when those interests collide with the small business owners in downtown Indy, the Simon's always prevail.
Parking demand after the new Conseco fieldhouse opened, Buthaup explains, drives up parking costs so much during special events that many long-time customers of businesses like Bulthaup's no longer come downtown for their entertainment and dining. Attempts to get parking concessions from the city to help these small business owners were unsuccessful, leading to the ultimate demise of Hollywood Bar & Filmworks. At the same time these small business owners were seeking relief, Mayor Peterson and Melina Kennedy awarded the Simons an $11 million taxpayer give-away so Simon employees could park for free in their new corporate tower shadowing the State House.
I highly recommend you take the time to read what Bulthaup has to say. The Star chose to keep its readers in the dark as to what's really been going on in this meaningless report in today's paper. Curiously, the Star article says nothing about the challenges Bulthaup and other small business owners downtown have had in getting their problems addressed by the Peterson administration. I know the Star was one of the original investors in the Simon family's Circle Centre Mall--they used to provide a disclaimer whenever they reported on any news item involving the mall. I'm not sure how that investment was handled after the Star was purchased by Gannett.
Parking demand after the new Conseco fieldhouse opened, Buthaup explains, drives up parking costs so much during special events that many long-time customers of businesses like Bulthaup's no longer come downtown for their entertainment and dining. Attempts to get parking concessions from the city to help these small business owners were unsuccessful, leading to the ultimate demise of Hollywood Bar & Filmworks. At the same time these small business owners were seeking relief, Mayor Peterson and Melina Kennedy awarded the Simons an $11 million taxpayer give-away so Simon employees could park for free in their new corporate tower shadowing the State House.
I highly recommend you take the time to read what Bulthaup has to say. The Star chose to keep its readers in the dark as to what's really been going on in this meaningless report in today's paper. Curiously, the Star article says nothing about the challenges Bulthaup and other small business owners downtown have had in getting their problems addressed by the Peterson administration. I know the Star was one of the original investors in the Simon family's Circle Centre Mall--they used to provide a disclaimer whenever they reported on any news item involving the mall. I'm not sure how that investment was handled after the Star was purchased by Gannett.
Star Loses Further Credibility In 7th District Race
It would strain credibility to say the Star's coverage of the 7th District race to date has been either competent or informative, but to just confirm how really bad they are, the Star's editors decided to bury the story everyone in town is discussing about the 7th District race. That, of course, is the blatantly racist flyer the DCCC dropped in 7th District voters mailboxes yesterday to scare white voters away from voting for Republican Eric Dickerson, an African-American. For those of you just tuning in, the mailer, showing a grainy photo of Dickerson, asked voters: "What's worse? A candidate for Congress who beats his wife, bites his kid, gets arrested and goes to jail ... or a candidate who lies about it?"
Why would the Star decide this flyer just wasn't important enough to cover? Afterall, this issue first arose in its own editorial board meeting with Rep. Carson who blurted out to them: "He beat up his wife to a pulp." A volunteer for her campaign staff then produced a 15-year-old, unproven allegation of domestic abuse, even Dickerson's wife denies, and a charge which former Marion County Prosecutor Jeff Modisett (D) chose not to prosecute. And then the state party's communications director posted a copy of the unproven charge on the Internet, replete with Dickerson's and his wife's social security numbers and a grainy, black and white mug shot photo. The answer is very simple. Any discussion of the content of this ad and how and why it arrived in 7th District voters looks bad for Carson--real bad. And the Star has decided for us, that even though she should have never run for Congress again because of her declining health, and that she "rambles" and her answers to questions are "disjointed", it thinks it best they we be stuck with a person representing us for the next two years who simply is no longer physically up to the challenges of the job.
You see, if the Star had decided to do a real news story about, what is perhaps the most controversial political advertising issue in the 2006 election cycle in the entire nation, it would have had to point out the origins of this whole issue. It would have had to ask how Carson can express outrage and attempt to divorce herself from an issue she, and noone else, interjected into this campaign. And it would have had to look at this in light of circumstances where recent polls showing Carson in a statistical dead heat with Dickerson, and those same polls showing Carson running far behind Dickerson among white voters. To whom was the message of this ad directed? A grainy photo of a black man describing him going all wild and crazy and winding up in jail. No, the Star didn't want to tackle those issues. But four years ago, they were more than willing to give big play to Carson crying racism when local Republicans attacked her record using a grainy black and white photo of her. Once again, my friends, the Star resumes its role as Carson's enabler. Carson represents us in Congress because the Star selectively decides what voters should or should not hear about the real Carson record.
So just what are the Star's priorities today? It's all about a front-page story on the beautiful, multi-million dollar home Governor Daniels and his wife are building in Carmel. And TDW says today: "The house had been on hold -- TDW pulled the permits and plans earlier this year to make sure -- but it looks like Geist just wasn't cutting it. Kudos to Mary Beth Schneider for this get". Hmmm. This is information I really needed to know.
