Comments on Advance Indiana™: 7th District Wrap-Up

4 more years of Andre??? Did somebody change the C...

2008-05-09T09:20:00.000-05:00

4 more years of Andre??? Did somebody change the Constitution without asking?

Getting 46% of the vote in an eight candidate race...

2008-05-08T17:53:00.000-05:00

Getting 46% of the vote in an eight candidate race is not shabby and doubling your nearest competitor is not shabby either. Andre will only get stronger.

Carson will win in November and we will be stuck w...

2008-05-08T16:52:00.000-05:00

Carson will win in November and we will be stuck with him for four more years. The 7th is democratic district and there is no way the Republicans can take him out. Might as well get used to it and go on. The only real way David or Woody could have won is for one of them to had dropped out and thrown their support to the other one. It would have been closer election. David, Woody and Caroline canceled each other out. Too many candidates and not enough votes.

Except for failing to credit André and his grassro...

2008-05-08T13:43:00.000-05:00

Except for failing to credit André and his grassroots campaign, you do a pretty good analysis here.

André Carson's campaign was out in the community while Woody was paying people $12 an hour to make phone calls, etc.

Art,While I recognized that Andre was outspent by ...

2008-05-08T10:43:00.000-05:00

Art,

While I recognized that Andre was outspent by all opponents combined, I would not think, If I were Andre, that I would be happy with my less than 50% result. I think if Andre wants to stay where he is he better work on his message and show some productivity, besides some cute sound bites, or his days are numbered. If less than 1/2 our own party will vote for you..there is something wrong.

Dr. O's and Dr. Myers' strategy was "Bash Bush". T...

2008-05-08T09:38:00.000-05:00

Dr. O's and Dr. Myers' strategy was "Bash Bush". They were not running against Bush (or any Republican) - That would be the equivalent of Mitt Romney running for Senate in Massachusetts with a GOP primary fight and Romney's only campaign theme was "Ted Kennedy is a drunk". Yes we know that but Ted Kennedy would not be your opponent.

Dr. O and Dr. Myers should have run their campaigns slamming Andre Carson from the beginning. Incumbency does have its privileges.But this is all hindsight being 20/20 and all. Monday morning quarterback, etc.

Beyond what "Wilsonart" had to say above, I believ...

2008-05-08T05:41:00.000-05:00

Beyond what "Wilsonart" had to say above, I believe that Congressman Carson won convincingly for four reasons:

A) GOTV. His team still knows how to work it.

B) His major opponents failed miserably to significantly differentiate themselves from the Congressman in the eyes of the general voter.

C) His major opponents could have recognized that divided they fall. For whatever reason, they didn't. So, they fell.

D) M.D. degrees, CEO credentials, or whatever, the Congressman's opposition just never came across as more qualified to me (as a disinterested party).

So, the only thing that surprised me were the final tallies. Congressman Carson did much better than even I thought he would. In doing so, I fully expect the Congressman to win handily in November as well.

Good write up.In 2004 in the last presidential gen...

2008-05-07T21:23:00.000-05:00

Good write up.

In 2004 in the last presidential general election Julia got almost 120,000 votes. Given a possible Obama candidate Democratic turn out could be even higher than that.

Are there even 120,000 Republicans in the 7th district ?

Joh Padgett did yeoman's work in promoting his can...

2008-05-07T21:10:00.000-05:00

Joh Padgett did yeoman's work in promoting his candidacy on the Internet.

Thanks Gary, I tried to do my best and I was very happy with how well we did in the online world. From a technological perspective we did some groundbreaking things on the Internet and I plan to use this campaign as a case study to show future clients what I am capable of doing for them. I am very happy with the strategy I developed for the campaign and feel honored to have been part of it.

You still cannot write that Andre relates to peopl...

2008-05-07T20:57:00.000-05:00

You still cannot write that Andre relates to people and is liked by the voters. He was outspent outrageously and attacked but he still eased to a victory that was so large that it surprised even me. Now if he is able to represent his district and provide the quality of services to his constituents that his grandmother did, he will be unbeatable. Money can buy tv spots, unending mailings and pay hordes of election day workers but it cannot buy the true devotion and affection that treating people in a respectful manner can. Andre does that. His speech in front of 25,000 people on the eve of the election was his best ever. While not the world's best speaker, he is getting better.