IN-SEN 2024: Money in the Banks

[Born to Slay. Forced to Work.]

Banks by 60.

60 margin or 60% cause if Banks wins only 60% that’d be embarrassing

[Tekken_Guy]

Flew under the radar, but potentially very interesting primary incoming.

https://twitter.com/am1_news/status/1672395170044866560?s=20

https://twitter.com/IndianaWarRoom/status/1675197035358609415?s=20

I stopped reading at “Anti-Trump”. He’ll be lucky to crack 10% in the primary.

[MadmanMotley]

In other news, CEO and failed Mayoral Candidate Tim Smith of Fort Wayne has announced his run for Bank's congressional seat.

https://www.wane.com/top-stories/tim-smith-launches-campaign-for-3rd-district-seat-in-congress/

[Open Source Intelligence]

John Rust's lawsuit against a state law requiring voting in the last 2 primaries for the party, otherwise you must get your county party chairman to vouch for you to run (which she did not) was ruled on by a Marion County court judge in Rust's favor. Law was deemed unconstitutional federally on 17th Amendment grounds (direct election of U.S. Senators) for adding qualifications but also on Indiana State Constitution grounds. State has appealed.

This does not automatically put Rust on the ballot, as to run for Governor or U.S. Senator in the state you must get 500 signatures in each of the 9 Congressional districts. The judge did remark on that but did not say it was unconstitutional as that was not being contested.

It's a dumb law, so glad to see it overturned. All it does is act as incumbent protection. If Republicans want to ensure people they perceive as "not really Republicans" don't run for their offices, have the state practice party registration.

[Open Source Intelligence]

I saw that the first Democrat announced, being Marc Carmichael (former member of the Indiana House 1986-1991, lost a congressional race in Indiana's 2nd 1996).

Not that it matters much, of course, as Indiana's not a kind place for Democrats, but at least someone's trying. It'll be interesting to see what bigger names might announce, as I don't have much an ear to the ground on this stuff.

I still think if Pete Buttigeig had maintained his Indiana registration and chose to run here, this race might have been competitive, especially if a Democratic wave developed. Jim Banks isn't as strong a candidate as he looks (compared to Holcomb, or Rokita), and it looks like the field is clearing for him.

I live in the 3rd district, and I have to say that Banks seems strong to me.

Where?

In 2022, independent Nathan Gotsch attempted to pull together moderates and anti-Banks Republicans, or at least Republicans who were looking for something other than the far-right attitudes that Banks holds. He got just 4.7%, which, considering that in 2016, a Libertarian had gotten 6.9%, struck me as pathetic.

The Democrats had a horrid Congressional candidate in 2016. Look up Tommy Schrader. Day after the primary the 3rd District Democratic Party conceded the election to Banks and said they would not support Schrader. That was part of why the Libertarian that year got 7%. Banks finished only 19 votes behind Schrader for Wayne Township in Allen County (central Fort Wayne including the black part of town, Democrat-dominated to say the least).

Democrats in response to Schrader 2016 put a lot of effort, time, and money into Courtney Tritch in 2018. Tritch was a former Bernie Sanders campaign worker. She got 35% and in her concession said "it was always going to be hard with gerrymandering". I put up my arms and said "You got 35% and I probably don't need 2 hands to count the number of precincts you won outside of Fort Wayne. Draw me a district that you can win and is not a gerrymander."

Since Tritch, Democrats have done nothing congressionally with the last 2 candidates as far as putting effort, time, and money in.

[Tekken_Guy]

I saw that the first Democrat announced, being Marc Carmichael (former member of the Indiana House 1986-1991, lost a congressional race in Indiana's 2nd 1996).

Not that it matters much, of course, as Indiana's not a kind place for Democrats, but at least someone's trying. It'll be interesting to see what bigger names might announce, as I don't have much an ear to the ground on this stuff.

I still think if Pete Buttigeig had maintained his Indiana registration and chose to run here, this race might have been competitive, especially if a Democratic wave developed. Jim Banks isn't as strong a candidate as he looks (compared to Holcomb, or Rokita), and it looks like the field is clearing for him.

I live in the 3rd district, and I have to say that Banks seems strong to me.

Where?

