Everyone if we can have your attention! We have just received word that Ogden on Politics is back up and running! Our prayers have been answered! For more information read it straight from the source himself right here. Congratulations on getting your blog back Paul! You have resumed your place along with Jon Easter, the late great Gary Welsh, and Charlie White as being the undisputed kings of Indiana Political Commentators!
Friday, September 23, 2016
Thursday, September 22, 2016
Help Paul Ogden Get His Blog Back!
INDY REPUBLICAN implores everyone who reads this blog to render assistance to Paul Ogden whose blog Ogden on Politics was for some reason not auto renewed as it should have been! If any of you happen to be or know anyone who is an IT specialist help Mr. Ogden restore his blog! Paul Ogden's voice is desperately needed especially now in Indiana! Do not let Paul's blog go down! Help him in anyway you can!
Thank you for your attention!
Thank you for your attention!
Monday, September 19, 2016
State GOP Chariman Jeff Cardwell under fire for using his position to promote his hardware store!
In today's Behind Closed Door column on Indystar Tony Cook has once again wrote another great piece of work. Tony Cook writes:
Several prominent Republicans told IndyStar they've been bombarded with emails hawking factory direct roofing, aluminum ladders, key cutting and Weber grills. One email even encourages recipients to "Join Our Team!!" — not as a campaign canvasser or political donor, but as a part-time cashier at Cardwell Home Center on the south side.
What bothers some of those Republicans is that it appears Cardwell is using the party's political email lists for his personal business and for a nonprofit he runs called People Helping People.
What bothers us at INDY REPUBLICAN is Cardwell's Home Center so hard up for workers that he feels the need to use his political emails as want ads?
Cook continues:
"I've heard numerous complaints," said Republican strategist Megan Robertson. "It's not his list to use. Campaign workers, candidates and donors across the state put in countless hours and dollars to advocate for the Republican Party, not a hardware store."
The email lists have distinctly political titles. The list to which some of the emails were sent was titled "Marion County WC VWC PC" — presumably abbreviations for ward chairmen, vice ward chairmen and precinct committeemen. Other lists were titled "Indiana State Convention Delegates" and "Precinct Committeemen."
Although INDY REPUBLICAN has no particular fondness for Megan Robertson as we have stated before concerning her OWI arrest and her past work on behalf of Mayor Greg "Boss Hogg" Ballard! For once Megan has a valid point about something. The State GOP Chairman should not be using party resources to promote his private business ventures! It's interesting to us though that she would be the one to criticize Cardwell seeing as when he was on the Indianapolis City-County Council he was one of Ballard's top lackeys!
Tony Cook then brings the article on home with this screenshot from an email of Cardwell's and some follow up information on the blurry lines between Cardwell's political and business activities:
The mixture of Cardwell's personal business and political responsibilities was also evident on a state party email soliciting donations ahead of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. While that email was political in nature, the disclaimer at the bottom attributed it to "Cardwell Home Center."
Cardwell didn't return messages from IndyStar seeking comment.
We all wish we could say we are surprised by Cardwell's shenanigans sorry to say that we are not! INDY REPUBLICAN tips our hats to Tony Cook for reporting this story and for doing what a responsible journalist should do by informing the public about people in position of political power in our society. This makes us think just how badly Eric Holcomb and Tim Berry were at chairing the Indiana Republican Party if Governor Mike Pence decided to replace them with this loser! Also for years real Hoosiers like Gary Welsh, Paul Ogden and Pat Andrews have been raising alarm bells about what kind of person Jeff Cardwell is! We will close this post by providing links to two posts about Cardwell. If you want to see Cardwell get his butt chewed on take a look at this story by Gary Welsh that has a link to a video of the great citizen activist Pat Andrews chiding Cardwell for his promotion of endless tax hikes! Also take a look at Ms. Andrews blog Had Enough Indy?
And for Paul Ogden's take on Cardwell checkout this classic post entitled: "Did Jeff Cardwell Sell his Political Soul for a Spot on the Council?" The answer is Yes he did Paul! Once again we would like to thank all of you out there for reading what we all post here. This is INDY REPUBLICAN saying to everyone out there have a good rest of the week and always stand up for yourselves!
Several prominent Republicans told IndyStar they've been bombarded with emails hawking factory direct roofing, aluminum ladders, key cutting and Weber grills. One email even encourages recipients to "Join Our Team!!" — not as a campaign canvasser or political donor, but as a part-time cashier at Cardwell Home Center on the south side.
What bothers some of those Republicans is that it appears Cardwell is using the party's political email lists for his personal business and for a nonprofit he runs called People Helping People.
What bothers us at INDY REPUBLICAN is Cardwell's Home Center so hard up for workers that he feels the need to use his political emails as want ads?
Cook continues:
"I've heard numerous complaints," said Republican strategist Megan Robertson. "It's not his list to use. Campaign workers, candidates and donors across the state put in countless hours and dollars to advocate for the Republican Party, not a hardware store."
The email lists have distinctly political titles. The list to which some of the emails were sent was titled "Marion County WC VWC PC" — presumably abbreviations for ward chairmen, vice ward chairmen and precinct committeemen. Other lists were titled "Indiana State Convention Delegates" and "Precinct Committeemen."
Although INDY REPUBLICAN has no particular fondness for Megan Robertson as we have stated before concerning her OWI arrest and her past work on behalf of Mayor Greg "Boss Hogg" Ballard! For once Megan has a valid point about something. The State GOP Chairman should not be using party resources to promote his private business ventures! It's interesting to us though that she would be the one to criticize Cardwell seeing as when he was on the Indianapolis City-County Council he was one of Ballard's top lackeys!
Tony Cook then brings the article on home with this screenshot from an email of Cardwell's and some follow up information on the blurry lines between Cardwell's political and business activities:
Cardwell didn't return messages from IndyStar seeking comment.
We all wish we could say we are surprised by Cardwell's shenanigans sorry to say that we are not! INDY REPUBLICAN tips our hats to Tony Cook for reporting this story and for doing what a responsible journalist should do by informing the public about people in position of political power in our society. This makes us think just how badly Eric Holcomb and Tim Berry were at chairing the Indiana Republican Party if Governor Mike Pence decided to replace them with this loser! Also for years real Hoosiers like Gary Welsh, Paul Ogden and Pat Andrews have been raising alarm bells about what kind of person Jeff Cardwell is! We will close this post by providing links to two posts about Cardwell. If you want to see Cardwell get his butt chewed on take a look at this story by Gary Welsh that has a link to a video of the great citizen activist Pat Andrews chiding Cardwell for his promotion of endless tax hikes! Also take a look at Ms. Andrews blog Had Enough Indy?
And for Paul Ogden's take on Cardwell checkout this classic post entitled: "Did Jeff Cardwell Sell his Political Soul for a Spot on the Council?" The answer is Yes he did Paul! Once again we would like to thank all of you out there for reading what we all post here. This is INDY REPUBLICAN saying to everyone out there have a good rest of the week and always stand up for yourselves!
Monday, September 12, 2016
That's All She Wrote! Pence Campaign to give no more money to Eric Holcomb
If this article by Brian Howey is to be believed the prediction made by this blog that Eric Holcomb had already received all the money he would get from the now defunct Pence for Governor is accurate. Howey writes:
For reasons that remain murky and muted by remnants of Gov. Mike Pence’s reelection campaign, no further direct money will end up in the coffers of Lt. Gov. Eric Holcomb for his bid to keep the office in Republican hands.
“You’re not going to see a direct transfer from Mike Pence,” said Holcomb campaign manager Mike O’Brien on Tuesday. But O’Brien was quick to add, “We’ll be fully funded. Normally a candidate for governor spends four years stockpiling funds. We can’t do that. Our cash flow will be raise and spend.”
O’Brien also said that many Pence donors are stepping up in his race against Democrat John Gregg, who has raised north of $10 million. “Their response has been fantastic,” O’Brien said. On Aug. 24 and 25, the Holcomb campaign posted $117,300 in large donations, $50,000 each from Anthony Moravec of Columbus and Ronald Cameron from Little Rock, and $17,300 from John Meredith of Columbus. But O’Brien quashed speculation that the Pence campaign had prepaid production and ad buys that could be transferred to the new nominee.
The campaign manager’s comments end speculation as to how much of Pence’s reported $7.4 million campaign war chest at the June 30 mid-year deadline will be transferred to Holcomb. On July 29, the Pence campaign transferred $1.25 million to Holcomb.
But the unanswered question is why didn’t the Pence campaign take steps prior to July 19 to move a bulk of those funds, perhaps as much as $6 million, to either the Indiana Republican Party or the Republican Governors Association where they could have then been transferred to the new nominee? Did the Pence staff, in all the veepstakes hoopla and as they positioned for jobs in the Trump campaign, simply fail to do the proper research on how his federal candidacy might impact those funds? Or is Pence pulling an Evan Bayh, keeping a big war chest hoarded for future use if the Trump/Pence ticket loses on Nov. 8? Only Pence and his newly converted Trumpkins know.
O’Brien, who took the helm of the Holcomb campaign on Aug. 2, declined to speculate on why the Pence funds weren’t shifted to the new nominee, telling me that this is the scenario he inherited. On Aug. 1, when Holcomb was asked about the Pence funds, he said, “I’ll let Gov. Pence speak for every penny he decides to spend. I am concerned about raising the money I need. I am confident I can do that. We’ll raise the millions it will take to get the message out over the next 100 days.”
