Should Indiana Republicans Support Tamyra? (Updated)
[Guest post by DRJ]
Remember when Rush Limbaugh encouraged Republicans to “pimp themselves for a day” and vote for Hillary Clinton in the Ohio and Texas Democratic Presidential primaries? This strikes me as a similar situation in Indiana following Evan Bayh’s retirement:
“A chart on Swing State Project lists [the deadline to file for the Indiana Senate race] as tomorrow, but the Indiana Secretary of State lists it as February 19. It seems that candidates have until tomorrow to collect the signatures, and until Friday to turn them in to the state.
ANOTHER UPDATE: On Twitter, there’s some talk that the Democrats might be able to appoint a candidate, contending that there is a ballot vacancy.
Not if little-known art-cafe owner Tamyra d’Ippolito collects enough signatures. As of three days ago, she was 1,000 signatures short.”
I’m not encouraging Republicans to sign Tamyra d’Ippolito’s petition but I am wondering if it makes sense.
— DRJ
UPDATE 2/16/2010: Either Tamyra did not get the requisite number of signatures or the Democrats made her an offer too good to refuse, because she did not file a petition by today’s deadline:
” Party officials say that Tamyra d’Ippolito of Bloomington failed to submit today the needed petitions to qualify as a Democratic candidate for Senate, meaning that no Democrat will be on the primary ballot. Instead, it seems party leaders will have a chance to pick their general election contender later this year.
Had Ms. d’Ippolito, a liberal unknown who has not run for office previously, been able to qualify, she would have been the party’s candidate in Mr. Bayh’s absence, making her an extreme long shot. And her presence on the ballot would have meant there was no vacancy for the party to fill.
Now Democrats say they can select their choice, and attention has focused mainly on Representative Brad Ellsworth, a Democrat from Evansville, as well as Representative Baron Hill, Democrat of Seymour. Party officials say they are also exploring other, less well-known names.”
Republicans say Bayh’s timing may well end up helping the Democrats:
” One problem is that both Mr. Ellsworth and Mr. Hill plan to qualify this week as House candidates. Republicans say it will not be proper if they do so only to later pull out to run for Senate, leaving Republicans with their House and Senate candidates while Democrats play political musical chairs.
To Republicans, that approach is not quite fair and means that Democrats could actually gain some advantage by Mr. Bayh pulling out just before the deadline for qualifying and allowing Democrats to avoid a Senate primary.”
I’m not encouraging Republicans to sign Tamyra d’Ippolito’s petition
Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
The blank petition downloadable on D’Ippolito’s website says the petitions must be filed with the appropriate county voter registration office for processing no later than NOON on February 16, 2010.
Any Indiana registered voter can sign.
Official Internet Data Office (99772e) — 2/15/2010 @ 4:53 pmIf it means that the back-room pols can’t fill the slot, why not?
AD - RtR/OS! (89e14c) — 2/15/2010 @ 4:55 pmBecause there may be other requirements or consequences. Can you sign a petition for a Democratic candidate if you are a registered Republican? If so, can you still vote in Republican primaries for other races or would you have switched parties for voting purposes (assuming that applies in Indiana)? I don’t know enough about Indiana to say.
DRJ (6a8003) — 2/15/2010 @ 4:58 pmI’m not sure I follow. Are you suggesting, DRJ, that Republicans should (cynically) help Tamyra d’Ippolito make it onto the Democratic primary ballot because she’d be a weak general election candidate, thus helping ensure the election of Dan Coats?
Beldar (86c673) — 2/15/2010 @ 5:05 pmGiven that Dems view election laws as not applying to them, does it really matter? I doubt there is a clause for “if incumbent decides not to run, and we do not have another candidate ready, we get to declare vacancy and select whomever we wish”. There could be. I nominate timb.
JD (3f8c1e) — 2/15/2010 @ 5:05 pmDRJ…
AD - RtR/OS! (89e14c) — 2/15/2010 @ 5:21 pmHaving looked at the IN petition form, it seems that the only requirement to sign the petition is that you are a registered voter. There does not seem to be any requirement that the petitioner be of the same party as the individual being nominated.
This is much more justifiable than Operation Chaos.
Bayh waited until the last second to deter Mike Pence from jumping in. Now we’re wondering whether we should let the Dems take advantage of state rules, instead of forcing them to go with the appropriate primary process?
