Indiana has the pleasure of actually mattering in this Election year. Earlier in the month, Barack Obama visited Plainfield High School. Hillary Clinton visited Ben Davis High School this past Saturday. WXNT producer Chris Spangle covered both and here are his impressions:

Both gyms are of equal size. Both Schools opened space for overflow. Senator Obama filled the entire gym and the auxillary gym used for overflow two hours before the event. Senator Clinton did not have anyone in the auditorium used for overflow. She did not fill the entire main gym. There were at least 50 seats empty out. I’d estimate that 3,000 showed up for Obama, and 2,000 for Clinton.

Both candidates brought a proportionate amount of Indianapolis’s ethnic make-up. There were members of all races, colors, creeds, and religions at these events. Economically, Obama brought more middle-class and upper-class listeners. Clinton had more working-class and union members.

Crowd Reaction: Both crowds were very enthusiastic for their candidate. Surprisingly, Hillary’s crowd cheered more intensely. Could be the building, but they were louder and more fervent. The crowd leaving Obama’s event was more positive on the Senator, and more upbeat. I heard a mixed reaction from the crowd exiting Clinton’s event. Some were inspired, some were calling B.S.

Message: Obama was more a message of hope and unity. It was meant to inspire. Hillary’s was more intellectual. The speech was mostly that the G.O.P. has left the country a disaster, and asking the crowd to remember how wonderful it was under her husband. The job will be hard, but she is the only one to fix it. Obama was more upbeat, saying that while we have problems, they aren’t anything Americans can’t overcome. I won’t say Clinton wasn’t positive, but I did have a looming sense of doom if I didn’t take her advice and elect her.

Campaign Staff: The Obama event was very structured. Press had to register online the day before. Clinton had open press. Obama had three press agents there greeting the press, helping them set up. They also had student ambassadors to keep the press in their spot, and to assist with questions about the school. The two or three hours that I was there, I didn’t meet one member of the Clinton team. No one introduced themselves or asked if I needed assistance. Now, in fairness, the Clinton Camp is doing a lot of stops in a short amount of time, which needs a lot of logistical support and planning. That could have been why there seemed to be a lack of staff wandering around.

P.S.  Superdelegate Andre Carson spent a few moments with Barack Obama when he visited earlier this month. He also attended Obama’s speech. Congressman Carson was not present at Senator Clinton’s speech.

Everytime I turn on the tv, I see prostitutes. No, not the cast of Presidential Candidates, but ladies of the night on Mike and Juliet, 20/20, CNN, (especially) Fox News, MTV (definitely), VH1… Etc….Everyone is disecting this Spitzer story by delving into the secret life of a prostitute. Obviously for ratings.

Man is always curious about the worst among us. Not that all prostitutes are bad, but who really wants their daughter (or son) doing that? Who really wants their son or brother (or daughter) going to prostitutes? It’s a dark life, and we are curious about what’s underneath the rock. And it isn’t a bad thing to understand what goes on under the rock. Otherwise, how can we as a society ever expect to help?

But every single prostitute on every single one of these shows brags about the amount of money she makes. If you’re a 16 or 17 year old girl from a poor family, and you look at the lifestyle that “Kristen” led, wouldn’t you say to yourself, ‘Why Not? ‘Why work hard? Why get an education? Why Not?

Media Outlets need to be careful when reporting on this story. They must limit the glitz, glamour, and easy money.

In media and life, we sometimes say to ourselves, “If I can save or help just ONE person, it will be worth it.”

But is it also neccessary to ask, “If I do this, and it harms just ONE person, is it worth it?”

Can’t Grasp Credit Crisis? Join the Club

This may not be comforting, but your confusion is shared by many people in the middle of this financial crisis.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/19/business/19leonhardt.html?ex=1363665600&en=35f7524e6da2b2eb&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

My friend Whitney Allen is working for MTV through November covering Indiana Politics. Check out her site here: http://think.mtv.com/whallen/

 She’s asked me to sit in on a political talk show thingy… Check it out here:

http://www.chris-spangle.com/2008/03/19/chris-on-mtv-sort-of/

Forget the politics, although it seems as though the General Assembly can’t. Government is by the people, and for the people. So where did Indiana and the U.S. go wrong? This is the real reason for reform:

Hi Abdul,

My story is just one example of why you can’t just take the purchase price and figure a property tax. My house was built in 1870- an historic Irvington home. The purchase price left enough money to start working on it, too, to try to return it to its former glory. Then came the court decision, and then the reassessment. Now the taxes are $420.00/ month. Now there’s not enough money left over for improvements- do you know how big a second mortgage I could have gotten for $420.00/month? So now I can’t fix it up, and I can’t sell it- who would pay what I did for a fixer-upper under the new tax structure? Of course, if enough of my neighbors get repossessed or take the bath selling when they’re upside down, the prices will drop and the taxes with it… but then the neighborhood will be distressed and the loan would cost more. Yes, in ten years or so, the fluctuations will even out, and one could use a sales-based tax system- too late for me.

Thanks,

Joel

 ————————————————————————————————————–

This one goes out to the House Democrats!

I am taking some heat because I defended Beth White this morning. I remember hanging around the Election warehouse during the counting of the Scott Keller ballots (who won by 3 in a recount in 2003), and watching Doris Anne Sadler cry because of the shady dealings of Ed Treacy and his crowd. We can debate all that some other time, let’s focus on this election day. Most polling places opened on time, and fairly smoothly. There were about half a dozen polling places that did not open on time, but were operational after an hour. I would say that is a pretty successful election. Why? Let me share a note I recieved this morning:
Chris:
It’s chivalrous  of you to defend Beth White in stating that she can’t be responsible for many of the snafus of this morning-such as the individual poll workers not showing up. I beg to differ.  As Abdul commented, she is responsible.  It is her job to make sure that those working for her-election office workers, party and township officials, down to precinct committeemen and poll workesr, all understand their duties and make sure that they and those under them, are ready to fulfill them.
Why were ballots missing when other supplies were available?  That should have been noted and reported last night when inspectors prepared their voting locations, and taken care of by this a.m.  Poll workers didn’t show up?  Each committeeman, having been prodded by their ward chair, who was prodded by their township chair, etc., etc. should have been making phone calls the night before, had contingency plans for last minute problems,etc.
Buildings weren’t open?  Calls are made not once, but twice, to make sure that keys for buildings are available or emergency phone numbers for building supervisors are known.
The magnitude and type of the voting problems under Beth White’s term are avoidable and are being repeated. Yes, we all make mistakes and some are out of our control.  But this should be the absolute last time that any excuses or defense can be made of Beth White and her organizational abilities.
Christine

——
I agree that perfection should always be the goal, but this is an imperfect science. Beth White once promised perfection as the clerk, and has not delivered. The GOP candidate for her job in the next cycle will promise a perfect election, and if elected, will not achieve it. I am not saying that these mistakes are ok or right, I am just trying to be realistic. I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to organize a few hundred volunteers, but it’s like herding cats.  Anything is better then last May.
Chris