Asked whether some of the Pence funds will be refunded to the RGA, O’Brien responded, “Can't comment on what Mike Pence might do. I'll just say the RGA is all in for us and they'll invest. You'll see it soon.” The RGA did put $250,000 into the Holcomb campaign earlier this month, with Holcomb campaign spokesman Pete Seat calling it a “new investment” and not recycled Pence funds
We are stumped as to just why Howey says that there is some confusion about why the Holcomb campaign will receive no further direct contributions from the Pence reelection campaign. If Mr. Howey had just bothered to read either Niki Kelly's articles here and here, or a widely cited Memo from the Democratic Governor's Association dealing with the Pence money issue, hell if Howey had just bothered to simply do more than five minutes of work looking into this it wouldn't surprise him why Holcomb is not going to get anymore money from Pence! The answer is because the Pence campaign legally cannot give him any! He could have even read this blog and become aware of it that way! Mike O'Brien who is Eric Holcomb's campaign manager is currently listed on Barnes and Thornburg's website as Senior Public Policy Advisor at their Indianapolis office. Before his current position at B&T it appears that O'Brien's job was just to carry water for whatever legislation that "Godfather" Governor Mitch Daniels told him to. He also is the former chairman of the Hendricks County Republican Party. What has always struck us as so interesting is that O'Brien like most Mitch Danielsboot lickers political appointees O'Brien seems extremely young to have been given such heavyweight political positions. But Daniels had a habit as Governor of appointing a lot of extremely young party hacks to senior positions in his administration! Frequent readers of Gary Welsh's blog Advance Indiana and Paul Ogden's Ogden on Politics blog will recognize the law firm of Barnes and Thornburg! They were as Gary Welsh called them part of the "downtown mafia" that just tries to control as much of the Hoosier state as they possibly can!
Howey continues:
Former Pence campaign spokesman Marc Lotter, who along with former Pence campaign finance director Marty Obst took new positions with the Trump presidential campaign, did not respond to questions. Lotter has refused to respond to most Indiana news media requests.
Unanswered at this point is what happens to $5-6 million in Pence funds? Eventual campaign filings will reveal the story, but at this point the fledgling Holcomb campaign could have used that money . . . yesterday.
When Pence officially became a federal candidate, his Indiana campaign funds fell under Federal Election Commission guidelines, which limited the amount of funds that could be transferred to the successor nominee. Holcomb was endorsed by Pence on July 22. He used it with a strong implication that much of the Pence war chest would be transferred to his fledgling campaign. But minutes after winning the nomination, Politico reported that much of the Pence war chest was not transferrable.
In presentations to the Indiana Republican Central Committee members, U.S. Reps. Susan Brooks and Todd Rokita both stressed that they had more than $1.2 million in funds and both laid out strategies for funding their campaigns. One influential observer speaking on background told me, “It is interesting that here it is a month later, and he still only has barely over 10 percent of the Pence funds, especially when you examine the daily finance reports of individuals giving $10,000. Many of those folks are reliable $50,000 or $100,000 donors. So what’s up with that? The silence from the Pence campaign and Holcomb campaigns on this is deafening.”
Republican financier Bob Grand, who turned up in Cleveland on the morning of July 20 during the waning hours of the Republican National Convention, said at the time he would be working on the fund transfer. On July 27, Grand said, “It’s all going to get worked out. It’s not a problem and it’s not going to be a problem. Eric Holcomb is going to have plenty of money to run this race. A fair amount of it will come from the Mike Pence campaign.”
There doesn’t seem to be any public tension between Pence and Holcomb, who campaigned together in Columbus earlier this month. Holcomb is a loyal lieutenant to the vice presidential nominee. But that loyalty, in a financial sense, appears to be a one-way street as Holcomb’s condensed campaign hits a very early homestretch.
Well gee Brian! Why in the world would you think that Mike Pence gives a damn about anyone other than Mike Pence? If the rumors are to be believed that Mitch Daniels forced Mike Pence to appoint Eric Holcomb to be his Lt. Governor that would certainly lend credence to the theory floated by many that Pence and/or members of his team don't care if Holcomb wins the Governor's race or not! As far as we here are concerned the Indiana Fake Republican Party can all crash and burn!
Note to our readers: We have been having issues with blogger in regards to the font size of our posts. We will have this resolved as soon as we can. If any of you have any suggestions let us know!
For reasons that remain murky and muted by remnants of Gov. Mike Pence’s reelection campaign, no further direct money will end up in the coffers of Lt. Gov. Eric Holcomb for his bid to keep the office in Republican hands.
“You’re not going to see a direct transfer from Mike Pence,” said Holcomb campaign manager Mike O’Brien on Tuesday. But O’Brien was quick to add, “We’ll be fully funded. Normally a candidate for governor spends four years stockpiling funds. We can’t do that. Our cash flow will be raise and spend.”
O’Brien also said that many Pence donors are stepping up in his race against Democrat John Gregg, who has raised north of $10 million. “Their response has been fantastic,” O’Brien said. On Aug. 24 and 25, the Holcomb campaign posted $117,300 in large donations, $50,000 each from Anthony Moravec of Columbus and Ronald Cameron from Little Rock, and $17,300 from John Meredith of Columbus. But O’Brien quashed speculation that the Pence campaign had prepaid production and ad buys that could be transferred to the new nominee.
The campaign manager’s comments end speculation as to how much of Pence’s reported $7.4 million campaign war chest at the June 30 mid-year deadline will be transferred to Holcomb. On July 29, the Pence campaign transferred $1.25 million to Holcomb.
But the unanswered question is why didn’t the Pence campaign take steps prior to July 19 to move a bulk of those funds, perhaps as much as $6 million, to either the Indiana Republican Party or the Republican Governors Association where they could have then been transferred to the new nominee? Did the Pence staff, in all the veepstakes hoopla and as they positioned for jobs in the Trump campaign, simply fail to do the proper research on how his federal candidacy might impact those funds? Or is Pence pulling an Evan Bayh, keeping a big war chest hoarded for future use if the Trump/Pence ticket loses on Nov. 8? Only Pence and his newly converted Trumpkins know.
O’Brien, who took the helm of the Holcomb campaign on Aug. 2, declined to speculate on why the Pence funds weren’t shifted to the new nominee, telling me that this is the scenario he inherited. On Aug. 1, when Holcomb was asked about the Pence funds, he said, “I’ll let Gov. Pence speak for every penny he decides to spend. I am concerned about raising the money I need. I am confident I can do that. We’ll raise the millions it will take to get the message out over the next 100 days.”
Asked whether some of the Pence funds will be refunded to the RGA, O’Brien responded, “Can't comment on what Mike Pence might do. I'll just say the RGA is all in for us and they'll invest. You'll see it soon.” The RGA did put $250,000 into the Holcomb campaign earlier this month, with Holcomb campaign spokesman Pete Seat calling it a “new investment” and not recycled Pence funds
We are stumped as to just why Howey says that there is some confusion about why the Holcomb campaign will receive no further direct contributions from the Pence reelection campaign. If Mr. Howey had just bothered to read either Niki Kelly's articles here and here, or a widely cited Memo from the Democratic Governor's Association dealing with the Pence money issue, hell if Howey had just bothered to simply do more than five minutes of work looking into this it wouldn't surprise him why Holcomb is not going to get anymore money from Pence! The answer is because the Pence campaign legally cannot give him any! He could have even read this blog and become aware of it that way! Mike O'Brien who is Eric Holcomb's campaign manager is currently listed on Barnes and Thornburg's website as Senior Public Policy Advisor at their Indianapolis office. Before his current position at B&T it appears that O'Brien's job was just to carry water for whatever legislation that "Godfather" Governor Mitch Daniels told him to. He also is the former chairman of the Hendricks County Republican Party. What has always struck us as so interesting is that O'Brien like most Mitch Daniels
Howey continues:
Former Pence campaign spokesman Marc Lotter, who along with former Pence campaign finance director Marty Obst took new positions with the Trump presidential campaign, did not respond to questions. Lotter has refused to respond to most Indiana news media requests.
Unanswered at this point is what happens to $5-6 million in Pence funds? Eventual campaign filings will reveal the story, but at this point the fledgling Holcomb campaign could have used that money . . . yesterday.
When Pence officially became a federal candidate, his Indiana campaign funds fell under Federal Election Commission guidelines, which limited the amount of funds that could be transferred to the successor nominee. Holcomb was endorsed by Pence on July 22. He used it with a strong implication that much of the Pence war chest would be transferred to his fledgling campaign. But minutes after winning the nomination, Politico reported that much of the Pence war chest was not transferrable.
In presentations to the Indiana Republican Central Committee members, U.S. Reps. Susan Brooks and Todd Rokita both stressed that they had more than $1.2 million in funds and both laid out strategies for funding their campaigns. One influential observer speaking on background told me, “It is interesting that here it is a month later, and he still only has barely over 10 percent of the Pence funds, especially when you examine the daily finance reports of individuals giving $10,000. Many of those folks are reliable $50,000 or $100,000 donors. So what’s up with that? The silence from the Pence campaign and Holcomb campaigns on this is deafening.”
Republican financier Bob Grand, who turned up in Cleveland on the morning of July 20 during the waning hours of the Republican National Convention, said at the time he would be working on the fund transfer. On July 27, Grand said, “It’s all going to get worked out. It’s not a problem and it’s not going to be a problem. Eric Holcomb is going to have plenty of money to run this race. A fair amount of it will come from the Mike Pence campaign.”
There doesn’t seem to be any public tension between Pence and Holcomb, who campaigned together in Columbus earlier this month. Holcomb is a loyal lieutenant to the vice presidential nominee. But that loyalty, in a financial sense, appears to be a one-way street as Holcomb’s condensed campaign hits a very early homestretch.
Well gee Brian! Why in the world would you think that Mike Pence gives a damn about anyone other than Mike Pence? If the rumors are to be believed that Mitch Daniels forced Mike Pence to appoint Eric Holcomb to be his Lt. Governor that would certainly lend credence to the theory floated by many that Pence and/or members of his team don't care if Holcomb wins the Governor's race or not! As far as we here are concerned the Indiana Fake Republican Party can all crash and burn!
Note to our readers: We have been having issues with blogger in regards to the font size of our posts. We will have this resolved as soon as we can. If any of you have any suggestions let us know!
Monday, August 22, 2016
Gregg Recieves Indiana FOP Endorsement while Holcomb's Campaign still stuck in neutral!
In a move that will be sure to irritate the still stalled gubernatorial campaign of Eric "Bagman" Holcomb. The Indiana Fraternal Order of Police has endorsed the gubernatorial campaign of Democrat John Gregg. OUCH! This combined with Holcomb's p!@s poor fundraising to date has caused us here at Indy Republican to wash our hands of the Holcomb ticket! Indy Republican's staff has convened and we have by overwhelming vote decided to not endorse any candidate for Governor this year! We reached this decision after having examined each candidate and found them wanting. All of us here as life-long Republicans have determined that no candidate now running for Governor is representative of the true principles of Republicanism we hold dear. The principles being free speech, limited government, and government transparency. By pledging to campaign on the record of faux conservative Mike Pence. Eric Holcomb has shown no willingness to make lawmakers emails open to the public. This coupled with his disgraceful conduct in his 2000 run for the state house, his part in costing Congressman John Hostettler his office in 2006, and his bullying ways as state chairman could explain in part why a man who was for several years the Chairman of the Indiana Republican Party is not getting much love on the campaign trail! Our advice to all Republican activists and voters is do not lift a finger to help Holcomb. This man was forced on us as the GOP standard bearer by party insiders. We the people were not consulted about this. Those of us who have worked hard for the Republican Party have been told we are not important. That is reason enough to not assist the party bosses by helping Holcomb become our next Governor!
