Well, it’s the day after the primaries. It was exciting, had it’s ups and downs, and now Republicans can stop yelling at each other and start yelling at Democrats. Thank God.

However, as I always like to do, I’d like to critique the two contenders that won in the top slated seats in my area: Mark Leyva for House District One and Dan Coats for Senate.

Mark Leyva

This will be Mark Leyva’s 5th time running against the Democratic incumbent Pete Visclosky, and I (and I think many other Republicans) are wondering: what really makes this time different? Don’t get me wrong: I’ve met Leyva, I have no problems with the guy, and he’s going to get my vote. This piece (for both candidates, by the way) is not a smear piece in any way, shape, or form. However, the question IS out there: Leyva hasn’t been able to beat Visclosky, and in a year where “name recognition” is supposed to be a bad thing, why would he be voted in? Granted, Pete’s got some legal clouds hanging over his head, and that may help. Also, Democrats statistically just don’t show up to the polls on off year elections like they do in Presidential elections. But with that being said, let’s look at another scenario. Let’s say that Leyva wins. He hasn’t been able to win the past 5 elections, which may reflect his campaign and organizational abilities. What happens if during that two year stint, he doesn’t do a whole lot? District One is a HEAVILY Democratic area, and what is needed is a Republican who can work across the aisle and make deals. With Leyva being heavily involved in the Lake County TEA Party activities, will that hurt his chances of bringing in moderate Independents? I’m not sure yet. Certainly Leyva will be better than Visclosky (who won the seat from God himself, bada chum!) but even if he would be better Representative, right now it’s about being the better candidate, and Visclosky has the charm and the war chest to win. I hope that Leyva can pull it off, and that the political climate works out favorably, but if past indicators are any indication, I won’t be too awfully surprised if number 5 is just as unsuccessful.

Dan Coats

Coats was the guy that many conservatives outside of the political arena didn’t want to win (Stutzman and Hostettler were the two grassroots favorites) and those actually working in the party were rooting for. The Republican party actually brought in Coats because they didn’t feel that there was a strong winner on the ballot. I disagree, but regardless, the decision was made, the votes were counted, and Coats is the candidate. Coats has a lot of experience in a year where experience isn’t supposed to mean anything (ironically, Leyva, who has name recognition, and Coats, who was a former Senator and US Ambassador, were the House and Senate primary winners in this year) and has a moderate voting record while talking up the conservative talking points. The biggest problem? The TEA Party groups despise him, and with Glenn Beck getting more and more attention with his “It’s not about D’s and R’s” message, there’s a good chance that Coats will lose to Ellsworth. The Times has already begun labeling Ellsworth a “conservative Democrat” in today’s paper, and with that seat being vacated by another “conservative Democrat” (Evan Bayh, who Ellsworth looks eerily like, in my opinion) I’m worried that voters will look at two people with conservative talking points, moderate voting records, and decide to simply pick the (much) younger of the two. This is part of the same series of problems that we have seen, especially as of late, with so-called conservative Democrats who get in and start to fall right in line with the Harry Reid’s in Congress. Ellsworth will probably end up doing exactly the same, because Coats will get lambasted by grass roots conservatives and TEA Party members (some will be very fair assessments, to be honest) and the charge that the Republican party should have this year will fizzle and burn. Plus, with such a weak top of the bill for Republicans, that sentiment carries on through and hurts all of the other candidates as well.

As I said, I’ll still be voting a straight R ticket and if Leyva and Coats want to put signs in my yard and need help, I’m more than happy to help however I can, and conservatives and Republicans in Northwest Indiana will hopefully do the same. I just wanted to throw my honest observations out there and see what everyone thought. And?