Senate candidate Ellsworth visits IU

After voting against fellow Democrats on a bill, Congressman for the 8th District of Indiana Brad Ellsworth was grabbed by the arm and told to change his vote.

“I said, respectfully, kind of, you need to take your hand off me or we’ll end up on C-SPAN,” Ellsworth said to a small crowd of students.

The Democratic congressman, currently running for U.S. Senate, answered questions Tuesday in the Indiana Memorial Union Walnut Room to bring his campaign to campus.

Senior Kelly Smith, president of the IU College Democrats, said the club worked with Students for Brad Ellsworth and Students for Baron Hill to coordinate the campus visit.

“He’s really excited to be here,” Smith said. “It’s important for students of Bloomington to meet their candidates. He realizes the student vote is really important.”

Instead of focusing on his three years in Congress, Ellsworth is basing his campaign on the more than two decades he spent at the Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Department.

“Think about when someone calls 911 when there’s a car accident or someone sees a car accident or there’s a domestic dispute,” he said. “We go out there and try to fix the problem. We didn’t ask are you black or white, gay or straight.”

Ellsworth said he wants to bring this sense of partnership to the Senate.

“People focus their energy on how to beat the other side,” he said. “You have to be willing to work with other people. I’d love to come out of these bills singing ‘Kumbaya’ and hugging each other.”

In addition to answering the question of his outlook on working with Republican party members, Ellsworth spoke on his stance on Social Security, Medicaid, education and tax cuts.

Senior Ryan Madden, a member of the IU College Democrats, asked Ellsworth his thoughts on the tax cuts passed by the former President George Bush, which will be expiring this year.

There is currently a debate on whether the cuts should be continued for 95 percent of the population over the course of the next three years.

“In this fragile economy, I’d extend them to everybody right now,” Ellsworth said.

Though Madden said he agreed with Ellsworth, he would not extend the tax cuts.
Madden said he first heard about Ellsworth in May when the congressman announced his campaign for Senate. In his visit, Madden said he thought Ellsworth answered many of his questions.

Though the crowed of students who attended the event was small, Madden said he can use the talk to inform his friends and classmates on Ellsworth’s position.

“I think as far as people in this room, they’re going to vote for him anyway,” he said. “Now I can go out and tell my friends what he said.”