Legal Commentary

Change: Indiana May Say "No Thanks"

By Jeralyn

How sick are you of hearing politicians -- all of them -- talk about change?

The New York Times reports for Indiana voters, talk of change may fall flat. [More...]

Many of the two dozen voters interviewed in this central Indiana manufacturing city of 46,000 expressed queasiness over the notions of change that both Democratic candidates have proudly pledged elsewhere. Though residents bemoaned economic conditions that have taken away thousands of factory jobs and given the state the 11th-highest rate of foreclosures, they also said they worried about doing things — anything — very differently.

“What are we going to change to?” asked Ron O’Bryan, 58, a retired auto worker who said he was still trying to decide which Democrat to vote for in the May 6 primary. “You mean change to some other country’s system? What do you think they mean?”

And here's an interesting note about Indiana's primary:

There are 72 delegates at stake, and this is an open primary; in practice, anyone may choose a Democratic ballot, though state officials say technically there is a provision allowing voters to be challenged if they are believed to be switching party affiliations at the polls. Some 4.3 million voters are registered in the state, including 200,000 new voters this year. More than 50,000 people have already cast ballots in early voting.

It's another state that won't go Democratic in November.

And unlike some other states, including Pennsylvania, Indiana has mostly been ignored in general elections, too. It has long been written off by both parties as so reliably Republican in presidential races as to not be worth much note. After 1936, a Democratic presidential candidate has won the general election here only once, Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964.

“Every year, two minutes after our polls close, they declare Indiana for the Republicans and that’s that,” Bob Stephenson, the local Democratic chairman said. “

Is it even worth blogging about?

Full post as published by TalkLeft on April 24, 2008 (boomark / email).