Monday, May 01, 2006

Primary Day in District 7

With all the Kiser craziness over at Bilerico plus general Kiser chat, I haven't weighed in yet on the Republican primary side. And since the Indy Star was so helpful as to provide a voter's guide in yesterday's edition (NOT!), I'm having to do my own research for tomorrow's primary. The biggest focus? The Congressional GOP primary for District 7.

My pick? I'm voting for Erik Dickerson. (Half of my very serious Marion County GOP pals just felt cold shivers down their spines.) Hey, you've got to give the scrappy Dickerson credit. Some would say he was purposefully left out of the slating process while others wail he missed the deadline (by only 2 hours.) Me? I can't imagine who thought Ron Franklin would be a good idea. With the multiple arrest record, the drugs, the failed city-county council term, I just can't see him as Congressional material. Dickerson, OTOH, is the only one with the money and drive to make Julia work for this election. (And yes, Julia will win the primary. I would be incredibly surprised -- delighted, but surprised-- if Kiser won.)

I have a closet crush on Mike McDaniel and usually love what he has to say, but on last Friday's Indiana Week in Review, I found it laughable listening to him try to spout the party line jusifying why they slated Franklin. Reasons ranged from worry that Dickerson would spend too much money too early and make Julia gear up the war council (sure, and what benefit is there to spending no money and not effectively running against her) to the concern that Julia would drop out of the race over the summer with health problems. The Marion County GOP is naive if they think Julia won't seamlessly transition her heir apparent into her role as candidate. This woman isn't stupid; she's got a backup plan. McDaniel's explanations did nothing but help finalize for me who I wanted to vote for: the scrappy outsider who seems to be gaining traction driving around in an RV spending loads of his own money and thumbing his nose at the stuffy and out-of-touch party. He wants this primary, he's spent money on it, and he knows the issues. I haven't even seen a *yard sign* for Ron Franklin down here in the heart of Julia's district. (Pssst, Ron, if the GOP is going to make you their bitch, you should at least get paid well for it.)

At the end of the day, I agree with Kris Kiser's philosophy of running on fresh ideas and making a change instead of just running against Carson. Julia needs to end her Congressional career this fall and we need to bring someone to Congress from central Indiana that can serve with some credibility and dignity. I'm not sure the GOP can get it done this year, but if they can, Dickerson is the best shot.

2 Comments:

At Mon May 01, 10:27:00 AM, Blogger torporindy said...

Mike McDaniel, eh? I would have never guessed that in a million years.

That show is funny. I'd fall out of my chair if McDaniel or Delaney ever stepped away from the party line.

 
At Mon May 01, 06:12:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think Jim Shella is kind of cute, too. (I should add his blog to my links. He usually has something fairly intelligent to say.)

 

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