Eric Dickerson's Run For Congress Is For Real

Indianapolis businessman Eric Dickerson is seeking the 7th District Republican nomination for Congress for the right to take on incumbent Rep. Julia Carson (D), and he is doing so without the support of his party. When his name first surfaced as a candidate for the office, many in the Marion Co. GOP organization, including its chairman, dismissed him. Instead, the county party slated an ex-con and former city-county council member Ron Franklin as its choice. Marion County Republicans better look at what’s coming because Eric Dickerson is a highly qualified and serious candidate with resources who can and will most likely win the GOP nomination.

Dickerson’s campaign recently unveiled a slick website which introduces the 7th District voters to him. Dickerson, who owns and runs a Buick dealership in Indianapolis, has an impressive resume. He served in the U.S. Marines for 7 years where he became a pilot and rose to the rank of Captain. He later served as a helicopter pilot in the Indiana National Guard. Also earning an engineering degree from Western Michigan University, Dickerson worked his way up through the corporate ranks at General Motors and Rolls Royce before acquiring his own automobile dealership in 1999.

His website sums up why he decided to run for Congress:

My decision to run for congress has truly been a call to duty. You see, I am not a career politician. I don’t need a better job nor am I pursuing a new career opportunity. I already have these things and I am quite happy with my station in life.

I am a former U.S. Marine pilot and I have been a member of the Indiana National Guard. I have also been a corporate executive with both General Motors and Rolls-Royce. During my association with these companies, I traveled the world extensively and I took notes relative to the "Quality of Life" and things that might make sense at home. Since 1999 I have owned and operated Eric Dickerson Buick located in Indiana’s 7th Congressional District.

I am running for Congress because I believe the 7th district is in need of my leadership, endurance and fresh ideas. I have made a positive difference wherever I have been. Please don’t hesitate to contact me through this website or the dealership. I welcome your comments.

Better jobs are something Dickerson identifies as important to him. His website laments the fact that the three largest employers in Indiana are Wal-Mart, the federal government and the state government, in that order. He believes in smaller government, but he also believes government should be doing more to strengthen companies who pay good wages; otherwise, “our kids will be forced to take the route to Wal-Mart.”

Dickerson’s website also identifies the “right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness” as a simple way of explaining where he stands on the issues. That means he is pro-life. “When faced with any issue that allows me to choose between life and death I will always choose life,” Dickerson says. He opposes the death penalty, and he opposes assisted suicide to show his consistency on the issue.

As to “liberty”, Dickerson accepts the dictionary definition (1) The freedom to think or act without being constrained by necessity or force; (2) Freedom from captivity or slavery; and (3) Freedom from the political, social and economic rights that belong to the citizens of a state (the freedom to be left alone). That definition implicitly encompasses support for the equal treatment of all citizens, including gays and lesbians, although he does not expressly say he supports gay rights.

As to the “pursuit of happiness,” Dickerson says, “You have the right to pursue the happiness you seek. I personally hope you find it. However, it should be understood that your right to pursue happiness does have limits.” Does that limit include a ban on gay marriage? Dickerson doesn’t say.

Dickerson adds, “Because Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness are not guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution or the Bill of Rights, law makers must be their protectors. I pledge to protect Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.” It’s a good start, but we need a few more details to see where he truly stands on the issues.

While Dickerson does not have the blessing of the county GOP organization, he did pick up the support of a former GOP candidate for that office who dropped out last year after being discouraged from pursuing his bid by party leaders. In a slap at the county party, Bob Croddy has e-mailed all of his former supporters and urged them to support Dickerson—“the only qualified candidate.”

We’re glad to see a bright candidate like Dickerson step forward and run who is not a career politician. If he’s nominated, he will most certainly run to win. That’s in sharp contrast to the GOP-slated candidate Ron Franklin, who party leaders chose because he would not be a serious candidate. Their belief is that Carson’s political organization won’t be working to get out the vote on election day if she faces only minimal opposition, thereby aiding other Republican candidates on the ballot. That sounds like a losing strategy to us and an insult to the voters of the 7th District, who deserve the best and brightest the party has to offer for every office on the ballot.