UPDATE: An alert reader made us aware that the Indiana FOP endorsed John Gregg in 2012 and backed Mitch Daniels in 2008. One would have thought that Holcomb being a close Daniels lackey and sycophant would have been able to get the FOP's support!
UPDATE: An alert reader made us aware that the Indiana FOP endorsed John Gregg in 2012 and backed Mitch Daniels in 2008. One would have thought that Holcomb being a close Daniels lackey and sycophant would have been able to get the FOP's support!
Monday, August 15, 2016
Eric Holcomb to Mike Pence: "SHOW ME THE MONEY! MY CAMPAIGN IS DYING ON THE VINE!"
We at INDY REPUBLICAN hope all of you reading this post had a great weekend. Most of the staff here did. As promised we are continuing to look into the melodrama surrounding the issue of Governor Mike Pence's $7.4 Million war chest. And to the extent that the funds can be used to help Lt. Governor Eric Holcomb's floundering gubernatorial campaign to replace Mike Pence. Before we get into that we would like to direct our readers attention to a couple of great posts written by fellow blogger Jon Easter at Indy Democrat. The posts cover matters relating to the Governor's race and can be found here and here. Now let's get down to business and explore the demonic world that is Indiana Politics! To guide us in our holy quest we shall start with an article written by Brian Howey of Howey Political Report fame. Howey's article written on August 12th, 2016 is titled The elusive Pence money Eric Holcomb needs. Howey recounts that on July 19th at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland that Lt. Gov Holcomb gave the vice presidential nominating speech for Mike Pence the man that Holcomb wishes to succeed as Governor. Holcomb is quoted as saying:
"“Tonight I have the privilege to nominate a man I have known for decades and a man America is just getting to know. In Indiana some know Mike Pence as congressman. Others know him as governor. But back home most know him as Mike.”
In addition to Mike Pence being nominated for Vice President there was then a serious chance affected in regards to what could legally be done with the funds that Mike Pence had raised in his aborted reelection campaign for Governor. Howey writes:
"The gubernatorial campaign of Pence which had reported $7.4 million on June 30, came under Federal Election Commission guidelines. Had Pence and his campaign finance director Marty Obst transferred a good chunk of that money not already committed to the Indiana Republican Party, the Republican Governors Association, or Holcomb, who Pence would endorse to replace him as gubernatorial nominee on July 22, Holcomb would be running TV ads these days introducing himself to voters, most who don’t have any idea who he is."
The failure of Pence and finance director Marty Obst to transfer the money to some group that could have given it to Holcomb has been a huge problem for the Holcomb campaign. Especially since Holcomb had only raised about $20,000 to that point while John Gregg had raised over $10 million.
Howey asked Holcomb about the matter and the reply was: "You'll have to ask him." Buckle up this is where this really gets to be a bumpy ride! Howey says that early last week he had been told by
"an informed and reliable Holcomb campaign source speaking on background told me that about $5 million of the Pence funds would eventually shift to the new nominee. “It’s safe to say that somewhere in the ball park of $5 million will come via direct transfers, in-kind or other legally permissible ways,” the source said. “No one really knows the full amount at this point.”
The Holcomb campaign is quoted by Howey as saying that “The folks over at the Pence campaign knew about this possible scenario and they were prepared for this. They were not caught flat-footed. They knew they would have to have a plan” to transfer funds.
INDY REPUBLICAN is skeptical to say the least that the Pence campaign were prepared for this and had a way to deal with this situation. If that is the case why was this plan not implemented immediately to help Holcomb out? Was the Pence campaign deliberately trying to sabotage Eric Holcomb's bid for Governor? If they had a plan it seems they would have just taken care of this issue already instead of allowing it to keep festering, causing a major headache for Holcomb and the Indiana Republican Party, and continuing to be an overall PR nightmare for Hoosier Republicans! Gary Welsh wrote on his blog back in 2012 about some Republicans that were worried about Mike Pence's campaign having hired Marty Obst to work on his campaign since he had formerly worked for indicted real estate businessman John Bales. Welsh went onto write later in 2012 that Obst had left the Pence Campaign and then went to work fundraising for both then Senator Lugar's failed bid for re nomination and Mitt Romney's failed campaign for President.
Given the information about how Obst had strong ties to John Bales and how he also failed miserably in his attempts to help Lugar's Senate Primary bid and Mitt Romney's Presidential Campaign. Why in the world does anyone at Holcomb's campaign have confidence in anything that Obst does or says? We sure do not!
Holcomb and Company better hope that Obst who has now transitioned over to the Trump-Pence ticket has his act more together than he has in the past. According to Howey the situation is dire for Holcomb:
On July 29, the Pence campaign transferred $1.24 million to Holcomb. Thus far at this writing on Aug. 11, with just 89 days before the election, that’s been it. The Pence campaign is essentially shutting down, with key members getting out of Dodge before the door slammed their keisters. No one from the Trump/Pence campaign has returned a phone call, email or text.
The timing is critical. Holcomb’s name ID is under 20 percent, compared to Gregg who stands at 61 percent and has been advertising statewide on TV since May 5. A Gregg campaign internal poll Howey Politics Indiana obtained this week had Gregg leading Holcomb 46-39 percent. If I’m Holcomb, those a decent numbers to build on since Gregg has been campaigning for two years, and Holcomb for less than a month.
But timing is critical. Holcomb has about a six week window to introduce himself to voters, build up name ID and attempt to define Gregg in an unflattering light. By early October, the U.S. Senate race between Evan Bayh and Todd Young will be on a path to eclipse the $50 million spent by and on behalf of Dick Lugar, Richard Mourdock and Joe Donnelly in 2012 and it will be dominating the airwaves, as will the Trump and Clinton campaigns. Holcomb will have to get his message out amid the din of other races. The early arrival of the Pence funds would be critical.
To make matters even worse the Democratic Governors Association (DGA) released a memo on August 10th that the idea of transferring $5 million from the Pence to the Holcomb campaign "appears to be the latest in a long line of legally questionable moves made by Indiana Republicans. When first informed that federal law restricted Pence from transferring his $7.5 million campaign account to Eric Holcomb, the initial response from Indiana Republicans was denial."
Niki Kelly of the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette writing on July 27th in her article "'Complications' on Pence money." States that:
Jim Bopp, a GOP attorney and campaign finance expert, initially told The Journal Gazette that state law has no prohibitions on Pence giving his campaign dollars to other state races, and federal law doesn’t apply. But after reviewing several Federal Election Commission advisory opinions he clarified.
“I still think generally what I said was true but obviously there are complications that I’ll be working through. I’ll do my best to figure it out,” Bopp said.
This seriously calls into question claims that the Pence Campaign had carefully looked at the issue of how their campaign funds could legally be transferred to Holcomb! Jim Bopp is regarded even by his legal adversaries as being a very good lawyer and is know for doing his legal homework. So obviously he wasn't asked to look at this matter until after Pence received the Vice Presidential nod. So if the Pence campaign had this issue looked into before why didn't they just have them speak with Mr. Bopp to clear this up? Which would be the sensible thing to do since Bopp has been asked by the Indiana Republican Party to look into this!
Niki Kelly in another article "Rules impede Pence's donation" written on August 4th mentions a donation that had been sent by Governor Mike Pence to Lt. Gov Holcomb she mentions:
The donation was oddly precise – $1,248,492.04 – which could be related to the additional federal rules complicating the contributions.
It is unclear whether this is the only money that will be given to Holcomb from Pence, whose team did not respond to email and phone calls. Holcomb’s campaign deferred to Pence.
Pence had $7.5 million on hand as of June 30, but several Federal Election Commission rulings suggested he could not transfer a large portion of that – possibly as much as two-thirds, considering the number of large donors Pence had.
Even with the infusion of cash, Holcomb is fighting an uphill battle – trying to raise money and name recognition with less than 100 days until the election.
Democrat John Gregg had $5.8 million on hand as of June 30. Since then, he has collected $824,000 in large donations, but records of his spending during that time aren’t public.
Addressing the issues of the Holcomb/Crouch ticket seeking to obtain $5 million from direct transfers, in-kind contributions (contributions of goods or services such as lodging, office equipment, etc.) or other means the DGA Memo states:
it appears the Republican’s latest “plan” would violate the law if implemented:
1. Federal law provides that “only donations from permissible sources that comply with the Act’s contribution limits may be used to make [] disbursements … to [] non-Federal candidates.” FEC Adv. Op. 2007-26 (Schock).
Pence appears to have transferred his federally permissible funds to Holcomb’s campaign, after the “oddly precise” initial transfer of $1,248,492.04.
2. The article suggests that the Pence campaign may try to make “in-kind” contributions to get around the restrictions. But in-kind contributions, like monetary contributions, are “subject to the source prohibitions and amount limitations of the Act.” FEC Adv. Op. 2006-4 (Tancredo).
If the Pence campaign purchases a good or service with funds that are not federally permissible, and provides that to Holcomb’s campaign, that violates federal law.
None of the staff at INDY REPUBLICAN are members of the bar. But according to our legal contacts it would appear that the above statement about Pence already having made the above mentioned transfer being all they are allowed to transfer directly to Holcomb by federal law is most likely correct. So it appears likely that avenue has already been exhausted. Also it would appear to be problematic at best for the Pence campaign to try to make in-kind contributions to the Holcomb campaign because purchasing goods or services with funds that are not authorized by Federal law would be a violation of the law. Now if it is unlawful to provide those types of contributions to the Holcomb campaign. It maybe unlawful to receive such contributions. Which would appear to cause another significant issue for both campaigns!
