Fewer than a hundred years ago, Indiana was almost "ruled" by the Ku Klux Klan. And it took a sex scandal to end that foolishness.
I've lived here 20 years and still haven't quite figured this place out. We readily elect Democrats to statewide office. We sometimes opt for Democrats in certain Congressional districts. Most of our cities have Democratic mayors. But the last time we voted for a Democrat for President was 1964. And barely.
Hoosiers have been known to fall in love with arch-conservative extremists. People like Congressman Dan Burton, Former Senator Dan Quayle and attorney James Bopp come to mind.
But we like our mainstream conservatives, too. Dick Lugar couldn't lose an election here if he tried. And as has been pointed out, conservative Democrats fare pretty well in Indiana.
But woe to the moderate or liberal -- from EITHER party. Republican Paul Helmke, an outstanding Mayor of Fort Wayne for several terms and the first mayor from a city this size to be chosen to head the U.S. Conference of Mayors, has lost both Senate and Congressional elections here. Why? Not conservative enough.
Hoosiers are okay with a liberal or a moderate managing their cities. But with the exception of two congressional districts (one and seven), they will never elect a liberal to a house or senate seat. At least not if said candidate campaigns as a liberal. Jim Jontz got elected a couple times in the old Indiana-5 house district -- but as soon as Republicans highlighted his progressive, pro-environment voting record -- he was toast.
Some of this could be due to the fact that there is a lot of big money here, concentrated in a few places (certain families, certain foundations, etc.) Some have extremist religious agendas. (In Indiana-3, the Popp and Freeland families have tried -- sometimes successfully, sometimes not -- to get their Talibagelical friends elected. Congressman Souder is one of them.) Lilly used to be conservative -- and when it comes to legislation affecting pharmaceuticals and health care, it still is. But Lilly is also extremely generous to liberal and non-political religious organizations. So go figure.
I don't have the answer to your question. And I live here and practice journalism here. I have for 20 years. I simply note the reality.
Where are you a journalist at?
My entire family all live in Indiana. Primarily in Boone County (the non-Zionsville, primarily cornfield part of Boone County), although I have some other family in Avon (Indy suburb), Lafayette, and Vermillion County right by the Illinois border. I have a lot of connections there and may move to the Columbus area for my employer in the coming year. I also come up to watch the Indy 500 every year.
My grand take on Indiana politics from my family and the people there I have met on my extensive time there is that they stress family values and are naturally inclined toward Republicans, but also understand that as things are currently in this "NAFTA, open borders, everything is Chinese-made world", they are taking taking a hit economically and people are losing jobs and that resonates. Some companies are doing well, Lilly, my company Cummins, but how many of those are really in Indiana? Manufacturing is a large part of the economy still and union membership is pretty big (to me). Farming is slipping to where few outside of corporations can do it and justify it in a business sense. When my grandfather retired as a farmer a few years ago after doing it for a lifetime he said he doesn't know how it's possible.
Simply put, blue-collar Republicans that hate rich people (i.e. Wall Street) and that causes them to have a populist streak.
Indiana is the type of state I think a Mike Huckabee would be perfectly suited for as a conservative-style populist. It's also a state that loves the Birch Bayh/Evan Bayh type of Democrat.
