Davis receives approval

INDIANAPOLIS -- Raucous applause greeted Kathy Davis when she walked into a packed Senate chamber as Gov. Joe Kernan's nominee for lieutenant governor. But Kent Adams felt left out.\nThe Republican state senator from Warsaw turned to a reporter and said, "I think I'm the only one not clapping."\nIt wasn't because he wouldn't; it was because he couldn't. His left arm and hand were in cast and sling following tendon surgery.\nIt was the most crowded, loudest, bipartisan upbeat scene in the Indiana Senate chambers in years -- for several reasons.\nSome of the jubilance grew out of that strange yet natural sense of moving on, taking a big step forward in the wake of a shaking and lingering sadness. Sentiments over Gov. Frank O'Bannon's death have run deep.\n"But what we have seen is Hoosiers from all over come together, work together, and the system of our government has proven that it works," Kernan said to everyone there. "And today, we take the next step in this process."\nSome of the enthusiasm stemmed from another historic side to the day, since Davis is set to become Indiana's first female lieutenant governor. Women have held other high offices in Indiana, but never governor or lieutenant governor.\nBut most of the bipartisan praise seemed grounded in Kernan's choice of Davis. It was a surprise. But the overwhelming consensus was that the surprising selection was made for all the right reasons.\nDavis has held top jobs for Democrats. She was a state budget director under Gov. Evan Bayh, ran the Family and Social Services Administration under O'Bannon, and has been city controller for Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson since January 2000.\nYet in those politically charged hot seats, Davis has won respect from lawmakers of both parties for being unpretentious, matter-of-fact, and practical, not political.\nWhat's her secret to working with lawmakers without antagonizing them? Facts are friendly, she says.\n"I'm an engineer, and I believe in the scientific method, and I look for data, and I think the same information that causes me to come to conclusions usually holds for other people as well," Davis said.\n"So I think that an honest look at the facts goes a long way, and sometimes brings forth solutions all by themselves."\nSen. Larry Borst, a Republican who has been chairman of the powerful Senate Finance Committee for all but two years of the past three decades, was among the many who said Kernan made an excellent choice.\nBorst said Davis could not only manage the state's economic development efforts, but also become a real partner with Kernan in tackling the state's budget problems head-on.\nThe lieutenant governor wears lots of hats in Indiana, but the most important, perhaps, is being someone the governor trusts. The rest, Borst said, is icing on the cake.\n"The one thing about her is she is very fair," Borst said. "She understands there is a real world out there and you can't be draconian in your thoughts. You have to be levelheaded and listen to both sides, but then, she is nervy enough to do what she thinks is best."\nButch Morgan, Democratic chairman of the South Bend area's 2nd congressional district, put it this way:\n"It was just another validation of Frank O'Bannon's good choice of Joe Kernan, because Joe Kernan continues to make the good choices that Frank O'Bannon would make," Morgan said. "I think he is in heaven smiling down on Joe Kernan"