3. The article suggests that there are “legally permissible ways,” other than direct transfers, to move $5 million from Pence’s campaign to Holcomb’s. An unnamed source in an earlier article argued that in the case of individuals who had contributed over the federal limit, funds in excess of the $2,700 limit “could be returned to the donor, who could then donate it back to the Holcomb campaign.”
a. But the FEC addressed that possibility in 2007 and rejected it. In response to Congressman Schock’s request to refund the money to donors, the FEC wrote that “[t]he funds identified to be refunded may not also form the basis to fund another disbursement under the proposals outlined in questions 1, 2, and 3 [which involved proposed contributions to state/local party committees and candidates.” See FEC Adv. Op. 2007-26.
In other words, refunds cannot be provided to donors with the understanding that those funds will, in turn, be provided to the Holcomb campaign.
b. Violating this rule is not only a problem for the Pence campaign; it is also a liability for donors. Federal law provides that, “[n]o person shall make a contribution in the name of another person or knowingly permit his name to be used to effect such a contribution.” 52 U.S.C. § 30122.
If the Pence campaign provides a refund to the donor with the understanding that those funds will be contributed to the Holcomb campaign, the donor has knowingly permitted his name to effectuate a transfer from the Pence campaign to the Holcomb campaign.
Here again is another problem this time for donors to Pence's original campaign. The donor's might be willing to help Pence out with another candidate if he were to ask. But it is unlikely that any of them are going to risk legal trouble just to help Holcomb out!
4. Federal law also prohibits federal candidates from “financing” an entity that raises or spends non-federal funds. See 11 C.F.R. § 300.60(d). A candidate “finances” another entity when his campaign “provide[s] funds in a significant amount” to that entity. See FEC Adv. Op. 2006-4. In that advisory opinion, the FEC determined that the federal candidate would be “financing” another entity when the candidate’s campaign donated $50,000 to the entity and that $50,000 comprised 25% of the entity’s overall receipts.
So if the funds provided by Pence’s campaign comprise 25% or more of the Holcomb campaign’s funds, then the Pence campaign would be “financing” the Holcomb campaign. And the Holcomb campaign would then be limited to raising federal funds ($2,700 per election).
5. When the Pence campaign refunds money to donors, it must do so on a pro rata basis. I.C. 3-9-1-12(f)(1)(E) provides that campaign funds may be distributed back to “[c]ontributors to the committee, on a pro rata basis” upon dissolution. Because the Pence campaign had already spent a chunk of the money it had raised, it means that Pence may not refund 100 percent of the funds that the RGA contributed to his campaign.
6. Governor Pence (and his agents) may not solicit donors to contribute more than $2,700 to Holcomb’s campaign. The McCain-Feingold law allows federal candidates to solicit funds for nonfederal campaigns only up to the federal limit and only from federally permissible sources. See FEC Adv. Op. 2005-2 (“Pursuant to 2 U.S.C. 441i(e)(1)(B) and 11 CFR 300.62, Senator Corzine and his agents may raise up to $2,100 per election5 from an individual donor for a candidate for State or local office.”).
At this point we here are just fighting the urge to pull our hair out! So to sum up not only does it appear that the Pence Team cannot give anymore in direct donations to the Holcomb Campaign. Trying to help with In-Kind Contributions also appears to be a no go! Refunding the money to the donor's is also unlikely to work very well at all! But now if the funds provided by the Pence campaign were to wind up comprising 25% or more of the Holcomb campaigns funds then the Pence campaign by federal law would be "financing" Holcomb's Campaign. And this would subject the Holcomb campaign to raising federal funds and would significantly limit how much anyone person or group could donate to Holcomb's Campaign. The Pence Campaign apparently cannot refund 100% of the money that the Republican Governor's Association (RGA) gave to them! Also with Governor Pence and anyone acting on his behalf being very limited in what funds they can solicit for Holcomb. It would appear that even if a "fix" is found for getting another $5 million from Pence to Holcomb. This appears to be a case where any "cure" would probably hurt Holcomb worse than the Pence "disease"!
It appears that regardless of how this election turns out that the Democratic Party is not going to just simply let Pence and Holcomb slither around campaign finance laws! Now in far to many cases in the past the Daniels Gang of which Holcomb is a member of could count on the Democrats not pursuing this so relentlessly because of the useless hacks that have been appointed to the US Attorney's Office in Indianapolis since the 1970's! And by the elites of both political parties in Indiana threating to go full bore at each other. But because both Todd Young and Evan Bayh are throwing the kitchen sink at each other in their pursuit of being elected into the Senate. All bets are off! Since neither the Republicans or Democrats are willing to lose the Senate race. Unless Young and Bayh decide to start trying to defeat each other using warm feelings. Holcomb is stuck dealing with Mike Pence's screw-ups!
So word to the wise for all of you aspiring politicians out there. Do not ever rely on Mike Pence or anyone he hires to help your campaign! You will regret it! As for Holcomb and his campaign if you are silly enough to keep up this three ring circus of a campaign than you deserve to lose in the mother of all landslides! Have fun reading the want ads! There certainly has to be a position out there for out of work political hacks!
"“Tonight I have the privilege to nominate a man I have known for decades and a man America is just getting to know. In Indiana some know Mike Pence as congressman. Others know him as governor. But back home most know him as Mike.”
In addition to Mike Pence being nominated for Vice President there was then a serious chance affected in regards to what could legally be done with the funds that Mike Pence had raised in his aborted reelection campaign for Governor. Howey writes:
"The gubernatorial campaign of Pence which had reported $7.4 million on June 30, came under Federal Election Commission guidelines. Had Pence and his campaign finance director Marty Obst transferred a good chunk of that money not already committed to the Indiana Republican Party, the Republican Governors Association, or Holcomb, who Pence would endorse to replace him as gubernatorial nominee on July 22, Holcomb would be running TV ads these days introducing himself to voters, most who don’t have any idea who he is."
The failure of Pence and finance director Marty Obst to transfer the money to some group that could have given it to Holcomb has been a huge problem for the Holcomb campaign. Especially since Holcomb had only raised about $20,000 to that point while John Gregg had raised over $10 million.
Howey asked Holcomb about the matter and the reply was: "You'll have to ask him." Buckle up this is where this really gets to be a bumpy ride! Howey says that early last week he had been told by
"an informed and reliable Holcomb campaign source speaking on background told me that about $5 million of the Pence funds would eventually shift to the new nominee. “It’s safe to say that somewhere in the ball park of $5 million will come via direct transfers, in-kind or other legally permissible ways,” the source said. “No one really knows the full amount at this point.”
The Holcomb campaign is quoted by Howey as saying that “The folks over at the Pence campaign knew about this possible scenario and they were prepared for this. They were not caught flat-footed. They knew they would have to have a plan” to transfer funds.
INDY REPUBLICAN is skeptical to say the least that the Pence campaign were prepared for this and had a way to deal with this situation. If that is the case why was this plan not implemented immediately to help Holcomb out? Was the Pence campaign deliberately trying to sabotage Eric Holcomb's bid for Governor? If they had a plan it seems they would have just taken care of this issue already instead of allowing it to keep festering, causing a major headache for Holcomb and the Indiana Republican Party, and continuing to be an overall PR nightmare for Hoosier Republicans! Gary Welsh wrote on his blog back in 2012 about some Republicans that were worried about Mike Pence's campaign having hired Marty Obst to work on his campaign since he had formerly worked for indicted real estate businessman John Bales. Welsh went onto write later in 2012 that Obst had left the Pence Campaign and then went to work fundraising for both then Senator Lugar's failed bid for re nomination and Mitt Romney's failed campaign for President.
Given the information about how Obst had strong ties to John Bales and how he also failed miserably in his attempts to help Lugar's Senate Primary bid and Mitt Romney's Presidential Campaign. Why in the world does anyone at Holcomb's campaign have confidence in anything that Obst does or says? We sure do not!
Holcomb and Company better hope that Obst who has now transitioned over to the Trump-Pence ticket has his act more together than he has in the past. According to Howey the situation is dire for Holcomb:
On July 29, the Pence campaign transferred $1.24 million to Holcomb. Thus far at this writing on Aug. 11, with just 89 days before the election, that’s been it. The Pence campaign is essentially shutting down, with key members getting out of Dodge before the door slammed their keisters. No one from the Trump/Pence campaign has returned a phone call, email or text.
The timing is critical. Holcomb’s name ID is under 20 percent, compared to Gregg who stands at 61 percent and has been advertising statewide on TV since May 5. A Gregg campaign internal poll Howey Politics Indiana obtained this week had Gregg leading Holcomb 46-39 percent. If I’m Holcomb, those a decent numbers to build on since Gregg has been campaigning for two years, and Holcomb for less than a month.
But timing is critical. Holcomb has about a six week window to introduce himself to voters, build up name ID and attempt to define Gregg in an unflattering light. By early October, the U.S. Senate race between Evan Bayh and Todd Young will be on a path to eclipse the $50 million spent by and on behalf of Dick Lugar, Richard Mourdock and Joe Donnelly in 2012 and it will be dominating the airwaves, as will the Trump and Clinton campaigns. Holcomb will have to get his message out amid the din of other races. The early arrival of the Pence funds would be critical.
To make matters even worse the Democratic Governors Association (DGA) released a memo on August 10th that the idea of transferring $5 million from the Pence to the Holcomb campaign "appears to be the latest in a long line of legally questionable moves made by Indiana Republicans. When first informed that federal law restricted Pence from transferring his $7.5 million campaign account to Eric Holcomb, the initial response from Indiana Republicans was denial."
Niki Kelly of the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette writing on July 27th in her article "'Complications' on Pence money." States that:
Jim Bopp, a GOP attorney and campaign finance expert, initially told The Journal Gazette that state law has no prohibitions on Pence giving his campaign dollars to other state races, and federal law doesn’t apply. But after reviewing several Federal Election Commission advisory opinions he clarified.
“I still think generally what I said was true but obviously there are complications that I’ll be working through. I’ll do my best to figure it out,” Bopp said.
This seriously calls into question claims that the Pence Campaign had carefully looked at the issue of how their campaign funds could legally be transferred to Holcomb! Jim Bopp is regarded even by his legal adversaries as being a very good lawyer and is know for doing his legal homework. So obviously he wasn't asked to look at this matter until after Pence received the Vice Presidential nod. So if the Pence campaign had this issue looked into before why didn't they just have them speak with Mr. Bopp to clear this up? Which would be the sensible thing to do since Bopp has been asked by the Indiana Republican Party to look into this!
