Editor, Times-Union:
Has anyone noticed that politicians have two seasons: campaign season and political season?
During the campaign season, the politicians will be your best friend, tell you they’re on your side, will fight for what you believe in, and vote the way you want them to. Then after you give them your vote and they win, they turn into politician. During politician season, they do not care about you, they make all the excuses in the world, and expect you to kiss their ring like henchmen do to their mafia boss.
A campaign Republican will tell you that they gladly stand with all Republicans on the ticket from governor to auditor to mayor and all offices in between. A political Republican will stand with Republicans they agree with.
At the state convention, delegates rebuked their choice for lieutenant governor and nominated Micah Beckwith to be the lieutenant governor nominee. The political Republicans wanted to nominate a one-term member of the House of Representatives who had her seat bought for her by the Indy Republicans to be the lieutenant governor.
Was Micah Beckwith the one who pushed Braun over the top? Not likely, but many of the people who voted Republican were not voting for Braun, they voted for Beckwith. So how did the political Republicans react? Two members of the Indiana Senate filed SB 202 which would remove the lieutenant governor as the secretary of agriculture. One of the duties of the lieutenant governor was to be the secretary of agriculture. Is it a glamorous part of the job? Probably not, but it has worked fine over as long as it has been an official duty of the lieutenant governor, why break it now? It’s because Micah Beckwith does not kiss the proverbial ring of the Indy Republican machine. Micah Beckwith campaigned for over a year for the position and he earned the votes of the delegates. So, the political Republicans are trying to show us that they are the boss of us. The Political Republicans run this playbook time and time again. Does anyone remember Glenda Ritz?
The Political Republicans in the Indiana General Assembly have an ethos. Play ball or we will work to remove you. They are willing to spend millions of dollars to oust members who represent their constituents, and not the Indy Establishment. They will reward loyalty with coveted seats, like they made a two-term legislator a Vice Chair of Ways and Means, because he represents Indianapolis. They will even get Democrats to do their dirty work as a Democratic Senator “authored” SB 528, which makes the governor allowed to pick their nominee for lieutenant governor bypassing the people. The argument that, “they do it for president, why should we be different,” is grandstanding, because the lieutenant governor being nominated at party conventions has worked for years before hand, and will work long after Micah Beckwith is not in office anymore.
When will the Indy Republican Establishment realize that they work for us? Until we gather together and vote for Republicans who speak for us, not to us.
Gary Eppenbaugh
Warsaw, via email