Hostettler to Press: Give Me Front Page, or It's a "Insult to the People of this Nation"
From today's noon newscast of WTVW-TV FOX 7 in Evansville:
Anchor: 8th District Congressman John Hostettler is asking for an apology from some local media. The Republican incumbent was presented with the 2006 Homeland Defender Award by the mother of a New York firefighter who lost his life on 9/11. Hostettler said the Evansville Courier and Press ran a small mention of this award on the obituary page. Hostettler calls that a cold and thoughtless move.
Hostettler: This is a stain on the sacrifice made by those families. This is an insult to the people of this nation, and this is insensitive to the great patriotism that I have seen evidenced by the people of Indiana.
Anchor: Editors at the Courier and Press were unavailable for comment.
Alliance President George J. Kourpias, Secretary-Treasurer Ruben Burks and Executive Director Edward F. Coyle lauded Ellsworth in a letter for his "leadership on issues such as the need for a comprehensive prescription drug benefit program under Medicare that benefits seniors, not insurance and drug companies; the financial stability of the Social Security system; retirement and pension security; and quality longterm and nursing home care."
What is known about Americans for Honesty on Issues is that its executive officer, Sue Walden, is a Houston-based Republican lobbyist, political consultant and fundraiser who has worked with a variety of Texas political figures and once lobbied for Enron Corp.
Texas media accounts have linked Walden to President Bush, former Rep. Tom DeLay and Enron founder Kenneth Lay.
Americans for Honesty on Issues is financing television ad campaigns against several Democratic House candidates nationwide, reportedly at a combined cost of more than $1 million.
Ellsworth's spokesman, Matt Weisman, said the group's anti-Ellsworth ad is "the last, desperate attempt by associates of Tom DeLay and Ken Lay to prevent voters in southwest Indiana from changing the way Washington works."
- Ellsworth wanted Hostettler to forfeit his guaranteed lowest unit charge for violating FCC rules... I actually wondered about this very scenario last month, when Rick Santorum's campaign was also in danger of not receiving the lowest unit charge for its ads because he similarly failed to put his "I approve this message" disclaimer at the END of the ad, an FCC rule for the last sixty days of the campaign.
Informed and reliable 8th CD Republican sources are telling HPR that U.S. Rep. John Hostettler has essentially given up on his re-election bid. The sources say that Hostettler has informed key Republican allies in Vanderburgh County that he is suspending most of his campaign activities. The sources tell HPR that he came to this conclusion in the last couple weeks. However, he has not been keeping a heavy campaign schedule for much of the fall campaign season. He did not campaign over the tradtional political rollout Labor Day weekend. When the PBS Lehrer Newshour sought out his campaign schedule prior to a mid-September weekend, they were told that Hostettler had no events planned. The sources tell HPR that Hostettler's realization of his bleak re-election prospects prompted him to put more energy into his subcommittee hearings on immigration.
Hostettler was also the only Republican Congressional delegation Member to bypass the Indiana GOP's ROMP event at the Columbia Club on Saturday, Oct. 7. The National Republican Campaign Committee has suspended its activites in the 8th CD, after a number of polls showed Democratic Vanderburgh County Sheriff Brad Ellsworth with a growing lead.
This Courier Press story puts Andrea Ellsworth's speeding ticket in a whole new light...Not only did the Republican prosecutor allow others in the program who exceeded the speed of Ellsworth, but he cited an unwritten and suddenly changed policy to justify forbidding Ellsworth's daughter from the deferment program. Armed with no fewer than five tickets others had received, who were admitted into the program, Ellsworth was right to call and ask questions not for special treatment, but because of just the opposite: derisive treatment that his family was receiving...More reason to think this is political: it happened a year and half ago. Why's this slimy Republican prosecutor going to the press now?
- Did Hostettler vote to raise his own pay? It's confusing as hell for editorial writers, according to the Courier Press.
- "If the election were held today, Hostettler would lose," according to another questionable poll from the Courier Press, which is projecting a 55-32% Ellsworth lead. It says Ellsworth's base is more motivated by national concerns than is Hostettler's.
- The Indianapolis Star was positively glowing about Brad Ellsworth in their endorsement of him today: "Ellsworth astutely presents himself as an alternative to the incivility and partisanship that have afflicted Congress and colored some of Hostettler's rhetoric. Ellsworth would be more likely to embrace the compromise efforts on immigration that Hostettler rigidly opposes. And he vows to bring to Washington the budgetary discipline he has had to observe in local public office. He deserves the opportunity."
Perhaps this came from Hostettler's entire binder full of opposition research on Ellsworth's daughter:
Weeks before an election that could help change control of Congress, Republicans in southern Indiana's 8th District accused Democrat Brad Ellsworth of using his position as a sheriff to pressure a prosecutor to drop a speeding ticket against his daughter.
Boyd Toler, the Republican prosecutor in Pike County, said Ellsworth called him after the candidate's daughter, Andrea, was stopped for speeding last year.
"He was pretty persistent. I finally told him that I treat everybody the same," Toler said Saturday. "I received the distinct impression that he was asking for it to be dismissed because of his position."
Ellsworth, the Democratic challenger to Republican incumbent John Hostettler in 8th District congressional race, is the sheriff of Vanderburgh County, about 15 miles away from Pike County.
Toler said Andrea Ellsworth was stopped on March 6, 2005 - two months before Ellsworth declared his candidacy - for driving 83 mph in a 55 mph zone. Toler said the speed exceeded the 79 mph to qualify for a deferment program.
Ellsworth denied asking to have the ticket dropped and said he only asked if his daughter qualified for the program, which is an option open to most ticketed motorists in Indiana to help them protect their driving records.
Ellsworth also objected to Republicans raising the accusation with less than a month remaining before the Nov. 7 election.
Hostettler Raises $165,252 During 3Q, Has $269,704 CoH
That's on par with, but slightly below, his 2Q results. Hostettler's campaign filed the report with the FEC 10/11.
He ended the second quarter with $195,146 CoH and increased that sum to $269,704 by the end of the third. $16,950 of his fundraising totals came from PACs. His spending, up from about $30k in 2Q, amounted to $90,894. $55,356 of that went to advertising.
His current CoH bests both what he had at the end of 3Q in 2004 ($135,134) and in 2002 ($223,233). 2006 receipts ($165,452) also slightly out-performed 2004 ($164,844) and 2002 ($99,786) as well.
The Washington Post put the Vanderburgh County Sheriff on the front page (PDF of WaPo) today, exhibit A in a whole field of Democratic candidates with a "high hotness quotient."
Attractive politicians have an edge over not-so-attractive ones. The phenomenon is resonating especially this year. By a combination of luck and design, Democrats seem to be fielding an uncommonly high number of uncommonly good-looking candidates.
The beauty gap between the parties, some on Capitol Hill muse, could even be a factor in who controls Congress after Election Day.
Democratic operatives do not publicly say that they went out of their way this year to recruit candidates with a high hotness quotient. Privately, however, they acknowledge that, as they focused on finding the most dynamic politicians to challenge vulnerable Republicans, it did not escape their notice that some of the most attractive prospects were indeed often quite attractive.
There is a certain logic to the trend. Back in 1994, when Republicans seized power in Congress from Democrats, the GOP had a number of fresh-faced challengers who knocked off incumbents who had grown worse for wear after years of committee hearings and fundraising receptions.
This year, it is the Democrats who have several ripe opportunities to unseat Republicans, some of whom have grown gray and portly during their years in power.
...
The list is decidedly unscientific, but it includes several whose names come up often on Capitol Hill for reasons other than their policy platforms. Among those on it, in addition to Arcuri, are Brad Ellsworth, a swaggering Indiana sheriff.
...
The crop of eye-pleasing pols has party operatives calculating the politics of beauty. "There's a fine line, and you can't cross it," said Rep. Rahm Emanuel, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Voters don't like men who look like pretty boys or women who resemble bimbos. "If you're too good-looking, people won't take you seriously," Emanuel said.
