Francie Hill
Francie Hill graduated from Purdue University in 1974 with degrees in education and sociology. She graduated from the IU School of Law cum laude in 1979.
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Francie Hill graduated from Purdue University in 1974 with degrees in education and sociology. She graduated from the IU School of Law cum laude in 1979.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>BUTLER, Ind. — This small town has never been a campaign stop. But its story has been reframed by Mitt Romney. In 1994, his private-equity firm Bain Capital invested in Steel Dynamics Inc., a new steel company. Bain invested in other Indiana companies, too. Some of them failed, and as Romney’s star rose, his opponents used them as fodder for their campaigns. So, Romney’s videographers turned Butler into an allegory, a sort of shorthand for the American Dream. The video lasts exactly one minute. It describes Romney’s “private-sector leadership team” and the way he afforded workers a chance to move up the socioeconomic ladder. “American workers in a small town,” the narrator says, “proving that anything is possible in America.” Butler isn’t mentioned by name. But the town’s story has come up throughout the campaign. The people of Butler, by association, have been represented by a small aspect of their community. This mythical version of Indiana has barely been a stop on the trail. Beneath the surface, there is more. Butler has it all. Here, people worry about every issue that makes Americans reluctant and passionate and confused. Beer and faith, red and blue, and everything in between. It is more than Steel Dynamics, more than Mitt Romney and more than a sound bite. IndecisionThe town’s main drag is a few blocks of shop fronts, some shuttered, between its main intersection on U.S. Highway 6 and the Norfolk-Southern Railway tracks. At the Eat ‘N Haus, a wide green awning between the City Court and the China Buffet, Judy Capp tries to make a part-time job work within the plan she imagined for her life. The 66-year-old waitress wants badly to work, take four weeks of vacation and then, at a moment of her choosing, have a retirement party if she darn well chooses. That is not the way the cards fell, so she works part-time here, four days per week.Steel Dynamics has improved the tax base and brought in jobs, Capp said. But it doesn’t solve all their problems. The town, Capp said, is dead. “We have a grocery store, CVS,” she said between ferrying rounds of cheeseburgers and coffee to Saturday afternoon diners. “We have this restaurant, a pizza place — you know, we don’t have anything to offer. And people aren’t going to want to bring something in here if we don’t have something to offer, if you don’t have the people.” Still, on a Saturday afternoon, they come to the Eat ‘N Haus, where Capp asks them to decide. White meat or dark? Diet or regular? Chili, or ham and bean? Pie?A pair of customers ask her what the day’s options are. “We have peanut butter, chocolate peanut butter, banana, coconut, dutch apple, pumpkin, sugar cream, custard, chocolate, Oreo, sour cream lemon...” There are 17 in all, written on the whiteboard across the room, brought in from an Amish-Mennonite bakery down the road. The couple Capp is serving considers. For them, it’s simple. The sugar cream. Pick a pie from the list and move on. For Capp, recommending a pie is hard enough. Picking one is even tougher. She’s indecisive. She couldn’t even tell you which party she’s chosen more often. “I’m not a Democrat, I’m not a Republican, alright?” Capp says. ”I vote for who I think can do the best.”Right now, Capp can’t figure out who that person is. It takes a while for her to articulate her positions. She pauses, pursing her lips in consideration and false-starting several times before she gets the right words out. “If Romney is president,” Capp says, “there’s a great possibility that he’ll have as much trouble as what Obama did, if he ends up with congressmen majority Democrat.” The government’s broken, she says. On television, she sees candidates attack each other for compromising. But without it, how are they supposed to get anything done? She doesn’t care as much about the party labels as she does about the issues. “Republican or Democrat, I want them to fight for me,” Capp says. This afternoon, she crumples paper placemats and stuffs them into cups, waiting out her 4 p.m. shift-end with a smile and an apology every time she doesn’t refill a drink fast enough. It’s tough here. She makes $2.25 per hour, and there are regulars who don’t tip. She lost her manufacturing position in early 2009 and jumped around from there. She helped customers at the Auburn Wal-Mart, sold insurance from her car. One morning at the Eat ‘N Haus, the owner said she’d hire her in a second, and Capp challenged her sincerity. Now she waits tables, scoops croutons off the salad bar and thinks about how she can’t decide who should run the country. Taxes, health care, foreign aid, gas prices, the Farm Bill — she hears and reads and wonders about it all. Who’s supposed to fix it? She’ll decide in the voting booth, she says. Or maybe a bit before, so she doesn’t have to consider their talking points while she’s standing before the ballot. “That’s not fair to the people that are behind me,” she says.FaithOutside, the sign reads “GET RICH QUICK. COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS.” The parking lot of Mount Pleasant United Methodist Church is nearly full Sunday, and the last stragglers file in before the 10:05 a.m. service. The church’s sanctuary is small. Members of the congregation sit on the polished wooden pews in jeans and sweaters. Recovering alcoholics and high school students gather to lay their prayer requests before one another and God. For the unemployed. For attendance.For elderly parents. For peace. Afterward, Jim Rosenbury descends into the basement to teach junior church. He knows all the children’s names. Usually five or six come down, aged 6 through sixth grade. “They made a cow, like a statue,” he tells them. The lesson is about the Ten Commandments, the tale of Moses coming down from the Mount Sinai with God’s directives inscribed on stone tablets only to find that his people are worshipping a golden calf in his absence. “Well, why would they want to worship that?” asks Erin, 6. Upstairs, out of earshot, the adults listen to Matthew 19:24. “My children, how hard it is for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God. It is much harder for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God than for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle.” The pastor tells the adults money can become a false idol, a distraction from God. Rosenbury is 56 and grew up in Butler. He’s never attended church anywhere else.He commutes 200 miles every week to a marketing job for a global manufacturing company north of Detroit. “I drive through some of the God-awfulest places you’ve seen,” Rosenbury says, “and you’re thinking, ‘how will these people — if the government doesn’t help them, how are they ever gonna even have a hope of doing anything?”He described the desolation he reads about in the pages of the Detroit Free Press. Abandoned, rat-infested houses and families that spent five generations on welfare. “You just don’t think that in the United States, in the year 2012, you should have starving people and so-forth,” he says. “Or people that need medical care. Things like that. I don’t know.” He can’t shake it out. It seems like both parties want to help. When he goes into his office, he thinks about the way Obama’s social engineering will hurt their business. Maybe finding the answer to social problems isn’t the president’s job. The government has a tendency to bog down intended good deeds, Rosenbury says. Ultimately, it comes down to economics. He is most concerned with electing a leader who will be friendly toward business. “Jesus said, there are always gonna be poor, and there are always gonna be hungry and all that sort of stuff, so we’re always gonna have to take care of them,” he says. CompromiseVisitors show up to the Eagles on Sunday night before the 5:30 p.m. drawing. It’s a private club where people come to play bingo or euchre and eat smothered burritos served out of a window. It’s also a charitable organization with benefits, scholarships and Christmas parties for needy kids. Later, a winner will be chosen for tonight’s prize of $3,535. Players, drinkers, sitters and viewers are scattered around the room. At the bar, they discuss layoffs and health care over domestic beer and Diet Coke. At the long tables, they watch NASCAR or talk family with friends they’ve known for 30 years. On Sunday nights, Trudy and Jerry Webb come here to socialize with their “clique.” Jerry Webb sits at the end of a table, hunched over a copy of the Auburn Evening Star. Webb is 63, greying, with tinted glasses and a conservative viewpoint. His wife Trudy, 64, has a life-long left-leaning opinion. “She goes one way, I go the other,” Jerry says with a laugh. “So we usually cancel each other out.” Occasionally, the politics lead them into arguments. Sometimes, they just watch separate televisions. But after more than four decades of marriage, they know how to survive an election. And how to survive bigger challenges, as well. The births of their children, the death of their son and being pushed into retirement before it was expected. Things that make a family. Things that matter more.In the Eagles, Trudy says Romney isn’t as explicit in his policy statements as she wants him to be. “They’ve both done that this year — ” Jerry begins.