Ed Clere's up for re-election. Here's a look at his first four District 72 races.

In 2016, Ed Clere is seeking a fifth term in the Indiana House of Representatives (District 72), and I thought it might be interesting to look back to his previous four races, courtesy of Ballotpedia.org.

First, here are the tallies of total votes cast, Clere's votes, and his percentage of the vote in these four contests.

2014: 16,040 ... 9,076 ... 57%
2012: 29,734 ... 16,177 ... 54%
2010: 22,215 ... 12,408 ... 56%
2008: 29,862 ... 14,985 ... 50.2%

2016 is a presidential election year, and a bizarre one. Total votes cast for District 72 can be expected to increase toward 2012 and 2008 levels, although it's certainly possible that many voters decide to stay home and the total falls below 29,000.

I doubt the presidential race will appreciably change voting behavior at the local level insofar as Clere and challenger Steve Bonifer are concerned, and with voter participation continuing to decline in the Democratic-heavy city precincts, it seems to me that Clere remains in the driver's seat.

Do you have an alternative scenario? Let me know.

2016

Elections for the Indiana House of Representatives will take place in 2016. The primary election took place on May 3, 2016, and the general election will be held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was February 5, 2016.
Steve Bonifer ran unopposed in the Indiana House of Representatives District 72 Democratic primary. Incumbent Ed Clere ran unopposed in the Indiana House of Representatives District 72 Republican primary.

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2014

Elections for the office of Indiana House of Representatives took place in 2014. A primary election took place on May 6, 2014. The general election was held on November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was February 7, 2014. Kevin Sue Bailey was unopposed in the Democratic primary, while incumbent Edward D. "Ed" Clere was unopposed in the Republican primary. Clere defeated Bailey in the general election.

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2012

Clere won re-election in the 2012 election for Indiana House of Representatives District 72. Clere ran unopposed in the May 8 Republican primary and defeated Sharon Grabowski (D) in the general election, which took place on November 6, 2012.

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2010

Clere defeated Democratic candidate Shane Gibson by a margin of 12,408 to 9,087 to win re-election. The general election took place on November 2, 2010.
In the May 4th primary, Clere ran unopposed and received 3,613 votes.

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2008

On November 4, 2008, Republican Edward Clere won election to the Indiana House of Representatives District 72 receiving 14,985 votes, ahead of Democrat William Cochran who received 14,877 votes.

How sweet it is: Sour grapes and fluffery from St. Daniels.

I never doubted that Barack Obama would win, but at no time did I ever foresee the sheer entertainment value afforded us during the weeks since.

Tony Bennett had wheelbarrows of out-of-state cash, and yet lost his re-election bid to an under-funded opponent whose advisors evidently read "Moneyball" and profited from the lessons therein.

Thus, these crazed sour grapes from the departing Colossus of the Prairie, uttered at a circle jerk of a symposium devoted to Republicans giving screw-the-people awards to each other. Attendees listened as Mitch Daniels began babbling about reaction, never realizing he was looking in the mirror of the men's room, reminding us that when it comes to fluffing, it's all about location, location, location.

Bennett lost neither because teachers used school time to undermine him, nor owing to voters suddenly becoming dispassionate analysts of impenetrable school "reform" information. He lost because of his day in, day out demeanor. Bennett cannot read a lawnmower instruction manual aloud without coming across as pompous, arrogant and a good deal snarky, rather in the fashion of his fellow GOP loser, Richard Mourdock, although Mourdock always seemed less arrogant than entirely detached from daily reality, like that guy at the end of the bar who's off his prescriptions but firmly on the gin.

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels claims teachers used illegal tactics in election (Courier-Journal)

“Despite the great progress that's been made in states like ours, the forces of reaction never quit,” Daniels said. “The last twitch of the dinosaur's tail can still kill you and that's what happened.”

"Father Douthat Explains It All," and Charles Pierce begs to differ.

I, too, read Douthat's piece in the Sunday NYT. Unlike me, Charlie Pierce is willing to deconstruct Douthat's bilge clause by clause. That's why Pierce gets paid the big money to blog, I guess.