In 2022, independent Nathan Gotsch attempted to pull together moderates and anti-Banks Republicans, or at least Republicans who were looking for something other than the far-right attitudes that Banks holds. He got just 4.7%, which, considering that in 2016, a Libertarian had gotten 6.9%, struck me as pathetic.

The Democrats had a horrid Congressional candidate in 2016. Look up Tommy Schrader. Day after the primary the 3rd District Democratic Party conceded the election to Banks and said they would not support Schrader. That was part of why the Libertarian that year got 7%. Banks finished only 19 votes behind Schrader for Wayne Township in Allen County (central Fort Wayne including the black part of town, Democrat-dominated to say the least).

Democrats in response to Schrader 2016 put a lot of effort, time, and money into Courtney Tritch in 2018. Tritch was a former Bernie Sanders campaign worker. She got 35% and in her concession said "it was always going to be hard with gerrymandering". I put up my arms and said "You got 35% and I probably don't need 2 hands to count the number of precincts you won outside of Fort Wayne. Draw me a district that you can win and is not a gerrymander."

Since Tritch, Democrats have done nothing congressionally with the last 2 candidates as far as putting effort, time, and money in.

It’s IN-03. Who cares about how strong the Democratic nominee is there?

[Open Source Intelligence]

I saw that the first Democrat announced, being Marc Carmichael (former member of the Indiana House 1986-1991, lost a congressional race in Indiana's 2nd 1996).

Not that it matters much, of course, as Indiana's not a kind place for Democrats, but at least someone's trying. It'll be interesting to see what bigger names might announce, as I don't have much an ear to the ground on this stuff.

I still think if Pete Buttigeig had maintained his Indiana registration and chose to run here, this race might have been competitive, especially if a Democratic wave developed. Jim Banks isn't as strong a candidate as he looks (compared to Holcomb, or Rokita), and it looks like the field is clearing for him.

I live in the 3rd district, and I have to say that Banks seems strong to me.

Where?

In 2022, independent Nathan Gotsch attempted to pull together moderates and anti-Banks Republicans, or at least Republicans who were looking for something other than the far-right attitudes that Banks holds. He got just 4.7%, which, considering that in 2016, a Libertarian had gotten 6.9%, struck me as pathetic.

The Democrats had a horrid Congressional candidate in 2016. Look up Tommy Schrader. Day after the primary the 3rd District Democratic Party conceded the election to Banks and said they would not support Schrader. That was part of why the Libertarian that year got 7%. Banks finished only 19 votes behind Schrader for Wayne Township in Allen County (central Fort Wayne including the black part of town, Democrat-dominated to say the least).

Democrats in response to Schrader 2016 put a lot of effort, time, and money into Courtney Tritch in 2018. Tritch was a former Bernie Sanders campaign worker. She got 35% and in her concession said "it was always going to be hard with gerrymandering". I put up my arms and said "You got 35% and I probably don't need 2 hands to count the number of precincts you won outside of Fort Wayne. Draw me a district that you can win and is not a gerrymander."

Since Tritch, Democrats have done nothing congressionally with the last 2 candidates as far as putting effort, time, and money in.

It’s IN-03. Who cares about how strong the Democratic nominee is there?

Local Democrats should, it's kind of their job.

Nationally, yeah, it's a safe district. But if it's the 350th-most Democrat district in the country to pull a number, local Democrats should try to get up to 300, then 250, that way one day they can win it back.

People in politics in this country so get how it works wrong in my opinion, they only care about the next election. Did you win? Great. Did you lose? F#ck you loser. That's the mentality. It's more a candidate-focused mentality versus what a party's mentality should focus on. We really should have a more Westminster-style approach where they play the long game more.

For reasons why they don't, I think Americans are so results-focused that they can ignore the how to lose out on long-term trends. Think of an SEC football team that barely beats an FCS school. Yeah, "you won", but no one treats that like it was good because it just means you're getting destroyed rest of the season.

It's one thing I impress upon my party of the long game. We had city elections last month and our candidate ran 5 points ahead of the Democrat running for office. If they don't want to take it seriously or put any effort in, fine, we'll take 2nd-party status and have the incumbents respond to our talking points instead of yours. And maybe one day when the party in control inevitably loses, we're the strongest alternative.