“Well, Obama’s got a little bit more to it — ” Trudy cuts him off.“Obama’s done good, and there’s things that I don’t agree with — ” Jerry continues.They talk over each other, at the same time, as if in lieu of speaking in unison they can block the conflict by creating separate conversations. In politics, compromise is sometimes seen as weakness. For the Webbs, it seems to be the answer. Friends ask how they make the marriage work. They laugh it off and say that it doesn’t come up much in their house.Political choices don’t make them who they are, and they don’t make or break their marriage. Trudy and Jerry talk it out for a while. She says the primary comes too late in the spring to make a difference. Indiana residents don’t have the power to choose the party’s nominees.“Well, we don’t on the main vote, either,” he says. “Because all your mid-states with electoral votes like Indiana, Kentucky and Iowa and all them, we’re just wasting our vote to even go vote, really.” They descend into talking at the same time again, Jerry discussing electoral votes and Trudy pointing out candidates don’t visit Indiana because of its late primary. Eventually, Trudy starts to leave. She comes back in, offers one last comment about how she can’t support Paul Ryan, and walks purposefully out the door. “She’s real opinionated,” Jerry says, a small apology. The bartender has already determined a winning number for the drawing — a blank space in the book that hasn’t been signed. For now, the pot rolls over. Next week, as Election Day approaches, the stakes continue to climb.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Indiana Senate candidate and State Treasurer Richard Mourdock started a political firestorm Tuesday when he defended his stance on abortion.“I struggled with it myself for a long time, and I came to believe that life is that gift from God,” Mourdock said in the second Indiana Senate Debate. “And I think even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that’s something God intended to happen.”Mourdock and his Democrat opponent, Joe Donnelly, are locked in a tight race that could determine which party gains a majority in the U.S. Senate. Since last night, elected officials, political action groups and national news media organizations have weighed in on his comments.“I said life is precious,” Mourdock said in a Wednesday press conference, as reported by the Indianapolis Star. “I believe life is precious. I believe rape is a brutal act. It is something that I abhor. That anyone could come away with any meaning other than what I just said is regrettable, and for that I apologize.”But by Wednesday, the liberal American Bridge 21st PAC had already produced an ad juxtaposing Mourdock’s comments with a recent taped endorsement by Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.A Romney campaign spokeswoman told the Huffington Post that Romney disagrees with Mourdock on his policies toward rape and incest but still supports him.In an email to the Obama for America list-serve, OFA Deputy Campaign Manager Stephanie Cutter criticized Romney for not revoking his endorsement of Mourdock after Tuesday night’s claim.“It’s a grim reminder of something he’s trying desperately to hide in the final weeks of this election: Romney has campaigned as a severe conservative, supports severely conservative candidates, and would be a severely conservative president — especially on issues important to women,” Cutter wrote in the email.Those weighing in on the issue extend beyond Republican and Democratic camps.“I think it puts the Romney campaign in an awkward position for a day or two,” IU Professor of Political Science Gerald Wright said.Wright said a statement such as this, so late in the campaign, could detract from the message Romney’s campaign is trying to communicate, particularly because of the way it will likely play with female voters.Like Missouri Congressman Todd Akin’s comments about rape and abortion, Wright said, Mourdock’s defense of his position could be interpreted as telling women who have been raped that choices about their bodies are no longer their own.Wright added that the statement will likely impact Indiana’s Senate race.“I will be surprised if Mourdock’s able to recover from it,” Wright said. “Very surprised.”Mourdock maintained throughout the campaign that he supported abortion only in cases where pregnancy endangers the mother’s life.The stance is not new but puts him in a minority among pro-life candidates.Opponent Donnelly’s stance includes exceptions for rape, incest and the mother’s life.Donnelly attacked Mourdock’s statements after the debate.“I think rape is a heinous and violent crime in every instance,” Donnelly said in a press release. “The God I believe in and the God I know most Hoosiers believe in, does not intend for rape to happen — ever. What Mr. Mourdock said is shocking, and it is stunning that he would be so disrespectful to survivors of rape.”Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, issued a statement in support of Mourdock.“Richard and I, along with millions of Americans — including even Joe Donnelly — believe that life is a gift from God,” Cornyn said in a press release. “To try and construe his words as anything other than a restatement of that belief is irresponsible and ridiculous.”He went on to point out that Donnelly, too, is pro-life.Libertarian opponent Andrew Horning supported Mourdock in a Facebook post and later press release, saying he’d known women who had abortions after being raped and heard stories of women who bore children after rape.Horning said he’d only heard complaints from the group of women who had abortions.“While I would not unconstitutionally craft federal policy in this matter, I do agree with Mr. Mourdock that, if you have any notion of a deity at all, then God’s Mercy could be seen in the birth of a child. No matter what else may have happened up to that point,” Horning said in his post.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Tonight’s U.S. Senate Debate at the IU-Southeast campus will feature Republican, Democratic and Libertarian candidates, plus a live audience that consists mostly of Chrysler auto workers. A group of workers who traveled together Oct. 18 to the box office in New Albany, Ind., took more than half of the free tickets and made Indiana Debate Commission officials consider canceling the debate between U.S. Senate candidates Republican State Treasurer Richard Mourdock, Libertarian Andrew Horning and Rep. Joe Donnelly, D-2nd District. Debate Commission President and Terre Haute Tribune-Star Editor Max Jones said 500 tickets were available for the event. He estimated about 300 were taken by the group of auto workers, leaving 100 left for the public after those reserved for campaign and debate commission guests. Jones said the commission considered canceling or closing the event to the public because the commission made an agreement with the campaigns to provide a neutral venue for discussion. The debate commission violated that agreement by allowing a special interest group to take control of the house, Jones said. Ticketing rules allow every individual to reserve two tickets. Campaigns were notified that attempts to reserve large groups of tickets would not be tolerated, Jones said.