Carl Forti, spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, agreed that attractive candidates often have an early advantage. But he said voters' decisions in the polling booth are rarely skin-deep, especially in a closely contested race.
"When each side is spending four or five million, people know the records, and it doesn't have the same impact," he said. He noted that Shuler's popularity has declined in recent weeks following reports that his real estate firm was late in paying taxes. "That's gone back to being a close race."
Unfortunately, I don't have the time at the moment to make ad profiles for all of these videos, but I posted three in the flash player. Also, here's a DCCC mailer that's attacking John Hostettler.
AFSCME is finally paying to air ads that they had the Campaign Group produce last month (at a cost of $5,000)...They're spending $141,765 on the media buy, which targets John Hostettler.
Despite indications that the GOP might pull out of the Eighth, the NRCC dropped $149,791 on a media buy (to Strategic Media Services) today opposing Brad Ellsworth.
Also: interestingly, the NRCC is now polling Indiana's third CD, paying $8,235 to the Tarrance Group.
On Monday at local FOP headquarters, Indiana State Lodge FOP Chairman David Cook said his 14,000-member organization is proud to support Ellsworth's campaign.
"Seldom do we find a candidate of Brad's caliber, his integrity and leadership to hold the 8th District for Congress," Cook said.
Ellsworth said Congress "needs to listen to local law enforcement."
"When the federal government does come in to help, we need to listen to these people - the people on the ground, the people in our local jurisdictions that know their residents and know what they need to do their jobs," he said.
"... These are experts. They know what they need, and we in the federal government need to listen to them. It's not always being done right now."
Are Republicans giving up on John Hostettler? Shella says:
The word from state Republican Headquarters is that Congressman John Hostettler has "taken control of his own message." If that's not code for "he's on his own," it is, at the very least, an indication that some of the state and national resources that the GOP earmarked for the Hostettler race are being redirected to one or both of the other targeted congressional races in Indiana.
The political editor for Human Events, a far right conservative weekly, says John Hostettler is the fourth most endangered Republican in the nation---be it in the Senate or the House. He's only beaten out by Conrad Burns, Jack Abramoff's favorite Senator, Don Sherwood, who had an extramartial affair (see this damning ad, which the WaPo says might be the best ad of 2006), and Rick Santorum, who's been down double digits in the polls for months against Bob Casey.
Fighting the ACLU's efforts to remove every trace of our religious heritage, Congressman John Hostettler's Public Expression of Religion Act passed the House of Representatives this year with bipartisan support.
In support of the Public Expression of Religion Act, American Legion National Commander Paul Morin stated: 'A special thanks goes to Rep. Hostettler for championing such needed legislation on behalf of all taxpayers in the name of religious expression.' John Hostettler: Our values. Our congressman.
I notice he stole Chris Chocola's slogan, "Our voice, our values, our Congressman." That, or Chocola stole his.
(Also: the Courier-Press does their regular "fact check.")
More coverage, this time from the Courier-Press. Again the duo pushed for implementation of the 9/11 Commission recommendations:
Standing in the airport terminal with Evansville Fire Department Lt. Larry Zuber, Bayh and Ellsworth called for improved baggage and cargo screening and a prescreening program for airline passengers, recommendations made by the 9/11 Commission.
"America doesn't expect perfection, but it does expect us to do the best job we can," Ellsworth said.
John Hostettler responded, somewhat surprisingly, by attacking the popular Hoosier Senator:
"Once again, Brad Ellsworth is campaigning with a proponent of amnesty (for illegal immigrants)," Hostettler's statement said. "Once again, Brad Ellsworth's actions speak louder than his words."
- NPR filed this report on the Ellsworth/Hostettler debate for All Things Considered, focusing on the Indiana implications of the Mark Foley scandal.
- Evan Bayh stumped for Ellsworth in Terre Haute yesterday, stressing the need to pass all of the 9/11 Commission reccomendations. "Unfortunately, these are dangerous times, and we need to do a better job protecting our country," Bayh said. More Bayh, from the Trib-Star: "Out of the 41 suggestions, there were four 'F's, nine 'D's and no 'A's. That is not good enough. We can do better than that defending America, and Brad Ellsworth will."
- The Evansville Courier-Press calls the debate a draw: "both score." They're also running an online poll, gauging if the event changed minds.
The Tribune Star says the two differed starkly on the minimum wage:
One of their most glaring contrasts came when Rump asked them if they’d favor an increase in the minimum wage from its current $5.15 per hour, where it has remained since 1997.
Hostettler stated his firm opposition, and insisted that most minimum-wage workers aren’t actually poor, but instead are made up of the young. He backed his statement by saying that economists can link such increases to inflation. Ellsworth disagreed with the assertion that such earners are mostly high-schoolers and college students, and mentioned the idea of a married couple, both earning minimum wage, living below the poverty level. "There's a lot of wasteful spending going on, and we can afford to raise the minimum wage," he said.
During the hour-long televised debate, Hostettler and Ellsworth agreed about goals in Iraq, reducing foreign energy dependence and the expansion of powers to help the federal government fight terrorism.
On the issue of immigration, both candidates proposed building a fence along the Mexican border to stem illegal entries, electronically monitoring such a fence and reducing the availability of jobs to illegal workers.
One of only few issues they differed on was minimum wage - Hostettler opposed a hike; Ellsworth supported it.
WTHR on Hostettler's guilty-by-association argument:
But the six term Republican warned Ellsworth's election could turn the leadership of the U.S. House over to Democrats. The 8th District is considered one of a handful of seats that could put Democrats in control.
"Now liberals from all over the country are pouring hundreds of thousands of dollars into the 8th District, into Brad Ellsworth's campaign. If Mr. Ellsworth's choice for speaker of the House puts Charlie Rangle in charge of writing tax legislation he will turn the federal government into a much larger recipient of taxes from all America," said Congressman Hostettler.
Ellsworth spoke of the need for not only a new congressman, but a new and less partisan Congress.
No other debates are scheduled, but Hostettler will appear this morning before the Morning Rotary Club of Evansville, and Ellsworth will make appearances this week with Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind.
Aides to both candidates say the pace will become furious in the weeks before Election Day, Nov. 7.
Who won? The Courier-Press has an online poll running.
In addition, Republicans have largely given up on holding the seat of retiring Rep. Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz., and strategists are pessimistic about retaining open seats in Colorado and Iowa and the seat now held by Rep. John Hostettler, R-Ind.
One more Evansville television station has signed on to broadcast live the 7 p.m. debate between Hostettler and Ellsworth, Vanderburgh County’s sheriff.
14WFIE-NBC joins host public TV station WVUT-PBS22 of Vincennes and public TV stations WNIN-PBS9 of Evansville and WTIU-PBS30 of Bloomington. The three public TV stations' radio stations also will broadcast the debate, as will Terre Haute TV station WTWO-NBC2. ... Peggy Evans, a spokeswoman for the three League of Women Voters chapters, said both campaigns had just signed a final document of agreement to a series of ground rules for the hour-long debate.
"There won't be a panel (of questioners). There will be one moderator, (Knox League member) Lynne Rump, who will ask questions," Evans said.
"Each candidate will answer and, yes, there will be time for rebuttal."
Is Neglectful Sheriff Message in Jeopardy Because of Mark Foley?
The New York Times wonders whether the Mark Foley scandal will make it harder for Republicans to posture on the issue of protecting children, an issue they've used in the past---and using now in Indiana:
The strategy was on display in Indiana, where the National Republican Congressional Committee recently ran a series of television spots showing a man accused of child molesting who was inadvertently released under the watch of Brad Ellsworth, a county sheriff and a Democratic candidate for Congress.
The Courier Press has spent nearly as much time defending their ISU poll as they have reporting its results. This time it's the high proportion of women:
Some polling experts expressed concern last week about whether a survey of 8th District voters was flawed because nearly two-thirds of the responses were from women, potentially skewing the results.
The professor who conducted the poll for the Evansville Courier & Press said gender did not affect the poll's outcome, which showed a 15 percentage point lead by challenger Brad Ellsworth over Republican incumbent John Hostettler.
