Indiana

What I?ll Be Watching

By Abdul Hakim-Shabazz

Indiana Democrats come to town tonight and tomorrow to nominate their candidates for Secretary of State, Treasurer and Auditor.  The races for Treasurer and Auditor are uncontested, however Vop Osili and Tom McKenna are vying for the Secretary of State position.

While delegate contests are always a little tricky, from what I’ve been able to gather Osili is the front-runner, but anything can happen when delegates walk into a booth.   Regardless of who wins that race, allow me to offer some friendly advice.  You may not want to run on repealing Indiana’s Voter ID law.  It makes sense and polls at 80%.  Mending it, sure.  Ending it, not so much.

One of the big things I’ll be watching for is the energy and momentum in the room.   Indiana Democrats are running against a major headwind this year.  In 2006, the year Democrats took back the House of Representatives and gained seats in Congress, they lost all three statewide races.   2010 could be more challenging.

In addition, I’ll be looking to see if someone takes a crowbar and pries open Evan Bayh’s wallet.  I’m hearing private grumbling that Bayh isn’t helping enough with money for the statewide and statehouse races and his retiring from the U.S. Senate is creating a leadership void amongst the party.

You can follow my notes at Twitter starting at about 1 p.m. tomorrow.

Full post as published by Indiana Barrister on June 25, 2010 (boomark / email).