“It really didn’t occur to anyone that we would have that type of activity from a special interest group,” Jones said. United Auto Workers Region Director Ken Lortz, who communicated with both the workers and the debate commission, said the group did not represent the union. Lortz said he didn’t think the event was a run on tickets and that workers respected the ticketing rules and were simply interested in attending the event. “They’re wanting to hear firsthand where the candidates stand on support for the auto industry,” Lortz said.This is the 12th Indiana Debate Commission debate since 2008 and the first in a group has taken a large number of tickets, Jones said. It is also the last Senate debate and final debate of the 2012 cycle that will occur in front of a live audience. The workers arrived during a particularly busy time on campus, Jones said.“By the time we became aware of what was happening, there was nothing we could really do about it,” Jones said. Both parties have agreed to abide by the commission’s rule for audience behavior, which preclude bringing signs or wearing campaign or union apparel. The debate begins at 7 p.m. and will be broadcast live on television and radio stations throughout the state.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Robert Gibbs waited Thursday outside the Indiana Memorial Union’s East Lounge. Earlier that afternoon, he and Karl Rove watched the Indiana men’s basketball team at practice.“Two 7-footers is impressive,” said Gibbs, senior campaign adviser for President Barack Obama.Shelli Yoder passed Gibbs as he lingered outside the elevators. The Democrat candidate for the U.S. House introduced herself, said she was on her way to another meeting and asked for a picture. As she handed her cell phone off to a Union Board director, Rove emerged from the elevator behind her.While she and Gibbs grinned, Rove shook hands with a couple in the back of their shot. They’ve done this type of speaking engagement before. The Gibbs-and-Rove show draws a crowd. Gibbs said their expertise makes them a natural choice.“I think for a lot of these places it’s convenient to get two people who are playing roles in this place with one stop shopping,” Gibbs said. “So here we are.”As they prepared to leave for a reception in the University Club, Rove realized he’d forgotten something upstairs in his hotel room.They had to go. They were already late. They started to walk away without Rove. Gibbs gestured back to the elevator.“Should we wait for him?” Gibbs asked.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., Libya and Republican leadership were up for discussion among prominent Republicans on Wednesday in Indianapolis. Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., joined U.S. Senate hopeful State Treasurer Richard Mourdock for a roundtable with Indiana business leaders. If elected, Mourdock will fill one of four key seats needed to create a Republican majority in the Senate. Their brief session at the Easley Winery was focused on economics but circled back many times to Mourdock’s potential role in securing a Senate majority. Others seated at the table asked about economic concerns while McCain, Graham and Mourdock addressed what all gathered referred to as the “fiscal cliff,” the change in tax and business regulation created by the Budget Control Act of 2011. “We know what’s going to happen if the Democrats stay in charge of the Senate,” Graham said. “We’re not going to pass a budget. We’re not going to give you the long-term budget you desperately need to make good business decisions.”Graham said Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney will produce a budget and that Republican leadership coupled with a Republican majority will help ensure its passing. “We’ve had four years of talking about this,” Graham said. “Richard gets here, the talk stops and the hard work begins.” Graham and McCain, who is a member of the Senate Armed Services and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committees, also criticized President Barack Obama’s handling of the recent assassination of the U.S. Ambassador to Libya.McCain said Obama maintained that the Libyan attacks were part of a demonstration rather than a terrorist attack either because he “willfully wanted to deceive the American people” or his administration is incompetent.“This is probably the worst I’ve ever seen it in all the years that I have been involved in the issues of national security and especially in issues of national intelligence,” McCain said.McCain and Graham emphasized the importance of Indiana’s Senate election in determining the course of national policy. Mourdock added that he’s committed to passing a budget and creating a “renaissance” and rebuilding of economic investment. He said he would not vote for Democratic leadership in the Senate, a fact McCain and Graham said sets him ahead of opponent Joe Donnelly, D-2nd District. Mourdock unseated long-time Republican Richard Lugar in the May primary. Both Graham and McCain currently serve with Lugar. McCain said Lugar served the state with “honor and distinction” and that he respects his service.“But we also respect the will of the people, and that’s so important,” McCain said. “And we hope that some of Sen. Lugar’s supporters would understand that, one, it’s over, and second of all, this race could determine as to who is in the majority in the United States Senate.” McCain said the election represents a choice larger than the one made during the primary. “It’s a choice that the people of Indiana have to make that is part of the larger issue of who sets the agenda for the United States Senate,” McCain said.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Candidates Mike Pence, R-6th District, Democrat John Gregg and Libertarian Rupert Boneham faced off Wednesday night in the second of the Indiana Debate Commission’s gubernatorial debate series. The one-hour segment at Notre Dame University was moderated by John Ketzenberger, president of the Indiana Fiscal Policy Institute. Candidates fielded questions from audience members pre-selected by the debate commission. Each had a chance to dictate the conversation’s direction during the “Lincoln-Douglas debate” portion of the event.Democratic candidate John Gregg From the opening statement: “As governor, I’ll honor the Daniels truce on social issues, focus on creating jobs, and together we’ll make Indiana work the Hoosier way, not the Washington way.” Lincoln-Douglas statement: “Our roads plan will allow us to use existing funds and leverage $3.5 billion, create 97,000 good-paying jobs. We’re not gonna sell any assets. No surplus, won’t be touched. But we’ll finish US 31 and 69. As a former president of Vincennes University, we’ll spend and develop a pre-kindergarten program because every dollar spent now means seven saved in the future.” Closing statement: “I’m pretty much a middle-of-the-road guy. A little right-of-center from most of the people in my party, but you know what? I’m running against a person who is a Tea Partier, who is an extremist, and that’s the truth of the matter. Hoosiers are not extreme people. The Tea Party agenda is extreme, and to those Lugar Republicans and those Independents out there, I am the only person standing between you and Tea Party control of our Hoosier government. “Libertarian candidate Rupert Boneham From the opening statement: “I am running not as a career politician but as a small business owner, as a community advocate, as that person that wants to stand up and help bring that change.”Lincoln-Douglas statement: “We cannot keep putting everyone in jail. Yes, I believe when you break the law you should be punished. When you hurt someone of course you should be punished... We need to create in our detention centers the solution for our exploding population in our detention centers and not just putting them out on the street.” Closing statement: “Being able to stand here and show that I am not the career politician, I am just the business man that is trying to bring some common sense back into our government, bring that ability for us to actually deal with the cause of our problems, not the symptoms. Not to stand up here and argue and fight. Not to blame others, but to deal with what is actually going on and to deal with the cause of our problems.” Candidate Rep. Mike Pence, R-6th DistrictFrom the opening statement: “I’m running for governor of Indiana because I love this state and because I have a plan to take Indiana from good to great.” Lincoln-Douglas statement: “I’d like to hear from my opponents how their plans for tax cuts and spending will square with preserving Indiana’s fiscal integrity and Indiana’s fiscal strength. How will we make sure we preserve honestly balanced budgets in the future, moving forward to preserve the progress Indiana’s made?”Closing statement: “I’m running for governor because I love this state, but I’m also running for governor because I think this is no ordinary time in the life of our state. If we produce the right leaders at every level, with an insistent vision of building an even better Indiana, I believe Indiana will take our rightful place as the leading state in the Midwest and one of the fastest-growing state economies in the United States of America. And I’m ready to go to work to do that. I ask for your vote.”