An independent, academic expert and author on polling agreed, saying men and women were not much different in their candidate selection.
The survey was by Indiana State University's Sociology Research Lab and directed by Thomas L. Steiger, a sociology professor at the college in Terre Haute.
Women comprised 63.5 percent of the sample's 602 registered voters. The results were not adjusted for gender, something some pollsters will do to get a sample more representative of the voting public.
Steiger said he didn't see the need to adjust for gender in this case and that the practice is considered controversial among some academic pollsters. Adjusting for too many women in a survey can be done by randomly excluding some responses from women or giving the mens' answers greater weight.
"You can remove certain respondents," Steiger said, "but that raises ethical issues with your respondents. After all, they expect their time to be used and reported."
The Vanderburgh County sheriff proclaimed himself "a person who's going to try to bridge that gap between the two extremes."
Ellsworth said his anti-abortion and pro-gun rights views are long held, not adopted for expediency's sake as he tries to unseat Rep. John Hostettler, R-Ind.
The National Republican Congressional Committee has blitzed the 8th District with television ads and mailers that stop short of calling Ellsworth a liberal, but say his elevation to Congress would bring liberal Democratic leaders one step closer to power. ... "My vote is not for sale," Ellsworth said. "If people give me money, they know my Web site's out there, they know what I stand for. People know that I'm on the conservative side of the Democratic Party."
Ellsworth pointed out that Hostettler has accepted money from political committees controlled by other Republican members of Congress, which he said get their money from "special interests."
Brad Ellsworth is opposed to Social Security privatization:
"Democrats, Republicans, people that have studied this issue, have met," Shively told Ellsworth. "And our Social Security system is in peril. Then, if not allowing part of Social Security to be privatized ... then what is your solution to save Social Security so it is there for the retirement of the next generation?"
Ellsworth reiterated his opposition to the proposal that would allow workers under age 55 to divert some of their Social Security contributions into a private account. In that plan, younger workers' future benefits would be reduced by the amount they diverted and an additional 3 percent.
"As I've looked into the privatization, I have not seen one thing that guarantees the benefit, that proves that it will make the program last longer," he said. "It looked to me like it's going to cost trillions of dollars to implement, and then really only benefit the Wall Street investment firms.
"I think the first thing you have to do is quit robbing the fund."
Shively said "the robbing started" in the 1960s, when the administration of Democratic President Lyndon Johnson was funding the Vietnam War.
"What is the solution?" Shively pressed. "What do we do? Do we raise taxes? I mean, when they say the only alternative is to continue benefit levels so that they're there, at the level they are now, is to raise taxes. You know, employment taxes. Is that what you favor?"
Ellsworth said he doesn't favor raising taxes. He said Republicans and Democrats in Congress must put an end to "bipartisan bickering" over issues.
"I don't have the answers to all these things," he said. "What the congressman's job to do is find those people, get in there, have those meetings, find the experts, and then, pick out the solutions and implement those, and I think that's what you do when you get there."
The House has passed John Hostettler's bill that would prevent the ACLU from collecting fees from religion cases:
The House of Representatives has approved a bill to prevent the American Civil Liberties Union from collecting government funds when it succeeds at legal challenges to public expressions of religion.
Representatives voted 244-173 Sept. 26 for the Public Expression of Religion Act (PERA), with 26 Democrats joining 218 Republicans in the majority.
The effort to gain Senate approval of the legislation likely will be a difficult one. Congress is scheduled to recess Sept. 29 or 30, though it is expected to reconvene in November for a "lame-duck" session.
If you've heard of Nancy Pelosi, you're probably a Republican.That's one fascinating finding from our new Diageo/Hotline poll, which suggests House GOPers are working to raise the would-be Speaker's profile with their base. They don't like what they hear (her GOP unfavs are twice as high as Hastert's Dem unfavs).
In the HotlineTV segment today, though, editor Chuck Todd seemed doubtful. He noted that Henry Waxman has a 3% name ID rating in IN-02...
It's a bit odd that the Hostettler campaign is such in a tizzy over this Courier-Press/ISU poll. While I agree that the poll has flaws, there are plenty of other polls which are, in fact, scientific and professional---some which show greater leads for Ellsworth than even the ISU one.
Stan Barringer, the Hostettler campaign's research director, noted that the Courier & Press refused to release the questions asked to respondents when the poll was conducted between Sept. 6-21. He added that Hostettler's campaign office has received calls from poll respondents concerned with the questions.
"Well, it makes a big difference [in the poll's viability] because the Courier is claiming this is not a 'push' poll, which is a method of polling that [asks] forceful, opinionated questions," Barringer said, "but stories we've heard by people who were polled by Indiana State were that some of the questions were forceful."
A whole range of national security issues from the Courier Press:
Ellsworth said no weapons of mass destruction were found in Iraq, but since American troops are there, it is imperative to support them with equipment and manpower.
"I oppose what is called 'cutting and running,' an immediate (troop) drawdown or giving a public timeline for getting out of Iraq," he said. "The insurgency would just ramp up their violence then, and say they defeated America."
Ellsworth said he prefers that America depart Iraq when the Iraqi government asks it to - and if American and Iraqi military experts agree that is a good idea.
Fighting terrorism, Ellsworth said, is a matter of applying the best minds in American intelligence agencies without inter-departmental jealousy or bureaucratic inefficiencies.
"I'm not against beefing up (intelligence agencies') budgets, if it's going to be practical and not to reward a contractor," he said.
On his campaign Web site, Ellsworth makes it clear he would support a full prosecution of the Iraq War, regardless of his feelings about the wisdom of entering that country.
"The flag is an ideal, not a piece of cloth," the site quotes Ellsworth. "There's not a person here that wouldn't lay down their life for it, and thank God for those overseas who do.
"We certainly didn't start this war with the terrorists, and until it's won I'm going to support the brave men and women fighting it.That means weapons, equipment, and support here at home.They're laying it all on the line for us, and they deserve nothing less in return."
Hostettler, chairman of the House Immigration, Border Security and Claims Subcommittee, did not respond to an interview request, but he has a 12-year record on national security issues and has linked the issue of fighting terrorism at home to securing our borders from illegal immigrants.
Speaking after he voted to help pass a bill implementing many of the 9/11 Commission's recommendations for combating terrorism in 2004, Hostettler said law enforcement must have the tools to catch and prosecute terrorists.
"The intent of our enemies has not changed and the threat of another attack is very real," said Hostettler, who voted against the invasion in Iraq and now supports the war effort. "The addition of this bill to our anti-terrorism arsenal goes a long way toward making America safer."
The poll also says that 48.7 percent of respondents who called a candidate's views on foreign policy "very important" support Ellsworth, compared to 33.7 percent for Hostettler.
The candidates ran evenly among poll respondents who said a candidate's view on developing a comprehensive U.S. missile defense weapons system is "very important."
Hostettler got 38.1 percent of that vote compared to Ellsworth's 40.9 percent.
The National Journal is out with their latest House Race Rankings, ranking all three of Indiana's competitive CDs amongst the top ten in the nation---6th (IN-08), 7th (IN-09), and 8th (IN-02). Their analysis:
IN-08: A recent independent poll showed Hostettler within 4 points, 44 percent to 40 percent. He's well under the magic 50-percent mark, but he's hoping his supporters will turn out in greater numbers than Ellsworth's. Seems less and less likely as the weeks go by, though.
IN-09: Hill's first ad talks about his "Hoosier values" -- patriotism, faith and opposition to gay marriage. That's the right message in this culturally conservative district. IN-02: The latest independent poll again shows Donnelly leading Chocola, 50 percent to 42 percent. Donnelly's looking like the real deal, and his Notre Dame ties certainly help in this South Bend district. We've been hesitant to move the race this high because of history. But clearly, Indiana is a GIGANTIC problem for the GOP.
Finally, in Indiana, the NRCC has spent $364,000 this month on negative advertising, excluding production costs, against Democrat Brad Ellsworth, who is running a spirited race against Rep. John Hostettler (R-Ind.). The GOP also spent $22,000 on a direct mail piece.
