Let me start by saying that in pretty much any other state in our fair country, Brad Ellsworth would be an R instead of a D. He’s a fiscally conservative Blue Dog from southern Indiana, an area not known for its progressives. A former Sheriff, Ellsworth did work closely on healthcare reform and supports and pledges to uphold the changes made in the past year.
Dan Coats is pro-business and anti-choice and has a long history of being a rather colorful fellow with a tendency to put his foot in his mouth. Coats is running to fight Obama-Pelosi-Ellsworth healthcare and claims he’ll cut both spending and taxes. Coats’ stump speech favors completely repealing the recent healthcare bill and starting from scratch, but not until more jobs are created. He believes the healthcare plan will eliminate 100k+ Hoosier jobs per year due to business owners being unable to pay for insurance premiums. His plan for improving healthcare has some reasonable points, including being able to cross state lines to share resources with Cincinnati, Chicago and Louisville, three major cities which lie just outside of Indiana’s borders. He does not believe citizens should be required to carry health coverage or that businesses should be required to provide healthcare options for it’s workers. He does support tax cuts for businesses which provide vaguely (as in not at all) defined ‘wellness programs.’ Coats has no stated positions about education in his literature on on his web site. For my fellow olds, Coats was one of those shouting the loudest for Clinton to be impeached after the hose job incident, going so far as to say Clinton staged an attack on a US embassy to divert attention from his penis. (paraphrased)
Ellsworth is in favor of overhauling or repealing NCLB, and makes several salient points about his reasons, but education has not been a focus of the midterm election. One thing both candidates share is a stump speech that is entirely about Ellsworth. Ellsworth: Vote for me and I’ll keep fighting for healthcare, education and smart spending vs. Coats: Vote for me so you aren’t voting for Ellsworth. Not that Ellsworth is being a rainbow breathing unicorn of goodwill, either, as you can see in the following campaign ad:
He does kind of have a point. I like North Carolina, too, but I wouldn’t live there if I was running for office in Indiana.
Here’s an example of a Coats ad:
I wouldn’t brag about an Indianapolis Star endorsement, but that’s just me.
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Image Credit (candidates)
