To represent Indiana’s Fourth Congressional District, the Lafayette Journal & Courier has endorsed Democratic challenger Nels Ackerson over incumbent Steve Buyer.
Ackerson seems the better choice. He views the job of governance as one involving compromise and negotiation.
Buyer’s approach has too often been one in which political ideology trumps all else.
Allegiance to Republican ideals and ideas is a fine thing in a Republican-leaning congressional district, as long as it’s not allegiance for the sake of allegiance.
Others have said it, and we’ll echo it here: Neither Democrats nor Republicans have a monopoly on what’s right or righteous.
. . .
Residents of the 4th want a congressman who is responsive and who engages in political discussion and debate.Buyer’s decision to agree to only one, invitation-only debate during the campaign hurt him with many voters. They expect and want more from their representative.
We recommend thanking Buyer for his years of service and giving Ackerson a shot at a seat in the U.S. House.
The reason Ackerson understands Washington so well is that he actually lives in Maryland. He just moved here to run for Congress, a fact the J and C overlooks. He has never lived in the 4th District, doesn’t own property here, and doesn’t pay taxes here.
The reason he’s hard to pin down on the issues is that he’s a DC trial lawyer. They’re evasive for a living, and Ackerson has become a multi-milionaire doing it. He has offered absolutely nothing except “one of the most negative campaigns in Indiana” according to the Indy Star.
As for bi-partisan compromise, Ackerson talks a good game, but has given thousands of dollars of political contributions to Democrats – only Democrats. More empty rhetoric.
Buyer has worked in a bi-partisan manner with Democrat mayors here to work on Riverfront Redevelopment, the Weed and Seed grant, 231 expansion, the Hoosier Heartland and a host of other issues the J and C conveniently forgets
So Ackerson has no history at all here in Indiana? You sure you’re telling the “rest of the story.” In fact, you’re not.
But the larger point is that Buyer has marched in lockstep with the House Republicans over the years and hasn’t differed from their policies in any significant way. He was such a partisan zealot he was one of the House prosecutors in the Clinton impeachment. The House Republicans of the 90s are out of energy and out of ideas. Congressional Republicans need to spend some time in the wilderness to figure out some good ideas, cultivate a new generation, and get ready to lead with some good ideas in a decade or so when the House Democrats are spent.
Nels has a history in Indiana. It pretty much ended in 1967.
Buyer is “Lockstep with House Republicans” Maybe that’s because he is a House Republican. But I’ll play the game…
And Barack differs from liberal Dems in what significant way? He doesn’t. And Evan differs from Senate Dems in what significant way? He doesn’t. And Nels’ good ideas are? He doesn’t have any. Just blisteringly negative campaign rhetoric.
And since the House Dems had their time in the wilderness, I’m wondering what good ideas they’ve brought to the table in the last 2 years. Barney Frank’s ledership on financial issues has been stellar, for example…
I seem to recall Buyer originally running on limiting the term of his service in congress and trying to implement that as a law. I can find plenty of references that verify my memory is somewhat correct, but I see on his website he is now saying he would never hold himself to something that doesn’t apply to the rest of congress as well.
This election will put him there 3 times longer than he claimed anyone should stay (6 years) when he originally ran in 1992. Maybe he has the Bloomberg syndrome.
IOKIYAR
Obama-Lugar, Obama-Colburn “Google for Government”, most significant bi-partisan Ethics package in a generation.
This is simply a joke without need for rebuttal. You have a problem with over 65% of all Hoosiers it seems.
I wont hold it against you that you dont understand the Sen. Phil Gramm amendment to the Commodities Future Modernization Act of 2000 which created an unregulated credit-default swap market ponzi scheme that allowed speculators to gamble billions to trillions of dollars over the status of shaky mortgages.
Go ahead and believe the largest financial institutions since the advent of money went down due to a few mortgages defaulting among minorities. Yeah, Joe the Plumber defaults on his home and Lehman Brothers, Fannie/Freddie, AIG, etc collapse. Give me a break.