The DCCC has been in the game since July when an NRCC advertisement alleged that Ellsworth, a local sheriff, released a child molester from jail while he was campaigning in Washington, D.C. The prisoner was mistakenly released. In September, the Democrats have shelled out more than $240,000 to hit Hostettler on television.
Moreover, the spending patterns also indicate that candidates are penalized for not reserving time early in a race; the longer a campaign waits, the more expensive airtime becomes. Spending jumped in the last week of September.
Results from the Courier-Press's ISU poll show that voters in IN-08 say an increase in the minimum wage is important to them:
The poll showed the issue of the minimum wage, however, was of greatest importance to those who said they would favor Democratic candidate Ellsworth on Nov. 7. The poll showed 81 percent of those registered voters ranking it either very important or important, compared to 58 percent for Hostettler, the Republican who has been elected six times. ... Hostettler's opposition to the minimum wage has been consistent. He said during his first campaign that there should be no minimum wage at all. In both of the last two elections, he has said a higher minimum wage could drive jobs overseas.
Ellsworth said, "They haven't had a raise in almost 10 years; $5.15 is not what it used to be. I think we can do better than that, and I don't think it's going to drive jobs overseas."
The Courier & Press poll also asked voters to rank the importance of a candidate's views on "protecting American jobs from being sent overseas."
That question ranked as the highest among the 20 issue questions asked of voters. Of the respondents, 86.2 ranked it as very important or important. Ellsworth's likely voters, however, ranked it even higher at 90 percent, compared to 81 percent for Hostettler.
Through daily reports in the week to come, the news staff of the Courier & Press will discuss the mood of the electorate in the 8th District, based on information gathered from the polling process. The pollsters asked participants whether the candidates' positions on a wide range of topics are important to them. Such topics included education, family values, the federal budget, foreign policy, immigration, terrorism, various constitutional issues, stem cell research, minimum wage and several more.
At the conclusion of the news reports, we believe, you will find that people tend to vote their values and their interests more than they vote any single issue or a political party.
That's all we can tell you for now, other than that we are extremely proud of this project. It is no "push-poll"-type exercise in which callers attempt to persuade potential voters for a specific candidate under the guise of impartial polling.
It is a professionally done, impartial poll designed to tell us about the race between Hostettler and Ellsworth, and to tell us what is on the mind of 8th District voters today.
A poll taken by Indiana State University and the Evansville Courier Press shows Democrat Brad Ellsworth besting incumbent John Hostettler by 15 points. The poll was of 603 registered voters; the MoE is +/- 4%. The NRCC has legitimate qualms about the scientific credibility of the poll, though, which are spelled out below.
"The conventional wisdom is that a high percentage of undecided is bad news for the incumbent," he said.
University of Evansville political scientist Robert L. Dion said he senses that Hostettler is behind at this point, but not 15 points behind.
The undecided voters probably are "disappointed conservatives" hesitating to commit to Hostettler again because they are unhappy about the conduct of the Iraq war or the economy, Dion said. ... Steiger's telephone interviewers asked self-described undecided voters if they could check back with them within two weeks after an Oct. 4 debate in Vincennes, he said, but 42 percent said no.
"I consider that a refusal to say who they're for," he said. "We'll call back the remaining 58 percent. That will be really interesting, to see how the undecideds are breaking."
Ed Patru, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, questioned the poll's legitimacy.
"The methodology of the poll is flawed," Patru said in a written statement.
"The poll tests registered voters instead of likely voters, and it was conducted over several weeks, so it's pretty difficult to claim that the survey provides an accurate snapshot of voter sentiment. ... Dion said a weakness of ISU's poll is that it was conducted over a period of 15 days - a period, he said, that coincides with an uptick of support for Republicans nationally.
"Fifteen days, that's a long time," he said. "People who study public opinion say a good poll is a snapshot of a given moment in time. But over the last couple of weeks gas prices have been plummeting, and there's been the fifth anniversary of (the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks)."
The Washington Post's excellent "Ohio River Ramble" series follows up on IN-08 today with a visit to Hostettler campaign headquarters, where they interviewed Karen Hammonds, Hostettler's office manager-slash-sister. Chris Cillizza and Jim VanDeHei also weighed in on the race on the radio.
In their report from the district in the paper today, the duo sum up the race thusly:
The political environment in Indiana is not doing Hostettler any favors, either. The GOP brand here has been badly scuffed, as much by local controversies as by furor surrounding President Bush and the Iraq war. Gov. Mitchell E. Daniels Jr., a Republican, infuriated many people by pushing to privatize the state's toll roads -- and turn them over to two foreign companies.
In past years, Hostettler has been helped by the opposition. Although Democrats have long regarded him as vulnerable, the party has never found the right person to carry the fight. The latest to try was Jon Jennings, a former scout for the Boston Celtics, who raised $1.5 million only to watch as Hostettler piled up his largest reelection margin.
Ellsworth, who has served as sheriff of the district's largest county since 1998, may be better positioned to exploit Hostettler's vulnerabilities. Democrats hope his social views -- he is opposed to abortion rights and same-sex marriage -- will insulate him from Republican attacks on wedge issues that have proven effective before. "People appreciate my conservative values," Ellsworth said.
Still, Ed Feigenbaum, editor of Indiana Legislative Insight, a political tipsheet, warns not to underestimate Hostettler's friends-and-family turnout operation. "There is a lot more behind the curtain than there appears," he said.
...Also: the Courier-Press reports on the scrubbing of the Vanderburgh County voter rolls:
About 4,000 registered voters in Vanderburgh County may be declared "inactive" if they don't vote Nov. 7, meaning they would be removed from voter rolls if they don't cast ballots by 2008.
Another 922 voters already have been removed from the rolls because they are deceased.
The Washington Post visited Evansville today as part of the "Ohio River Ramble" series. Check it out; good stuff. Chris Cillizza and Jim VandeHei will dispatch from IN-09 two days from now.
The DCCC released an ad several days ago attacking John Hostettler for voting against disaster relief on multiple occasions...I've been trying to get a copy for some time now (to no avail), so if you've got one, send it my way.
The Courier-Press does their fact-check routine on the ad, here.
Tom Reynolds, the New York Republican that heads up the NRCC, briefed reporters yesterday on competitive House races across the country...What he said about Indiana:
" ... Both parties are watching that state closely. ... I think we've got some experienced incumbents in there, but by no means are these races put away yet.
"Chocola is working hard -- [he] has a lot of independent expenditures [being run] against him ... But he's got a 3-1 fundraising advantage to his opponent there. ...
"When you look at Hostettler, many of us have looked in amazement at how John Hostettler campaigns. But he's always connected with his conservative base there. We have been in there for a bit now [running independent expenditures].
"Sodrel is doing very well. ... He's doing everything you could ask him to do."
The Courier Press must be mighty proud of their invesigation of Ellsworth's "dirty money," cash came from clients of Jack Abramoff, was given to some Democratic lawmakers, who often then donated back to charity after learning it was tainted. But because they can't track whether or not it was indeed returned, some of that money might have then been filtered to Ellsworth, when some of those same Democratic lawmakers then contributed relatively small amounts to his campaign.
Ellsworth's campaign cited the House members' personal campaign committees, not any other political action committees controlled by them.
Using the same criteria, the Center for Responsive Politics and FEC records indicate Ellsworth also has accepted contributions from four House members with Abramoff money in their treasuries.
Ellsworth received $7,574 in contributions from Reps. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Steny Hoyer, D-Md., Ed Pastor, D-Ariz., and Mike Thompson, D-Calif. Those four House members received $12,000 in contributions from Abramoff or his clients. ... Hostettler issued a written statement Tuesday saying Ellsworth "will say and do anything to get elected, including indict his own guilty conscience."
Though this Hill article today leaves something to be desired, it does a fair job of summing up "The Pelosi Strategy," which the NRCC has beendeploying in IN-08, and, since yesterday, in IN-02.
But national Republicans say recent polls in Indiana's 8th District show that their strategy of tying Ellsworth to Pelosi, Sen. Clinton (D-N.Y.) and the Democratic agenda is working.