UPDATE: Bill Burton with the DCCC, who was responsible for the mailer, tells Amos Brown this afternoon that the DCCC consulted with people in the Democratic Party here in Indiana to guage "voter's sensibility" before launching this negative attack against Dickerson. Burton also hinted that another mailer may drop in Indianapolis mailboxes before election day. He completely skirted the question Brown asked him as to whether certain voters were targeted with this mailing. He indicated that the group of voters sent the mailer were "likely voters" and were based on zip codes. He would not answer the question directly as to whether the mailer was sent district-wide. That's very telling.
Why would the Star decide this flyer just wasn't important enough to cover? Afterall, this issue first arose in its own editorial board meeting with Rep. Carson who blurted out to them: "He beat up his wife to a pulp." A volunteer for her campaign staff then produced a 15-year-old, unproven allegation of domestic abuse, even Dickerson's wife denies, and a charge which former Marion County Prosecutor Jeff Modisett (D) chose not to prosecute. And then the state party's communications director posted a copy of the unproven charge on the Internet, replete with Dickerson's and his wife's social security numbers and a grainy, black and white mug shot photo. The answer is very simple. Any discussion of the content of this ad and how and why it arrived in 7th District voters looks bad for Carson--real bad. And the Star has decided for us, that even though she should have never run for Congress again because of her declining health, and that she "rambles" and her answers to questions are "disjointed", it thinks it best they we be stuck with a person representing us for the next two years who simply is no longer physically up to the challenges of the job.
You see, if the Star had decided to do a real news story about, what is perhaps the most controversial political advertising issue in the 2006 election cycle in the entire nation, it would have had to point out the origins of this whole issue. It would have had to ask how Carson can express outrage and attempt to divorce herself from an issue she, and noone else, interjected into this campaign. And it would have had to look at this in light of circumstances where recent polls showing Carson in a statistical dead heat with Dickerson, and those same polls showing Carson running far behind Dickerson among white voters. To whom was the message of this ad directed? A grainy photo of a black man describing him going all wild and crazy and winding up in jail. No, the Star didn't want to tackle those issues. But four years ago, they were more than willing to give big play to Carson crying racism when local Republicans attacked her record using a grainy black and white photo of her. Once again, my friends, the Star resumes its role as Carson's enabler. Carson represents us in Congress because the Star selectively decides what voters should or should not hear about the real Carson record.
So just what are the Star's priorities today? It's all about a front-page story on the beautiful, multi-million dollar home Governor Daniels and his wife are building in Carmel. And TDW says today: "The house had been on hold -- TDW pulled the permits and plans earlier this year to make sure -- but it looks like Geist just wasn't cutting it. Kudos to Mary Beth Schneider for this get". Hmmm. This is information I really needed to know.
UPDATE: Bill Burton with the DCCC, who was responsible for the mailer, tells Amos Brown this afternoon that the DCCC consulted with people in the Democratic Party here in Indiana to guage "voter's sensibility" before launching this negative attack against Dickerson. Burton also hinted that another mailer may drop in Indianapolis mailboxes before election day. He completely skirted the question Brown asked him as to whether certain voters were targeted with this mailing. He indicated that the group of voters sent the mailer were "likely voters" and were based on zip codes. He would not answer the question directly as to whether the mailer was sent district-wide. That's very telling.
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Local Candidates Meet-And-Greet At Indy Rainbow Chamber Mixer
Several Marion County candidates representing both political parties gathered tonight for the Indy Rainbow Chamber's monthly mixer at Greg's Our Place. In the featured race for sheriff, Sheriff Frank Anderson (D) and Steve Davis (R) mingled with members. Other county candidates included county clerk candidate Beth White (D), county recorder candidate Angela Cypress (R) and county auditor candidate Greg Bowes (D). Both candidates vying to represent House District 97 also attended, including Rep. Ed Mahern (D) and Jon Elrod (R).
It's Long For Senate President Pro Tem
Just as AI predicted months ago, Sen. David Long (R-Ft. Wayne) is poised to succeed Indiana's longest serving Senate President Pro Tempore, Robert Garton (R-Columbus), after this November's election. His election becomes a foregone conclusion after his only serious rival, Sen. Tom Weatherwax (R-Logansport) dropped his bid. Because Republicans currently have a 33-17 advantage and Senate Democrats have only fielded serious candidates in but a handful of districts, the Republicans are expected to continue their decades-old majority in the Indiana Senate. Mary Beth Schneider of the Star reports that, if elected, he "would continue the Senate's history of decorum"--whatever that's supposed to mean. He will officially be chosen by the Senate Republican caucus one week from today.