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>ZIONSVILLE — At Wednesday night’s gubernatorial debate, Indiana’s three candidates used questions to highlight their platforms and engage each other.On stage in front of a live audience at the Zionsville Performing Arts Center at Zionsville Community High School, candidates Rep. Mike Pence, R-6th, Democrat John Gregg and Libertarian Rupert Boneham covered ground on topics from education to crime to job creation. They also drew their own platforms and positions into the spotlight.Pence made repeated reference to his “Roadmap for Indiana” plan, while Boneham called himself “the change” and Gregg advocated bipartisanship. The debate format was a mixed bag. Public participants submitted questions both in person and via letter. Topics included educational outcomes, the cost of college tuition, mental health in education, the Affordable Care Act and the role of unions. And midway through the debate, in what moderator and former Indianapolis Star editor and vice president Dennis R. Ryerson called a “nod to the Lincoln-Douglas approach to debating,” candidates also debated statements made to one another. Bobbie Craig of Osgood, Ind., asked candidates via a submitted question how they would make state college tuition more affordable within 10 years, how they would cut debt and provide useful skills. Pence praised IU’s new incentive program for four-year degree completion. “A four-year degree is, by definition, more affordable than a five-year degree,” Pence said. Gregg, a former Vincennes University president, praised previous governors for increasing higher education options around the state.“It’s time that we have a serious discussion about putting a freeze on tuition,” Gregg said. He also advocated auditing universities in order to track state tax dollars. Boneham said voters have expressed struggles during their first year of university classes. “That is taking time away from your first year of college, to go back and redo what you should have learned in high school,” Boneham said. During the candidate discussion segment, Pence asked fellow candidates how they would balance the state’s budget and assure fiscal integrity. He also opened the door for a back-and-forth between himself and Gregg. Gregg began by advocating bipartisanship in Congress then shifted to discussing Pence’s record.“There’s candidate Mike Pence, and there’s Congressman Mike Pence,” Gregg said. He said Pence missed 86 percent of his votes on the House Judiciary Committee and never passed a piece of legislation. In his wrap-up, Pence criticized Gregg for this tactic and said Gregg wasn’t acting like himself. He also countered Gregg’s accusation with a statistic of his own, saying he had a 95 percent attendance record in Congress, a separate record than what Gregg was alluding to.Boneham was often cut off while the candidates went back and forth. “Maybe the reason you didn’t answer the question about fiscal responsibility is because for five of the six years that you were Speaker of the House, Indiana ran deficits,” Pence said. After the debate, the candidates defended their tactics. Pence called the debate “substantive and civil.” He said his record is available on his website but encouraged voters to move forward. “I didn’t take any swings at him tonight,” Gregg said afterward. “All I did was just point out the facts.” The next Indiana gubernatorial debate will begin at 7 p.m. Oct. 17 in South Bend in front of a live audience.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>On Indiana’s last day of voter registration, the Rock the Vote Roadtrip RV rolled onto campus. Armed with clipboards and conviction, workers spent the afternoon registering as many potential voters as possible around Showalter Fountain. Sophomores Kathleen Ray and Megan McCullough came to volunteer together. Ray signed up to volunteer online and pulled McCullough in Tuesday. Despite the short notice, she said she was happy to help out.“The biggest way you can have your voice heard is voting,” McCullough said. “It’s definitely a big deal to me.” The pair lingered on the sidewalk, trying to draw in passing students. They told students it would only take a few moments. They told them it was easy. They told them today would be their last chance. Some responded, taking the clipboards and submitting forms that would be sent to voter registration offices in their state. Others said they hadn’t registered yet and kept walking.McCullough said she didn’t understand why anyone wouldn’t want to register. The timing of the RV’s arrival was partly coincidental, Tour Manager Michelle Clark said. They knew they would be stopping at an Indiana campus but did not know the specific school. “We definitely wanted to make sure we got here before the deadline,” Clark said. The group coordinated with Union Board, whose Debates and Issues Committee invited them to campus. Debates and Issues Director Eric Farr said planning came down to choosing one of two dates in October. “It was either the 8th or the 9th, and we figured with the sense of urgency more people would register to vote on the 9th,” Farr said. “I think it was a really good turnout.” Rock the Vote’s Roadtrip RV focuses on registering voters but encourages them to make it to the polls as well. DJ Tyler Goulet played music until noise complaints led the IU Police Department to temporarily silence him. He queued the music back up, but at a lower volume to avoid disturbing surrounding classrooms, after speaking with officers, Clark said. Inside the RV, which was emblazoned with an American Flag, was a “confessional” where new registrants could answer questions for a Rock the Vote video. Sophomore Taylor Moe approached Ray and McCullough first. She hadn’t planned to register until she saw the Rock the Vote setup but said she knew from a friend’s Facebook post that today was the last day to do so. She had a few seconds to spare and filled out the form. “I feel like a U.S. citizen,” Moe said.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>As the sun rose Friday morning, the Democratic Women’s Caucus gathered to celebrate a life and endorse a new candidate. The DWC is a political action group, and they’ve been meeting at the Village Deli for eight years. Their mission, chair, county councilor and candidate for county commissioner Julie Thomas said, is to fund, inspire, recruit, support and train pro-choice progressive democratic women.