Father Douthat Explains It All

By Charles P. Pierce

at 11:15am

I would dearly love it if people who weren't alive in The Sixties would drop some brown acid, listen to the first Quicksilver album, or at least read more than two books before they start telling the rest of us how everything they would have loved about America, had they been alive then, went to hell in a handbasket the first time Ken Kesey sat down at a typewriter. Case in point is young Ross Douthat, a conservative affirmative-action hire at The New York Times who yesterday favored us with yet another rendition about how unauthorized sexytime is draining our precious national body fluids away from the Republic the way that the blood ran in rivulets down the slopes of Golgotha. Or something.

(The usual Douthat Disclaimer — Douthat is a convert to Holy Mother Church. Take it from a cradle Catholic, converts can be the absolute worst. They are dogmatic drones who believe that the Church was founded expressly to take the knots out of their own personal ropes. This all started with St. Paul, the original sanctified convert pain in the balls, and has only gotten worse through the millennia.)

People who fk without Ross Douthat's permission have been expressing happiness over the results of the recent political election, and Ross Douthat is simply not going to stand for that sort of thing much longer.

Howey on political innovation.

The last of Howey's talking points should be required reading on the part of every Democratic Party decision- and/or king-maker in Floyd County. Another election doing it the Dixiecrat way is in the books, and it wasn't pretty.

HOWEY: The positives and negatives of campaign 2012, by Brian Howey (N and T)

6. Democrat Glenda Ritz’s upset of Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett opens a new era of campaigning. She raised only about $250,000, compared to more than $1.5 million for Bennett, who spent most of his money on TV.

But network affiliate TV viewership is in rapid decline, and Ritz campaign operative Dave Galvin designed a social media program using Twitter and Facebook that looped in scores of teachers who were upset with the Bennett reforms.

Ritz pulled off an astounding upset and became a campaign pioneer.

From an endangered moderate Republican comes this spot-on final word about the 2012 national election.

I bow, scrape and supplicate. I wish I could have written this, although perhaps the fact that I am NOT a moderate Republican denies me a unique perspective. Whatever the reason: Yes ... that's it. Thanks to K for the link.

Cry Babies And Sore Losers

I’m seeing Americans post photos of our Flag hung upside down because the President won reelection. They’re defending this action as a “Naval sign of distress”. Let me tell you something: you are not on a battleship, you are a manager at McDonalds in Follansbee, WV, and you are in fact, a lunatic.

Who I'm voting for, against, and in spite of.

It cracks me up: As an independent business owner writing a personal blog, I'm abused and threatened for running a Dennis Roudenbush ad in the top right-hand corner; meanwhile, there's been a Steve Bush yard sign in front of the corporate chain Pizza Hut for weeks, and that's just peachy.

It just goes to show the lengths to which the GOP chickens queuing to vote for Colonel Sanders will go to get to sleep at night. Stronger drink might help bring about unconsciousness, but so long as you're opting for Bud Light, you simply can't get there from here.

Here are my ballot choices for tomorrow. Omitted races imply nothing except editorial laziness. Vote and drink early and often, and remember: Tuesday is ELECTOR DAY. In Indiana, that means ALL DAY long.

Federal and State

Obama ... you know what I think, but here's an insightful endorsement at the New Albanist blog: Don’t Ever Assume

Donnelly ... he's a bit right for my taste, but that;s okay, because the alternative is too Goebbelsian to contemplate

Gregg ... ditto, but Pence may actually fall to the right of Mourdock in terms of social policy regression

Fleming

Ritz ... I'd vote for a gourd, condom, discarded taco wrapper or junkyard dog before I'd vote for Bennett

Yoder ... it's all about policy positions, and hers are solid. Have you ever seen a candidate work that hard?

Legislative

Grabowski ... although it should be noted that if the Democratic party is serious about unseating Clere, this ain't the way to git 'er done.

County

School board: Cotner for sure. Dooley over Gardenour. And, although I know nothing whatsoever about Gauntt, he's not from here (always a bonus) and his opponent seems to be situated fairly far to the right

Call me prickly, but I will not vote for any candidate who can't bother to return the newspaper's survey form, given that it's about the only way (albeit scant) for locals to learn of the candidates' positions. This means no Brad Striegel, no Larry Clemons ... and while we're at it, I just might boycott the county council race entirely until one of them admits to his or her complicity in the chronic underfunding of the parks, rather than make excuses

Freiberger over Matthews, and Roudenbush over Bush for commissioner

Tuesday is ELECTOR DAY. In Indiana, that means ALL DAY long.