Democrats have so completely given up on areas like where I live, and at a national level they still don't grasp what trouble that puts them in. (If Biden loses in 2024, they probably need a party commission to look at how in rural areas they have fallen to getting 20-25% of the vote.) State-level Democrats in Indiana it appears have finally grasped the problem they're in with a Buttigieg campaign alum taking control and talking about it, but I've seen no signs yet of them actively punching back however. Their candidate recruitment for 2024 is nothing special. The areas they control those people are content with their fiefdoms and don't see anything to be gained by attempting to go outside.

[MichaelM24]

I saw that the first Democrat announced, being Marc Carmichael (former member of the Indiana House 1986-1991, lost a congressional race in Indiana's 2nd 1996).

Not that it matters much, of course, as Indiana's not a kind place for Democrats, but at least someone's trying. It'll be interesting to see what bigger names might announce, as I don't have much an ear to the ground on this stuff.

I still think if Pete Buttigeig had maintained his Indiana registration and chose to run here, this race might have been competitive, especially if a Democratic wave developed. Jim Banks isn't as strong a candidate as he looks (compared to Holcomb, or Rokita), and it looks like the field is clearing for him.

I live in the 3rd district, and I have to say that Banks seems strong to me.

Where?

In 2022, independent Nathan Gotsch attempted to pull together moderates and anti-Banks Republicans, or at least Republicans who were looking for something other than the far-right attitudes that Banks holds. He got just 4.7%, which, considering that in 2016, a Libertarian had gotten 6.9%, struck me as pathetic.

The Democrats had a horrid Congressional candidate in 2016. Look up Tommy Schrader. Day after the primary the 3rd District Democratic Party conceded the election to Banks and said they would not support Schrader. That was part of why the Libertarian that year got 7%. Banks finished only 19 votes behind Schrader for Wayne Township in Allen County (central Fort Wayne including the black part of town, Democrat-dominated to say the least).

Democrats in response to Schrader 2016 put a lot of effort, time, and money into Courtney Tritch in 2018. Tritch was a former Bernie Sanders campaign worker. She got 35% and in her concession said "it was always going to be hard with gerrymandering". I put up my arms and said "You got 35% and I probably don't need 2 hands to count the number of precincts you won outside of Fort Wayne. Draw me a district that you can win and is not a gerrymander."

Since Tritch, Democrats have done nothing congressionally with the last 2 candidates as far as putting effort, time, and money in.

To answer your question above, I live in Columbia City. Amusingly, it strikes me you might also, given something you said in response to Tekken Guy - "We had city elections last month and our candidate ran 5 points ahead of the Democrat running for office."

That stood out to me, because Libertarian Melany Love got something like 28% in in City Council race here, whereas the invisible Democrat Steve Schmitt got just 23% against GOP Ryan Daniels in the mayoral race.

If you are indeed in Columbia City, and even if you're not, pleased to meet you.

About the 2016 congressional election, I know about Schrader - I supported Todd Nightenhelser in the Democratic primary. Met him a handful of times, and was disappointed that when Schrader defeated him.

In fact, I voted for Pepper Snyder (the Libertarian) after speaking with her on Facebook. Given how atrocious the Democrat was, I was sort of hoping she'd get more votes (though to be fair, she did better than Scott Wise did in both 2010 and 2014).

I know that Democrats tried hard with Tritch - I actually had some people canvassing for her come to my door (which I've never experienced before). At the time, I was very much behind George Wolfe for Secretary of State (Green Party), so when they tried to push voting straight Democrat (including Jim Harper), I lost interest. Despite Tritch's background, I didn't see her as anything more than a typical Democrat, and so never voted for her.

Similar in 2020 - I rather liked Carlos Marcano, and when moderate Chip Coldiron won, I sat out of that general election also.

Obviously, this district isn't anywhere close to my personal politics, but it is fascinating to see how absolute of a non-entity the Democrats tend to be here.

[Open Source Intelligence]

I saw that the first Democrat announced, being Marc Carmichael (former member of the Indiana House 1986-1991, lost a congressional race in Indiana's 2nd 1996).

Not that it matters much, of course, as Indiana's not a kind place for Democrats, but at least someone's trying. It'll be interesting to see what bigger names might announce, as I don't have much an ear to the ground on this stuff.

I still think if Pete Buttigeig had maintained his Indiana registration and chose to run here, this race might have been competitive, especially if a Democratic wave developed. Jim Banks isn't as strong a candidate as he looks (compared to Holcomb, or Rokita), and it looks like the field is clearing for him.