And just days after Ellsworth's rebuttal, the NRCC went to the well again and launched another ad featuring photos of Pelosi and talking about the Democratic agenda.
The NRCC asserts the Pelosi ads have helped Rep. John Hostettler (R-Ind.) narrow the gap on Ellsworth. ... Democrats say many people don't even know who Pelosi is -- a Newsweek poll several months ago showed 51 percent of people had never heard of her -- and point to the limited use of the strategy as proof that it doesn't work. ... Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill said, "The voters of Indiana's 8th District know they're electing a representative who will be an independent voice for their best interests. These personal attacks just demonstrate how truly desperate the Republican Party has become."
The NRCC made two payments, one for $7,848 and the other for $1,500, to Stevens, Reed, Curcio, and Potholm to produce an ad in opposition to Brad Ellsworth...
A date has been agreed upon by Congressman John Hostettler's Campaign and the Campaign of Sheriff Brad Ellsworth of Wednesday, October 4, 2006 at 7 pm CDT to be held in the studios of WVUT (PBS) in Vincennes.
The following television stations will be televising the debate live: WVUT, WNIN, WTIU, and WTWO. In addition the debate will be aired on the Public Radio stations in the above markets.
On one side of the 7 1/2 -by-11-inch mailer card, a cluster of lovely white farm buildings is shown in a sea of verdant fields — with the Golden Gate Bridge superimposed over the whole scene.
White letters warn, "San Francisco values don't belong in Indiana."
On the flip side, there are murky-looking black-and-white headshots of Ellsworth, the Vanderburgh County sheriff, and Pelosi, the 22-year congresswoman and ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee. The warnings continue:
"If elected to Congress, Brad Ellsworth could vote to put Democrats in control of Congress and could allow liberal San Francisco Democrat Nancy Pelosi to become the Speaker of the House."
Pelosi's "liberal agenda" is then listed with bullet points: "raise taxes, cut and run from Iraq, amnesty for illegals."
The mailer concludes: "HOOSIERS DON'T SUPPORT THE NATIONAL LIBERAL AGENDA. HOOSIERS SHOULDN'T SUPPORT BRAD ELLSWORTH."
So Hostettler isn't completely crazy. He's at least got a sane view of the war in Iraq, says Dan Carpenter in today's Star:
Back to Hostettler, who shares the worries of many that a civil war may be the ironic legacy of a despot's removal from Iraq. "It is not America's obligation to stay there in perpetuity," he ominously adds. Perhaps the best we can do, he suggests, is witness a government elected by 51 percent of the voters, and leave it be.
Global perspective is no more a hallmark of Hostettler's repertoire than it is of Pence's. Both are unabashed Israeli triumphalists when it comes to the Middle East. Where they differ, as devout conservatives, may come down to when to declare victory in Iraq. One thing seems certain: If they keep winning elections, their brave president will be out of there long before they will.
The new Majority Watch polling projects Brad Ellsworth defeating John Hostettler by the closest margins amongst the three competitive Indiana CDs, only 51%-45%, just as national observers were begining to write the race off as a Democratic pickup...
1031 respondents produced a +/- 2.9-3.1 MoE (crosstabs), with 44% "strong" Ellsworth, 7% "weak" Ellsworth, 4% undecided, 14% "weak" Hostettler, and 31% "strong" Hostettler. 49% disapprove of President Bush's job performance; 44% approve.
Interestingly, though Hostettler has a larger "weak" base than Chris Chocola (and is tied with Sodrel on that count), his district shows the highest numbers in the Voter Motivation Index, within .3 points of Ellsworth's voters.
The DCCC went on the air yesterday with a new ad attacking John Hostettler. I'm working on getting a copy of the ad, but here's the script for now:
What's happened to John Hostettler? After storms ravaged Indiana, he voted to adjourn Congress before flood relief was secured. Despite our state being ripped apart by tornadoes, Hostettler voted to cut nearly $400 million from disaster aid. Hostettler even voted against funding to rebuild after Katrina. It's hard to say why our congressman changed, but one thing's clear -- it's time to change our congressman.
Also, the Evanville Courier-Press published a story about an Ellsworth poll today that's already obsolete, now that we have the fresh data out of Research 2000 today:
Garin-Hart-Yang did not return a message seeking comment, but a memo by the firm to Aiken says 505 Vanderburgh County voters were surveyed in early August. The Vanderburgh poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percent.
The memo does not provide the wording of questions asked or the sequence and context in which they were asked.
University of Evansville political scientist Robert L. Dion said the poll Aiken released lacks too much supporting detail - such as whether the voters surveyed were likely or registered voters - to be credible.
Ellsworth's 32-point margin in Vanderburgh County also is unlikely, Dion said.
But Dion said Garin-Hart-Yang has a national reputation as "one of the best there is."
"Usually candidates pay good money for professional polling to find out what's working and what's not working," he said. "Typically, they do hold those results close to their vests."
Dion said he has seen challengers release selected portions of polls "to give the appearance of a close race or to give the appearance of momentum."
"But those challengers were trying to jump-start a campaign, and I'm not sure either candidate in this race needs a jump-start," he said.
If the Ellsworth campaign does have a poll showing him handily defeating Hostettler, Dion said, there would be good reasons not to release it.
"You worry about overconfidence, you worry about exciting your opponent," he said. "Sometimes if you're way ahead, you can run out of steam. Your supporters may not feel it's as important to mobilize if they're convinced you're a sure thing."
WISH hasn't posted them online or revealed them in their reports on air, but IOM has (excusively, best as I can tell) the Research 2000 Poll's crosstabs.
The telephone poll was taken of 800 LVs Sept. 5-8 in districts 7, 8, and 9. From the pollster, Research 2000:
Those interviewed were selected by the random variation of the last four digits of telephone numbers. A cross-section of exchanges was utilized in order to ensure an accurate reflection of the state. Quotas were assigned to reflect the voter registration of distribution by county.
The margin for error, according to standards customarily used by statisticians, is no more than plus or minus 3.5% percentage points. This means that there is a 95 percent probability that the "true" figure would fall within that range if the entire population were sampled. The margin for error is higher for any subgroup, such as for gender or party affiliation.
This was one poll, and then figures for each district were created by narrowing down the same batch of respondents...increasing the overall MoE from 3.5% to no more than 5% for each "subgroup" poll...i.e., the IN-08, -07, and -09 matchups...
Men 379 (48%) Women 421 (52%)
Democrats 266 (33%) Republicans 357 (45%) Other 177 (22%)
Republicans are trying to use Brad Ellsworth's attendance of a DCCC "March to the Majority" conference as rationale to level criticism that the Democrat would be "puppet" of Nancy Pelosi and other liberals:
The main event is Wednesday night's fundraising reception at the Sewall-Belmont House hotel on Capitol Hill, for which a minimum $250 contribution is required.
But Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesman Bill Burton said Ellsworth's day and night with congressional Democrats in Washington should not be construed as a liberal lovefest.
"(Ellsworth) has been clear in saying that if Democrats want to win in districts like his that they have to do a good job of showcasing conservative values," Burton said.
Ellsworth and the other 33 Democratic challengers invited to Washington were selected earlier this year for the party committee's "Red to Blue" program, an exclusive fundraising, mentoring and strategic support program for promising challengers in House races.
The "March to the Majority" reception comes as National Republican Congressional Committee mailers linking Ellsworth to Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., are being dropped into local mailboxes.
The GOP committee also has invested heavily in television ads linking Ellsworth to Pelosi.
The mailers feature artwork depicting Ellsworth as a puppet whose strings are being controlled by Pelosi, who stands to become speaker of the House if Democrats take the 15 seats necessary to regain control of that chamber.
"Politician Brad Ellsworth may come with some liberal strings attached," the mailer declares. Elsewhere, the mailer, which also features pictures of Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., and Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., says "extreme liberal" Pelosi wants to "cut and run from Iraq and give amnesty to illegal immigrants."