Niki Kelly in another article "Rules impede Pence's donation" written on August 4th mentions a donation that had been sent by Governor Mike Pence to Lt. Gov Holcomb she mentions:
The donation was oddly precise – $1,248,492.04 – which could be related to the additional federal rules complicating the contributions.
It is unclear whether this is the only money that will be given to Holcomb from Pence, whose team did not respond to email and phone calls. Holcomb’s campaign deferred to Pence.
Pence had $7.5 million on hand as of June 30, but several Federal Election Commission rulings suggested he could not transfer a large portion of that – possibly as much as two-thirds, considering the number of large donors Pence had.
Even with the infusion of cash, Holcomb is fighting an uphill battle – trying to raise money and name recognition with less than 100 days until the election.
Democrat John Gregg had $5.8 million on hand as of June 30. Since then, he has collected $824,000 in large donations, but records of his spending during that time aren’t public.
Addressing the issues of the Holcomb/Crouch ticket seeking to obtain $5 million from direct transfers, in-kind contributions (contributions of goods or services such as lodging, office equipment, etc.) or other means the DGA Memo states:
it appears the Republican’s latest “plan” would violate the law if implemented:
1. Federal law provides that “only donations from permissible sources that comply with the Act’s contribution limits may be used to make [] disbursements … to [] non-Federal candidates.” FEC Adv. Op. 2007-26 (Schock).
Pence appears to have transferred his federally permissible funds to Holcomb’s campaign, after the “oddly precise” initial transfer of $1,248,492.04.
2. The article suggests that the Pence campaign may try to make “in-kind” contributions to get around the restrictions. But in-kind contributions, like monetary contributions, are “subject to the source prohibitions and amount limitations of the Act.” FEC Adv. Op. 2006-4 (Tancredo).
If the Pence campaign purchases a good or service with funds that are not federally permissible, and provides that to Holcomb’s campaign, that violates federal law.
3. The article suggests that there are “legally permissible ways,” other than direct transfers, to move $5 million from Pence’s campaign to Holcomb’s. An unnamed source in an earlier article argued that in the case of individuals who had contributed over the federal limit, funds in excess of the $2,700 limit “could be returned to the donor, who could then donate it back to the Holcomb campaign.”
a. But the FEC addressed that possibility in 2007 and rejected it. In response to Congressman Schock’s request to refund the money to donors, the FEC wrote that “[t]he funds identified to be refunded may not also form the basis to fund another disbursement under the proposals outlined in questions 1, 2, and 3 [which involved proposed contributions to state/local party committees and candidates.” See FEC Adv. Op. 2007-26.
In other words, refunds cannot be provided to donors with the understanding that those funds will, in turn, be provided to the Holcomb campaign.
b. Violating this rule is not only a problem for the Pence campaign; it is also a liability for donors. Federal law provides that, “[n]o person shall make a contribution in the name of another person or knowingly permit his name to be used to effect such a contribution.” 52 U.S.C. § 30122.
If the Pence campaign provides a refund to the donor with the understanding that those funds will be contributed to the Holcomb campaign, the donor has knowingly permitted his name to effectuate a transfer from the Pence campaign to the Holcomb campaign.
4. Federal law also prohibits federal candidates from “financing” an entity that raises or spends non-federal funds. See 11 C.F.R. § 300.60(d). A candidate “finances” another entity when his campaign “provide[s] funds in a significant amount” to that entity. See FEC Adv. Op. 2006-4. In that advisory opinion, the FEC determined that the federal candidate would be “financing” another entity when the candidate’s campaign donated $50,000 to the entity and that $50,000 comprised 25% of the entity’s overall receipts.
So if the funds provided by Pence’s campaign comprise 25% or more of the Holcomb campaign’s funds, then the Pence campaign would be “financing” the Holcomb campaign. And the Holcomb campaign would then be limited to raising federal funds ($2,700 per election).
5. When the Pence campaign refunds money to donors, it must do so on a pro rata basis. I.C. 3-9-1-12(f)(1)(E) provides that campaign funds may be distributed back to “[c]ontributors to the committee, on a pro rata basis” upon dissolution. Because the Pence campaign had already spent a chunk of the money it had raised, it means that Pence may not refund 100 percent of the funds that the RGA contributed to his campaign.
6. Governor Pence (and his agents) may not solicit donors to contribute more than $2,700 to Holcomb’s campaign. The McCain-Feingold law allows federal candidates to solicit funds for nonfederal campaigns only up to the federal limit and only from federally permissible sources. See FEC Adv. Op. 2005-2 (“Pursuant to 2 U.S.C. 441i(e)(1)(B) and 11 CFR 300.62, Senator Corzine and his agents may raise up to $2,100 per election5 from an individual donor for a candidate for State or local office.”).
It appears that regardless of how this election turns out that the Democratic Party is not going to just simply let Pence and Holcomb slither around campaign finance laws! Now in far to many cases in the past the Daniels Gang of which Holcomb is a member of could count on the Democrats not pursuing this so relentlessly because of the useless hacks that have been appointed to the US Attorney's Office in Indianapolis since the 1970's! And by the elites of both political parties in Indiana threating to go full bore at each other. But because both Todd Young and Evan Bayh are throwing the kitchen sink at each other in their pursuit of being elected into the Senate. All bets are off! Since neither the Republicans or Democrats are willing to lose the Senate race. Unless Young and Bayh decide to start trying to defeat each other using warm feelings. Holcomb is stuck dealing with Mike Pence's screw-ups!
So word to the wise for all of you aspiring politicians out there. Do not ever rely on Mike Pence or anyone he hires to help your campaign! You will regret it! As for Holcomb and his campaign if you are silly enough to keep up this three ring circus of a campaign than you deserve to lose in the mother of all landslides! Have fun reading the want ads! There certainly has to be a position out there for out of work political hacks!
Tuesday, August 9, 2016
Hoosier Lottery Contractor Finally Meets it's Goals after three years! Or More Pain for the Taxpayers from former Govenor Mitch "Little Man Hack" Daniels
In an article that appeared on the Indianapolis Business Journal's website in June. Hayleigh Colombo wrote how for the first time IGT Indiana (formerly GTECH Indiana) will meet its contractually obligated goals at managing the Indiana Lottery. Colombo goes onto say that it is "largely because the goals are lower than they used to be." In June 2015 the Hoosier Lottery Commission changed it's contract with IGT which reduced the revenue goals the company set when it originally bid to takeover management of the state lottery in 2012. As originally agreed IGT would have had to meet a revenue goal of $365 Million as opposed to the $270 Million target they have to reach now. We here at INDY REPUBLICAN are asking the question if IGT has not been able to meet their revenue targets from 2013 to 2015. And the company has had to keep making penalty payments to the state for the years they failed to meet the target. Why renegotiate the contract to make it easier for IGT to hit their target? Why not just fire them altogether? Remember folks when IGT signed the deal in 2012 to take over management of the Hoosier Lottery they agreed to make $365 Million in net income for the state or make penalty payments to the state. So one would think that IGT should have thought they were capable of making those original obligations. If IGT didn't think so then they should have either negotiated a better deal in 2012 or better yet not sign the contract at all! Isn't it interesting that this deal was inked during the time of Governor "Godfather" Mitch Daniels! Of course you won't hear or see any of the Indianapolis Press calling Mitch out on this! Like Matt Tully and the rest of the Circle Jerk Club they are to busy selling their souls to do their jobs! Let's all just keep ratcheting the pressure up until the Republicrat Establishment is smashed in Indianapolis!
Saturday, July 30, 2016
Pence Team Drop's the Ball Potentially Derailing Holcomb's Campaign for Governor!
As stated in our last post. It appears Eric Holcomb the Republican nominee for Governor, may not be able to get much financial aid from Mike Pence's abandoned gubernatorial campaign. In an article for the Indianapolis Star by Tony Cook written on July 26, 2016. Mr. Cook discusses how Eric Holcomb might be barred by federal law from being able to use most of Governor Mike Pence's campaign funds that Pence has left over from his 2016 Governor's campaign. Cook writes:
The bulk of the $7.4 million in campaign cash that Pence had in the bank at the end of last month would not be available to Holcomb in his run for governor, said Larry Noble, a former general counsel to the Federal Election Commission.
"Someone running for federal office cannot use contributions from their state account that would exceed the federal contribution limit," he explained.
Noble, who now works for the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center, said Pence could give the restricted campaign money to charity or return it to donors.
Holcomb had only $20,000 in his own campaign account at the end of June, and he raised significantly less than his two primary opponents during an abandoned run for Senate earlier this year.
His top two competitors for the nomination for governor, U.S. Reps. Susan Brooks and Todd Rokita, boasted more money and better fundraising track records.
With about 100 days left before the Nov. 8 election, Democratic gubernatorial candidate John Gregg has $5.8 million in his campaign coffers, according to the most recent campaign finance filings.
Holcomb banked heavily on Pence's endorsement — and the campaign cash that could come with it — in his pitch to the state Republican central committee, which voted to nominate him Tuesday.
"That unambiguous demonstration of confidence by our Governor is significant," Holcomb wrote to the 22-member committee last week. "I know from speaking directly with him that his support is not symbolic, but rather it is a commitment to the financial backing, staffing, and resources available through the Mike Pence for Indiana Campaign Committee. That is something no other candidate in this race can boast, and Gov. Pence has made it crystal clear that he will assist me in maintaining control of the Governor’s office."
A spokesman for Holcomb's campaign declined to comment, referring questions to Pence's campaign.
All of us here at Indy Republican find this situation to be nothing less than a complete blunder on the part of the Pence campaign. As much as we would all like to blame Eric Holcomb for this. In all honesty and fairness this was a matter for Mike Pence and his campaign staff to handle and they all failed miserably! We all here know that if we were in Holcomb's place we would be extremely irritated at Governor Pence and his campaign staff. Especially in light of the fact that Holcomb only has a little more than $20,000 in his campaign account. While John Gregg reported $5.8 million in his campaign account! Also the Republican State Central Committee has good cause to be frustrated since no doubt. One of the main reasons they picked Holcomb was because of Governor Pence's endorsement of Holcomb and the committee and Holcomb understandably being led to believe that a noticeable amount of financial and campaign assistance would be available to Holcomb via the Pence Campaign!