Carson Plays Race Card To Destroy Dickerson
MAILER TARGETS WHITE VOTERS FEAR OF BLACK MEN
In a cheap, ugly display of blatant racism against her African-American opponent Eric Dickerson, Rep. Julia Carson (D) drops a negative attack ad in the mailboxes of white voters to scare them away from voting for Dickerson, playing on white people's worst stereotypes of black men. In a mailer sent out this week by the Democratic National Congressional Committee, Carson shows a grainy, black and white photograph of Dickerson (ala the famous police mug shot posted on Taking Down Words) and tells 7th District voters he is guilty of a heinous domestic violence crime for which he was never convicted and his wife denies happened. As Matt Tully describes the mailer at his blog:
If you folks aren't convinced that Carson is the dirtiest politician in the history of the state of Indiana, you should be now. The hypocritical Carson, as Tully notes, was the first to scream racism when Marion Co. Republicans sent out a flyer raising legitimate questions about her public record and used a grainy, black and white photo. AI warned you about Carson's bag of dirty tricks. AI told you she and the Democrats would do everything possible to destroy Dickerson, even if it meant using the race card.
It's nothing new. If you look at the Carson record, it is completely devoid of any accomplishments of note for the benefit of her constituents. It has always been about helping herself and her friends to the benefits of government in the most self-serving of ways. Whether it was an insider deal for her clothing store, putting family and friends on the government payroll, firing pubic servants who refused to support her political wishes, or using campaign funds illegally as political slush funds for friends and supporters, it's always been about Julia helping Julia.
When an accomplished, respected black man comes along and dares to challenge her grasp on political power, she does what all corrupt, career politicians do: try to convince voters that their opponent is even worse than they are. She attends a conference claiming to seek social justice for blacks on Monday, and then she strikes a blow against the black man on Wednesday. She has no legislative accomplishments she can point to in asking voters to re-elect her. Struggling with life-threatening illnesses, she must turn to surrogates like former Rep. Andy Jacobs (D) and Mayor Bart Peterson (D) to deliver her message. She is too ill to sit and look the voters in the eye and tell them why they should re-elect her. And she is too cowardly to say to her opponent's face in a real, live debate with the voters, what she seeks to do through subterfuge.
It's all very sad. And who really wins in the end? Carson? Indianapolis' black community? The voters of the 7th District? The answer is none of the above. A congressional district is a terrible thing to waste, but the voters of the 7th District may well do just that.
UPDATE: Because some Carson supporters seem to have a case of selective amnesia and profess complete shock and horror that this ad just simply appeared out of nowhere without any knowledge of the Carson campaign, let us remind them that the very first person to raise this issue in this campaign was none other than Rep. Julia Carson during a meeting with the Star editorial staff. She told the Star that Dickerson "beat up his wife to a pulp." A volunteer for her campaign produced the first copy of the 15-year-old unproven police report to substantiate their claim, which was posted on Taking Down Words the day after Carson leveled the accusation against Dickerson. TDW is edited by Jen Wagner, communications director for the Indiana Democratic Party. Carson's congressional campaign shares office space in the same office where the Indiana Democratic Party's offices are located. Try as they may, the claim of the Carson campaign that they had no knowledge of the DCCC's mailer this week rings hollow with this blogger.
It is beyond belief that Carson would tell WTHR-TV tonight that she is outraged by the ad, that she told the DNCC not to go negative and that she did not authorize the ad. Sorry lady, if you're outraged by it, why were you the one who raised the issue to begin with? She tells WTHR: "We attempt to keep a clean race. We attempt to. Sometimes outside supporters get very zealous, overzealous and they do things that I don't approve of like negative talk. I don't approve of that. I wish it didn't happen." And I guess Carson thinks we all just fell off the turnip truck if she expects us to believe that load of crap.
As this ad accuses your opponent of doing, your own explanation strains credulity. Brian Howey of the Howey Political Report tells WTHR he has never seen a more scurrilous attack leveled against a candidate with less than a week before the election. Interestingly, every voter WTHR interviewed who received the mailer was a white voter. Judging by the response of the voters interviewed, Carson and the DNCC may be regretting their decision to try and convict Dickerson for a 15-year-old criminal allegation a Democratic prosecutor chose not to prosecute. Don't forget this response she gave to WTHR after she raised the allegation herself the first time: "Congresswoman Julia Carson says she didn't mean to bring domestic violence into the upcoming campaign when she mentioned her opponent's 1991 arrest to the Indianapolis Star editorial board. 'I don't know that it makes him unfit, because there are others who serve in Congress,' said Carson ."