Just a reminder: Since 2010, Indiana no longer labors under the restrictive blue laws that formerly forbade alcohol sales until the closing of the polls at 6:00 p.m.

This is good. We will be ready. Never again will you be compelled to accept an illicit half-pint of Kessler before following your party boss's instructions.

Both NABC locations will be open at 11:00 a.m. and serving beers of proven merit. Our time-tested Elector Ale (it makes democracy pointless) will be on special all day, and we may yet have a beery surprise or two -- like Electimus, which usually comes out of hiding only during presidential election years. Electimus is an eye-opening and aisle-crossing blend of Elector and Hoptimus. Supplies will be very limited.

I likely will be at Bank Street Brewhouse for the duration. The Public House will be rocking, too. Vote (and drink) early and often. Just for the fun of it, here's an original Elector poster from around 2003, followed by one of Tony Beard's More recent designs (his work is at top, too).

Voters' Guide 2012, from the News and Tribune.

You always say to yourself: What explains a candidate's unwillingness to return the survey? Illiteracy? Sloth? Too many Bud Lights?

And: Why does Don Sakel's photo date from around 1979?

Here is the newspaper's Voters' Guide 2012, in technicolor .pdf, and with a few of the races encapsulated by news stories (?) rather than surveys.

I don't suppose it could be a green building?

In other words, elect this group of respectably conservative socio-economic development wizards, and the landowner in question just might consider building something on his eyesore of a vacant lot, just like the sign says he was supposed to do about ten years ago.

Got it?

Children First? Well, of course ...

 ... followed by the main entree, and then dessert. After that, a glass of Port is nice.

For more on the school board race: Floyd school board candidates blast superintendent raise, worry over tight budgets, by Grace Schneider (C-J)

Oddly, Schneider reports that Don Sakel "declined to give his age." In his 'Bune on-line candidate survey back in 2010 (when he lost a bid for the school board), Sakel reported his age at 77. Readers can do the math.

Vote Lee Cotner, folks.

Mourdock's corn-fed theocratic fascism should not distract from genuine issues of reproductive choice.

The current GOP position on God, rape and pregnancy shows a tremendous debt to Greek mythology.
--Andy Borowitz



Welcome to L'America, where pervasive religious hooey renders political bedroom peekers like Richard Mourdock into drooling, patriarchal, small-time ayatollahs, reposing permanently on their knees (whether in supplication to the imaginary or expressing thankfulness for the endless pipeline of cash from the Koch Brothers). They follow by crediting religion for making them what they are. That's true enough, as long as they don't forget to count the money.

But it gets worse. As Bluegill noted on Twitter, Joe Donnelly rushed to provide testimony that his own "god" and that of other Hoosiers wouldn't approve of such extremism, providing Mourdock's backers with the perfect opportunity to cite Donnelly's presumed chumminess with Barack Obama as evidence that his "god" is a Muslim one, anyway, and as we wait to see if any candidate in the nation cares to discuss important matters like climate change, we're back to wondering what our Senate hopefuls feel about the deity's role in the Holocaust and child molestation (thanks, Rodney).

Unfortunately, as revolting as Mourdock's worldview remains, and equallty lamentable Donnelly's failure to eschew the fanatics, the rape/abortion equation continues to distract: Reproductive choice and women's rights are synonymous, and should be the rule, not the exception ... and leave your specific "god" out of it, okay?

Richard Mourdock On Abortion: Pregnancy From Rape Is 'Something God Intended', by Michael McAuliff (Huffington Post)

... All three said they were anti-abortion. But Mourdock went the further, putting himself in territory near Missouri GOP Senate candidate Rep. Todd Akin, the anti-abortion congressman who infamously asserted that women don't get pregnant from "legitimate rape."

"The only exception I have to have an abortion is in the case of the life of the mother," said Mourdock, the Tea Party-backed state treasurer. "I struggled with it myself for a long time, but I came to realize life is that gift from God. I think that even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen."