Marc Lotter, a spokesman for Pence's vice presidential campaign, did not dispute Noble's analysis, which is based on two FEC advisory opinions from 2003 and 2007.
"Our legal team is looking into all the relevant statutes that may apply in this situation, and the governor has always said he will adhere to the letter of the law," Lotter said.
"One thing I can guarantee you is that Eric Holcomb will have all the resources he needs to become the next governor of Indiana," Lotter added. "There are a number of avenues and ways we can be supportive."
He declined to elaborate.
Ah once again Marc Lotter shows why this man should not be hired to run anything! Our readers might recall that we discussed Marc Lotter's many shortcomings as a campaign and government worker in a previous posting here. It seems odd that Lotter didn't have the campaign's lawyer's look into this matter before Pence had dropped out of the Governor's race! Why didn't Lotter just have Pence donate his $7.4 Million to the Indiana Republican Party before he withdrew and ran for Vice President? It would have given the Republicans a chance to give much of the money to whoever they would wind up picking to take his place on the ballot. And hence avoid being in a situation where the Democrats would have a financial leg up over them in the race if only a temporary one! As far as saying they can "guarantee" Holcomb will get all the help he needs in his race. How is anyone supposed to take Lotter seriously? Surely he could at least say something as to how Pence and his campaign plan on helping Holcomb avoid losing in a possible landslide because Holcomb didn't have enough money to keep the lights on at his campaign HQ!
Lotter is also said to have denied any mistakes were made by the Pence staff. Does Lotter seriously think we the people are so stupid as to think that no mistakes were made by him and/or the Pence staff? The only way that would be true is if they were only planning on endorsing Holcomb but not offer him financial support. Which seems to be at variance with accounts suggesting otherwise. Two other high profile candidates who were competing for the Governor's office have more money and potentially better campaign infrastructures in place already. Congresswoman Susan Brooks has $1.4 million ready to spend. The other major contender Congressman Todd Rokita has $1.3 million on hand! Since both Brooks and Rokita represent decent size congressional districts and Rokita has twice been elected statewide as Indiana's Secretary of State. They already had some functioning campaign in place. True Holcomb is Lt. Governor but he has only held that post since April. And only took it after he failed to raise very much money for his bid for the Senate earlier this year. He is also hardly a house hold name. If the committee had know in advance about most of Pence's campaign funds now being off limits to the state party. They very well might have picked either Brooks or Rokita. A candidate that actually had some money, had some experience winning elections, and actually has a track record of being able to win an election! Instead of someone who lost badly the only race they ever stayed in all the way!
On Friday WRTV reported that former State Representative and current State Auditor Suzanne Crouch was the new candidate for Lt. Governor. If the rumor mill is to be believed this mess up by the Pence staff even resulted in a change as to who Eric Holcomb picked to be his running mate. Sources originally indicated that State Treasurer Kelly Mitchell was going to be tapped to run for LG. But due to the sudden need to raise vast amounts of money on short notice the State Auditor Suzanne Crouch was picked instead. We here at INDY REPUBLICAN would like to acknowledge that several years back that then State Rep Suzanne Crouch and State Senator Vanetta Becker both Republicans had the resolve to stand up for the voters and look into the bungled privatization of FSSA. The smart money says that if the Holcomb-Crouch ticket does win in November that Holcomb will try to cut Crouch out of his inner circle. On account of the fact that Crouch is not a party hack. That maybe easier said then done! Mrs. Crouch has shown tenacity and resilience that has been sorely lacking in Indiana lawmakers of both parties. And is unlikely to just roll over for anyone and she should not! The staff here at INDY REPUBLICAN must hand it to Governor Pence and his people they accomplished the impossible they actually make all of us here feel some sympathy for Eric Holcomb! Arrivederci Mike!
The bulk of the $7.4 million in campaign cash that Pence had in the bank at the end of last month would not be available to Holcomb in his run for governor, said Larry Noble, a former general counsel to the Federal Election Commission.
"Someone running for federal office cannot use contributions from their state account that would exceed the federal contribution limit," he explained.
Noble, who now works for the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center, said Pence could give the restricted campaign money to charity or return it to donors.
Holcomb had only $20,000 in his own campaign account at the end of June, and he raised significantly less than his two primary opponents during an abandoned run for Senate earlier this year.
His top two competitors for the nomination for governor, U.S. Reps. Susan Brooks and Todd Rokita, boasted more money and better fundraising track records.
With about 100 days left before the Nov. 8 election, Democratic gubernatorial candidate John Gregg has $5.8 million in his campaign coffers, according to the most recent campaign finance filings.
Holcomb banked heavily on Pence's endorsement — and the campaign cash that could come with it — in his pitch to the state Republican central committee, which voted to nominate him Tuesday.
"That unambiguous demonstration of confidence by our Governor is significant," Holcomb wrote to the 22-member committee last week. "I know from speaking directly with him that his support is not symbolic, but rather it is a commitment to the financial backing, staffing, and resources available through the Mike Pence for Indiana Campaign Committee. That is something no other candidate in this race can boast, and Gov. Pence has made it crystal clear that he will assist me in maintaining control of the Governor’s office."
A spokesman for Holcomb's campaign declined to comment, referring questions to Pence's campaign.
All of us here at Indy Republican find this situation to be nothing less than a complete blunder on the part of the Pence campaign. As much as we would all like to blame Eric Holcomb for this. In all honesty and fairness this was a matter for Mike Pence and his campaign staff to handle and they all failed miserably! We all here know that if we were in Holcomb's place we would be extremely irritated at Governor Pence and his campaign staff. Especially in light of the fact that Holcomb only has a little more than $20,000 in his campaign account. While John Gregg reported $5.8 million in his campaign account! Also the Republican State Central Committee has good cause to be frustrated since no doubt. One of the main reasons they picked Holcomb was because of Governor Pence's endorsement of Holcomb and the committee and Holcomb understandably being led to believe that a noticeable amount of financial and campaign assistance would be available to Holcomb via the Pence Campaign!
Marc Lotter, a spokesman for Pence's vice presidential campaign, did not dispute Noble's analysis, which is based on two FEC advisory opinions from 2003 and 2007.
"Our legal team is looking into all the relevant statutes that may apply in this situation, and the governor has always said he will adhere to the letter of the law," Lotter said.
"One thing I can guarantee you is that Eric Holcomb will have all the resources he needs to become the next governor of Indiana," Lotter added. "There are a number of avenues and ways we can be supportive."
He declined to elaborate.
Ah once again Marc Lotter shows why this man should not be hired to run anything! Our readers might recall that we discussed Marc Lotter's many shortcomings as a campaign and government worker in a previous posting here. It seems odd that Lotter didn't have the campaign's lawyer's look into this matter before Pence had dropped out of the Governor's race! Why didn't Lotter just have Pence donate his $7.4 Million to the Indiana Republican Party before he withdrew and ran for Vice President? It would have given the Republicans a chance to give much of the money to whoever they would wind up picking to take his place on the ballot. And hence avoid being in a situation where the Democrats would have a financial leg up over them in the race if only a temporary one! As far as saying they can "guarantee" Holcomb will get all the help he needs in his race. How is anyone supposed to take Lotter seriously? Surely he could at least say something as to how Pence and his campaign plan on helping Holcomb avoid losing in a possible landslide because Holcomb didn't have enough money to keep the lights on at his campaign HQ!
Lotter is also said to have denied any mistakes were made by the Pence staff. Does Lotter seriously think we the people are so stupid as to think that no mistakes were made by him and/or the Pence staff? The only way that would be true is if they were only planning on endorsing Holcomb but not offer him financial support. Which seems to be at variance with accounts suggesting otherwise. Two other high profile candidates who were competing for the Governor's office have more money and potentially better campaign infrastructures in place already. Congresswoman Susan Brooks has $1.4 million ready to spend. The other major contender Congressman Todd Rokita has $1.3 million on hand! Since both Brooks and Rokita represent decent size congressional districts and Rokita has twice been elected statewide as Indiana's Secretary of State. They already had some functioning campaign in place. True Holcomb is Lt. Governor but he has only held that post since April. And only took it after he failed to raise very much money for his bid for the Senate earlier this year. He is also hardly a house hold name. If the committee had know in advance about most of Pence's campaign funds now being off limits to the state party. They very well might have picked either Brooks or Rokita. A candidate that actually had some money, had some experience winning elections, and actually has a track record of being able to win an election! Instead of someone who lost badly the only race they ever stayed in all the way!
On Friday WRTV reported that former State Representative and current State Auditor Suzanne Crouch was the new candidate for Lt. Governor. If the rumor mill is to be believed this mess up by the Pence staff even resulted in a change as to who Eric Holcomb picked to be his running mate. Sources originally indicated that State Treasurer Kelly Mitchell was going to be tapped to run for LG. But due to the sudden need to raise vast amounts of money on short notice the State Auditor Suzanne Crouch was picked instead. We here at INDY REPUBLICAN would like to acknowledge that several years back that then State Rep Suzanne Crouch and State Senator Vanetta Becker both Republicans had the resolve to stand up for the voters and look into the bungled privatization of FSSA. The smart money says that if the Holcomb-Crouch ticket does win in November that Holcomb will try to cut Crouch out of his inner circle. On account of the fact that Crouch is not a party hack. That maybe easier said then done! Mrs. Crouch has shown tenacity and resilience that has been sorely lacking in Indiana lawmakers of both parties. And is unlikely to just roll over for anyone and she should not! The staff here at INDY REPUBLICAN must hand it to Governor Pence and his people they accomplished the impossible they actually make all of us here feel some sympathy for Eric Holcomb! Arrivederci Mike!
Wednesday, July 27, 2016
Useless Poser Eric Holcomb Picked As GOP Choice for Governor! Why The Indiana GOP Needs to Shape UP!
Yesterday the State Republican Central Committee voted to place Lt. Governor Eric Holcomb as the Republican Nominee for Governor to replace Governor Mike Pence on the November ballot. Hayleigh Colombo and the Associated Press in an article reporting on the selection of Holcomb delved into the question of who will be Holcomb's running mate on the November ticket:
Holcomb said he would soon seek a lieutenant governor candidate. Both (Susan) Brooks and (Todd) Rokita said they were interested in returning back to their seats in Congress when asked about taking the No. 2 spot on the ballot.