In a cheap, ugly display of blatant racism against her African-American opponent Eric Dickerson, Rep. Julia Carson (D) drops a negative attack ad in the mailboxes of white voters to scare them away from voting for Dickerson, playing on white people's worst stereotypes of black men. In a mailer sent out this week by the Democratic National Congressional Committee, Carson shows a grainy, black and white photograph of Dickerson (ala the famous police mug shot posted on Taking Down Words) and tells 7th District voters he is guilty of a heinous domestic violence crime for which he was never convicted and his wife denies happened. As Matt Tully describes the mailer at his blog:
A campaign mailer, sent out by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, hits Dickerson hard. It relies on reports this summer that Dickerson was arrested for domestic violence 15 years ago. (Dickerson's wife later denied the charges, which were eventually dropped.)
"What's worse," the new mailer asks. "A candidate for Congress who beats his wife, bites his kid, gets arrested and goes to jail ... or a candidate who lies about it?"
The ad does not appear to be the work of a party that thinks its candidate is a sure thing on Nov. 7. One interesting note: The mailer features a grainy picture of Dickerson. Four years ago, Carson and Democrats alleged racism after Republicans sent out a mailer featuring a grainy photo of Carson. Both Carson and Democrat are black.
If you folks aren't convinced that Carson is the dirtiest politician in the history of the state of Indiana, you should be now. The hypocritical Carson, as Tully notes, was the first to scream racism when Marion Co. Republicans sent out a flyer raising legitimate questions about her public record and used a grainy, black and white photo. AI warned you about Carson's bag of dirty tricks. AI told you she and the Democrats would do everything possible to destroy Dickerson, even if it meant using the race card.
It's nothing new. If you look at the Carson record, it is completely devoid of any accomplishments of note for the benefit of her constituents. It has always been about helping herself and her friends to the benefits of government in the most self-serving of ways. Whether it was an insider deal for her clothing store, putting family and friends on the government payroll, firing pubic servants who refused to support her political wishes, or using campaign funds illegally as political slush funds for friends and supporters, it's always been about Julia helping Julia.
When an accomplished, respected black man comes along and dares to challenge her grasp on political power, she does what all corrupt, career politicians do: try to convince voters that their opponent is even worse than they are. She attends a conference claiming to seek social justice for blacks on Monday, and then she strikes a blow against the black man on Wednesday. She has no legislative accomplishments she can point to in asking voters to re-elect her. Struggling with life-threatening illnesses, she must turn to surrogates like former Rep. Andy Jacobs (D) and Mayor Bart Peterson (D) to deliver her message. She is too ill to sit and look the voters in the eye and tell them why they should re-elect her. And she is too cowardly to say to her opponent's face in a real, live debate with the voters, what she seeks to do through subterfuge.
It's all very sad. And who really wins in the end? Carson? Indianapolis' black community? The voters of the 7th District? The answer is none of the above. A congressional district is a terrible thing to waste, but the voters of the 7th District may well do just that.
UPDATE: Because some Carson supporters seem to have a case of selective amnesia and profess complete shock and horror that this ad just simply appeared out of nowhere without any knowledge of the Carson campaign, let us remind them that the very first person to raise this issue in this campaign was none other than Rep. Julia Carson during a meeting with the Star editorial staff. She told the Star that Dickerson "beat up his wife to a pulp." A volunteer for her campaign produced the first copy of the 15-year-old unproven police report to substantiate their claim, which was posted on Taking Down Words the day after Carson leveled the accusation against Dickerson. TDW is edited by Jen Wagner, communications director for the Indiana Democratic Party. Carson's congressional campaign shares office space in the same office where the Indiana Democratic Party's offices are located. Try as they may, the claim of the Carson campaign that they had no knowledge of the DCCC's mailer this week rings hollow with this blogger.
It is beyond belief that Carson would tell WTHR-TV tonight that she is outraged by the ad, that she told the DNCC not to go negative and that she did not authorize the ad. Sorry lady, if you're outraged by it, why were you the one who raised the issue to begin with? She tells WTHR: "We attempt to keep a clean race. We attempt to. Sometimes outside supporters get very zealous, overzealous and they do things that I don't approve of like negative talk. I don't approve of that. I wish it didn't happen." And I guess Carson thinks we all just fell off the turnip truck if she expects us to believe that load of crap.
As this ad accuses your opponent of doing, your own explanation strains credulity. Brian Howey of the Howey Political Report tells WTHR he has never seen a more scurrilous attack leveled against a candidate with less than a week before the election. Interestingly, every voter WTHR interviewed who received the mailer was a white voter. Judging by the response of the voters interviewed, Carson and the DNCC may be regretting their decision to try and convict Dickerson for a 15-year-old criminal allegation a Democratic prosecutor chose not to prosecute. Don't forget this response she gave to WTHR after she raised the allegation herself the first time: "Congresswoman Julia Carson says she didn't mean to bring domestic violence into the upcoming campaign when she mentioned her opponent's 1991 arrest to the Indianapolis Star editorial board. 'I don't know that it makes him unfit, because there are others who serve in Congress,' said Carson ."
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