I live in the 3rd district, and I have to say that Banks seems strong to me.

Where?

In 2022, independent Nathan Gotsch attempted to pull together moderates and anti-Banks Republicans, or at least Republicans who were looking for something other than the far-right attitudes that Banks holds. He got just 4.7%, which, considering that in 2016, a Libertarian had gotten 6.9%, struck me as pathetic.

The Democrats had a horrid Congressional candidate in 2016. Look up Tommy Schrader. Day after the primary the 3rd District Democratic Party conceded the election to Banks and said they would not support Schrader. That was part of why the Libertarian that year got 7%. Banks finished only 19 votes behind Schrader for Wayne Township in Allen County (central Fort Wayne including the black part of town, Democrat-dominated to say the least).

Democrats in response to Schrader 2016 put a lot of effort, time, and money into Courtney Tritch in 2018. Tritch was a former Bernie Sanders campaign worker. She got 35% and in her concession said "it was always going to be hard with gerrymandering". I put up my arms and said "You got 35% and I probably don't need 2 hands to count the number of precincts you won outside of Fort Wayne. Draw me a district that you can win and is not a gerrymander."

Since Tritch, Democrats have done nothing congressionally with the last 2 candidates as far as putting effort, time, and money in.

To answer your question above, I live in Columbia City. Amusingly, it strikes me you might also, given something you said in response to Tekken Guy - "We had city elections last month and our candidate ran 5 points ahead of the Democrat running for office."

That stood out to me, because Libertarian Melany Love got something like 28% in in City Council race here, whereas the invisible Democrat Steve Schmitt got just 23% against GOP Ryan Daniels in the mayoral race.

If you are indeed in Columbia City, and even if you're not, pleased to meet you.

About the 2016 congressional election, I know about Schrader - I supported Todd Nightenhelser in the Democratic primary. Met him a handful of times, and was disappointed that when Schrader defeated him.

In fact, I voted for Pepper Snyder (the Libertarian) after speaking with her on Facebook. Given how atrocious the Democrat was, I was sort of hoping she'd get more votes (though to be fair, she did better than Scott Wise did in both 2010 and 2014).

I know that Democrats tried hard with Tritch - I actually had some people canvassing for her come to my door (which I've never experienced before). At the time, I was very much behind George Wolfe for Secretary of State (Green Party), so when they tried to push voting straight Democrat (including Jim Harper), I lost interest. Despite Tritch's background, I didn't see her as anything more than a typical Democrat, and so never voted for her.

Similar in 2020 - I rather liked Carlos Marcano, and when moderate Chip Coldiron won, I sat out of that general election also.

Obviously, this district isn't anywhere close to my personal politics, but it is fascinating to see how absolute of a non-entity the Democrats tend to be here.

It's part of my sales pitch. "We can't be a wasted vote because for us to be a wasted vote implies Democrats have a chance to win. They don't, they've quit trying, and they're failing at their job to provide a credible alternative for you to vote for." It's a paper county affiliate leading into a paper district affiliate. That's how a Tommy Schrader even wins their nomination. The kid they had that ran for Commissioner and was their only candidate for county office last year. He appeared at one Commissioner candidate's event (that was more for the Republican primary), he got endorsed by the AFL-CIO, and that was it. He literally did nothing else. Took 19.5%. It's how Donald Rainwater can place 2nd in a third of the state's counties in 2020 Governor race in spite of the Democrats' reflexive straight ticket voters: the Democrats are effectively dead in rural counties. And if that's the case, they'll never win statewide again.

From not having a functional Democratic Party what we have is a local Republican Party monopoly on political power that even the Republican rank-and-file voters can hate.

I asked my state party leadership what they knew about Gotsch. He was "friendly to Libertarians" I was told, but he really hated party labels thus why he ran as an Independent (I imagine he is gung-ho No Labels when I heard that reasoning a year and a half ago). Mad credit to him for going around and getting all those signatures to get on the ballot. Not a small undertaking. I did not meet him but one day in the summer we were having our party meeting at Chapman's and he was outside talking to constituents and we had no idea.

[MichaelM24]

I saw that the first Democrat announced, being Marc Carmichael (former member of the Indiana House 1986-1991, lost a congressional race in Indiana's 2nd 1996).