This is interesting that neither Congresswoman Brooks nor Congressman Todd Rokita would consider running for Lt. Governor in light of the fact that they were so publicly trying to run for the Governor's office! And since Susan Brooks is supposedly thought of as a good fundraiser and a good candidate! Apparently Brooks and Rokita are more content to stay in congress then play second fiddle to Holcomb!
Unfortunately we have no idea by how many votes each candidate received on the second and final ballot to fill Pence's ballot seat because as the article goes onto say:
Republican Party Jeff Cardwell refused to release the vote totals. The committee seemed to be pretty evenly split between Holcomb and Brooks. Former Republican State Rep. Mitch Harper tweeted at one point that the voting went to a second ballot, meaning no one got the majority on the first vote. The new nominee was required to earn 12 votes.
Now the INDY REPUBLICAN staff can understand why State GOP Chairman Cardwell wouldn't release the vote totals while the voting was taking place. But Good God! What possible reason is their to not release them after the voting is done and over with? Is Cardwell afraid people will think less of Holcomb if it was close on the second ballot?
The Democratic nominee for Governor John Gregg wasted no time in giving his reaction to the selection of Lt. Gov Holcomb as his new GOP opponent:
“I want to congratulate Eric Holcomb on this latest political appointment," Gregg said in a written statement issued by his campaign. "While there may be a new name on the ballot, the issues remain the same. For too many Hoosier families, wages aren’t keeping up and the good paying jobs we are losing aren’t being replaced. Eric Holcomb wholeheartedly embraced the failed approach that embarrassed our state, cost us jobs and has left the middle class behind. My economic plan sets our state on a new path forward, one that puts jobs and the middle class first.”
Holcomb had spent the better part of a year running for the GOP Nomination to replace retiring Senator Dan Coats. Holcomb had served as Coats Chief of Staff for several years. He lagged behind in fundraising despite having being Coats Chief of Staff and a former Indiana State Republican Chairman. Very telling that even with all that under his belt Holcomb raised so little that he dropped out and accepted the appointment to Lt. Governor afterDemocrat Republican Lt. Governor Sue Ellsperman ran like the wind accepted her position as President of IVY Tech State College.
As far as plans to how Holcomb plans to campaign for and how he will do the job as Governor assuming he is elected that is Holcomb had this to say:
When questioned what his plan was to increase his name identification across the state since he has never been elected to an office, Holcomb said he planned to travel the state and put out ads and mailers. Holcomb also said he believed the Donald Trump-Mike Pence presidential ticket was a “strong asset” to his campaign.
Regarding what his legislative agenda as Governor would be he said:
"The General Assembly will focus on what the General Assembly wants to focus on,” Holcomb said. “I look forward to working for them across the spectrum."
Holcomb said he wouldn’t “speculate” whether or not he would support legislation next year to add civil rights protections to LGBT Hoosiers.
“We’ll play it as it comes to my desk,” Holcomb said.
We will elaborate on Holcomb's campaign strategy shortly. Our initial reactions are that giving such vague, evasive answers as to what his agenda as Governor will be. It will only play into John Gregg's hands and allow Gregg to portray Holcomb as not being straight forward with the voters.
Not all Indiana Republicans reaction to the news of Eric Holcomb being tapped to run for Governor was positive. Faux Republican and Former Angie's List CEO Bill Oesterle according to a WISH-TV story was a strong backer of Congresswoman Susan Brooks unsuccessful attempt to run for Governor Oesterle's reaction to the Holcomb pick was negative to say the least:
“Between the abortion bill, the Ellsperman axing, and the Brooks passover, 2016 has been debilitating for GOP women. Makes me sick.”
It seems that the passage of time has not patched things up between Oesterle and Holcomb. In a previous post we documented the rift between the two old friends that started back when Holcomb agreed to be Mike Pence's running mate.
Another Republican this time a real one was also less than pleased by the selection of Holcomb. Indianapolis City-County Councilwoman Christine Scales whom is a hero to all of us here at the INDY REPULICAN staff. She also holds the distinction of being the only real Republican on the Indianapolis City-County Council took to Facebook yesterday to share her thoughts on Holcomb:
Councilwoman Scales later made a correction after it was pointed out that Holcomb had run for State Rep in 2000 and lost badly in a race in an otherwise good year for Indiana Republicans. It is a testament to Councilwoman Scales integrity that she will state so openly what so many others in the Indiana Republican Party think but will not discuss. She is in a class with such fine Indiana Republicans like the late Gary Welsh, Paul Ogden, and Charlie White. All of us here at INDY REPUBLICAN wish that someday we will be worthy of being among this August group of men and women!
Tony Cook and Chelsea Schneider were kind enough to update an article they had written earlier this year about Eric Holcomb when he was picked for his current job as Lt. Governor. Mr. Cook and Ms. Schneider provided some details about Holcomb's life before he was Lt. Governor:
Holcomb, 47, earned his political stripes working for former U.S. Rep. John Hostettler, one of the nation’s most conservative congressmen.
The job proved a good training ground for political combat.
The district was known as the “Bloody Eighth” because of the nasty nature of its races. Hostettler made things even tougher because he refused to accept contributions from political action committees, forcing his team to rely on grassroots campaigning.
“He was always handicapped because he was financially the underdog,” said state Sen. Jim Banks, who also worked for Hostettler. “It was a very interesting place to learn about politics. Every two years was a tough fight.”
Hostettler managed to hold the office for 12 consecutive years – longer than anyone since the 1930s.
Banks credited Holcomb for much of Hostettler’s success.
“Eric and I probably drove in a car together for tens of thousands of miles, crisscrossing the rural communities,” he said. “I remember how Eric could talk to anybody. We would stop at diners and truck stops. He could connect with regular people… He was very instrumental to (Hostettler’s) organization.”
If as State Senator now Congressional Candidate Jim Banks says that Holcomb was "very instrumental to Hostettler's organization. Then it would only be fair to say that Holcomb should shoulder a lot of the blame as to why Hostettler lost his 2006 re election bud by 24 points! Seeing as how Holcomb was his campaign manager at the time! But wait there's more! Earlier in this post we mentioned how Holcomb had run and lost a 2000 election for state representative. Well Cook and Schneider cover that as well:
In 2000, while still working for Hostettler, Holcomb took a shot at elected office himself.
In the final days of the campaign for state representative, Holcomb published an ad in several local newspapers accusing his opponent, Democratic incumbent John Frenz, of supporting bestiality and obscene photographs of children. The basis for the accusation: Frenz had voted to fund the Kinsey Institute, which the ad described as “the largest library of pornography of its kind in the world.”
What Frenz had actually supported was merely the state budget bill, which included routine funding for Indiana University, home to the Kinsey Institute, a sex research center.
The ad was so outrageous it got written up in the Wall Street Journal. Holcomb lost the election.
Here is a link to a Wall Street Journal article about that race it is behind a pay wall though: http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB973548981661223018
Although as far as any of us here at the news desk is aware Holcomb has not accused any other candidates of being perverted. It is safe to assume given his abysmal fundraising performance during his ill fated Senate race this year. That apparently he has not learned very much in the way of fundraising or campaign management!
It has been said that Holcomb knows John Greggs record. Well here's a newsflash for Eric! Gregg also knows yours! And if Holcomb thinks the Democrats aren't going to attack his record then he is beyond help!
Last point we want to cover from Cook and Schneider then to move onto other shortcomings about good old Eric. From Cook and Schneider:
“Eric knows a whole lot about John Gregg and is going to be a great campaigner for the governor and the ticket this fall,” he said. “He makes the campaign much more able to respond to John Gregg’s charges and challenges, which we all know are forthcoming… I think he boosts the odds of re-election significantly.”
Oesterle’s response, however, raises some doubts. The former Daniels campaign manager called Holcomb’s decision to team with Pence “the most severe case of professional betrayal that I’ve encountered in my career.”
“Unfortunately, Eric is returning to his roots. In the name of personal gain, Eric has cast his lot with the side of religious zealotry,” he said. “You can’t – in this environment – satisfy those disparate interests and he’s made his choice. I think it’s going to serve to heighten the divides in the party. There was no way this move is going to unite the party. It has the appearance of a gimmick.”
Unsurprisingly, Democrats criticized Holcomb’s nomination. The state party released a statement highlighting Holcomb’s conservatism with the headline, “Who Is Eric Holcomb? Spoiler Alert: A Mike Pence Clone.”
Ultimately, only time will tell what kind of impact Holcomb will have on Pence’s re-election bid, said Laura Albright, a political scientist at University of Indianapolis.
“I think he has the capacity and ability to serve as a uniter. Whether he can fulfill that role, we will have to wait and see.”
There are some questions that Eric Holcomb needs to answer if he wants any chance of becoming our states next Governor. For starters: Why should he be trusted to manage the state when he so badly bungled John Hostettler's 2006 Campaign? Especially since it is claimed that he knew the district so well? Also if he really is so good at brining people together and he was such an outstanding State GOP Chair as is claimed by many why did he do so poorly raising money for his Senate race? Why didn't his Credentials as a former State GOP Chairman and Dan Coats former Chief of Staff fail to sway more people to help his campaign? Lastly if he was really so set on running for the US Senate why did he so readily agree to serve as Lt. Governor? Can he not make up his mind and stick with anything? Gary Welsh rest his soul tried to tell others what kind of man Holcomb is unfortunately nobody bothered to listen! We would also like to point out to our readers that Holcomb even took part in a "Hoosier Hunks on The Right" Calendar in 2010! What is complete silly about this is not only was Holcomb silly enough to wear rose colored pants for his photo! Worst of all they didn't even ask Gary Welsh, Charlie White or Paul Ogden to appear in the calendar!
Well folks that's all we at INDY REPUBLICAN have for now. Goodnight and God Bless!
UPDATE: We have just received word that Mike Pence may not be able to transfer the money he raised for his run for Governor to Holcomb! We will be watching this story and will bring you developments as they happen!
Holcomb said he would soon seek a lieutenant governor candidate. Both (Susan) Brooks and (Todd) Rokita said they were interested in returning back to their seats in Congress when asked about taking the No. 2 spot on the ballot.
