April, 2009

It’s been said that true success comes not to the person who is dealt all the right cards but to the person who learns to play a bad hand well. To say that the past four years have dealt Indiana House Republicans “poor cards” would be an understatement. In the worst two campaign cycles for Republicans since Watergate, general assemblies nationwide have seen an epic partisan shift. The Midwest has seen the Democrat Party gain a total of 78 state house seats from 2004 to 2008, with 6 of 7 states shifting power from a Republican speaker in 2004 to a Democrat speaker in 2008. Since 2000, Iowa House Republicans have lost 12 seats, Michigan 14, Ohio 13, Minnesota 22… It will take a decade for some of these caucuses to recover such losses. By contrast, in Indiana, House Republicans have one more seat than we did after the 2000 election.

The News and Tribune share a post by State Representative Ed Clere.

 STATEHOUSE — What do taxpayers, Congressman Mike Pence and fallen soldiers have in common?

Indiana House Speaker Pat Bauer didn’t have time for any of them.

I write this column with a sense of disappointment. I was hopeful I would have something positive to report to you today.

Instead, for the most part, last week was a series of setbacks and missed opportunities.