Not that it matters much, of course, as Indiana's not a kind place for Democrats, but at least someone's trying. It'll be interesting to see what bigger names might announce, as I don't have much an ear to the ground on this stuff.

I still think if Pete Buttigeig had maintained his Indiana registration and chose to run here, this race might have been competitive, especially if a Democratic wave developed. Jim Banks isn't as strong a candidate as he looks (compared to Holcomb, or Rokita), and it looks like the field is clearing for him.

I live in the 3rd district, and I have to say that Banks seems strong to me.

Where?

In 2022, independent Nathan Gotsch attempted to pull together moderates and anti-Banks Republicans, or at least Republicans who were looking for something other than the far-right attitudes that Banks holds. He got just 4.7%, which, considering that in 2016, a Libertarian had gotten 6.9%, struck me as pathetic.

The Democrats had a horrid Congressional candidate in 2016. Look up Tommy Schrader. Day after the primary the 3rd District Democratic Party conceded the election to Banks and said they would not support Schrader. That was part of why the Libertarian that year got 7%. Banks finished only 19 votes behind Schrader for Wayne Township in Allen County (central Fort Wayne including the black part of town, Democrat-dominated to say the least).

Democrats in response to Schrader 2016 put a lot of effort, time, and money into Courtney Tritch in 2018. Tritch was a former Bernie Sanders campaign worker. She got 35% and in her concession said "it was always going to be hard with gerrymandering". I put up my arms and said "You got 35% and I probably don't need 2 hands to count the number of precincts you won outside of Fort Wayne. Draw me a district that you can win and is not a gerrymander."

Since Tritch, Democrats have done nothing congressionally with the last 2 candidates as far as putting effort, time, and money in.

To answer your question above, I live in Columbia City. Amusingly, it strikes me you might also, given something you said in response to Tekken Guy - "We had city elections last month and our candidate ran 5 points ahead of the Democrat running for office."

That stood out to me, because Libertarian Melany Love got something like 28% in in City Council race here, whereas the invisible Democrat Steve Schmitt got just 23% against GOP Ryan Daniels in the mayoral race.

If you are indeed in Columbia City, and even if you're not, pleased to meet you.

About the 2016 congressional election, I know about Schrader - I supported Todd Nightenhelser in the Democratic primary. Met him a handful of times, and was disappointed that when Schrader defeated him.

In fact, I voted for Pepper Snyder (the Libertarian) after speaking with her on Facebook. Given how atrocious the Democrat was, I was sort of hoping she'd get more votes (though to be fair, she did better than Scott Wise did in both 2010 and 2014).

I know that Democrats tried hard with Tritch - I actually had some people canvassing for her come to my door (which I've never experienced before). At the time, I was very much behind George Wolfe for Secretary of State (Green Party), so when they tried to push voting straight Democrat (including Jim Harper), I lost interest. Despite Tritch's background, I didn't see her as anything more than a typical Democrat, and so never voted for her.

Similar in 2020 - I rather liked Carlos Marcano, and when moderate Chip Coldiron won, I sat out of that general election also.

Obviously, this district isn't anywhere close to my personal politics, but it is fascinating to see how absolute of a non-entity the Democrats tend to be here.

It's part of my sales pitch. "We can't be a wasted vote because for us to be a wasted vote implies Democrats have a chance to win. They don't, they've quit trying, and they're failing at their job to provide a credible alternative for you to vote for." It's a paper county affiliate leading into a paper district affiliate. That's how a Tommy Schrader even wins their nomination. The kid they had that ran for Commissioner and was their only candidate for county office last year. He appeared at one Commissioner candidate's event (that was more for the Republican primary), he got endorsed by the AFL-CIO, and that was it. He literally did nothing else. Took 19.5%. It's how Donald Rainwater can place 2nd in a third of the state's counties in 2020 Governor race in spite of the Democrats' reflexive straight ticket voters: the Democrats are effectively dead in rural counties. And if that's the case, they'll never win statewide again.

From not having a functional Democratic Party what we have is a local Republican Party monopoly on political power that even the Republican rank-and-file voters can hate.