Most Republicans we talk to think Rep. John Hostettler's (R) time is up. Never one to raise money or run modern campaigns, Hostettler has always gotten by on the strength of his grassroots organization in this southern Indiana district. But we hear Vanderburgh County Sheriff Brad Ellsworth has a wide lead in internal polling, and this one may be all but over.
Brad Ellsworth's campaign began running a new television ad in the Terre Haute media market today, entitled "Moving Indiana Forward." Script:
This election isn't about Nancy Pelosi or Hillary Clinton. It's not about name-calling or made-up labels. That's what they're good at in Washington. Here's what I believe. I'm pro-life. I believe in a traditional marriage and a Second Amendment. I'm a sheriff that supports our troops and thinks it's time for leaders who listen. My opponent might not believe it but I believe this election is about moving Indiana forward. This election is about you.
"An Evansville man says his murdered daughter was used as a pawn in the 8th district Congressional race." This isn't the kind of coverage the Republican ad makers at the NRCC were hoping for when they began airing television ads attacking Ellsworth's record as Sheriff...
Some spectacular polling data is about to come out from Constituent Dynamics, an independent pollster that is currently in the field in all three competitive Hoosier Congressional Districts.
We're not going to get independent data on these races very often, and certainly not all at the same time. The project, Majority Watch, has just finished polling 22 of the top 30 Congressional races in the country. The results show 13 Democratic pickups. 3 others are within the margin of error.
Plans for debate are in "disarray" due to "confusion and an apparent lack of coordination." Several civic groups and TV stations sent out separate invitations "referring to the same debate in different ways" to Rep. John Hostettler (R) and Vanderburgh Co Sheriff Brad Ellsworth (D). Interviews by the newspaper "suggest the candidates incorrectly assumed that different events were being proposed." The League of Women Voters proposed 1 TV event in Terre Haute that would be broadcast by numerous outlets on either 10/23, 10/24 or 10/30. The LOWV invitations didn't say which stations would broadcast the debate, which "is what apparently led to confusion because some individual stations already had sent out their own, open-ended invitations to the candidates" (Langhorne, Evansville Courier and Press, 9/1).
"Strong words...threatened" the pending debate 9/1. Ellsworth's campaign called the LOWV to propose a meeting next week to work out debate details, but 9/1 was the LOWV's deadline for both candidates to say if they would participation. Radio station WIKY reported that Hostettler said Ellsworth's campaign missed the deadline. Ellsworth spokesperson Matt Weisman: "Is Hostettler saying we didn't meet the League's deadline or his deadline? We have never ruled out any terms." LOWV Pres Peggy Evans said Ellsworth's expressed interest in a meeting is sufficient (Langhorne, Evansville Courier and Press, 9/2).
WTHR's Kevin Rader went to the Terre Haute Labor Day parade today:
Democratic eighth district congressional candidate Brad Ellsworth was leading the parade and it appears he is leading in his quest to unseat the incumbent, Republican John Hostettler. ...
"I think that is the theme across the country. It seems to me that if seventy percent of the people are dissatisfied with what is going on in Congress, it's time to put new people in there who are fresh and not just concerned with the little fraternity they have going on there," said candidate Ellsworth.
Waning support for President Bush is also taking a toll in this traditionally Republican state and controversial decisions on daylight saving time and the Indiana Toll Road are making things tough for Republicans on the campaign trail.
He'll be at the Annual Labor Day Parade in Terre Haute tomorrow.
Each year the parade attracts about 8,000 people, both as participants and watchers.
... The parade is important "to get laborers' views out there in front of the people and celebrate what working people have done for all members of society," Strange said.
Brad Ellsworth, 8th District Democratic congressional candidate, is this year's parade grand marshal.
"We like Brad," Strange said. "He's proven himself to be a friend of organized labor."
After the parade, the Vigo County Democrat Central Committee will host a free ham and bean dinner at Fairbanks Park.
During the dinner, area civic, labor and political leaders will speak.
"It's a traditional way to end the parade ...," said Joe Etling, chairman of the Vigo County Democratic Party.
Although they expect a large turnout, Etling said there should be plenty of food. Carl Gregory, Nevis Township trustee, will be the head bean cook, Etling said.
To cap the Labor Day festivities off, there's the annual Labor Day Awards Dinner, which starts at 6 p.m. at the Holiday Inn. The dinner is sponsored by the Wabash Valley Central Labor Council.
Awards expected to be given out include local union of the year, local union member of the year, community servant of the year, media award and the Labor Day award. Parade awards also will be announced.
Mike Pleasant, business manager of Plumbers & Steamfitters Local 157, will be the master of ceremonies.
Ellsworth, who is running for the congressional seat against Rep. John Hostettler, R-8th, will be the keynote speaker.
In today's Journal Gazette, Washington Bureau chief Sylvia Smith reported, "When Hoosiers vote in November, their ballot choices will decide more than their representatives in Washington for the next two years. Indiana will likely determine whether Republicans remain in charge of the House."
Political observers early this year gauged Democratic chances of a House takeover by hinging them on the scope of the election---whether or not voters would frame the choice in national or local terms. But now, Republicans are embracing the national frame, even using it against their Democratic opponents. The NRCC began running a television ad in IN-08 Friday that asks, if Democrats took control of the House, whether Democrat Brad Ellsworth would support Nancy Pelosi as Speaker. "She and other Democrats want to raise your taxes, cut and run in Iraq, and give amnesty to illegal immigrants," it said. (IOM has requested a copy of the ad from the NRCC.)
But for the GOP, it's a tactic that requires voters to apply guilt by association---to a candidate that has never even served with Pelosi. It is either indicative of polling data that shows national figures like Pelosi as intensely disliked in Indiana, or a complete lack of issues with which to attack Ellsworth legitimately. It has to be hard for Chris Chocola to credibly charge that Joe Donnelly "opposed the ethanol bill" when he has no voting record in Congress. By that stretch, it's even more incredulous to suggest Ellsworth should have to justify the ideology of Nancy Pelosi.
In IN-09, though Mike Sodrel has the luxury of Baron Hill's tangible, 6-year long voting record, he too is deploying the same tactic. During the WTIU debate last week, Sodrel said Republican leaders were "from the heartland of America...If this House turns over, Nancy Pelosi will be Speaker of the House, from San Francisco, California. The likely Majority Leader would be Steny Hoyer, from Maryland. If you look at the various committee chairs, you're basically taking the leadership from the heartland of America to the coasts. And I think that has to be something you consider when you are considering who you are voting for in this election."
By running against the party, instead of the party's candidate, Hoosier Republicans are constructing straw men, imaginary candidates that need not accurately reflect the actual views of the actual candidates.
But are they also inadvertently nationalizing what they so wanted to be a local election?
The Courier Press finally corrected their series of "Reid-Kennedy" gaffes last week in an editorial that deried John Hostettler's field hearing on immigration.
Indeed, it was a political show, with a politically contrived name, "The Reid-Kennedy Bill: The affect on American Workers' Wages and Employment Opportunities."
"Reid-Kennedy" is the label House Republicans have attached to the Senate version of an immigration bill. In fact, the bill was sponsored by Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and John McCain, R-Ariz., but they have replaced the popular McCain's name with that of Democratic Minority Leader Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev.
It may be an effective political tactic: Reid-Kennedy doesn't exactly play well here in the red states. But from the standpoint of a meaningful discussion that might lead to a compromise in Washington, the hearing was a waste of time.
It was little more than a campaign tactic to draw the attention of voters in the 8th Congressional District to Rep. John Hostettler, who has taken a strong position on stopping illegal aliens from entering and staying in this country. Hostettler, chair of the House subcommittee on immigration, was a member of the panel on Tuesday.
Other so-called field hearings involving other Republican candidates are being staged around the country in hopes of bolstering homefront support on the immigration issue for those candidates.
But instead of the congressmen and experts coming all this way to discuss immigration among themselves, why not make it a useful exercise and allow first-hand testimony from residents of the Tri-State? Ask them about the impact of illegal aliens taking up residence and taking jobs in the Evansville area.
Ask those area residents who immigrated to this country legally how they feel about reform. Listen and take something back to Washington.