“We encourage them to run for office, but also be aware of local issues and statewide issues and sometimes we talk about federal issues as well,” Thomas said. Once a month, one can find the group at Village Deli on Kirkwood Avenue. During breakfast, they discuss those issues and vote on whether to endorse and fund candidates. On Friday, Shelli Yoder, democratic candidate for the 9th congressional district, joined the group. “We’ve just found that the breakfast times are the best times for us to get together,” City Clerk and founder Regina Moore said. Friday was IU freshman Erin McNeil’s second meeting with the group. She attended the Indiana Democratic State Convention this summer as a delegate. McNeil said she’s “as active as an 18-year-old can be,” due in part to her mother Kitty Liell’s encouragement. Liell said she’s been attending for too long to remember. “I think it’s important for all people to be a part of the political process, but especially because women are still underrepresented in politics,” Liell said. On Friday morning, the meeting’s topics were twofold for the more than 60 guests who gathered. At the top of the agenda was a tribute to Sophia Travis, the late Monroe County Council at-large candidate. But first, the group endorsed Cheryl Munson, the candidate selected to replace Travis on the November ballot. Travis died Sept. 19. She was one of the group’s first endorsed candidates during her successful 2004 run for Monroe County Council. The tribute featured a violinist and a slideshow with photos of Travis.While still somber, the meeting’s tone lightened when 9th District Congressional Candidate Shelli Yoder took the floor. She shared her own memories of Travis and spoke of the need to move forward while keeping her in mind. “We have this incredible loss, and yet we’re all so hopeful about the advances and gains we can make, and those two things happen simultaneously and side by side,” Yoder said. She also shared insights from the campaign trail. Although the group’s bylaws preclude them from endorsing and funding federal candidates, they passed around a purse and encouraged those present to donate. Yoder said she’s been familiar with the group since 2010, before she decided to run for Congress. “I have friends here,” Yoder said. “That’s really what this meeting has become. Just an opportunity to catch up with old friends.”
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>From the iPad propped up on their table, they could see it was time to take a drink. “Oh, third person!” all three cried. They took a collective sip. Erin Rafferty had an Upland Dragonfly IPA. David Roberts and Aaron Stepp, fellow graduate students in the Jacobs School of Music, held mason jars full of Upland Oktoberfest. Rafferty found the “2012 Presidential Debates Drinking Game,” a publication of the Conservative Intelligence Briefing, on a friend’s Facebook. “Drink if either candidate addresses his opponent in the third person.” “Drink if Barack Obama says, ‘Let me be clear.’” “Drink if Mitt Romney touts his plan to create 12 million jobs.” They came to Nick’s English Hut, loaded an image of the game on the iPad and followed along as the debate began on the screens above their red wooden booth. Their first drink came just seconds into the debate, for that address in the third person.“I was in Dayton, Ohio, at a rally and a woman grabbed my arm. She said, “I’ve been out of work since May...” Romney said. “Ohio really should have been one,” Stepp said. “That really should have been,” Rafferty agreed. Will the debates influence her vote?“My decision was made long ago,” Rafferty said.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>In Indiana’s gubernatorial race, the lines between social and economic issues have blurred.Both candidates proposed policies addressing economic improvement through the lens of family and social issues.Gubernatorial candidate Rep. Mike Pence, R-6th District, proposed a sixth “Roadmap for Indiana” step including “Improving the Health, Safety and Well-Being of Hoosier Families, Especially Children.”Pence’s platform includes six goals: improving law enforcement, resisting implementation of the federal healthcare law, addressing child protection and adoption, veterans benefits, clean air standards and access to natural resources.Democrat candidate John Gregg’s focus on children and women — the word family isn’t used in the policy titles — is contained in two proposal sections: “Women’s Issues” and “The Next Generation.”Gregg’s policy goals focus on reforming the Department of Child Services, increasing early childhood education opportunities and increasing access to affordable health care and equal pay for women. One difference between the campaign platforms is their approach to families.Lieutenant Gubernatorial candidate State Sen. Vi Simpson, D-Ellettsville, explained the campaign’s lack of “family-centered” language. Simpson improving life for Hoosiers depends on increasing jobs opportunities.“I don’t think it’s the place of the state or federal government to meddle in anybody’s private lives,” Simpson said.Simpson referred to Pence’s Roadmap goal to “promote marriage” by requiring a family impact statement before adopting new rules or regulations. According to a policy explanation paper available on his website, questions would include whether the proposed regulations “increase or decrease family income, support or inhibit family formation or inhibit the right of parents to raise their children.”“Family formation means that children are living with their two parents in a family environment,” Mike Pence for Indiana Communications Director Christy Denault said.“We believe the review and implementation of Family Impact Statements will help us to consider the impact of future state regulations on family formation.”The paper goes on to explain that “the success equation — graduate from high school, work full time or go to college, and wait until you’re married before having a child” — is the basis of much of this section of their policy.The paper points out that the approach is not meant to “diminish support” for single parents or as a “judgment” of divorced parents. Instead, that section of the platform focuses on decreasing the number of births to unwed mothers.“By educating young Hoosiers on the best way to avoid poverty, coupled with Mike’s proposals to ensure that our students are college- or career-ready upon graduation from high school, and that college is more affordable and accessible, Mike believes Indiana will be well on its way to being a model state in the Midwest and home to one of the fastest-growing economies in America,” Denault said.Bruce McCallister, a professor in the IU School of Social Work, said the success equation is ideal but not always achievable.“It’s a very hard thing to nail down,” McCallister said. “And who doesn’t want every child to grow up in a two-parent household?”But McCallister said Indiana’s unemployment rates, not family structures, were responsible for poverty.There are also notable differences in the candidates’ approaches to adoption and child services, which are inherently tied to questions of family. The Pence campaign’s platform would remove income restrictions for school scholarships for adoptive parents.It also proposes increasing coordination between state agencies and the Department of Child Services.Gregg’s platform proposes launching a public awareness campaign and investing in financial assistance programs for potential adoptive families. It proposes reforming DCS and creating an “Office of the Child Advocate.”McCallister said these issues are tough as well. He said the Department of Child Services has seen improvements in streamlining services but suggested both campaigns look into speeding up the adoption process and preventing children from entering the system in the first place, something he said doesn’t necessarily translate into a campaign success story.“I don’t think there’s any question that a well-planned program would increase the number of families who would adopt,” McCallister said.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>INDIANAPOLIS — At the Historic Union Station Grand Ballroom on Thursday evening, there was grandeur and historicism and more than one nod to “Hoosier Values.” At the Marion County Republican Party’s Reagan Dinner, supporters mingled with candidates and elected officials in the Crowne Plaza’s renovated event space. The event’s main speaker was gubernatorial candidate Rep. Mike Pence, R-6th District. Marilyn Halbrook greeted guests as they entered the room for an hour-long reception before the meal. She waved to Pence twice as he walked through the room. But she’s really taken, she said, by his wife Karen and running mate Sue Ellsperman. “Karen is delightful, but I was really impressed with Sue,” Halbrook said.Beyond Halbrook’s post and the entrance to the old train platforms, guests split up. The event was primarily a fundraiser, one of the year’s two biggest for the Republican Party. “In the spring we do a spring dinner, and in the fall we do a Reagan dinner,” Executive Director Bryce Carpenter said. They expected to fill the room, Carpenter said, though he added that they’re “limited” by space. They try to get a well-known speaker. Last spring, it was Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind. This year, it was Pence, a former Marion County precinct committeeman.