This is a solid endorsement of a movement conservative. Greg Zoeller is a man who is qualified to lead the Attorney General’s office from day one.

linda–come off the county’s talking points and consider the merits of the endorsee–”thin resume” is a bit of a misnomer(sp) Remember that part about working for Dan Quale in 1989–sounds like he’s been around for a little while–of course there is the small matter of being Steve carter’s right hand man–I don’t care who you are but he has direct experience in doing the job he is running for…

I could take your same argument and flip it around james–you can defeat all the democrat incumbents you like but if you don’t know how to do the job, then you are as as useful as underwear to bill clinton (BAAA—ZINGGG).

So we should support Jon Costas because 1) he’s a pretty face, 2) he could get elected in a city that had been run into the ground, and 3) he is a “progressive leader” that has championed things like public smoking bans?

And the AG post is one where experience counts for a lot, and leadership less so. What will Costas lead on? The brave charge to outsource legal work to the Indy law firms? The value of experience in such a post is immeasurable. To quote the endorsement, it matters.

Please dispense with the whole Zoeller is dividing the party line. In this entire process, no one has been more divisive or more abrasive or more thuggish than the supporters and advocates of Jon Costas (particularly from the Governor’s campaign, Marion County, and state party). The comments of his supporters here and elsewhere have not exactly broken new ground in winning friends and influencing people.

When Steve Carter made his announcement, the State Committee asked (in a memo issued in their name of which many SC members were never even made aware until after it was sent out) for a gentleman’s agreement among potential candidates to not make any announcements or start campaigning until the dust had settled.

The candidate that violated this gentleman’s agreement was Jon Costas. While Greg Zoeller, Tom Wheeler, Kyle Hupfer, and other potential candidates stood in the wings, waiting politely, Costas jumped into the fray at the urging of the Governor and made them all look like fools for waiting.

The Governor, at the start of this process, gave no declaration of his preference (despite many people in the party wishing for him to do so). Even after Costas had entered, he gave no public indication of his preference until he endorsed Costas a few weeks ago. He sought to put Costas into the race — urging Costas to run by Costas’ own later admission — and push him without having his fingerprints upon the Costas candidacy.

This strategy did not work; the Governor’s intentions were transparent and his scheming well known. Zoeller, interested in running from the start, did not bow out despite being threatened and pressured to do so.

Since then, the Governor’s staff has threatened county and district chairmen, implying that they are “keeping score” of who takes what side, and declaring that they will get even later with anyone that goes against the Governor. The Marion County GOP has demanded a loyalty oath to Costas from any delegate that they appoint.

And Zoeller is supposed to be the divisive one?

Bull****.

None of the tactics being employed by the Governor or Costas’ supporters are likely to engender unity in the Republican Party.

I have news for Mitch Daniels. The county and district chairs are not answerable to him. They are answerable to the base of the party. They — and the base of the party — will be here long after he is gone, and they’ll have far more leverage over him come November than he will have over virtually any of them.

He’ll need them; they won’t need him. The pressure his people are putting upon them are making this situation much worse.

I am disappointed that I tried for two years to get an appointment with the AG and did not receive so much as a simple reply. As a die-hard, one time supporter of Mr. Carter’s, this has left a bad taste in my mouth. The inaccessibility of the AG has left many taxpayers disappointed and disillusioned. Many of those taxpayers will be representing the GOP at the upcoming convention. All of a sudden the AG has time for us, but it may be too little, too late. Time will tell.

It wasn’t just me, David. There were many taxpayers who were very concerned about a multi-billion dollar tax scam being perpetrated against schools across Indiana, and the AG ignored it. At the very least, the AG could have responded to our request to discuss the matter with him, but he didn’t even give us the courtesy of a “No Thanks”. Now, when he wants to promote his AG candidate, all of a sudden he has time for us. I think he should have taken a few minutes out of his day for something to actually do with his job. Don’t get me wrong. I certainly don’t enjoy criticizing our AG, but this situation is costing taxpayers in Indiana millions of dollars. In fact, it’s so bad that there were a couple of senators who drafted a piece of legislation and included language that would have forced the AG to do something about this. The legislators were frustrated about the lack of action on the AG’s part as well.

So, no, I don’t think I’m more important than any other Hoosier in the state, but I do think the issue that taxpayers wanted to discuss was important enough for the AG to take a few minutes out of his day to listen to our concerns. The issue that we wanted to discuss affects the 6 million hoosiers that you referenced. For further details, check here:

http://diana-vice.blogspot.com/

Steve, I don’t think any prominent bloggers here were pushing divi around. She has credible grounds for concern about who the next AG is going to be and that’s understandable.

I should also point out that although Hoosier Access may endorse Greg Zoeller, we do have at least one (maybe more, I’m not sure) contributor who supports Jon Costas. Even though we’ve thrown our hat in with Greg, anybody who contributes to this site is free to write about who they want.

