Indiana Democratic Party State Chairman John Zody to Seek Re-Election; State Democrats Should Ask "Why?"

News today is that Indiana State Democratic Chairman John Zody is seeking re-election.  He made the announcement today in a letter to his "Democratic Friends."

In the letter, Zody touts his accomplishments since taking over the helm of the state Democratic Party in 2013:

Our efforts in Communication have led to drastic increases in the Party’s presence on social media, formulation of a rapid response effort during each legislative session, helping train county party organizations on social media and driving a constructive narrative that not only supports candidates and talks about what we are “for”, but also strikes a strong contrast when

John Zody

necessary against political opponents. 

On the fundraising front, your State Democratic Party has worked to support candidates at the local, state and federal levels. The Party created and implemented a full-time municipal election staff position during the 2015 election cycle that helped candidates primarily with campaign organization, but also worked to raise money to help in races across the state, where we had success. And, because of these efforts and that of our candidates and so many others, thousands more Hoosiers are living in cities led by Democratic Mayors. With your help, we have implemented absentee mail programs across the state and have had record success at our key annual fundraising events. In doing all of this, we continue to place a high priority on making sure that donors – big and small – see a return on the investment they make to our Party.

Missing from the Zody letter are any specifics regarding elected officials he helped get elected.  I guess he could tout the election of Joe Hogsett as Indianapolis Mayor in 2015, though I really doubt he had much to do with Hogsett's election which was a foregone conclusion long before Election Day.

After this past election, Indiana Democrats should be screaming for change.  Despite having an excellent shot at the Governor's race and the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Republican Dan Coats, the Democrats came up woefully short and even lost a statewide incumbent, Superintendent of Public Instruction Glenda Ritz.  Meanwhile the Republicans continue to hold supermajorities in the Indiana General Assembly and GOP candidate Donald Trump won Indiana easily despite late polls showing the possibility of a tight race.

My two cents from the right is that the Indiana Democrats need to rethink the issues they expect to win on.  Hoosier Democrats were certain that their opposition to RFRA was going to be the ticket back to power. But, perhaps not surprisingly given the conservative nature of the Hoosier electorate, favoring LGBT rights over religious freedom was not a winning message.  Being anti-RFRA scored the Democrats points with the media, but not with voters.

Indiana Democrats need to get back to issues that appeal to working men and women, not focus on social issues that excite, but does not expand, their base.  It is a lesson that the national Democrats need to learn as well.