Top Ten Things I’d Rather Do than Vote for Don Sakel for School Board.

Top Ten Things I’d Rather Do than Vote for Don Sakel for School Board

10 Receive a “free burger a day for a year” gift card from Rally’s

9 Drink Miller Lite straight from the bottle

8 Visit the Creation Museum

7 Drink Bud Light straight from the toilet bowl

6 Root for the New York Yankees

5 Drink Corona with extra lime slices

4 Have a good, old-fashioned, holly jolly Christmas

3 Drink Coors Light from cold-activated cans

2 Shop at Wal-Mart

1 Vote for Mitt Romney

Once upon a time when I was a substitute teacher in the NA-FC schools and Don Sakel was the principal at Floyd Central, he had the opportunity to right a wrong. He chose instead to permit me to remain lodged under a bus, and if you think I’m in a forgiving mood after 26 years, think again … and pass that tankard of ice-cold Pabst this way.

In the NA-FC at-large school board race, I believe you should vote for Lee Cotner. Jessica Knable and Sue Barlow are the other two candidates, and you can flip a coin there.

But Sakel?

Please. Anyone got some garlic cloves?

Restraint, damn it!

And so I keep waiting for some sign of a pulse from the Grabowski for State Representative campaign. Then, finally, one comes to me via Facebook ...

... an the former educator ends every single one of her sentences with an exclamation mark.

Aiyeeeeeee.

JAY-sus.

With grim determination: "Take it away, Library Online":

online.com/default.asp?pID=36">EXCLAMATION MARK:

Restraint should be exercised when using the exclamation punctuation mark in writing, for when it is used liberally it will lose its impact.

I'm getting sleepy.

Well, it turns out they do read, after all, if sporadically.

Thanks to B for the tip. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to shower. But first ...

As Bluegill points out from time to time, NA Confidential is my blog. Consequently, speaking for myself, and myself alone, I am supporting Dennis Roudenbush in his campaign for Floyd County Commissioner. He neither has paid me to place an "ad" on NAC's marquee, nor did I request his permission to do so. I believe that if elected commissioner, Roudenbush would better serve the entirety of Floyd County, which I vaguely recall is the whole point of one's decision to vote "for" a candidate.

Sounds like an endorsement to me, doesn't it? Consequently, I reckon it passes the duck walk/sound/dump test and actually is an endorsement.

Meanwhile, I can't decide whether to laugh or yawn at the yammering of predictably small, trognonymous minds. Formica-ites, one cannot perpetually deny that I have any influence, and then collapse in spasms of outrage when I express a simple viewpoint. Make up your anonymous minds, will you?

I'm not sure if there'll be any more to say about it, although I have chatted with Roudenbush's opponent, the incumbent Steve Bush, and I agreed to meet with Bush and hear his sales pitch. Probably I'll print it here, too, when the time comes. Bush also is perfectly free to submit his pitch in writing, and I guarantee I'll publish it when and if he does. Bush seems like a perfectly personable fellow. It's just that I don't agree with him.

In addition to Roudenbush, I also will be voting for Obama, Donnelly, Yoder, Freiberger, Grabowski, any human, plant or amoeba (alive, dead or cryogenically preserved) appearing on the ballot opposite Tony Bennett -- and there may be others whom I may be forgetting.

John Gregg? That one's a bit more troubling to me, and might deserve further public vetting. Or not. Pence? Nope. Maybe the libertarian whose name I can't even remember? Likely.

Todd Young? I richly enjoyed meeting and having a beer with him, but I disagree with his platform. Does this surprise anyone? If so, you don't know me very well, do you? That's right; you wouldn't know because you don't read, except you do read when you want to. It's all clear now, just like Paul Etheridge's motives.

Shockingly, you may even disagree with me. If so, you're welcome to let me know, right here, in the comments area, although we have this pesky blog comments policy, and ... oh, never mind.

Just can't hold it back. Here it comes:

"Yawn."

9th district: Two debates. Need more.

The Grand in New Albany sounds like a fine choice for the yet-to-be-added third debate, although perhaps it might be awarded to the Kentuckiana Celtic Foundation for immediate relocation to Cairo, Illinois.

