2010-04-24
I Support Marlin Stutzman for US Senate in Indiana
You may have heard about Indiana's five-way US Senate GOP Primary battle. If not, then all you really need to know is that it's just a three way battle between State Senator Marlin Stutzman, former US Senator Dan Coats (who replaced Dan Quayle but abandoned the seat instead of facing Bayh), and former US Representative John Hostettler (who lost his seat in 2006 to the Democrat's 2010 Senate Candidate).
We had intended to get a questionnaire out to the five candidates, but between my own campaign and Travis and Semp being exceptionally busy, we just haven't had time to finalize it. So, while I can't offer a ktracy.com endorsement, I can at least offer my own personal support to the person I see as the best candidate.
So, you may be wondering why, as Republican candidate in a primary myself, I'm getting involved in this. Well, the answer is simple, I want a strong ticket. The Indiana US Senate Race will be the highest office on the ticket in November and, if Republicans are going to come out to vote, odds are they're going to come out, first and foremost, for the candidate we nominate for this position in the May 4th Primary.
As a Republican candidate, someone who actually has some skin in the game, I would feel the best about Republican turnout with Marlin Stutzman as our US Senate nominee. With that said, I'm going to support whoever our nominee is because Stutzman, Coats, and Hostettler would each be better than Ellsworth - both for the country and our state.
However, I have serious concerns about Dan Coats' clients and previous statements about his fondness for North Carolina over Indiana. To make matters worse, he's barely campaigned and has made no effort to explain his conduct since abandoning his seat for Democrat Evan Bayh (who is now abandoning the seat as well).
I also had the chance to meet John Hostettler briefly at a town hall a few weeks ago and his statements about the Iraq War were reminiscent of John Kerry. Hostettler also went out of his way to get the endorsement of Ron Paul.
And those of you who read this blog regularly, know that I'm not entirely fond of that lunatic.
But in general, as a veteran and as a guy who still has friends in the service, I don't want a Senator who is going to not only vote against our national security interests, but who is going to criticize the mission of our troops while they are in harm's way. That's something you can say after the war as a historian, but as a public official, it's not attractive to me in the least.
I've been told that Hostettler is "you're kind of Republican." Obviously, these people don't know me. Is he better than Ellsworth? Worlds better. But is he better than Stutzman? The answer is absolutely not.
With the above said, I've been very careful about who I'm supporting this year. And after the Porter County Lincoln Day Dinner, I was picking up my extra issue cards when one of Stutzman's volunteers and I got to talking. I listed my dislike for Ron Paul as one of the reasons why I'm not supporting Hostettler, and she said she liked Ron Paul.
That should have been the clue that she was out of her freaking mind.
Anyway, long story short. She turned out to be a 9/11 conspiracy theorist... shocker, I know.
I told her she was wrong and I that I was done talking to her, when she said "Ask Marlin, he'll tell you the truth."
To which I replied, "If he agrees with you, then I'm not voting for him." Now, of all my friends, the overwhelming majority of them are supporting Stutzman. None of them, and I mean NONE, would be on his bandwagon if there was any indication of nut jobbery. Still, I called up one of these friends immediately and by the next afternoon, I was answering a phone call from Marlin Stutzman.
He not only said that was ridiculous, but that he wanted the volunteers name. Of course, I had no idea so I couldn't help. I was able to tell him who it wasn't, but I'm still a bit irked that I can't remember this woman's name. Either way, he's figuring out who was there so he can set her straight or pull her off the volunteer list. I respect that integrity!
So yeah, when I'm casting my vote in the May 4th Indiana primary, I'm voting for Marlin Stutzman. I think Stutzman is the most conservative candidate who will take a common sense approach to solving our nation's problems in the US Senate while simultaneously helping Republican candidates this year and consistently every 6 years after this.
