Eeny-Meenie, Chili-Beanie, The Spirits Are About To Speak
I’ve just been noodling with one of my stable of political insiders. This woman/man will be in attendance tomorrow at the Indy Convention Center, the state election night HQ for the Dem Party. S/he’ll be rubbing shoulders with gubernatorial candidate John Gregg and senatorial hopeful Evan Bayh. Together, s/he and I doped out tomorrow’s election.
Our crystal balls polished to a glittering sheen and lithium-ion battery-charged, here’s what we foresee:
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So, you see, my insider and I disagree only on the Indiana senatorial race. My reasoning? Same as it was when Todd Young first ran for Congress against incumbent Dem Baron Hill in 2010 — Young is a youthful, good-looking, former Marine who’s not a deranged Right wingnut. That’s an unbeatable combo in this state. As for Evan Bayh, if you think the progressive wing of the Democratic Party is iffy about HRC, well, friends, Bayh makes her look like George McGovern. At best, Hoosier Dem voters’ll ink in his box while holding their noses. At worst, they’ll ignore the senate race altogether.
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I’m pretty much on the fence about Shelli Yoder’s chances. This congressional district has had the leftward juices gerrymandered out of it, save for Bloomington and perhaps one or two of the cross-river suburbs of Louisville. These little pockets of Democratism may not be enough to counter the very solid red rural and smaller town terrain of the rest of the district. My Insider thinks I’m all wet but s/he does say this: Even if Shelli wins tomorrow, she’ll be a loser in 2018 when she won’t have a presdential turnout to help her keep her seat. Too bad, that. I dig Yoder the most of all the major candidates I inked for back on the first day of early voting in Indiana.
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The Election Beat
Speaking of election night, just a reminder: I’ll be one of the anchors of WFHB radio’s live coverage as the returns trickle in. We’ll have a remote desk set up at Opie Taylor’s eatery/drinkery on Walnut Street, the local Dems’ command post. I’ll be grilling party sachems as they either exult or cry real tears. Give a listen tomorrow, Tuesday night starting at 6:00pm, the microsecond the polls close in the Hoosier State.
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