Otherwise, skip the campaign vacation, stay in Washington and get some business done. Stay there and hammer out a compromise on immigration.
The paper, in a separate story, calls Hostettler's dying campaign "curious."
The Vanderburgh County sheriff appeared in a Little Italy Festival parade in Vermillion County Friday and spent Saturday at the Boonville Labor Day Celebration at the Warrick County 4-H Center.
Today he will be back at the Warrick 4-H Center. Monday's schedule has Ellsworth in Terre Haute all day, serving as grand marshal of a Labor Day parade, attending a Bean Dinner at the Vigo County Courthouse and pressing the flesh at an awards banquet that night.
Hostettler has no plans to campaign over Labor Day weekend.
His sister justified his schedule by citing a $15/head fundraiser he held at a VFW post.
Ellsworth and Hostettler To Debate (Eachother, Maybe)
The Courier Press has an online poll rulling with an article today about the debate schedule between Hostettler and Ellsworth. Each have agreed to debates, by neither has agreed to a debate that the other has as well. Hostettler hasn't decided which invitations he'll accept because, according to his sister, "He's probably considering how to get the maximum exposure for the debate in the 8th District." Which is surprising, because one would think that Hostettler wouldn't even give Ellsworth--whose "scary" candidacy needs to "go back to high school"--the credibility and respect that comes with a civil debate.
It does seem like the opposing campaigns never really talk to eachother, though:
The League chapters gave the candidates possible dates of Oct. 23, 24 and 30 - a potential stumbling block if Ellsworth says he can't be there on the day Hostettler chose.
As of now, 53% of the respondents in the Courier Press's online poll say that debates "don't matter" when making their voting choices.
Moveon.org "criticized" Rep. John Hostettler (R) for support a war they said cost taxpayers in IN-08 $470M. MoveOn used data from the National Priorities Project, "which projected the cost of the war to congressional districts by" dividing taxes paid by district population. MoveOn local organizer Denise Marie Sobieski said she expected a group of 20 to 30 people to gather 8/30 outside Hostettler's office in Terre Haute wearing "red foam hands" to show Hostettler has been "caught red-handed rubber stamping Bush's failed Iraq policy."
RNC spokesperson Ann Marie Hauser statement: "Nothing more clearly defines the difference between Congressman Hostettler and Brad Ellsworth than the fact that a radical, anti-way group like MoveOn.org is attack the Congressman for taking the fight for the terrorists."
Congressman John Hostettler has agreed to a debate date proposed by several area Leagues of Women Voters. The debate is scheduled for 7 p.m. local time on October 23 at the studio of public television station WVUT at Vincennes University.
A spokesman for Sheriff Brad Ellsworth, who is campaigning for the 8th District seat now held by Hostettler, said information on Ellsworth’s debate schedule would be forthcoming.
The format is a one-hour debate. Candidates will face a moderator and a panel of four people chosen by the Leagues of Women Voters - one each from Knox, Vigo and Monroe counties and one from Southwestern Indiana, which includes Vanderburgh, Posey and Warrick counties.
ALSO:
"It's scary that he [Brad Ellsworth] would even suggest being a candidate for Congress," John Hostettler said. More: "(He) needs to go back to high school and reclaim some knowledge of government."
Hostettler likes to claim that Brad Ellsworth hasn't taken any positions on well, anything, but this article is chock full of 'em...There's a decent local news story on immigration policy as well, which you can find here, because I can't figure out how to rip the video from their playlist file.
He said elected representatives need to "keep American jobs in America, whatever that takes," and called for tax breaks and incentives that create local jobs and help families send children to college.
Health care availability, Ellsworth said, "is a crisis in America right now." He said he would support insurance pools for small businesses and allow for the "legal, safe importation" of prescription drugs.
He called for the passage of a "patients bill of rights" in which "doctors and their patients finally rule what goes on in their health care, not an HMO or an insurance company."
He repeated his stance against "amnesty" for illegal immigrants and support for a "military bill of rights," assuring health care for veterans.
Those currently serving in Iraq and elsewhere "deserve everything they need to get their job done," Ellsworth told Rotarians. In an interview after his speech, Ellsworth said he opposes setting a deadline for troop withdrawals from Iraq.
"It was a flawed plan to get into that war, and we can't afford a flawed plan to get out. ... You see a growing number of the public dissatisfied with the war, but you can't make a military mistake based on political judgement," Ellsworth said.
Asked by if he would support House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., for speaker if Democrats win the House's majority, Ellsworth deferred, saying he would want to see first who runs for the position.
Another questioner asked Ellsworth what piece of legislation he would want to sponsor first if elected. Ellsworth paused and drew a chuckle from the audience when he said he would support a bill to "get rid of partisan bickering" in Congress. "It sickens you to watch that."
The National Federation of Independent Business is running radio ads "thanking eight pro-small-business lawmakers" in Congress, including John Hostettler who is "standing up for small business."
The spot features a local NFIB-member, Jim Gislason, and will run through the end of August, as well as being e-mailed to "small-business supports in the area."
If you want to know how to create new jobs in Indiana, ask small business -- the engine of our economy. People like Jim Gislason.
GISLASON: "I'm Jim Gislason, president of United Insurance Services in Vincennes, Indiana and a member of NFIB. Our company's roots go back over 100 years. We help meet the insurance needs of families and employers. We're the kind of small town business that makes Indiana work. We're committed to Indiana's economy -- just like our congressman, John Hostettler. John Hostettler co-sponsored repeal of the death tax, so family business can stay in the family. He co-sponsored legal reform to stop all-state abuse. And John is fighting to stop the government's ability to seize private property from its citizens through imminent domain. Join us -- the small business owners of Indiana -- and thank Congressman John Hostettler."
Some nice Jesse Jackson style alliteration, for ya. Trib-Star:
Vigo County residents could see improvement at the pumps if tax breaks that currently go to big oil companies are shifted to companies exploring vehicle and oil alternatives, congressional candidate Brad Ellsworth said Sunday.
Ellsworth, a Democrat who is seeking to oust Republican John Hostettler from the Eighth District in November, joined Vigo County Schools Superintendent Dan Tanoos and Vigo County Sheriff Jon Marvel on Sunday.
The group discussed the high price of gas and the influence of big oil companies in Washington, D.C. during a news conference on the lawn of the Vigo County Courthouse. ... "We've got some of the smartest people in this area, but they need incentives to help them," Ellsworth said. "We went through this in the 1970s, then prices went back down and we got complacent. We can't afford to do that again. We have to be more self-reliant."
Ellsworth added that conservation must go hand-in-hand with improving technology. "We've always taught our kids to conserve and recycle and those are good lessons, but that alone is not enough. We need to help make more fuel-efficient cars available by giving tax breaks to those who can develop them."
The Vanderburgh County Veterans Council will be holding a town hall meeting on Sept. 23 at 1 p.m. at the VFW Post No. 1114 featuring Brad Ellsworth and John Hostettler:
The purpose of the meeting is to provide 8th District U.S. Rep. John Hostettler and Vanderburgh County Sheriff Brad Ellsworth an opportunity to say what they intend to do to improve the quality of services to the veterans of the district.
The veterans council will moderate this meeting.
Questions will be limited to veterans issues, such as the quality of health care offered to veterans, the future of the Evansville clinic and foreign policy.
Rep. John Hostettler (IN-08) will hold a press conference at 10 a.m. today at The Centre.
Hostettler will discuss the upcoming House Judiciary Committee field hearing, The Reid-Kennedy Bill: The Effect on American Workers' Wages and Employment Opportunities.
The Centre is located at 715 Locust St., directly in front of the Convention Centre. Parking is on the east end of the building.
The actual bill is the McCain-Kennedy bill, the Senate-passed immigration measure that would create a guest worker program and create a path to citizenship. On August 1st, the House Republican leadership decided it didn't like putting the name of a prominent Republican on an "amnesty" bill, even though they were most instrumental in getting it passed. House Majority Leader John Boehner told reporters that he changed the name because, "Hey, we all have a job to do, and I'm doing mine. And it's the Reid-Kennedy bill."
