04 May, 2012

And The Coveted Chris of Rights Endorsement Goes To…

…no one.

I sincerely doubt anyone covets my endorsement, and I don’t really feel like I should endorse anyone, in any event. I will tell you who I’m going to be voting for in IN’s May 8th primary, and why.

For U.S. President, I’m actually still unsure. I am pretty sure that I’m going to vote for former Governor Mitt Romney (R-MA). I know he’s going to be the nominee, and I’ve long since decided I can support him and vote for him in November. But I may still vote for someone else in the primary, just to remind him that I expect him to govern from the right. I will probably vote for Mitt, but I may change my mind at the last moment.

For U.S. Senator, my choice is clear, but not as clear as I’d like. I’ve had issues with Senator Lugar (R-IN) since around 2003. I had to hold my nose and vote for him in 2006, and hoped that it would be the last time. So, I’m definitely voting for Richard Mourdock. Still, this is sadly a “lesser of two evils” vote. I’m nowhere near as enamored with Mourdock as most of the rest of my Tea Party brethren. I’ve been watching him for months, and I am just not sure I believe he truly means everything he says. I think the best we can hope for from Mourdock is that he becomes a reliable conservative vote in the Senate, and otherwise disappears. It seems to me that if he’s making news on Capitol Hill, it’s more likely to be the negative variety. I would really love to be wrong about him. Time will tell.

For U.S. Representative Congressional District 5, again the choice is a little murky. Representative Dan Burton (R-IN-05) announced his retirement in January. This was met with muted celebration. To say that Burton had lost popularity back home would be a huge understatement. Eight people have thrown their hats into the ring on the Republican side to be his replacement. I don’t think anyone knows for sure what’s going to happen here. The only thing that’s a near certainty is that the winner of this primary will be our new Congressman/Congresswoman. I don’t even know who is running on the Democrat side, but it would be a minor miracle if they won. Former Congressman David McIntosh (R-IN-02) is the odds on favorite, I guess. He’s got lots of name recognition, having been a Congressman before, and even having been the GOP nominee for Governor in 2000. He’s got the support of the NRA, the Indiana Chamber of Commerce, and the Indiana Right to Life. Still, as a prior Congressman, and prior gubernatorial nominee, he’s hardly  the “fresh new blood” that most of us have been hoping for. And he’s got residency issues, much like Senator Lugar. After careful consideration, I’ve decided not to vote for McIntosh. Of the remaining seven, I like Susan Brooks the best. She’s energetic. She has strong fiscal and social conservative credentials, and she seems like she’ll work hard for CD5. I think she has a steep hill to climb to beat McIntosh, but anything is possible. She could easily finish anywhere from first to fourth in the race, I think. We’ll just have to see how it all turns out.

I won’t bore you with the rest of the down ballot races. There are a couple that I’m still mulling over, but none of them are likely to make national or even statewide news in 2012.

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