This morning, Indianapolis Star columnist Matthew Tully reported that Mayor Greg Ballard has hired veteran political campaign strategist Jennifer Hallowell to run his campaign. Hallowell has worked on Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi's campaign as well as Governor Daniels and, just last year directed John McCain's Indiana presidential campaign.
One thing I learned quickly about practicing law is that it doesn't matter how good the lawyer is if he has a bad client and/or a bad case. It's the same thing with running a political campaign.
Mayor Ballard won in a county that has about a 44% base Republican vote, at best. He immediately went about alienating the very folks who got him elected. He has since taken on gunowners, the most loyal Republican group there is, and taxpayers. He currently has lobbyists for the city asking for higher taxes to bail out the Capital Improvement Board and give the Pacers $15 million more of taxpayer money. Upon election, he immediately jettisoned his campaign pledge to run a more ethical administration and has appointed individuals with severe conflicts of interest to key boards and commissions.
Bottom line, a candidate can't start with a 44% base and win by only subtracting from that figure. That's exactly what Mayor Ballard has been doing since election day. Mayor Ballard's open animosity toward his own former supporters has been so bad that he will be lucky if he doesn't end up with a Republican primary opponent, which would make his very small chance of re-election even smaller.
Jennifer Hallowell has her work cut out for her.
1 comment:
Gee, I guess the folks who got him elected the first time aren't good enough anymore.
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