“Everyone’s excited to see him whenever they get the chance, and we’re lucky to have him,” Carpentar said.Paul Sauley, known by Marion County Republicans as “Ponytail Paul,” stood near the open bar. Sauley is first vice president of the Warren Township GOP Club. He turned around to display a long silver length of hair, split in three places by a red, a white and then a blue elastic. “I work very hard to get Republican candidates elected,” Sauley said. Speakers, including State Superintendent for Public Instruction Tony Bennett, Secretary of State Connie Lawson, and Susan Brookes, candidate for the 5th Congressional District, addressed the group after dinner.When Pence took the stage, he began by recounting his own experience with the Marion County Republican Party. He walked into the county party headquarters in 1983, he said, and told them he was there to sign up to go to work. “It all started right here in the Republican Party in Marion County, and I want to thank you for that,” Pence said. Pence recognized local leaders as well, and said grassroots workers would deliver a Republican victory in Marion County and all around Indiana. “Elections, when they’re best fought, are not just about trying to put the right people in office,” Pence said. “It’s about advancing the right ideas. It’s about standing with clarity for the right vision for the state.” Pence went on to tell some of his own story, gave his reasons for running and expanded upon two aspects of his “Road map for Indiana” plan. He ended with a call to action for supporters. After 40 days and 40 nights of hard work, Pence said, “I believe, with your help and with god’s help, we will lay a foundation and a vision for leadership that will build a more prosperous Indiana that we have ever known in 40 days. Let’s go to work.”
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>As the nation’s third fundraising quarter nears its end Sunday, national attention — and money — is flowing into Indiana’s U.S. Senate race. Outside spending by political action committees, or PACs, is one way to gauge the race’s national importance. The Center for Responsive Politics reports that only five other campaign races have accumulated more outside spending than Indiana’s senate contest. The presidential race is among them.Senate retirements have left four open seats, enough to create a majority if they’re taken by Republicans.“It’s entirely a matter of being able to gain control of the Senate,” said Gerald Wright, professor of political science. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has contributed $485,123 against Republican State Treasurer Richard Mourdock and $25,065 for Rep. Joe Donnelly, D-2nd District. The same report shows the National Republican Senatorial Committee has so far contributed $713,459 against Donnelly and $16,757 for Mourdock.Federal regulations prohibit PACs from coordinating with a campaign. Instead, they throw money into promoting a candidate or speaking out against a candidate’s opponent. Mike Wolf, professor of political science at IU-Purdue University Fort Wayne, said outside spending can impact the tone of a campaign. “It allows the campaign to run their own positive message while others can take on some of the negatives of the opponent,” Wolf said.In Indiana, much of that campaigning has come in the form of television advertisements.The DSCC’s ad against Mourdock asks, “Do we really want a senator who would inflict his radical ideas on all of us?” Similarly, the NRSC’s ad against Donnelly addresses the Congressman’s support of former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and flashes the message “You can run for Senate, but you can’t run from your record.”Wright said the presence of national PACs in the money race, including the DSCC, indicates the race is still up in the air. “The Democrats aren’t flush with tons and tons of money,” Wright said. “If they didn’t think there was a real possibility, they wouldn’t be doing it.” Mourdock edged out Senior Sen. Richard Lugar for the Republican nomination in May. That, Wright said, created a close race. Bi-partisan poll data hasn’t been released since early August, when Rasmussen reported Mourdock a narrow two points ahead of Donnelly. Outside spending could change the race, Wright said. The Center for Responsive Politics shows the only PAC contributing more to the race than the NRSC is the conservative Club for Growth Action “SuperPAC,” which has weighed in with $2,258,114 in support of Mourdock or against Donnelly. “Outside groups come in because they want to kill the person,” Wright said. “They want to slaughter them. They will say anything. They don’t worry about their reputation. They’re anonymous to voters, they’re not accountable.” Robert Maguire, an outside spending researcher at the Center for Responsive Politics, said promise of anonymity has significantly changed the way candidates are perceived and displayed. While PACs are required by federal regulations to list donors, 501c organizations are not. A 501c can, in turn, donate money to a PAC. In the last week, the Crossroads GPS 501c organization made $965,949 in TV/Media Production or TV/Media Placement expenditures in the race.“The SuperPAC is reporting as its donor an organization that doesn’t have to report its donors,” Maguire said.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Indiana’s gubernatorial race pits Sen. Mike Pence, R-6th District, and his running mate Sue Ellspermann, a former state representative and strategic marketing professional, against Democrat John Gregg, a former Vincennes University President, and his running mate Sen. Vi Simpson, D-Ellettsville. With fewer than 50 days left before Indiana’s general election, the Pence and Gregg campaigns have stepped up fundraising efforts, advertising and policy announcements.Marjorie Hershey, professor of political science at IU, said finances are one possible indicator of a campaign’s success but pointed out that big bucks and big wins don’t always go hand in hand. “More money benefits a candidate because it can buy more ads, more get-out-the-vote materials and more paid staff. But if the campaign puts the money into ineffective advertising or staff, that doesn’t help,” Hershey said.FinancesThe Indiana Election Division in the office of the Secretary of State keeps track of campaign finance reports. Indiana’s third fundraising quarter ends Sept. 30. The last quarterly report was submitted July 16 and covered the period from April 1 to June 30. Between July 1 and 15, candidates are required to report any contributions of more than $1,000 on a supplemental form. From July 15 to September 30, they report contributions of more than $10,000. According to the Election Division’s 2012 Campaign Finance Manual, contributions include anything of value received by the campaign committee and can be made by individuals or organizations. GreggAt the end of the last reporting period, the Gregg campaign reported cash on hand and investments totaling $2,855,447.62. Since then, the campaign has reported $45,500 in supplemental or large contributions from 14 individuals or groups. PenceAt the end of the last reporting period, the Pence campaign reported cash on hand and investments totaling $5,545,535.09. Since then, the campaign has reported $784,526 in supplemental or large contributions from 57 individuals or groups. AdvertisingGreggThe Gregg campaign has released four TV advertisements, all set in his hometown of Sandborn, Ind. The most recent, called “Rainy Day,” features Gregg standing under an umbrella in Sandborn while his sons pour water on his head from above. “This is our cheap special effects way of showing how Mike Pence wants to drain the rainy day fund,” Gregg tells viewers. PencePence has released eight television ads, highlighting policy proposals in areas such as job creation and education. In the latest, called “Mike’s Roadmap for Indiana,” Pence discusses his Roadmap plan for job growth.