Comments on: Costas: Strong Arming “Needs to stop”

By: Michael Jezierski

Michael Jezierski — Tue, 27 May 2008 03:36:24 +0000

This was emailed to me by someone who must keep their identity off the blogs. Normally we don’t accept anonymous comments but this one we’re going to accept:

“If the sitting Governor does not approve of such behavior by Tom John he should speak up promptly, otherwise, it would appear that Tom John is following orders from the Governor and is lynching Daniels supports, just like he is are lynching Ballard supporters who did not follow orders to not support Ballard during the campaign.

If the Governor wants to win the office this November, he should denounce Tom John and such tactics promptly because the stench is leaking over into the Governors office, a pity. You can’t strong arm Republicans right now, especially in todays climate; it just won’t work and will backfire.”

By: cindy

cindy — Tue, 27 May 2008 02:23:12 +0000

I agree with asking Tom Johns to apologize to David Miller, a man who has dedicated years of service to the Republican party. Miller attended no meetings last week, as he was in Costa Rica, and the previous week he attended only one meeting – the Perry Township Republican club. Miller did not lead that meeting, nor did he make any comments while there. If firing someone by voice mail for something they absolutely did not do is something this party does to loyal supporters, Johns needs to reinstate Miller immediately, and Costas should demand John’s resignation – and not by voice mail!

By: tinman200

tinman200 — Tue, 27 May 2008 02:16:43 +0000

I have already said I will not vote republican in the fall, the first time in 12 years I will not vote, because of how rude and uncivil the party has been in trying to force the candidacy. I have decided after reading many of the posts after a couple days off that I have changed my mind and will vote for Governor Daniels regardless because he is good for business. I will vote for Greg Zoeller also but will not vote for Costas. The way Marion County party and the Costas campaign has forced themselves on people is repulsive. Someone was fired for not following in line? This is not a candidate I will support. Free country, I vote how I want, lucky I don’t have to be forced by a fool like Tom John. What an imbecile. Costas touts his religious beliefs, apparently that includes looking the other way when bad things happen. For those of you who think a vote for Zoeller means no support for the Governor, you are wrong. People are talking about this, maybe if Costas were to come out and say “Tom John is an idiot and does not speak for the Governor or me” this would help our party move forward. Unless Costas is OK with how this has been handled.

By: Brian Sikma

Brian Sikma — Mon, 26 May 2008 13:08:23 +0000

So “strong arm tactics” are not good but it’s okay if loyalty oaths are demanded before delegates are appointed. What’s Costas’ definition of a “strong arm tactic”? Perhaps it’s as narrow as his view of eminent domain should be…

By: Scott

Scott — Mon, 26 May 2008 03:58:44 +0000

Far from it, actually.

But the Governor and his campaign need to recognize the danger that folks like Senator Waterman represent to his campaign. Not merely in terms of Waterman as a potential candidate, but in terms of people like Waterman either jumping ship in November to someone else or not voting at all.

The Governor and his campaign have behaved quite arrogantly in their supremely secure knowledge that conservatives and Republicans have nowhere to go but to the big green machine. This is just not the case.

Lots of conservatives will either bolt or (more likely) stay home in November if their disagreements with Daniels continue and are not addressed (let alone if things like the AG race make it worse).

Recognizing that this problem exists is the first step to fixing it.

By: daltonsbriefs

daltonsbriefs — Mon, 26 May 2008 02:49:41 +0000

facts and Josh, thanks for the reminder, this is about holding the Governor’s job and the other statewide offices as well. This is about winning in November, not destroying each other this week.

This may all be fun, especially for those few of us who think a party convention will be more fun with a contested race, but let’s be careful we don’t hurt the changes of Daniels and our statewide races.

Scott seems like he’s leaning toward this guy running independant against Daniels, but as far as I can tell the rest of us are all onboard with Mitch.

By: indyjessen

indyjessen — Sun, 25 May 2008 23:22:30 +0000

Thanks for jumping in Josh…
Since I wrote the post, allow me to make a comment.

Read what I said about Governor Daniels.
“The more you read these blogs, the more it looks like Mitch Daniels is beginning to resemble Chicago Mayor Richard Daley. And that’s not the Mitch I know and have campaigned for.”

If Mitch is somehow mixed up in all this, I will be highly upset. I have not had the opportunity to personally ask the Governor. So until that chance happens (and yes, I put in a phone call), I will remain open minded that all of this coming from the Mitch Camp is rumor.

The only thing I have confirmed was Tom John’s actions. Reread the post; it does not put down Mitch, rather the actions of a few who are allegedly acting in his name.

By: Josh Gillespie

Josh Gillespie — Sun, 25 May 2008 22:57:13 +0000

Then let me set the record straight here Facts. I do not share Brian’s statements regarding Governor Daniels.

Brian is a friend and I posted his blog post b/c he actually contacted Jon Costas to get his response regarding alleged heavy handed tactics in Marion County.

I hope this sets the record straight for you.

By: facts

facts — Sun, 25 May 2008 22:52:39 +0000

Josh,

When your name is a the top of the posting, it’s easy to believe that you share Brian’s feelings about the Governor when it comes to the battle over the GOP candidate for AG.

By: Josh Gillespie

Josh Gillespie — Sun, 25 May 2008 22:41:34 +0000

Facts, it wasn’t my quote. Perhaps you missed the opening line of this post:

“(Originally written by Brian Jessen of Indy’s Conservative Hardball)”.

This was a cross posting. Brian asked if I would cross post it and I did. If you actually read through all 500+ posts of mine on this site, you’ll find that I’m quite supportive of Governor Daniels and have defended him against liberal bloggers on the Abdul in the Morning show.

So you would have your “facts” wrong. I realize you have a fun time picking on me for some reason, but please do “fact checking” next time before you leave a comment, “facts”.