Dennie Ray’s Constituents Now Know What the Underside of a Bus Looks Like

Sometimes you have to wonder if the Democrats ever really believed they had a shot at beating Mitch Daniels. If they did, those faint hopes grew extremely dim once JLT officially beat the establishment’s chosen candidate, Jim Schellinger. Their hopes were all but dashed once Dennie Ray Oxley II joined the Team JLT and her merry band of fire baton twirlers.

It seems that once Dennie Ray opens his mouth, something fun for the righty blogosphere spits out. First, it was him saying that his fingerprints are on each of the bills that go through the House during the session. As Mike McDaniel rightly noted on last week’s Indiana Week in Review, it’s only because Pat Bauer told him to physically carry a bill from one place to another.

But Dennie Ray’s latest incident is enough to make even us chuckle even more with delight and a person I consider a good friend (even though he blogs for the other side of the aisle), Bil Browning, captured it all in his coverage of the State Democrat Convention when Dennie Ray and Baton Twirler Jill spoke to the Stonewall Democrats Caucus (their version of Log-Cabins for those who may not know), in his write up for the Huffington Post. Now, fellow Director and also a good friend, Mike Jezierski also covered it last night, but let’s dig into Dennie Ray’s statements, especially those regarding SJR-7 a little deeper shall we?

(Read more after the leap )

Dennie Ray wasn’t too popular with the LBGT crowd because of his support for SJR-7, the resolution banning same-sex marriage (aka, the Marriage amendment). Shocker there. But, when good ole Dennie Ray was asked about his support for it a few weeks back, he claimed it was because of his strong religious beliefs. But that’s not what he told this crowd. Instead, he decided to throw his constituents under the bus:

“I want to talk to you about SJR-7. I voted for SJR-7. I want to talk to you about that. I voted that way because of the district I represent. They overwhelmingly have a view about this issue.”

Ouch Dennie Ray!! First, it was your religious convictions, but get in front of a group that already doesn’t like you because of your support for SJR-7 and don’t even man up! Instead, you make your constituents to be the bad guys. Good move!

He then continued to speak (and conservative bloggers rejoiced!):

“The role of Lt Governor is a whole lot different. My primary job - I will commit to you today - my priority on Day One is to be the #1 cheerleader and the person who drives Jill Long Thompson’s agenda thru the Assembly.”

During the Q&A that followed, all of the comments focused on Oxley’s record in the Statehouse. Both Long Thompson and Oxley assured the group that he would support her LGBT inclusive agenda even if he were somehow elevated unexpectedly to the higher office.

What’s funny is that even Democrats don’t seem to expect this ticket to win.

But is this the Dennie Ray that Crawford County is familiar with?  Many people believe that Dennie Ray is only running to improve his name I.D. so that he can run for Congress later in the 9th CD.  To go from conservative Democrat to liberal cheerleader who throws his own constituents under the bus, no matter how much he improves his name ID, this won’t sit well with conservative Republicans or Democrats…especially in the 9th CD or with voters in the rest of the state.