Blogs

Jake Tapper is reporting that the National Shooting Sports Foundation is accusing the Obama campaign - and specifically, the Indiana for Change campaign - of misappropriating its email list:

Somehow, the NSSF charges, on September 27, 2008, the Obama campaign's Hoosier arm -- "Indiana for Change" -- distributed a press release to the SHOT Show media list, one entitled "Statement from Barack Obama on National Hunting and Fishing Day."

"Obama for America through its Indiana for Change arm has violated NSSF's legal rights and caused NSSF damages for partisan political gain," accuses Lawrence Keane, vice president and legal counsel for the trade association, demanding that Obama's campaign stop using the list, destroy it, and pay NSSF a quarter million dollars for having used it.

You can see a PDF of the NSSF letter here. In my view, the NSSF loses a little credibility by CC'ing "Barak H. Obama". If you can't spell a Presidential candidate's name correctly, what else have you overlooked?

A new Research 2000 poll for WISH-TV shows Baron Hill with a 12-point lead in the 9th District.

If the election for Congress were held today, would you vote for Baron Hill, the Democrat, or Mike Sodrel, the Republican?

The Research 2000 Indiana Poll was conducted from September 29 through October 3, 2008. A total of 800 likely voters who vote regularly in state elections were interviewed statewide by telephone.

And Jim Shella adds a little color:

Bloomington Herald Times editor Bob Zaltsberg said, "Hill-Sodrel doesn't seem to have quite the pizzazz or intensity that it's had in the last few years."

There will be a debate the week after next and Sodrel wants the candidates attached to lie detectors. He may need such a gimmick to pull this one out.

(Crossposted from BlueIndiana)

(H/T to Thomas at BlueIndiana)

I guess when you're trailing by double digits this late in the race, you'll do anything for attention:

Ninth District Republican Party Chairman Larry Shickles on Wednesday proposed the political polygraphs for Democratic Rep. Baron Hill, GOP challenger Mike Sodrel and Libertarian candidate Eric Schansberg. [...]

Shickles, in a letter sent Tuesday to 9th District Democratic Chairman Mike Jones, suggested that the candidates be hooked up to lie detecting machines at the Oct. 21 event or a separate debate.

"While this format may be unusual, I feel strongly that voters need to be able to make a clear decision without all the usual spin," Shickles wrote.

Sodrel's campaign said he would agree to the proposal, and Schansberg said he also would agree to wear a lie detector. Hill declined to comment. (Source: AP)

Unfortunately for Sodrel and the Party of Desperate Tactics (TM), the debate organizers aren't buying it.

The fact is, the voters here in the 9th District trust Baron Hill, and for good reason - he's spent his time in Congress listening to his constituents and taking their needs seriously. On the other hand, Mike Sodrel closed his Congressional offices after his electoral defeat, leaving his constituents in the cold. Even putting aside Sodrel's obvious inattention to the people of the 9th District, it's obvious that his extremist views and loyalty to the failed policies of the Bush administration are out of step with Hoosiers.

Now, it shouldn't come as a surprise that I have some serious policy disagreements with Baron Hill - but I really respect him and the work he's done for Hoosiers. He's earned our trust, and doesn't need to rely on cheap gimmicks.

Welcome to life in a swing state - the GOP voter suppression machine is gearing up in Indiana.

While we had a minor argument over the placement of early voting centers here in Monroe County, up in Lake County the lawsuits are flying. Thomas at BlueIndiana has done some incredible work on following this issue (here, here, here, and here), but TPM gives a good rundown of the basics:

But under Indiana law, early voting can take place only in the county clerk's main office, which for Lake County is in Crown Point, more than an hour's drive from those cities.

As a result, on September 23, the county board of elections, on a 3-2 party-line vote, approved the opening of satellite early-voting centers in the the three cities. (State law specifically gives elections boards the authority to approve satellite voting centers, and early voting occurred at the centers in advance of the Democratic primary in May.)

But Republicans argue that the decision is unfair to voters in other parts of the state, many of whom would still need to travel to their county seat to vote early. Last week, the county GOP challenged the move, arguing that the centers can only be approved through a unanimous vote of the election board, and asking for a restraining order on early voting.

More after the jump...