I’m not tossing and turning tonight.
wt (52a9ee) — 2/15/2010 @ 5:46 pmI would say that encouraging this is a GOOD idea. Even if the Indiana Democrats manage to get this woman’s petitions thrown out, it will piss off liberals (and yeah, there do exist in certain parts of Indiana) and surely hurt whomever they appoint in her place.
Twitter is ablaze with panicking Dems pleading with Indy voters to NOT sign these petitions.
East Coast Chris (ded5f2) — 2/15/2010 @ 5:49 pmIt’s not cynical. I sign most every petition to put someone or something on the ballot (not for weirdos like La Rouchies, Neo-Nazis or such). The more the merrier. The voters will decide.
nk (db4a41) — 2/15/2010 @ 5:56 pmIf one wanted to sign a petition, where could one do so?
JD (0acba5) — 2/15/2010 @ 5:59 pmAre you suggesting, DRJ, that Republicans should (cynically) help Tamyra d’Ippolito make it onto the Democratic primary ballot because she’d be a weak general election candidate, thus helping ensure the election of Dan Coats?
Of course not. Don’t be absurd!
It’s to ensure the election of John Hostettler.
Subotai (c87213) — 2/15/2010 @ 6:04 pmJD, go to Ace of Spades. They have all the information and a downloadable form.
nk (db4a41) — 2/15/2010 @ 6:19 pmJD, ACE has the details on where to go – he even has the forms to print up before you drop it off.
Dmac (799abd) — 2/15/2010 @ 6:19 pmno reason not to do this and many reasons to do it…
“Confusion to our enemies!”
redc1c4 (fb8750) — 2/15/2010 @ 6:20 pmIt’s scary, cause it’s tempting fate.
MayBee (33e86f) — 2/15/2010 @ 6:25 pmJD’s going to end up with Senator Tamyra d’Ippolito.
Beldar,
Me, cynical? Never! I’m an optimist when it comes to politics as evidenced by the fact that I’m not only still voting, I’m probably still going to donate to some political campaigns.
JD,
Here’s a link to Tamyra’s petition.
DRJ (6a8003) — 2/15/2010 @ 6:27 pmI didn’t mean “cynical” in a bad way, merely to suggest an ulterior (non-obvious) motive. Is the assumption, though, that — as is suggested by Karl’s earlier post — if d’Ippolito comes up with the required number of signatures, then she wins the Democratic Party’s nomination by default (there being no other primary contestant), and state Democratic Party officials can’t then pick instead someone better known (and possibly more likely than d’Ippolito to win), like U.S. Reps. Baron Hill, Brad Ellsworth or Joe Donnelly?
Beldar (86c673) — 2/15/2010 @ 6:47 pmOf course, if the Indiana Supreme Court is as corrupt as New Jersey’s (remember the Lautenberg fiasco?), this will be a futile exercise, as a certain kind of jurist has no trouble with ignoring the law in the name of “enlightenment” or some such thing.
M. Scott Eiland (c552ec) — 2/15/2010 @ 6:49 pmIf Tamyra gets the necessary signatures and winds up as the only Democrat candidate on the primary, I predict it will be like the Scott Lee Cohen situation in Illinois all over again. Scott Lee Cohen won the Democratic primary for Lieutenant Governor and nobody knew who he was. It turns out he had allegations of domestic abuse and non-payment of child support in his past, dated a prostitute and assaulted her and all sorts of other good stuff. The Dems were horrified that this Bozo snuck onto the ticket and had to strongarm him into pulling out of the race for the good of the party (quid pro quo not yet disclosed). The move effectively disenfranchised all those Illinois voters who had voted for Cohen in the primary, earning more goodwill for the party.
I say GO TAMYRA, GO!!!!!!
daleyrocks (718861) — 2/15/2010 @ 6:50 pmShe’ll get the signatures.
Then Obama’s Chicago squad will work their Obama magic, and enough of the signatures will be “disqualified” to get her back off the ballot. Then the Democrats will get to choose- once they’ve had time to poll the voters and do some convincing of candidates.
That’s my cynical take.
MayBee (33e86f) — 2/15/2010 @ 6:51 pmGiven that the late Bayh retirement announcement was designed to prevent a primary and allow for the party machine to select a particular politician I would say it probably is a good idea.
bill (81ed23) — 2/15/2010 @ 6:53 pmMayBee – No way. No how. I think I will sign that petition.
