Arrival of John Gregg No. 3
John Gregg number 1 was a folksy guy from somewhere in southern Indiana with two first names, a bunch of silly ads, and a moustache. His name identification was increased, sort of, but not in a good way.
John Gregg number 2 came onto television ads after his first ads were roundly condemned as ineffective and even silly, including by influential Democrats and liberal media. So John Gregg was in a suit, in the Capitol Building, looking serious and finally trying to tell voters who he was, and his version what he had done. He retained the little silly logo with the moustache, which now really looked out of place.
A little last night in the debate and then in full force on the Charly Butcher Show live this morning, John Gregg number 3 emerged: John Gregg the Nasty.
Basically his message is: Mike Pence is extremist, Mike Pence is responsible for the debt in Washington (unlike me, the guy with two first names who balanced the budget in Indiana), Mike Pence is an extremist, Mike Pence is hardly even in Washington to vote (? I thought he was responsible for everything there), and Mike Pence is an extremist because he is pro-life, pro-family, and pro-religion.
Mike Pence, like Paul Ryan and all candidates who seek major offices while serving in another, miss votes. Neither is seeking two offices because they aren't running for re-election. They do go back for major votes so their districts could be represented in those votes. Fortunately, there aren't many right now because the Democrats control 2/3 of the government meaning that Republican efforts are ignored.
Which, BTW, brings us to the Gregg point of bi-partisan Indiana budgets. First of all, the Republicans controlled the State Senate, but the leader - Fort Wayne's David Long (and Garton before him) - could only do so much under 2/3 Democrat control (Governor plus Speaker Gregg). 2/3 control is control, with some ability to alter minimal parts. David Long, more than Garton, maximized that but when you have short session legislatures, having 2/3 is basically the ball game.
Mike Pence is not an extremist. That is an insult to the majority of Hoosiers who agree with his views, and the super-majority of Hoosiers (2/3) who agree with most of his views. Gregg is insulting all of us. I called people "liberals" but extremist is a much more, well, "extreme" term. For example, Gregg is a liberal but not an "extremist." Nor is Donnelly (who is more independent and moderate than Gregg but still liberal). Obama was the most liberal Senator, and has moved toward an extremist position. Vi Simpson certainly is at the edge of extremism in some areas, but not all.
Bottom line is this: if you don't want unjustified name-calling and these "dark" screaming commercials to rule politics in Indiana, candidates who use them must be defeated. At least before now John Gregg tried to be funny. Now he's just mean. And was a part of the failed government of Indiana that Mitch Daniels fixed.
