Daniels Defends Lugar On Residency Question After Throwing Charlie White Under The Bus

Politicians and hypocrisy often go hand in hand. As soon as partisan Democrats launched an attack against Charlie White seeking his disqualification from office and a criminal investigation against him for loose residency practices not unlike those carried on by Indiana politicians for decades, Gov. Mitch Daniels quickly threw White under the bus and demanded he step down from office. His well-publicized comments many believe poisoned the jury pool that heard White's criminal case and contributed to the convictions returned against him. Now that Daniels' mentor, Sen. Richard Lugar, stands accused of flagrantly violating the same laws for decades, Daniels is rushing to his defense. The Journal-Gazette's Niki Kelly reports on Daniels about face on strictly enforcing the residency requirements for candidates:

Gov. Mitch Daniels said Wednesday he will not require the Indiana Election Commission to investigate whether Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., is voting illegally in Indiana.

Hoosiers for Conservative Senate, a tea party coalition that supports Lugar’s challenger in the Republican primary election, called on Daniels to take action on a complaint against Lugar in November by an Indianapolis resident.

“No, we’re not doing that,” said Daniels, who backs Lugar’s re-election bid. “I’ve talked to lawyers and both the Constitution and statute are clear. He’s qualified as he has been for all his previous elections.

“We’ve got to have a good competitive election, but (Lugar’s opponents) shouldn’t try to end it on a technicality that really isn’t legally valid.” 

Lugar lives in McLean, Va., but lists an Indianapolis house he formerly owned as his address for voting in Indiana elections.

"A technicality that really isn't legally valid?" Only if the U.S. Constitution's requirement that all senators be inhabitants of the states they represent is rendered null and void. Daniels is taking a hypocritical view of the residency laws for good reason. Every day, state troopers transport Daniels to and from his multi-million dollar home in Carmel where he and his wife live. Yet Daniels registers to vote at the governor's residence on North Meridian Street in Indianapolis because the Indiana Constitution requires the governor to reside in Marion County. Does he live there? No, but he thinks he's entitled to pretend he resides there for voting registration purposes, while he thinks Charlie White deserved to lose the secretary of state's office because he used his ex-wife's home for a few month period as his registered voting address. Why the news media does not see through this duplicity is beyond me.

See my earlier anaylsis here explaining why Lugar is violating the U.S. Constitution by failing to maintain a physical address in Indiana. There's been a lot of hits on that particular post today from the state's website address.