I wonder if the acrimony of recent sessions is causing a higher than normal amount of turnover. Actually, I haven’t looked at previous years to see how it compares to previous cycles, but, in any event, WTHR has an article entitled Many Indiana House Democrats calling it quits.
Twelve of the House Democrats and seven of the House Republicans are not running for re-election, so, I guess that’s 19% turnover without any incumbents getting beat. Two Senate Republicans are also not running for re-election.
Normally, I’d be happy with some fresh blood in the Indiana Legislature. But given the rise of the influence of Tea Party thinking, it’s actually worrying.
Anything in particular about Tea Party thinking that worries you?
As opposed to say Occupy thinking?
[Hey, how often do I get to say shibboleth?]
http://www.bing.com/Dictionary/search?q=define+shibboleth&qpvt=shibboleth+&FORM=DTPDIA
Only the ones who’ve managed to get into elected office.
OK, fine, that’s not fair. All the ones who think that Dick Lugar “isn’t conservative enough” scare me.
I’m not sure I take your point – did you mean to answer the question with that?
And you know what scares me? Bears.
What scares me about Tea Party politicians is their refusal to compromise, which is what American politics has been based on for 200 years.
For instance – most adults have come to the conclusion that the only way we’re going to get out of our budget hole is to cut spending AND raise taxes. Not that’s it’s popular, but it’s the compromise solution.
No one gets what they want, yet the Tea Party thinks they have The One True Answer and they shouldn’t be forced to compromise. Because, um, they’re angry! My retirement investments are still recovering from their stance.
Oh, and the entire “take back our country” nonsense. That scares me too.
The Tea Party strikes me as being mainly the John Birch Society with costumes.
Why? Any specifics that lead you to generalize in this way?
And…costumes? I don’t think nuts in costumes are more prevalent at Tea Party events than at other political gatherings.
This is a function of redistricting. Indiana is actually a lot more Republican than even the current 60-40 General Assembly split would imply. The current redistricting unravels a decent amount of the gerrymandering done in previous (Democrat led) redistricting.
When the dust settles, the General Assembly will look a lot more like the Senate. For example, in Lake County alone, the second largest county in Indiana, we will more than likely go from zero Republican State Reps to three, with an outside chance at four.
Any concern that the lack of balance will lead to abuses in the state government comparable to what you see in Lake County from the lack of balance there? Or do you see that as primarily an affliction of Lake County Democrats?
Oh, I am sure that the lack of “balance” is going to drive you nuts, Doug. Every harebrained conservative scheme is going to be in play, especially when Pence is governor.
People like you are going to long for the days of Mitch Daniels, mark my word.
And will you be happy? Will the people of Indiana be better off in 3 years than they are today or were 10 years ago?
Whether or not I’m happy or sad, in the scheme of things, isn’t of great consequence.
Seeing as how most legislation is crap, I’m not too worried.
I’m worried that Mitch will do about 50 to 100 pardons of felons,
including some murderers and rapists, whose families have made
large political contributions to the Republican party. Indiana will
be the Mississippi of the north.
Uh… he has already done this. Look up “Patrick McDermott”. His dad gave Mitch $10,000 in 2005, and he was pardoned in 2006.
Now, Patty was just a dope smoker, not a rapist. I would be surprised if Mitch pardoned a rapist or a murderer. But pretty much anything else would not surprise me.
I think the “acrimony” is definitely a factor in the increased retirements, as are the effects of redistricting. As far as the relative high number of Democrats retiring, my sense is that decades of leadership (or non-leadership) by Pat Bauer has had a sobering effect on the hopes and aspirations of many a Democrat House member. They really are a dismal bunch….what innovative policies/programs/platforms can you point to over the last ten to twenty years, other than a blind fealty to organized labor? I think that caucus is long overdue for a leadership coup. Perhaps the election results this fall and a certain changing dynamic in that caucus might lead to something.
What would be a good direction for Democrats other than “a blind fealty to Organized Labor”?
How about some educational ideas, other than the NEA/ISTA “let’s do it the same way/reduce class size/give us more money” approach. Perhaps they might want to take a look at the Democrats for Education Reform agenda. How about some creative human services initiatives? Anything? Under Bauer, the Dems really don’t have a policy agenda