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| Sen. Jim Smith (R-Charlestown) |
Interestingly Sen. Smith writes on Facebook that he was never been informed of the action in caucus to expel him, information that was linked to news commentator and reporter wannabe Abdul Hakim-Shabbaz. If that is true then the leaker would have committed the same violation Sen. Smith is accused of and that legislator should also be expelled. I won't hold my breath on that happening.
Rumors earlier this year were of Angie's List CEO Bill Oesterle challenging Gov. Pence from the left in the 2016 Republican Primary. Pretty much the only persons who thought such a candidacy was viable were liberal media types. Oesterle, who has trumpeted LGBT rights and expressed contempt for religious freedom, had positively no chance of running to Pence's left and winning the Republican nomination for Governor.
While the Oesterle candidacy was always an empty threat, a Sen. Smith candidacy would be an extraordinary dangerous threat to Pence's renomination. Smith would run to the right of Pence, where the Governor's continued veering to the left while in office has left plenty of running room. Pence has deeply alienated the evangelical community who make up a critical part of the GOP primary electorate. But other conservatives are just as angry at Gov. Pence, including Tea Party types. The Governor might want to take at look at what happened to Sen. Richard Lugar if he thinks he can win a Republican statewide primary in Indiana while only courting moderate Republicans.
What happened to Gov. Pence to cause him to veer to the left? My guess is that in entering the Governor's Office he became surrounded by Chamber of Commerce and Big Business executives who dissed conservative social and fiscal policies in favor of corporate welfare and social liberalism. While the Chamber and Big Business shell out a lot of campaign money, Governor Pence is fooling himself if he thinks that their money also represents votes. The Chamber and Big Business won't decide who the Republicans nominate for Governor in 2016. Conservatives will decide the race, and if Sen. Smith runs there is a very good chance that GOP nominee won't be named Mike Pence.
13 comments:
Do you know who is Suggesting that Smith challenge Pence in the primary?
Anon 6:23, unfortunately I couldn't embed Facebook. I would suggest going to Sen. Smith's Facebook timeline.
Oh poppycock!
It was his wife.
Abdul, that just the initial Facebook post. You need to read beyond that.
What is to the right of Pence? Bringing back segregation?
Only in Indiana could you elect the most conservative Governor in the State's history and have it widely suggest that he's not conservative enough and ought to be primarried.
This is really ridiculous.....if the lunatic fringe is unhappy with someone as reactionary and awful as Mike Dense, then there really is no hope for them -- or for Indiana for that matter. My sense is that they should be pretty pleased with what they have in terms of the Exec Branch and those idiots in the General Assembly. And let them stay home.....they might just give the election to John Gregg, who, despite his shortcomings and weaknesses, would be far better than the current Gov.
And who is this Senator Smith anyhow -- what is his name ID? I think his 15 seconds of fame just passed, and can not see him as a credible anything....
Could be that Jim is a stalking horse for Mr. Murdock? Murdock does have good recognition, hasn't thrown away his donor list, has NOT PISSED OFF HIS BASE, and would have good chances in a republican primary. The major risk for the Republicans is down ticket, in my view. Those quislings aka rings have gone along with the sodomists, they have gone along with the common core fiasco, and, the people who elected these turds don't see ANY contribution to Indiana from Mike Pence....at least in comparison to the deeds of Mitch. The fools at the top of their food chain believe, in error, that people have any use for Republicans at all. They don't. What gave them what the insufferable fools have came from the Tea Party activists....same story with the US Senate and the US House. Give Republicans control and they revert to being stupid, fat hogs at the trough, and don't deliver what they promise....another reason Republicans are justly known as the STUPID PARTY.
LOL! Yep. Because as Speaker of the House, John Gregg didn’t fiddle around for 10 years between court decisions declaring the old system unconstitutional. He got right in there & fixed the problem, right? ; )
Mourdock is enjoying retirement & hasn't been crisscrossing the state. I doubt he's going to run against Gov. Pence.
Umm...no. How about:
* increased access to school vouchers
* scrapping the income tax in favor of a TN-like consumption tax
* decriminalizing marijuana
IMHO, those 3 should be the platform of any right-leaning (& by "right," I mean one who favors LESS govt) candidate.
Update to answer the first question on the thread.
There is someone who is going to be challenging Sen. Smith in the 2018 Primary. His mane is Chris Garten, a small business owner from Scottsburg Indiana and current Gunnery Sargent in the Marine Reserves. As I understand it he has is an Iraq War veteran. His company is Signature Countertops. His name has seemed to pop up in lots of conversations around Southern Indiana in the last few weeks... I met him at the Clark Co. Republican Lincoln Day Dinner a few months ago. Seems like a good man and would be a strong candidate.
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