So Mike Sodrel finally has a TV commercial on the air - you can see the YouTube version at Hoosier Political Report.

It's a weak attempt at responding to the DCCC's "Millionaire Mike" ads, hitting Sodrel on economic issues, and it comes on the heels of some very bad news for Sodrel. Despite the desperate tactic of "leaking" an internal poll, the latest independent polling shows Hill with a 15-point lead. And according to Swing State Project, the DCCC has spent almost $400K in the 9th district since early September, while the cash-strapped RNCC hasn't chipped in to help Sodrel at all. Baron has been running strictly positive ads for several weeks.

Plus, Baron Hill voted against the Wall Street Bailout bill - the second time, after carefully listening to his constituents back here in Indiana. He's even got a new ad up touting his vote. (Unfortunately, the embedded video plays automatically. Watch it after the jump...)

On the heels of yet another poll showing Jill Long Thompson within striking distance of Mitch Daniels, she's aggressively touring the state and promoting her economic plan. While she's not back on the airwaves with any ads, she's timed this economic push very well. At the same time that more attention is being paid to Mitch Daniels' disastrous privatization of state welfare services, Jill is promoting her plan:

The plan, outlined in a 56-page document, would, among other things, overhaul the state’s tax structure, create “green” jobs, improve the state’s infrastructure and reform Indiana’s education system.

It also would suspend the state gasoline tax, work to provide a free book each month to Hoosier children up to age 5, change Indiana’s voter ID law, dismantle the newly privatized welfare intake system and provide tax incentives for job creation in Indiana counties based on the economic strength of those counties. (Source: Terre Haute Tribune-Star)

You can find the full OneIndiana Plan at Jill's website.

Today, she's joining Barack Obama, Evan Bayh, and Andre Carson at a rally in Indianapolis.

Next Tuesday, she's in Bloomington for the final gubernatorial debate and a fundraiser - don't miss your chance to help retire George Bush's Man Mitch.

From John at The Bloomington Beacon:

A reception for political and school-board candidates (MCCSC, RBBCSC) will be held on Oct. 12, 5:30-7:00 p.m. in Fellowship Hall at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Bloomington, 2120 N. Fee Lane.

Come share your concerns with Monroe County candidates! and hear their positions on major issues, including issues of particular interest to LGBT people!

Reception co-sponsors include: Bloomington PFLAG, Bloomington Beacon, Indiana Equality Region 9, bloomingOUT at WFHB-FM, Indiana Transgender Rights Advocacy Alliance, and Rainbow Rights Task Force of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Bloomington.

Since I screwed up my wrist, my posting has been a little light. Until I'm typing normally again, here's some good reading for you:

• 538.com profiles the Obama ground game in Bloomington as part of their ongoing contrast between the campaigns. Now that we're a swing state, we're getting all kinds of attention.
  
  

• Julie Thomas lays out the case against building a new jail - an issue she shares with fellow DFMC A-List candidates Mark Stoops, Elizabeth Cure, and Valeri Haughton.
  
  

• New SUSA poll shows Baron Hill up big - and Obama is within striking distance here in the 9th. If you want to know how that's possible, see the first link above.
  
  

• If you missed the County Commissioner forum at Ivy Tech, WFHB has it online.
  
  

• Yet another poll shows that Jill Long Thompson is close to taking out George Bush's Man Mitch. How many polls can be outliers?
  
  

The title of this blog is actually the title of a column by Bradley Burston, the American correspondent of the liberal-leaning Israeli newspaper, Ha'aretz. The column is a scathing critique of Sarah Palin and the type of fear/hate mongering that she has chosen to use as part of the Republicans' desperate effort to stave off defeat in this year's election. The following is an excerpt from the column.

Obama-hate is worth a close look not only for what it tells us about political campaigns, but for what it can teach us about America itself, its divisions and the possibility of healing.

This is, as well, about the role Sarah Palin can play in the process. She can, if she chooses, elevate the level of debate on the urgent challenges Americans must face. Or she can say something like this:

"We see America as the greatest force for good in this world," Palin told a fund-raising event in Colorado on Sunday. "Our opponent though, is someone who sees America, it seems, as being so imperfect that he's palling around with terrorists who would target their own country."

"This is not a man who sees America like you and I see America," she said. "We see America as a force of good in this world."

