Despite his tough talk about using nuclear weapons in Afghanistan, incumbent Republican Steve Buyer seems a little timid when it comes to debating the issues of concern to his constituents. This reluctance has apparently been noted in Lafayette. A sign seen at 9th & Twyckenham in Lafayette:
Buyer is, of course, facing a vigorous challenge from Nels Ackerson who has expressed his willingness to accept any number of debate invitations from various organizations seeking to educate the public on the candidates’ positions: WILO Frankfort, Frankfort Chamber of Commerce, Frankfort Times, The Purdue University Student Government, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Crawfordsville, Disabled American Veterans, Lafayette.
I think a photo credit should go to me for this one. I was out running, saw the sign, ran home, got the camera and drove back and even pulled over to get this photo.
Beautiful.
Does Buyer have reason to be this confident of victory? Honest question
Past experience, if nothing else, would lead to confidence. This district has generally gone Republican by a wide margin. But, I don’t think he’s ever faced anything like a challenge in the general election. So, the smart money has to favor Buyer just based on the inherent advantages he has in the district. But, Nels Ackerson is a very impressive person who is raising decent amounts of money, facing a Congressman who has always seemed successful more because of his Republican branding than because of his individual merits, in a year where the Republican brand is wrestling with a fair amount of taint for various reasons.
I thought I heard a poll that said Ackerson was within two points of Buyer. Doug, can you confirm anything locally?
http://www.ipopa.blogspot.com
The most I’ve heard is an unscientific survey by the Lafayette Journal & Courier — not sure it included the entire 4th District. I forget the methodology — whatever it was wasn’t as bad as, say, an Internet poll; and the results in other races were consistent with what we’ve heard from more scientific polling. That survey said that Ackerson was within a couple of points.
Gotcha – ta.