“With the common sense and common values that make this state great, Indiana will be the state that works,” Pence tells viewers. PolicyGreggGregg has released policy proposals addressing jobs and the economy, taxes, infrastructure investment, women’s issues and “the next generation,” which includes proposals about early childhood education and reforming the Department of Child and Family Services. PencePence has released a six-point “Roadmap for Indiana” plan that focuses on increasing private sector employment, attracting new investment to Indiana, improving math and reading skills of elementary students, increasing graduation rates, improving the quality of the Hoosier workforce and improving the health, safety and well-being of Hoosier families, especially children.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Monroe County Council candidate Sophia Travis, 46, died Wednesday night in her Bloomington home.Travis’ death was unexpected, Indiana Public Media reported, and associated with a heart-related condition.“Sophia had suffered since early in the year from an undiagnosed heart-related condition and had just returned from the Cleveland Clinic where she, (her husband) Greg and young Finnigan had traveled for care,” Monroe County Democrats Chairman Rick Dietz said in an email.IU Alumni Association Director of Diversity Programs Clarence Boone said Travis was a volunteer leader with the Alumni Association and served as Asian Alumni Association president in addition to her off-campus work.“She was a delight to work with — a visionary — and always gave diligent thought to small details in programming and was able to engage alumni,” he said.Boone said he and Travis did volunteer broadcasting work, reading the news for community radio station WFHB Fire House Broadcasting.Travis served on the Monroe County Council from 2005 to 2009 and sought election once again as an at-large candidate this fall.“Sophia personified kindness — a dense gravitational kindness — and wielded a gentle strength that could move mountains. And move all those around her. And did many times over,” Dietz said.On Thursday morning, Senate Democrat Leader and Lt. Gubernatorial candidate Vi Simpson, D-Ellettsvile, also released a statement about Travis’ passing.“A public servant, she gave her time and leadership to improve the lives of the people of Monroe County,” Simpson said in the release. “As a friend, she enlightened our lives with her artistic spirit and thoughtful actions. Sophia will be missed.”Melanie Castillo-Cullather, director of the Asian Culture Center, remembers Travis’ artistic spirit. Castillo-Cullather first met Travis in 1999 when Travis came to the ACC for a Korean language class. Travis was already familiar with the language, which she learned from her mother, but sought formal instruction to polish her abilities.“Sophia’s visit to the center turned into a lasting relationship,” Castillo-Cullather said in an email.She also remembers Travis volunteering to organize concerts in the ACC as a way of attracting visitors. Travis played the accordion, Castillo-Cullather said. Despite fears the center’s limited space would cause students to not enjoy themselves, she said, they had a great time.“Sophia and her music showed us that there are no boundaries and, regardless of how small or big, we can make things happen at the center,” Castillo-Cullather said. “That experience was very telling of Sophia. She was always optimistic.”Castillo-Cullather said Travis’ optimism continued even after she shared the news of her health condition with the Asian Alumni Association.“We are heartbroken and very sad upon learning that she passed away last night,” she said. “She will be greatly missed.”
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The blinds were drawn at the office of Rep. Todd Young, R-9th District, on West Eighth Street Tuesday. Job postings and voter information were posted in the windows. In the small atrium outside, constituents talked with an office staffer while they waited. Inside, Young met with constituents in small groups of up to six people. He gave them 15 minutes at a time. Constituents chose the topics. The meetings were scheduled in advance by Young’s constituents, and all three hours of the day’s meeting schedule were full. Young said small group meetings differ from his other interactions in the district. “Frankly, you’re able to dig deeper into particular issues in this setting,” Young said. “Many people are more comfortable meeting one-on-one, as well.” Young has also heard from constituents in town hall meetings, ice cream parlors and coffee shops, Communications Director Trevor Foughty said. But the small group meetings gave each constituent a chance to determine the course of conversation. “We’ve found that these work best to really maximize people’s time,” Foughty said. Foughty added they’re particularly useful because constituents can determine the course of the conversation.And they did. Young said he fielded questions on a variety of issues from tax reform to foreign affairs to early childhood education. Bob Barrett traveled to Bloomington from Indianapolis on behalf of the Indiana War Memorial Foundation. He discussed funding the Foundation’s restoration project for original battle flags. “I just gave him a little DVD and a history of the flags,” Barrett said. “Not much time to do much.” Others used their time with Young to discuss specific legislation. Kathie Millican said she was a little nervous before meeting Young. ]“I just want him to know that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act does not include spiritual treatments,” Millican said. Millican is a Christian Scientist and said her church practices spiritual healing. She met Young at a Monroe County Religious Leaders Association meeting and said she liked him.Although he’s campaigning for re-election in the 9th District, yesterday’s stop was not a campaign stop but an official stop as congressman. The congressman made a similar stop at a library in New Albany, Ind., Tuesday. Foughty said he estimates Young has spent about 70 percent of last year in Indiana. Constituents who voiced concerns at a meeting will hear back from the campaign on an as-needed basis. Legislative staffers might call a constituent seeking the status of a bill. Constituent service issues — Foughty gave the example of a veteran who was looking for the military service medals he never received — could be addressed by a different staffer or at another meeting. “It just depends on what they’re here for,” Foughty said.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Bloomington Community Farmers’ Market was bustling Saturday morning, and organic vegetables weren’t the only topic of conversation.Ed Robertson manned the Monroe County Democrats booth behind the Bloomington Coffee Roaster’s busy bar.The smell of espresso was thick. Across the alley, a vendor at Redbarn Meats peddled 100 percent natural fresh beef.The political booth was decorated with pro-Democrat signs and featured information about local and state candidates. As Robertson organized plastic bags full of campaign buttons, he said the booth’s materials drew supporters.“This whole election is about rallying the troops, anyway,” Robertson said.At other stops along Information Alley on the west side of the market, Democrats and Republicans passed out their messages and a few signs and buttons to interested shoppers.David Hakken approached the booth, a basket full of corn dangling from his left hand.“I want a yard sign that says ‘not ready to say uncle yet,’” Hakken said.He and Robertson discussed the popular pro-GOP sign motto “Had enough? Vote Republican.”Just down the alley, Jim and Loretta Nelson tended a table with information about state and local Republican candidates. Their spread featured a brochure listing local candidates as well as stickers and yard signs for specific candidates.One supporter walked away with a “Had enough? Vote Republican” sign.“We’re just passing out information about local candidates and local issues, and we want to get out the vote,” Loretta Nelson said. “Hopefully, they’ll vote Republican after they become informed.”Loretta Nelson represented Monroe County Republican Women while Jim Nelson was active in both MCRW and Monroe County Republicans.Like Robertson, the Nelsons provided voter registration sheets at their table. Those interested took a sheet and returned it to the voter registration office.The Nelsons stressed the importance of voter turnout during the upcoming election.They said they were also concerned with bringing a balance back to local offices, such as the county council and commissioners.