Hoosier debate most crucial

While the national media continues to zero in on the presidential debates, many Indiana voters are also paying close attention to the debate amongst their U.S. Senate candidates.

The candidates, Rep. Joe Donnelly, D-2nd District, Republican State Treasurer Richard Mourdock and Libertarian candidate Andrew Horning sat down Monday for the first of two debates. It is a highly contested race in a state that has been loyal to Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., ousted by Tea Party favorite Mourdock in the primary.

Howey/DePauw polls shows Donnelly with 40 percent of the vote, Mourdock with 38 percent and Horning with 7 percent. The two major party candidates are in a statistical dead heat.

The Hoosier State is still strictly red when it comes to other races this election cycle. Rep. Mike Pence, R-6th District, has a comfortable lead against Democratic candidate John Gregg in the gubernatorial election.

Romney is almost guaranteed to take the state in the general election. In order for Donnelly to win, some Hoosiers will likely have to split their ballots to ensure a Donnelly victory.

Much of the race has been defined by Mourdock’s primary victory against Lugar.   

Donnelly has repeatedly painted Mourdock as too extreme for Indiana, while emphasizing his own bipartisan leanings. He has reached out to Lugar supporters, discussing history of working with Lugar stressing their cooperation on giving federal loans to Chrysler and General Motors.

Not surprisingly, Mourdock has distanced himself from the more right wing Tea Party tenants he promoted in the primary. In the debate, he denied being a Tea Party candidate, insisting he was a proud Republican.

While he has become more moderate on some issues, his frustration with the Obama administration was apparent throughout the debate. He repeatedly decried the failures of the administration, likely hoping to reach out to disgruntled Indiana Republicans already supporting Romney.

When Horning chimed in during the debate, it was to repeat the same message. If voters want to fix issues in Washington and between the two major parties, they need to go with an outsider.

At one point in the debate, after a tense disagreement between the two mainstream candidates, he likely delighted Libertarians all across Indiana by saying, “I could not possibly frame my argument as well as you all are doing for me.”

This will be an edge-of-your-seat contest until election night, one of the closest races in this election.

Both candidates will try to appeal to the middle-of-the-road voters that have supported Lugar for years.

If you’re an undecided Hoosier, tune in Oct. 23 to the final debate, when the candidates will face off to grab your vote.

­— gwinslow@indiana.edu