Since taking the national stage a month ago, Sarah Palin has been subjected to an onslaught of invective, dismissal, insult and smear. Now, the debate safely behind her, she has chosen a new means of response: incitement.

Does she really believe that Barack Obama, and by extension, those who support him, do not see America as a force for good in this world?

I thought I'd write a few thoughts about tonight's debate between the two candidates for Vice-President.

If anyone was expecting blood to be shed tonight (figuratively speaking of course), he/she was probably disappointed (or maybe pleasantly surprised). There were no disastrous moments such as Governor Palin had in her interviews with Katie Couric or Charles Gibson. She rarely stumbled and she seemed to hold her own.

On the other hand, many of Palin's responses were nonsensical ramblings of talking points which, more often than not, had little to do with the question that was asked. In fact, there were times when she rambled so far afield that I had difficulty remembering what the original question was. Of course, that may have been intentional on her part. By rambling so much and saying whatever came to mind, perhaps she was hoping to disguise the fact that she didn't really know what the heck she was talking about. Coupled with her folksy style, her friendly demeanor, and her good looks, she just may have managed to appeal to some voters. Fortunately, she's not the top of the ticket, so her appeal probably won't affect much.

Yesterday's USA Today contained an article on the Indiana Right to Life's county-by-county strategy in Indiana.

(For our earlier entries on this issue, see Anti-abortion measures continue in other counties and Vanderburgh County Commissioners under fire for abortion vote.)

The piece does a good job of succintly summarizing the issue, and gets some really great quotes:

Some abortion clinics are staffed by doctors who are based elsewhere and are unlikely to have admitting privileges at local hospitals, so the rules present a new obstacle for abortion providers.

"Absolutely, it's a new strategy," says Mike Fichter, president of Indiana Right to Life. The ordinances ensure that women with complications after abortions can quickly get medical care, he says, but he hopes they also make abortions harder to get.

Fichter expects at least a half-dozen Indiana counties to pass similar measures this year. Eighteen states require a relationship between abortion clinics and hospitals, says the Guttmacher Institute, a non-profit research and education group.

Betty Cockrum, president of Planned Parenthood of Indiana, says the ordinances are unneeded because states regulate medical facilities. She expects abortion foes elsewhere to follow Indiana's lead.

National groups on both sides of the abortion debate are monitoring Indiana. "Could it have an effect on the availability of abortions? Certainly, if providers refuse to comply with the law," says Denise Burke, vice president of Americans United for Life.

"These kinds of local ordinances could fly under the radar and have a real impact," says Celine Mizrahi, legislative counsel for the Center for Reproductive Rights, a non-profit legal advocacy group.

There's also a great summary of what's happened so far:

Action so far in Indiana:

• Vanderburgh County commissioners last month voted unanimously to require doctors who perform abortions in the county to have admitting privileges there or in an adjacent county.

The county has no abortion clinic. Mary Ellen Van Dyke of Vanderburgh County Right to Life, says the measure was proposed after the Indiana Legislature failed to pass a similar law this year.

• Dubois County, which has no abortion clinic, passed the regulation last month. "We want to get out ahead of it where we can prevent" one from opening, says Commissioner Larry Vollmer.

• In Allen County, where there is an abortion clinic staffed by a doctor from another county, commissioners haven't scheduled a vote. They are considering broadening a proposed ordinance to include all "itinerant" medical procedures such as laser eye surgery, Commissioner Nelson Peters says.

If Allen County votes to require hospital admitting privileges, her group would consider legal action, Mizrahi says. The group says the ordinance would encroach on state authority.

Once again, it shows how important it is for us to elect County Commissioners who understand the issues at stake, and who represent Monroe County - luckily, we have Mark Stoops and Iris Kiesling on the ballot this fall.

I just got a fundraising email from Baron Hill's campaign, citing new numbers from one of Sodrel's internal polls. According to the forwarded email, Sodrel's internal poll from Wilson Research Strategies, taken Sept 8-9, shows the race within the margin of error, 44 Hill - 41 Sodrel.

This poll hasn't been publicly released, although it was leaked to a blogger Josh Gillespie at HoosierAccess and reported on at Howey Politics. It shows the race much closer than any of the SUSA polls have shown.

