A bunch of current and former government officials and state legislators have endorsed one of my opponents — a former party boss and legislator who quit his service in the legislature to lobby and make money at an Indianapolis law firm.  Another challenger, a current legislator, brags about his 15 years of service in that body.
Now, I don’t have any trouble on a personal level with these guys or their backers.  I know them, like them, and respect their service. But if you are like me, you’ve had enough of the insider baseball, the money politics, the buddy-buddy system!  Enough!

What I am hearing from across Indiana’s Fifth District is that our neighbors are sick to death of the carnival-like work of the legislature.  And they are tired of seeing the insiders push their buddies into office.

If you agree, I’m offering an alternative.  I’m not taking PAC donations from special interest groups.  I’ve already agreed to live by term limits and fight for them in office.  And if I am elected, I’m going to work to end perks and gerrymandered districts that keep the good ol’ boys in office.

My opponent says he has the support of 500 big shots.  Well, I have donations from nearly 700 Hoosiers, and that doesn’t include many of the endorsements we’ve earned from local folks.

If the Indy crowd thinks they can win this race on the same old, tired playbook, I have a message for them — I’ll see you at the polls.

October 27, 2009