I think it’s good that we have such a diverse readership that we can have people who like this site and who can support either candidate. It’s good for overall debate.

Rumors that Costas’ supporters in Marion County were demanding draconian and regressive measures (how’s that fit with Jon “progressive leader” Costas, I wonder, yeah…) such as loyalty oaths from potential appointed delegates were vehemently denied by Costas supporters from his home county. Denied, that is, until they were proven to be true by people who witnessed it. Then you, too, denounced such tactics.

As for Lake County, Costas had no answer and had to admit that he “didn’t know” whether he would continue to pursue racketeering charges against Pastrick in the sidewalks for votes scheme. So much for vigorous leadership.

If he couldn’t show some leadership in an ongoing case, why should anyone think he will show leadership with something new? Perhaps it can be outsourced to Ice Miller or B&T; then I am sure he will be right on it.

on the contrary paula(if that is your real name) i have seen nothing but professionalism from the people on the site let me remind you of the reasoning–nevermind screw it i’ll just quote myself incase you conveniently missed it…

“It was more the “method of the madness” (so to speak) with which the county party was attempting to garner votes… The cornerstone of a free and democratic society is the people (in this case the delagates) be able to remain just that: free and democratic–I for one don’t like smoky back-room politics–it’s not fair to the electorate and it’s not even fair to the candidates themselves. ”

what part of “nothing against either of them personally” aren’t people getting here??

another question that has been burning in my brain?

paulahubbard
jamessnyder
lindafriedman

who are these people?
why do the screen names follow the exact same format? (not that that’s a crime)
are they the same person?
and most importantly:

who do they work for??

inquiring minds want to know…

I think that Greg Zoeller’s lifetime of experience speaks for itself. Jon Costas may photograph well and I’m sure that he loves puppies and is a great “progressive” mayor. But he simply lacks the necessary experience, and experience matters when it comes to the AG’s office.

I thought seriously for a long time about endorsing Jon Costas (and if you knew about the environment in Harrison County, that statement would be much more meaningful still). He’s a nice guy and the geography thing was superficially compelling (until you realize that Zoeller’s experience just matters much more). I’ve spoken with Jon Costas twice. I’ve never come away disappointed, though I have also never been awed or impressed. Zoeller, meanwhile, has always impressed me with his depth of knowledge and experience.

As much as Zoeller’s experience, however, I have been swayed by the behavior of Mr. Costas’ supporters. Whether it has been in loyalty oaths for appointed delegates in Marion County, the thuggish behavior of Daniels’ people in “keeping score,” the circumstances surrounding Costas’ “early” entry into the race, or attacks Costas supporters have made when facts about these things were merely noted in routine informational (rather than advocacy) blogging, the behavior of those who support Jon Costas is troubling to me.

Such behavior is just wrongheaded and divisive, in the very least. It turned me away, and I suspect that I will not be alone.

Tinman, I don’t even think this is the most negative thread on this site, much less any blog. Most of the discussion has been very positive.

I don’t have a dog in this fight. I don’t know the candidates. I don’t have a vote on this until November.

That being said: 1) It is good for the party to have more than one candidate vying for the position at the convention. It encourages the candidates to hone their message for the election prior to the election. It allows for finding the best candidate. 2) It is also good for various people within the party (Governors, the current AG, elected Republicans, bloggers, citizens) to endorse and push one or the other of these candidates. It let’s others of us know the way that people think about the candidates. 3) It is NOT good if there are true “strong arm” tactics being used. That is the only thing that will prevent unity in the fall.

As I understand the arguments presented so far: Zoeller has experience in the AG office and has other political, though not elected, government experience. Costas has very strong electoral experience–he runs well–but no particular Attorney General type experience. This, of course, does not mean that he can or can not do the job. Is that about right?

My main reservation regarding Costas is that I read him labeled a “progressive” mayor. In my book “progressive” is a synonym for “liberal”. I don’t know if that is valid or not. Note: I haven’t heard anything here about what either would like to do as AG.

labechtel,

You bring up a good question asking who would be a better candidate running against Pence. You are right in noting that Costas has a record and one that Linda Pence could pick apart, but Costas did beat a 20 year incumbent and is the only Republican mayor in the region. So my guess is that he knows how to handle himself against the Democrats. But to say that Zoeller is a clean slate wouldn’t be accurate either. He has been a chief architect in many of the laws and regulations that have come out of the AG’s office over the last 8 years (that’s the experience we like so much). And as divi pointed out, there is ammo against the Carter administration, albeit something maybe a democrat wouldn’t go after since Carter kept a bi-partisan cadre of lawyers.

I think a reasonable question to ask would be, even though Steve Carter was a top vote getter in 2000 and 2004, would that translate to Zoeller in 2008? That’s the unknown in a world where Indiana has over 300,000 new registered voters, with over 200,000 participating in the Democrat primary a few weeks ago.

In the end, I agree with your bottom line, but it may not be as clear cut as we would like.