JD (47bd2d) — 2/15/2010 @ 7:01 pmBeldar,
I was kidding but, yes, after reading Karl’s post I agreed the point would be to put the Indiana Democrats in a position where they would have a weaker, non-traditional candidate OR they have to work to replace Bayh with a more traditional candidate. But I was sincere in saying I don’t understand enough about Indiana politics and petitions to know if this would work or if it has a downside.
DRJ (6a8003) — 2/15/2010 @ 7:03 pmSure, it’s legal, and it’s political strategy, so…go Tammy!
Patricia (e1047e) — 2/15/2010 @ 7:03 pmJD – Why don’t you go pick up timb and spend the evening getting signatures? That would be SPECIAL!
daleyrocks (718861) — 2/15/2010 @ 7:16 pmNo thanks, daley.
JD (47bd2d) — 2/15/2010 @ 7:31 pmShe does seem to want to have her name on the ballot, enough to actually work for it. Give her a chance. Isn’t that how Brown got started?
Supporting her candidacy is not the same as voting for her.
Amphipolis (17a9b7) — 2/15/2010 @ 7:34 pmGreat points by all. Now who lives in Indiana, or knows someone who does? Let’s get this moving.
http://www.redstate.com/erick/2010/02/15/lets-help-tamyra-dippolito-get-the-500-votes-he-needs/#comment-56256
wt (52a9ee) — 2/15/2010 @ 7:46 pmIn Indiana there is no Registrated Republican or Democrat. You can sign the petition and still ask for a Republican ballot for the primary. I’m a conservative Republican and I am signing a petition for Tamyra d’Ippolito because it can help Republicans in the fall!
Andy (6e7d7a) — 2/15/2010 @ 9:09 pmLest I be misuderstood: I don’t think there’s any ethical problem with “strategic voting. I merely wanted to confirm that that’s what DRJ was proposing, rather than (for example) expressing a genuine preference for d’Ippolito over other potential alternatives based on her policy positions or the like.
Indiana law (at page 16 of the .pdf file) apparently requires that a major-party U.S. Senate candidate get signatures of “at least 4,500 registered voters of the state, including at least 500 registered voters from each of Indiana’s 9 congressional districts.” I have a hard time believing that none of the other likely candidates could raise that in 36 hours or so. Experienced politicians keep lists of backers and contributors that include email addresses and fax and phone numbers. Ten staffers each enlisting 10 volunteers each securing 45 signatures would do the trick, and that doesn’t seem improbable that a sitting U.S. Congressman would have a sufficiently deep list and a sufficiently large number of motivated volunteers to accomplish that within even one business day. We’re talking, after all, about fishing from a large pool of people who are by definition already on record as being supporters of these particular politicians; it’s not like they’re twisting strangers’ arms at a shopping mall, although they certainly could do that too.
Even if they couldn’t, I simply don’t know enough about Indiana election law, or the officials charged with its enforcement, to be confident that they’d enforce it fairly and per its terms if, indeed, such a fair enforcement were to work out to put an unknown onto the ballot and keep comparatively well-known and Democratic Party leadership-preferred candidates off.
Amphipolis (#27 — 2/15/2010 @ 7:34 pm): Not to quibble, but Scott Brown was far from a complete political novice when he won the Massachusetts special election. He’d served in the Massachusetts state house and state senate since 1998. I do take, and agree with, your point that supporting someone’s candidacy — in the sense of supporting their right to be in the election and on the ballot — isn’t the same as giving him or her one’s vote.
Beldar (975641) — 2/16/2010 @ 1:36 amEvan Bayh had to have known exactly what he was doing. If he had simply wanted to keep Mike Pence from declaring his candidacy, he could have waited another three days to make his announcement. He surely must have known about Tamyra d’Ippolito’s candidacy and petition effort.
Apparently Senator Bayh made his announcement without consulting with or even notifying Harry Reid. If d’Ippolito makes it onto the ballot, he’s thrown a monkey wrench into the state party establishment’s plans, and probably President Obama’s as well.
I say he’s going to challenge Obama in 2012.
Now … what is Hillary going to do?
Mike G in Corvallis (70f47e) — 2/16/2010 @ 2:35 amAccording to this article at Hot Air, d’Ippolito is accusing the White House of arranging for Bayh to announce his retirement late so that Rep. Baron Hill could slip in at the last minute. He evidently had already begun gathering his petition signatures some time ago.