I asked my state party leadership what they knew about Gotsch. He was "friendly to Libertarians" I was told, but he really hated party labels thus why he ran as an Independent (I imagine he is gung-ho No Labels when I heard that reasoning a year and a half ago). Mad credit to him for going around and getting all those signatures to get on the ballot. Not a small undertaking. I did not meet him but one day in the summer we were having our party meeting at Chapman's and he was outside talking to constituents and we had no idea.

Depending on when that was, I may have been there.

I met him just the once after having spoken to him a bit on Twitter. I personally got the sense that he was generally a Democrat (when speaking to me personally, he said he was worried that the Forward Party "might take votes away from Biden") who was running because the 3rd is so heavily GOP - not to mention Gary Snyder such an uninspiring candidate - that he might as well go for it.

Truthfully, I wasn't that impressed with him for a variety of reasons, but I did end up voting for him. If I have to vote for Libertarians or independents to help break the two-party system, I'm willing to do it (with exceptions - Pepper Snyder may be the only Libertarian I've actually voted for).

Related, looking forward to what Donald Rainwater can do next year. I don't think he'll get half what he did in 2020, but hoping that he can do moderately well, perhaps close to Maurer's 2022 Secretary of State results.

[Open Source Intelligence]

I saw that the first Democrat announced, being Marc Carmichael (former member of the Indiana House 1986-1991, lost a congressional race in Indiana's 2nd 1996).

Not that it matters much, of course, as Indiana's not a kind place for Democrats, but at least someone's trying. It'll be interesting to see what bigger names might announce, as I don't have much an ear to the ground on this stuff.

I still think if Pete Buttigeig had maintained his Indiana registration and chose to run here, this race might have been competitive, especially if a Democratic wave developed. Jim Banks isn't as strong a candidate as he looks (compared to Holcomb, or Rokita), and it looks like the field is clearing for him.

I live in the 3rd district, and I have to say that Banks seems strong to me.

Where?

In 2022, independent Nathan Gotsch attempted to pull together moderates and anti-Banks Republicans, or at least Republicans who were looking for something other than the far-right attitudes that Banks holds. He got just 4.7%, which, considering that in 2016, a Libertarian had gotten 6.9%, struck me as pathetic.

The Democrats had a horrid Congressional candidate in 2016. Look up Tommy Schrader. Day after the primary the 3rd District Democratic Party conceded the election to Banks and said they would not support Schrader. That was part of why the Libertarian that year got 7%. Banks finished only 19 votes behind Schrader for Wayne Township in Allen County (central Fort Wayne including the black part of town, Democrat-dominated to say the least).

Democrats in response to Schrader 2016 put a lot of effort, time, and money into Courtney Tritch in 2018. Tritch was a former Bernie Sanders campaign worker. She got 35% and in her concession said "it was always going to be hard with gerrymandering". I put up my arms and said "You got 35% and I probably don't need 2 hands to count the number of precincts you won outside of Fort Wayne. Draw me a district that you can win and is not a gerrymander."

Since Tritch, Democrats have done nothing congressionally with the last 2 candidates as far as putting effort, time, and money in.

To answer your question above, I live in Columbia City. Amusingly, it strikes me you might also, given something you said in response to Tekken Guy - "We had city elections last month and our candidate ran 5 points ahead of the Democrat running for office."

That stood out to me, because Libertarian Melany Love got something like 28% in in City Council race here, whereas the invisible Democrat Steve Schmitt got just 23% against GOP Ryan Daniels in the mayoral race.

If you are indeed in Columbia City, and even if you're not, pleased to meet you.

About the 2016 congressional election, I know about Schrader - I supported Todd Nightenhelser in the Democratic primary. Met him a handful of times, and was disappointed that when Schrader defeated him.

In fact, I voted for Pepper Snyder (the Libertarian) after speaking with her on Facebook. Given how atrocious the Democrat was, I was sort of hoping she'd get more votes (though to be fair, she did better than Scott Wise did in both 2010 and 2014).

I know that Democrats tried hard with Tritch - I actually had some people canvassing for her come to my door (which I've never experienced before). At the time, I was very much behind George Wolfe for Secretary of State (Green Party), so when they tried to push voting straight Democrat (including Jim Harper), I lost interest. Despite Tritch's background, I didn't see her as anything more than a typical Democrat, and so never voted for her.

Similar in 2020 - I rather liked Carlos Marcano, and when moderate Chip Coldiron won, I sat out of that general election also.