It's one thing for John Hostettler and the GOP leadership to dishonestly change the terms of a political debate by artificially making a bill seem less bipartisan than it was. It's another for a journalist to be complicit in their manipulation and blindly republish dishonesty. For shame, Courier Press, for shame.
His arrest for carrying a handgun to the airport in Louisville, Ky., was under a headline "pistol-packing passenger" for months, until it was changed to a more neutral "concealed weapon arrest."
Sometimes writers had him signing the Contract with America. Sometimes they said he didn't.
Until Wednesday afternoon, Hostettler's biography page said he had said during his first campaign that he would work for term limits. That was one of the 10 points in the Contract with America.
That wasn't true. While he did support most of the Contract with America, and signed it, he told an Evansville Courier & Press reporter the day he signed it he didn't support a balanced budget amendment or term limits.
Stan Barranger, research director for Hostettler's campaign, fixed the article to say he signed eight of the 10 points.
The Wikipedia page spends nine paragraphs under the "Controversy" header - touching on Hostettler's vote against the Iraq war, the breast cancer/abortion constituent dispute, the Louisville arrest, last year's comments that Democrats support a "war on Christianity," and comments he made this year about Canadians and terrorism threats.
The controversial topics led to the most edit wars. The breast cancer/abortion link paragraph was removed as "an unsubstantiated rumor" by one editor, who also said too much weight was being given to the "War on Christianity" floor speech.
Another editor said the Courier & Press reporter who wrote about the breast cancer controversy was wrong, and that she was forced to retire "after numerous confrontations with Hostettler."
The next editor took out those points, and added a citation from the National Cancer Institute, which said having an abortion is not associated with increased breast cancer risk. That is the version that survives today.
Even though Saewyc said the volunteer editors try to catch bias as soon as it is inserted, there was rank editorializing up for several days after Hostettler's Canadian comments.
His comments on Canada and terrorism triggered denunciations in the Canadian parliament and a visit to his office from the Canadian ambassador.
As matters currently stand, Democrats should take over at least four seats without trouble -- including the seat of former Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) (see below). These Democrat takeovers would include political comebacks by two former congressmen -- Baron Hill (D-Ind.) and Ken Lucas (D-Ky.) -- and the loss of Rep. Jim Kolbe's (R-Ariz.) seat, whose primary is not yet settled.
Novak's Ratings: Republican-Held House Seats In Play
Hostettler has legions of religious fanatics---abortion causes breast cancer!---and Ellsworth has staff that has lost no fewer than three Presidential campaigns, according to the Evansville Courier Press:
Ellsworth recently hired a veteran Democratic spokesman to serve as his press secretary, adding to the professional firepower the challenger has amassed against Republican Congressman Hostettler.
Matt Weisman, who served as a regional press secretary in Sen. John Kerry's, D-Mass., 2004 presidential campaign and an assistant press secretary to former Sen. Carol Moseley Braun, D-Ill., in Washington, D.C., began working in Ellsworth's Fourth Street headquarters about two weeks ago. Weisman joins campaign manager Jay Howser, who was a researcher for Al Gore's 2000 presidential campaign and a Democratic adviser during the 2002 Senate race in Minnesota. ... Hostettler, a six-term incumbent, serves as his own campaign manager and press secretary. Hostettler's sister and campaign office manager, Karen Hammonds, works out of a cubicle in a room she shares with an unpaid summer intern. A second small room in the Hostettler campaign's Main Street office is a storage area.
One consequence of Hostettler's laziness is that the NRCC continually must bail him out, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in a district that should be (it voted 62% for Bush in '04) safely Republican. Much to the caucus's chagrin, Democrats have mounted challenge after respectful challenge, preventing the national GOP from spending the money in more competitive (or what should be more competitive) swing districts elsewhere in the nation.
Chris Chocola found that out last week when the NRCC abandoned his toss-up district, forcing the embattled Republican incumbent to fend for himself (which should be no problem, even if it has to come out of his own well-lined pockets). His coffers already are triple that of Joe Donnelly's and even exceeding Mike Sodrel's totals in IN-09, an even more endangered Republican by any measure.
The DCCC has committed to spending upwards of $1.8 million in the district for television ads on Ellsworth's behalf, both of which are featured on the right. The NRCC's already paid for two spots as well, both attacking Ellsworth's record as Vanderburgh County Sheriff ("On the Road" is on the right).
NPR's Linda Wertheimer came to IN-08 to profile the Hostettler/Ellsworth race:
Indiana is one of the reddest states on the political map; it last voted for a Democratic president in 1964. Seven of Indiana's nine house members are Republican. But this election year, at least three of them appear to be in some kind of trouble -- including Hostettler.
Hoping to unseat Hostettler is Brad Ellsworth, the sheriff of Vanderburgh County, where Evansville is located. Ellsworth hopes to tap into growing discontent among the farmers of southwest Indiana about the Iraq war, health care, and especially the price of fuel -- each time they take big farm equipment over their fields.
Ellsworth is running slightly ahead in the polls and way ahead in fundraising. Hostettler doesn't raise much; he depends on church organizations to get out his vote.
John Hostettler is, for once, effectively using the advantages of incumbency:
Hostettler, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee for Immigration, Border Security and Claims, also made an announcement at Tuesday's Rotary luncheon.
He said the Judiciary Committee will hold a field hearing on illegal immigration in Evansville at 10 a.m. Aug. 29 at The Centre. The hearing is one of a series of such field hearings Hostettler is participating in this month, including one that was held in San Diego.
Ellsworth backs the House-passed immigration bill which makes illegial immigration a felony, making, in one fell swoop, the estimated 7-20 million illegals living in the United States all permanently inelligible for American citizenship. Hostettler, Chocola, and Sodrel all voted for the bill.
Vanderburgh Co. Sheriff Brad Ellsworth (D) said he does not support a single-payer, gov't-run health-care system because he believes it won't work, but does believe in the goal of universal coverage. Ellsworth called for a "real Patient's Bill of Rights" and for D.C. to "ensure fairness in the health care system." Rep. John Hostettler (R) voted against the '03 Medicare prescription drug benefit because he said it wasn't affordable in the budget, and not because he was trying to reduce access to medicine. Hostettler's "agenda on medical issues focuses on action by individuals and businesses and opposes" gov't intervention. Hostettler has supported legislation to allow small businesses to "band together across state lines to create association health plans." Ellsworth has called for bigger budgets for the NIH and CDC (Langhorne, Evansville Courier & Press, 8/13).
Hostettler was endorsed by the U.S. and IN Chambers of Commerce (Langhorne, Evansville Courier & Press, 8/11).
Few places provide a better outlook for the final three months of the congressional campaign than Indiana, where three Republicans are fighting aggressively to keep their seats. The White House and top Republicans are nervously watching, fearful that if they can't win these districts in a state Bush carried with 60 percent of the vote, are prospects for preserving their majority bleak?
"We're working like these three seats are absolutely critical to the control of the House," said Murray Clark, chairman of the Indiana Republican Party.
While [Brad] Ellsworth's reluctance to condemn Bush makes him a bit of an anomaly in a campaign season filled with vitriol, it underscores an attempt by many Democrats to place a gentle distance between themselves and the national party. Just as some Republicans are less than eager to embrace the president, not every Democrat is going for the jugular.
A sidewalk conversation with Ellsworth here on West Main Street, in front of Hunt's Steamer Cafe, illustrates the complexities of the electorate.
"I'm a Republican, but I want to vote for you," said Harold Green, a retired businessman in the town of 2,700 people about 80 miles northeast of Evansville. "People are looking for change."
Indeed, Republicans may have their troubles, but will voters like what they see from the Democrats?
Here in southwest Indiana, Rep. John Hostettler is locked in one of his toughest races since winning his seat in 1994, when Republicans swept to control of Congress for the first time in four decades. His fight with Ellsworth looks so intriguing to Democrats in Washington that they have pledged to invest at least $1.5 million in television ads, which almost certainly will be rivaled by Republicans.