“The more people we can meet and talk to, the more excited we get the voters to get them out,” Jim Nelson said. “That’s what’s important.”Spots in Information Alley cost $10 per week in addition to a $10 registration fee.The Bloomington Parks and Recreation Department regulates farmers market activities. Groups aren’t allowed to walk through the market when they distribute materials but can stand in the space immediately in front of their booths.Local candidates were present at Information Alley, as well. A few booths down from the Nelsons, supporters of 9th District Congressional Candidate Shelli Yoder’s campaign had a similar informational spread, including voter registration and information sheets.“I don’t even care who registers and who they’re going to be voting for,” Yoder supporter Samuel Barbush-Riley said. “I just want people to actually vote.”Information Alley wasn’t just for those with a particular political choice.Judge Francie Hill’s re-election campaign station, a lawn table and umbrella decorated with red tinsel, featured brochures, pins, signs and even a photo book with shots of the judge on the campaign trail.Dolly Van Leeuwen handed out materials at Hill’s booth. She explained that while market rules stipulated she couldn’t approach people who walked by, those who approached the table seemed happy.“Everybody’s very nice,” Van Leeuwen said. “Really, really nice.”IU graduate student Chad Carwein passed out information at a booth for the Bloomington Environmental Commission. His spot was between representatives for Democracy for America and Hoosiers for a Common Sense Health Plan.Carwein said campaigning doesn’t necessarily change the atmosphere at the market.“There’s definitely more discussion at some of the politically-related booths,” Carwein said.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Young GOP supporters got a little messy at Right Wing Night. The IU College Republicans mixed politics and chicken wings as they welcomed new members to their group Friday night at BuffaLouie’s.Right Wing Night is an annual favorite for the group, Communications Director and junior Kristin Cobb said. It’s a chance for new and old members to interact with each other and alumni. About 40 people attended the event. Freshman Cameron Ikerd is a new member. He came for the free wings and to be involved, he said, because, “if you ain’t right, you’re left.”After Ikerd and his friends walked in, they signed into a computer spreadsheet and entered their names for a chance to win one of a selection of the red, green and blue campaign T-shirts that hung along the wall of a nearby booth.Social Chair and sophomore Alyssa Andrews has been a College Republicans member since her first year at IU. She said she didn’t join to support a specific candidate.“I’m in the College Republicans for the ideology behind it,” Andrews said. Andrews said some students attend both College Republicans and IU College Democrats meetings to find out which party fits best. Being a member has helped her network, she said, but it’s also helped her bring more to the table in conversations with adults.Local campaign coordinator Pat Hastings said knowledge is a valuable asset to local campaigns. Hastings, who attended Right Wing Night, is the Monroe County coordinator for State Treasurer Richard Mourdock’s U.S. Senate campaign. “The College Republicans bring a vitality and an energy that really adds to a campaign,” Hastings said. Along with fresh ideas, Hastings said the College Republicans tend to have more flexible schedules and an ideological drive that makes the group a valuable asset. And, he said, they’re smart. “They bring a lot of intelligence to the campaign, as well,” Hastings said. He added that when Mourdock has visited College Republican meetings around the state, Hastings has seen the candidate “liven up” and seem more energized. A group representing the Young Americans for Liberty also attended the event. Though members of the group said they don’t necessarily support Republican causes, they came to continue developing relationships with the group. They also planned to enjoy the free wings.Recent graduate Jeff Cummins returned to Bloomington specifically for Right Wing Night. Cummins is a former College Republicans vice chairman and is now campaigning for several Republican candidates in southern Indiana. “This is really a lot of fun,” Cummins said. “It’s a great way for the new folks to meet people.” Cummins said he’d have to return to the campaign trail the next day.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The unemployment rate for Americans aged 18 to 29 topped out at 12.7 percent in August, according to a new study by the conservative nonprofit group Generation Opportunity. That number is a full four points higher than the national average for August. The survey, conducted by polling group inc./Woman Trend, collected responses from 1,003 randomly selected online opt-in panel participants via email. Generation Opportunity specifically addresses the concerns of millennials with the goal of engaging them in the democratic process. Unemployment is just one part of that picture. Generation Opportunity President Paul Conway is a former U.S. Department of Labor and Office of Personnel Management chief of staff who served during President George W. Bush’s administration. National unemployment rates fell from 8.3 percent in July to 8.1 percent in August, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The BLS does not present statistics for the 18 to 29 year-old category. The national unemployment rate in August for people 18 and 19 years old was 22.7 percent. For residents between the ages of 20 and 24, the unemployment rate was 13.9 percent.Conway said recent dips in unemployment numbers reflect another trend. “The net effect of that number going down is more people dropped out of the labor market,” Conway said.Conway also cited the “Chasing the American Dream: Recent College Graduates and the Great Recession” report released by Rutgers University in May. The study sampled recent college graduates from the classes of 2006 through 2011. Of the 444 graduates surveyed, 51 percent were employed full time, and 20 percent were attending graduate school. Conway said young workers have been impacted by the double factors of older workers who are retiring later and businesses shying away from expansion. Conway pointed to the survey’s other findings as indicative of a downward trend. In the survey, 89 percent of respondents said the current state of the economy is impacting their day-to-day lives. “It’s just a very practical concern that young adults need to know, especially if they’re in college and racking up debt,” Conway said. He said millennials should focus on making themselves marketable. August unemployment statistics are not yet available for Indiana or Monroe County. Tim Tucker, president of Express Employment Professionals in Bloomington, has increased recruiting because what he called the “effective unemployment rate” has, in his opinion, decreased to nothing. He said he sees trends toward a mismatch in potential employees’ qualifications and employers’ needs. “In the Bloomington area specifically, we are seeing a talent gap a little bit,” Tucker said. Tucker said entry-level jobs are left unfilled because the hiring pool doesn’t include enough reliable or qualified workers. Also, Tucker said, many qualified workers are unaware of available jobs.Tucker said he feels job placement agencies like his haven’t done a good job of communicating to millennials regarding the number and level of jobs available. One factor Tucker mentioned was the link to university programs. Conway emphasized the importance of placement rates for young people choosing to pursue a degree. At the Kelley School of Business’s Undergraduate Career Services Office, Director Susie Clarke said graduate placement rates remain high.Clarke said data comes only from students who self-report their placement, but last year’s placement rate was 93 percent. Placement includes those who continued into graduate programs, which Clarke said is happening at the same rate as in previous years. The Generation Opportunity survey reported a different trend. Eighty-four percent had planned but now might delay or not make a major life change or move to forward on a major purchase due to the current state of the economy. Those major changes included “buying their own place,” starting a family or going back to school.