Add that to the idea of a Chicago style rejection of d’Ippolito’s petitions and you’ve got a hand-picked senator, without having the uncertainty of getting the Indiana Democrat Party leadership’s approval. All of which seems like a lot of work just to get another lib. Why would Obama go to so much effort and end up smelling bad for so little benefit?
Gesundheit (cfa313) — 2/16/2010 @ 7:31 amHmmm… my link failed. Try this…
http://hotair.com/archives/2010/02/16/indiana-dem-white-house-is-conspiring-to-put-baron-hill-in-bayhs-spot/
Gesundheit (cfa313) — 2/16/2010 @ 7:32 amFrom what I’ve read, the logistics seem a little more daunting than being suggested here.
The law requires 500 or more signatures in each of the 9 districts.
But, the petitions with those signatures must be turned in to the 92 county registrars by 12:00 noon today to begin the verification process.
So, you need not only 500 in each district, but you need to have them segregated by county, and then get the individual petitions to each county registrar – and with Bayh’s announcement another challenger had only about 24 hours to make that happen.
D’Ippolito had a jump on that process, but some reports today say that she’s had almost zero exposure in the more conservative Southern Indiana.
As for any other candidate, I don’t see why the state Dem. Party would participate. If no one qualifies for the Dem. line, the party gets to make a selection, and they have until June to do so. That’s a lot of time to see who can raise money, to see who polls best, etc.
Ellsworth is probably the best bet, but in conservative Indiana, a doubt a two-term Cong. who was elected only because of the Dem wave in 2006, and who has consistently voted with Pelosi, will be able to carry the state against any GOP candidate.
shipwreckedcrew (3d3fb8) — 2/16/2010 @ 7:50 amI like her name. D’Ippolito. It suggests that she is descended from Hippolyte, the queen of the Amazons that Hercules loved and killed (and whose literal meaning is “liberator of horses”). 😉
nk (db4a41) — 2/16/2010 @ 7:59 amMorons, if you could read, you’d know she has enough signatures from Marion and Hamilton counties. And, while JD might love the Indiana hinterlands around Terre Haute where rednecks with Confederate flags and Illini basketball fans thrive, it’s the sort of a wasteland I avoid.
Then again, it’s also Ellsworth’s Congressional district, so good luck getting help.
Your lack of knowledge about the process in your own state is amazing, dj, and rivals only your lack of knowledge about everything else in the universe.
timb (449046) — 2/16/2010 @ 8:02 amIf d’Ippolito’s claim is correct, and Emanuel has quietly encouraged/helped Baron Hill gather signatures in each of the 9 districts just in case they were needed, you’ve got to give Emanuel credit for shrewdness and understanding the rules of the various states around the country.
I doubt that Bayh ever gave him a heads-up on what he was considering, so Emanuel did this on a “just in case” basis. That is some serious planning ahead — “Let’s think through what would happen if Bayh suddenly announced he’s not running — who would step in to run?” And, with 24 hours warning, he might have had a plan in place to overcome the disaster that a d’Ippolito qualification would have become.
shipwreckedcrew (3d3fb8) — 2/16/2010 @ 8:07 amEveryone is forgetting their Democrat history. They will get a losing candidate to drop out. Next, they go to court to have the machine picked candidate put on the ballot. IE. Frank Lautenberg in NJ. Next, the dead arise to vote for the machine candidate.
Finally, timb celebrates another stolen election.
PCD (1d8b6d) — 2/16/2010 @ 8:14 amThe hatey hate machine is back. Bigot.
JD (ae4c43) — 2/16/2010 @ 8:16 amthe only thing to drive timb off the deep end is if a GOP or TEA party candidate wins with a margin greater than ACORN.
PCD (1d8b6d) — 2/16/2010 @ 8:17 amI’ve updated the post with more information on Tamyra’s petition and the Republicans’ response.
DRJ (6a8003) — 2/16/2010 @ 11:10 pmEvan is from one of the most overwhelmingly strong political families in any state in recent history, Running against unfunded Unknowns he’s cruied to easy victories – I cant help but think he was looking at information showing that he was going to lose and lose big
Also in the case of DeeDee there is some kind of strong backlash to party cheiftans picking candidates instead of voters
It will be interesting to see this play out ah la Jessie Jackson 1992 which his charges changed the demcrat election system.
EricPWJohnson (a8ea04) — 2/16/2010 @ 11:24 pm