Obviously, this district isn't anywhere close to my personal politics, but it is fascinating to see how absolute of a non-entity the Democrats tend to be here.

It's part of my sales pitch. "We can't be a wasted vote because for us to be a wasted vote implies Democrats have a chance to win. They don't, they've quit trying, and they're failing at their job to provide a credible alternative for you to vote for." It's a paper county affiliate leading into a paper district affiliate. That's how a Tommy Schrader even wins their nomination. The kid they had that ran for Commissioner and was their only candidate for county office last year. He appeared at one Commissioner candidate's event (that was more for the Republican primary), he got endorsed by the AFL-CIO, and that was it. He literally did nothing else. Took 19.5%. It's how Donald Rainwater can place 2nd in a third of the state's counties in 2020 Governor race in spite of the Democrats' reflexive straight ticket voters: the Democrats are effectively dead in rural counties. And if that's the case, they'll never win statewide again.

From not having a functional Democratic Party what we have is a local Republican Party monopoly on political power that even the Republican rank-and-file voters can hate.

I asked my state party leadership what they knew about Gotsch. He was "friendly to Libertarians" I was told, but he really hated party labels thus why he ran as an Independent (I imagine he is gung-ho No Labels when I heard that reasoning a year and a half ago). Mad credit to him for going around and getting all those signatures to get on the ballot. Not a small undertaking. I did not meet him but one day in the summer we were having our party meeting at Chapman's and he was outside talking to constituents and we had no idea.

Depending on when that was, I may have been there.

I met him just the once after having spoken to him a bit on Twitter. I personally got the sense that he was generally a Democrat (when speaking to me personally, he said he was worried that the Forward Party "might take votes away from Biden") who was running because the 3rd is so heavily GOP - not to mention Gary Snyder such an uninspiring candidate - that he might as well go for it.

Truthfully, I wasn't that impressed with him for a variety of reasons, but I did end up voting for him. If I have to vote for Libertarians or independents to help break the two-party system, I'm willing to do it (with exceptions - Pepper Snyder may be the only Libertarian I've actually voted for).

Related, looking forward to what Donald Rainwater can do next year. I don't think he'll get half what he did in 2020, but hoping that he can do moderately well, perhaps close to Maurer's 2022 Secretary of State results.

We'll see. Rainwater took 2nd in 32 counties and they were all rural except for some donut counties like Morgan and Hancock. He faired the worst in the Region (pretty expectedly) and Ohio River Country. Maurer's performance where it peaked was his vote share got worse the further away from Indianapolis you went. Donut counties he was relatively strong. Those are also the people most likely to hear the truth about who Morales really was. If you drew a line east-to-west at Kokomo, Maurer's best performance north of that line was Whitley and Kosciusko counties. In short, Rainwater and Maurer had different voter bases. I don't kid myself, a lot of Rainwater supporters were Republicans angry at Holcomb. That's not going to exist next year. If he got Maurer's numbers I guess I'd consider it good. I don't know, not really thought about it. Maybe if Chambers or Crouch becomes the nominee it'd be good for Rainwater but private polling has whispered Braun is around 40%. The Governor primary next year looks like it'll be a pretty good explainer on the current divisions of the Indiana Republican Party. Meanwhile the Democrats are running a Republican-elected Superintendent of Education simply because they can't find any of their own willing to fall on a knife. This is the kind of race that in another time a Joe Hogsett, Tom Henry, or still Mayor of South Bend Pete Buttigieg would move over to, but they can't because they don't see the upside (read: chance of winning), so they lukewarmly ran for reelection or moved to Michigan.

[Open Source Intelligence]

The Indiana Supreme Court hearing for the appeal of the Rust decision was set for February 12. Rust has minimum 4500 signatures due to make the primary ballot on February 9. So if he can't get all the signatures together, the February 12 date is a play for mootness. Rust has said he'll get the signatures.

[wnwnwn]

"Gays Against Groomers?" I want to say f*** this guy, but that group's name is so tactfully chosen  that the defense to that will be: "Oh! So you're pro-groomer!?"

Gays against Groomers are quite literally the modern day Blacks against integration or Women against suffrage.

So, people here think that cis gays being against gender-affirming care for minors is comparable to pro Jim Crow blacks?

[Atlas Force]

https://twitter.com/TomDaviesIND/status/1762551958064209928