Yoder, Young agree to at least two debates; Clark and Floyd left out of the mix, as Johnson and Harrison counties to host, by Daniel Suddeath (News and Tribune)

The 9th District U.S. House candidates have agreed to at least two debates, as Republican Todd Young and Democrat Shelli Yoder will meet in Harrison County and Johnson County.

The exact times and dates haven’t been confirmed, but the Johnson County debate will be held at Franklin College. A location for the Harrison County debate hasn’t been announced.

Steve Bush: " I can be a county elected official because I do not work for the county."

Pete posted a photo on Facebook, and I asked a question ... and to my shock and amazement, Floyd County Commissioner Stephen Bush promptly answered my question without so much as deleting it.

He must not have received Parson Clere's memo about how to misuse social media.

My question: "Must (Bush) conform to the new 'no cops get elected' law?

Commissioner Bush's answer: "My understanding of the new law is that I can be a county elected official because I do not work for the county. As a city employee, Senate Bill No. 167 states that I cannot hold an elected office in the city because it's the political subdivision's legislative or fiscal body. Hope that helps."

Fair enough. I admire Bush's immediacy and nuanced non-deletion, whether or not we are in agreement, but of course it didn't end right there.

Me: "I look forward to reading the candidate's platform, which I suspect will be filled with references to sidestepping the county's various funding obligations v.v. the city of New Albany."

Bush: "I find it very interesting that you would throw out accusations of sidestepping when you haven't attended a Commissioner's meeting where these decisions have been made or even asked me face to face about my position on these issues. I would invite you to sit down with me and talk about my stance on the issues and I can give you my side so you at least can get more facts before you make a judgment against me."

Whoa -- looks like I may have inadvertently brushed against a scab. My response:

"Two can play that game: I don't recall seeing you at very many city council meetings over the years. But this is small beer, and as you know, not particularly relevant. I'm perpetually time-challenged, but would enjoy the opportunity to hear your side of the story."

I intend to do so. A final amusing peripheral issue came from one of the candidate's friends.

David E.: "I suggest the County impose a $10 a bottle (or mug) imported beer tax to help raise the needed revenue to pay for funding obligations v.v. the city of New Albany."

That's like a lob pass.

Me: "DE may be on to something, although it might help to define 'imported beer' for the benefit of those who cling to the fiction that Budweiser, a multinational monolith with HQ in Belgium, still somehow qualifies as 'domestic'. As the owner of the only Floyd County-produced beer (after all, we on the flood plain actually do pay Floyd County taxes), I'd be delighted to enjoy tax-exempt status."

Strangely, the conversation ended there.

"An Intervention from Your Continental BFF."

America, But Better: The Canada Party Manifesto, by Chris Cannon and Brian Calvert

@TheCanadaParty On Twitter

Thanks to RS for the lead.

John Griffin Miller: "As Paul Simon said in Mrs. Robinson, 'any way you look at it you lose.'”

Let's let John Miller tell his story. Whatever your opinion of John, there are numerous topics for fruitful discussion included therein.

How To Lose in Politics By Telling the Truth, by John Griffin Miller

Or how I tried to get either side (or any side) to accept reality
and work for their own (and everyone else’s) best interests.

 ... Actually, the media and the electorate couldn’t have cared less about the election, preferring to wait until minutes before the election and allow a tiny fraction of the voters to make the decisions for them. As Paul Simon said in Mrs. Robinson, “any way you look at it you lose.”

I like to blame the media, since they are the gatekeepers of information, those with the time and wherewithal to present the important facts, although with less and less time and less and less freedom to do their jobs effectively. But voters who don’t demand more from the fourth estate share some of the blame, too. However, the deeper, underlying rationale for the problem is that all parties, and the corporate media, and the voters, and the elected officials themselves, like the system just the way it is. In my sermons to voters, the party functionaries, the media, I always got the same blank stare, which had a couple possible explanations ...

Floyd County doomed to ruin as sole possessor of the ATM password is deposed.

Yesterday's Floyd County election results tell us that perennial county council kingpin Ted Heavrin was rejected by Democratic voters.

Again.