Josh claims that the poll also shows McCain with a 20-point lead (56-36) and Daniels with a 20-point lead (55-35), which is pretty far removed from most of the other poll numbers for the Presidential and higher than the other Gubernatorial polls. (In fact, 56 is much higher than McCain has registered in any of the polls listed on Pollster.) HoosierAccess has the PDF of the toplines here. (I've also snagged a copy for future reference.)

Josh also claims, quoting from the report, "The district is decidedly more Republican this cycle than last." This ignores the fact that in Monroe County alone, there have been more than 13,000 new/updated registrations since the May primary - 5,500 in the last month, and more than 2,300 in the last seven days. The Campaign for Change has been focusing almost exclusively on voter registration in the past few weeks, and they've canvassed my neighborhood at least twice. This poll is an outlier, too, in that it doesn't find the big chunk of Obama supporters who are leaning toward Daniels - something that's been a constant in most other polls this cycle.

Baron Hill is, of course, using these numbers to try and raise funds for even more TV ads. I know I live in Monroe County - which has given Baron his margin of victory in each of his wins - but I haven't seen much activity from Sodrel aside from yard signs. (He did talk to the IU College Republicans a few weeks back.)

It will be interesting to see the next round of financial disclosures in this race, and how much of his own money Millionaire Mike is willing to burn in this re-re-rematch.

The "leaked" email and the full text of Baron's pitch are after the jump...

Regarding your generous offer to ride back to Washington, DC, and help in the crafting of the bailout for the economy which you formerly "didn't know much about" and believed was "fundamentally strong," we can only say this:

Thanks, but we feel you've done quite enough already.

--The United States Congress and the American People

Bernie Sanders is a must-read:

The people who can best afford to pay and the people who have benefited most from Bush’s economic policies are the people who should provide the funds for the bailout. It would be immoral to ask the middle class, the people whose standard of living has declined under Bush, to pay for this bailout while the rich, once again, avoid their responsibilities.

Abso-freaking-lutely. Also on the highly recommended list for this subject is Kossack devilstower's excellent Sunday piece, Three Times is Enemy Action. Longish, but it presents the complex history of how we got here in an understandable way.

www.ObamaTaxCut.com

Check it out.

And you know, we should all BE so damned lucky to find ourselves in any tax bracket that would see an increase under Obama. I've been there. I ain't there any more. But I'd go back there in a heartbeat, and I would still vote for him.

The latest poll numbers in Indiana are out - according to a just-released Howey-Gauge poll, Hoosiers are evenly divided in their support for John McCain and Barack Obama:

Hoosiers are likely to find themselves at the American political epicenter over the next 60 days as the latest Howey-Gauge Poll shows Republican John McCain with a 45-43 percent lead over Democrat Barack Obama

It doesn't look like they've released the full crosstabs, but the article has a lot more information to dig through, with some interesting implications for Barack Obama and his upcoming visit to Indiana.

Now, for the bad news:

Mitch Daniels - 53
Jill Long Thompson - 35

Again, I haven't had time to delve into these numbers at all, but this is bad news for a poll this late in the season:

In the gubernatorial race, Democrat Jill Long Thompson faces a dilemma similar to what she faced in the primary. Her total awareness stood at 77 percent, up from 41 percent in February and 59 percent in April. While that number increased, her favs and unfavs both increased 10 percent from 22/9 in April to 32/19 in August.

Also, it appears that Mitch is edging toward that magic "50" on the re-elect question. I'll have more on this later.

(Via The Bloomington Beacon)

Indiana Equality is collecting signatures to petition the General Assembly on the Indiana Civil Right Law, which will be reconsidered in 2009. The text of the petition is simple and to the point:

All Indiana residents should be provided protections against discrimination. I urge the Governor and the Indiana General Assembly to assure basic rights in employment, public accomodations, credit, and housing for all Hoosiers.

As John at the Bloomington Beacon reminds us:

It is still legal in Indiana today to fire someone from a job, to deny someone a raise or job promotion, to kick someone out of an apartment, to refuse to sell someone a house, to deny someone credit, and to bar someone from public accommodations--simply because that person is PERCEIVED to be lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender!

You can sign the petition online, and add your name to the list of Hoosiers who believe in basic fairness.