This is interesting that neither Congresswoman Brooks nor Congressman Todd Rokita would consider running for Lt. Governor in light of the fact that they were so publicly trying to run for the Governor's office! And since Susan Brooks is supposedly thought of as a good fundraiser and a good candidate! Apparently Brooks and Rokita are more content to stay in congress then play second fiddle to Holcomb!
Unfortunately we have no idea by how many votes each candidate received on the second and final ballot to fill Pence's ballot seat because as the article goes onto say:
Republican Party Jeff Cardwell refused to release the vote totals. The committee seemed to be pretty evenly split between Holcomb and Brooks. Former Republican State Rep. Mitch Harper tweeted at one point that the voting went to a second ballot, meaning no one got the majority on the first vote. The new nominee was required to earn 12 votes.
Now the INDY REPUBLICAN staff can understand why State GOP Chairman Cardwell wouldn't release the vote totals while the voting was taking place. But Good God! What possible reason is their to not release them after the voting is done and over with? Is Cardwell afraid people will think less of Holcomb if it was close on the second ballot?
The Democratic nominee for Governor John Gregg wasted no time in giving his reaction to the selection of Lt. Gov Holcomb as his new GOP opponent:
“I want to congratulate Eric Holcomb on this latest political appointment," Gregg said in a written statement issued by his campaign. "While there may be a new name on the ballot, the issues remain the same. For too many Hoosier families, wages aren’t keeping up and the good paying jobs we are losing aren’t being replaced. Eric Holcomb wholeheartedly embraced the failed approach that embarrassed our state, cost us jobs and has left the middle class behind. My economic plan sets our state on a new path forward, one that puts jobs and the middle class first.”
Holcomb had spent the better part of a year running for the GOP Nomination to replace retiring Senator Dan Coats. Holcomb had served as Coats Chief of Staff for several years. He lagged behind in fundraising despite having being Coats Chief of Staff and a former Indiana State Republican Chairman. Very telling that even with all that under his belt Holcomb raised so little that he dropped out and accepted the appointment to Lt. Governor after
As far as plans to how Holcomb plans to campaign for and how he will do the job as Governor assuming he is elected that is Holcomb had this to say:
When questioned what his plan was to increase his name identification across the state since he has never been elected to an office, Holcomb said he planned to travel the state and put out ads and mailers. Holcomb also said he believed the Donald Trump-Mike Pence presidential ticket was a “strong asset” to his campaign.
Regarding what his legislative agenda as Governor would be he said:
"The General Assembly will focus on what the General Assembly wants to focus on,” Holcomb said. “I look forward to working for them across the spectrum."
Holcomb said he wouldn’t “speculate” whether or not he would support legislation next year to add civil rights protections to LGBT Hoosiers.
“We’ll play it as it comes to my desk,” Holcomb said.
We will elaborate on Holcomb's campaign strategy shortly. Our initial reactions are that giving such vague, evasive answers as to what his agenda as Governor will be. It will only play into John Gregg's hands and allow Gregg to portray Holcomb as not being straight forward with the voters.
Not all Indiana Republicans reaction to the news of Eric Holcomb being tapped to run for Governor was positive. Faux Republican and Former Angie's List CEO Bill Oesterle according to a WISH-TV story was a strong backer of Congresswoman Susan Brooks unsuccessful attempt to run for Governor Oesterle's reaction to the Holcomb pick was negative to say the least:
“Between the abortion bill, the Ellsperman axing, and the Brooks passover, 2016 has been debilitating for GOP women. Makes me sick.”
It seems that the passage of time has not patched things up between Oesterle and Holcomb. In a previous post we documented the rift between the two old friends that started back when Holcomb agreed to be Mike Pence's running mate.
Another Republican this time a real one was also less than pleased by the selection of Holcomb. Indianapolis City-County Councilwoman Christine Scales whom is a hero to all of us here at the INDY REPULICAN staff. She also holds the distinction of being the only real Republican on the Indianapolis City-County Council took to Facebook yesterday to share her thoughts on Holcomb:
How electable is Eric Holcomb? How many votes has Eric Holcomb ever received running for office? None-he has never run for elected office. Very disappointed that one of the two other viable candidates-proven winners- weren't selected.
Susan Brooks possesses the resume and appeal needed to garner votes to defeat John Gregg. It's months like the past few that force me to seriously consider forming a new party-"Common Sense Republicans with Integrity".
Susan Brooks possesses the resume and appeal needed to garner votes to defeat John Gregg. It's months like the past few that force me to seriously consider forming a new party-"Common Sense Republicans with Integrity".
Councilwoman Scales later made a correction after it was pointed out that Holcomb had run for State Rep in 2000 and lost badly in a race in an otherwise good year for Indiana Republicans. It is a testament to Councilwoman Scales integrity that she will state so openly what so many others in the Indiana Republican Party think but will not discuss. She is in a class with such fine Indiana Republicans like the late Gary Welsh, Paul Ogden, and Charlie White. All of us here at INDY REPUBLICAN wish that someday we will be worthy of being among this August group of men and women!
Tony Cook and Chelsea Schneider were kind enough to update an article they had written earlier this year about Eric Holcomb when he was picked for his current job as Lt. Governor. Mr. Cook and Ms. Schneider provided some details about Holcomb's life before he was Lt. Governor:
Holcomb, 47, earned his political stripes working for former U.S. Rep. John Hostettler, one of the nation’s most conservative congressmen.
The job proved a good training ground for political combat.
The district was known as the “Bloody Eighth” because of the nasty nature of its races. Hostettler made things even tougher because he refused to accept contributions from political action committees, forcing his team to rely on grassroots campaigning.
“He was always handicapped because he was financially the underdog,” said state Sen. Jim Banks, who also worked for Hostettler. “It was a very interesting place to learn about politics. Every two years was a tough fight.”
Hostettler managed to hold the office for 12 consecutive years – longer than anyone since the 1930s.
Banks credited Holcomb for much of Hostettler’s success.
“Eric and I probably drove in a car together for tens of thousands of miles, crisscrossing the rural communities,” he said. “I remember how Eric could talk to anybody. We would stop at diners and truck stops. He could connect with regular people… He was very instrumental to (Hostettler’s) organization.”
If as State Senator now Congressional Candidate Jim Banks says that Holcomb was "very instrumental to Hostettler's organization. Then it would only be fair to say that Holcomb should shoulder a lot of the blame as to why Hostettler lost his 2006 re election bud by 24 points! Seeing as how Holcomb was his campaign manager at the time! But wait there's more! Earlier in this post we mentioned how Holcomb had run and lost a 2000 election for state representative. Well Cook and Schneider cover that as well:
In 2000, while still working for Hostettler, Holcomb took a shot at elected office himself.
In the final days of the campaign for state representative, Holcomb published an ad in several local newspapers accusing his opponent, Democratic incumbent John Frenz, of supporting bestiality and obscene photographs of children. The basis for the accusation: Frenz had voted to fund the Kinsey Institute, which the ad described as “the largest library of pornography of its kind in the world.”
What Frenz had actually supported was merely the state budget bill, which included routine funding for Indiana University, home to the Kinsey Institute, a sex research center.
The ad was so outrageous it got written up in the Wall Street Journal. Holcomb lost the election.
Here is a link to a Wall Street Journal article about that race it is behind a pay wall though: http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB973548981661223018
Although as far as any of us here at the news desk is aware Holcomb has not accused any other candidates of being perverted. It is safe to assume given his abysmal fundraising performance during his ill fated Senate race this year. That apparently he has not learned very much in the way of fundraising or campaign management!
It has been said that Holcomb knows John Greggs record. Well here's a newsflash for Eric! Gregg also knows yours! And if Holcomb thinks the Democrats aren't going to attack his record then he is beyond help!
Last point we want to cover from Cook and Schneider then to move onto other shortcomings about good old Eric. From Cook and Schneider:
“Eric knows a whole lot about John Gregg and is going to be a great campaigner for the governor and the ticket this fall,” he said. “He makes the campaign much more able to respond to John Gregg’s charges and challenges, which we all know are forthcoming… I think he boosts the odds of re-election significantly.”
Oesterle’s response, however, raises some doubts. The former Daniels campaign manager called Holcomb’s decision to team with Pence “the most severe case of professional betrayal that I’ve encountered in my career.”
“Unfortunately, Eric is returning to his roots. In the name of personal gain, Eric has cast his lot with the side of religious zealotry,” he said. “You can’t – in this environment – satisfy those disparate interests and he’s made his choice. I think it’s going to serve to heighten the divides in the party. There was no way this move is going to unite the party. It has the appearance of a gimmick.”
Unsurprisingly, Democrats criticized Holcomb’s nomination. The state party released a statement highlighting Holcomb’s conservatism with the headline, “Who Is Eric Holcomb? Spoiler Alert: A Mike Pence Clone.”
Ultimately, only time will tell what kind of impact Holcomb will have on Pence’s re-election bid, said Laura Albright, a political scientist at University of Indianapolis.
“I think he has the capacity and ability to serve as a uniter. Whether he can fulfill that role, we will have to wait and see.”
There are some questions that Eric Holcomb needs to answer if he wants any chance of becoming our states next Governor. For starters: Why should he be trusted to manage the state when he so badly bungled John Hostettler's 2006 Campaign? Especially since it is claimed that he knew the district so well? Also if he really is so good at brining people together and he was such an outstanding State GOP Chair as is claimed by many why did he do so poorly raising money for his Senate race? Why didn't his Credentials as a former State GOP Chairman and Dan Coats former Chief of Staff fail to sway more people to help his campaign? Lastly if he was really so set on running for the US Senate why did he so readily agree to serve as Lt. Governor? Can he not make up his mind and stick with anything? Gary Welsh rest his soul tried to tell others what kind of man Holcomb is unfortunately nobody bothered to listen! We would also like to point out to our readers that Holcomb even took part in a "Hoosier Hunks on The Right" Calendar in 2010! What is complete silly about this is not only was Holcomb silly enough to wear rose colored pants for his photo! Worst of all they didn't even ask Gary Welsh, Charlie White or Paul Ogden to appear in the calendar!
Well folks that's all we at INDY REPUBLICAN have for now. Goodnight and God Bless!
UPDATE: We have just received word that Mike Pence may not be able to transfer the money he raised for his run for Governor to Holcomb! We will be watching this story and will bring you developments as they happen!
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