Veep-Stakes

CBS is of the same mindset as I regarding Obama's VP selection:

Thomas Cook over at Blue Indiana offered up a contest where readers were to compete in selecting Obama's Veep choice as well as the date and time. The deadline for entries was at midnight yesterday - My choice was Evan Bayh at 1 PM on Friday. I still suspect that Joe Biden (Whom I initially supported in the primaries) may well be the pick, but I selfishly hope for Bayh for the coattails he would bring to the Hoosier state. Honestly, I'd be thrilled with either of the two, but I think Evan on the ticket would nearly ensure a statewide clean sweep for Democrats. We shall see. . .

Savage-Gate?

Cam Savage, $70,000 and a lot of questions for the Governor:



Via: Thomas at Blue Indiana & Jen Wagner at TDW

Cam Savage is Mitch Daniels' communications director. Wait, let me be clear: Cam Savage is the communications director for Mitch Daniels' re-election campaign. It's right here on his My Man Mitch website if you don't want to take my word for it.

It's important to make that distinction, of course, because we all know that politicians are required to keep their taxpayer funded public service separate from the political activities of their election team. To mix the two is at best a major lapse of ethics, and in some cases it can be illegal.

Now, what if I told you that the same Cam Savage who has been the My Man Mitch communications director since May was paid $70,000 of your tax dollars during the same period of time in order to direct communications at the Governor's state office? Wouldn't you have a few questions about just what the hell was going on?

Luckily for you, and unluckily for Governor Daniels, Taking Down Words has unearthed a personal services contract for Cam Savage that saw him rake in $70,000 between May 1 and October 31. You can check out the contract for yourself here.

Click HERE to read more about this breaking scandal.

Blue Indiana premieres

Blue Indiana, a new statewide blog presented by Thomas Cook, opened it's doors to the public earlier today:

"Blue Indiana is designed to be a clearinghouse for the best work of the Indiana blogosphere, with a specific interest in political issues and electing left-leaning candidates who believe in the core-principles of true, responsible representation. It will be a community blog, which is a very important distinction, because that means its success or failure will be completely dependent on you ."

After following some other state group blogs such as www.raisingkaine.com and www.myleftnutmeg.com) for some time, and, having been pleasantly surprised at the great content they put out, Thomas has decided to try the same:

"Bloggers all across this state are already writing excellent stories and providing desperately needed analysis on the politics of the Hoosier state. What this website seeks to do is provide a common place for all of this information to be aggregated and digested. This is a grassroots organization in its most true form, and as a people-powered project, Blue Indiana will hopefully become an invaluable resource for people both inside and outside the borders of our great state. For a look at how this strategy is being undertaken on a mass scale, be sure to check out the BlogPAC website for some other examples of state-level community blogs."

I wish Thomas the best in his new endeavour, and have offered whatever support that the current demands on my time allow. Hope to see you there!