The first time was in 2006, when Heavrin was defeated in the primary by Tom Pickett for the party's nod to contest the county council 1st district seat. Pickett won in the fall.

Bobbing back to the surface in 2008, Heavrin filed for the primary election as an at-large candidate (numbered seats and at-large seats alternate years on the ballot) and scraped through to the general election with a third place finish, just barely ahead of Brad Striegel.

The top vote-getter in the 2008 Democratic at-large primary race was was Randy Stumler. However, later that summer, Stumler departed for a teaching position overseas, and so prior to the general election, a Democratic party caucus over-ruled the wishes of its own primary voters and re-affirmed the good-old-boy network by appointing Heavrin to Stumler's seat. Striegel was placed on the general election ballot, and both he and Heavrin won (along with Carol Shope), with Striegel's vote total being the highest, and Heavrin's second highest.

Yesterday, for the second time in six years, Democratic voters de-selected Heavrin, and maybe this time the party's elders will pay due attention to the results. Seemingly since time immemorial, both Heavrin and the now-retired Larry McCallister have been reminding us that after them, the deluge; only they would be capable of fathoming the mysteries of the county budget process, and of heroically shouldering the responsibilities of that burden.

Heavrin went so far (see below) as to assure voters that he would quit his law enforcement job of 36 years before relinquishing his executive role on the council.  I imagine we can expect to see him run again, but in the interim, the county council surely could use some fresh, contemporary air -- by subtraction, if not necessarily by addition. Democratic voters have opened the window. Let's hope that no opportunity for mischief is presented for the party's fossilized leadership cadre to slam the window shut.

Again.

New conflict-of-interest bill affects local office holders; Ted Heavrin said he wants to continue to serve the public, by Maureen Hayden (CNHI)

INDIANAPOLIS — Floyd County Council President Ted Heavrin said he would retire as Floyd County Sheriff’s Department chief before stepping down from elected office if a new state law ultimately forbids him from continuing in both capacities.

Last week, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels signed a bill into law that bars government workers from serving in an elected office that sets budgets, laws or policies that could benefit that employee. That same legislation prohibits many — but not all — local officeholders from directly overseeing their relatives.

Heavrin can still seek re-election in November and serve out the four-year term if he wins, as the law doesn’t go into effect until 2013. With more than 36 years on the job, Heavrin is the longest-standing officer in the history of the Floyd County Sheriff’s Department, but he said his duty to residents as an elected official is equally important.

“The county council now reviews all county budgets, including the city’s,” Heavrin said. “You have to know what’s going on.”

And state officials really don’t know what’s going on in local communities, he continued. Heavrin said he disagrees with taking the decision on who serves at the municipal and county levels out of the hands of local residents.

“It should be up to the voters,” he said.

Daniels called the legislation a “good government” bill that was long overdue.

Election is tomorrow: Drink early and vote often.

There's an Indiana primary election tomorrow, and the single most important point that voters absolutely must remember is this: Bars and liquor stores no longer are required to delay opening until the polls close.

 The Floyd County Clerk provides a glance at the ballots:

2012 Primary Election Ballot Sample - Democrat

2012 Primary Election Ballot Sample - Republican

Preview, Part 1: If you toil and scroll long enough with this link, you can find the individual candidate "Q and A" at the News and Tribune's web site. As scattered amid other election-related articles, it's confusing, and there seems to be no clear, unified link with all of them in one place. If there is, it's mighty hard to find amid the usual panoply of pop-ups and roll-overs.

Preview Part 2: In the dead of night, I sneaked over to the Kitchen Table Issues blog and perhaps surprisingly, saw quite a lot with which I can agree (example below), even if the comments remain 100% anonymous and are often semi-literate:

2012 POLITICAL CANDIDATES

(D) Ted Heavrin - NO - I haven't liked your attitude the past couple of years, Ted. When they interviewed you in the Tribune about the new law going into effect where you would not be able to serve in office because you are a police officer I felt you came across as feeling you were "owed". "You would retire in order to remain in office." You were heavy handed with Warren Nash in what some have described as an abuse of your power as a police officer and that the actions taken by you were unnecessary and arbitrary in nature. Your attitude on the Parks isn't right, either. Sorry.