Public Eye - Sunday, May 4, 2008

By SCOTT SMITH and KEN de la BASTIDE

Puckett wants headlines back

With Tony Zirkle grabbing all the press in the 2nd District congressional Republican primary, his opponent, Luke Puckett, is trying to garner a few headlines of his own.

No, Puckett isn’t going to go speak before any controversial groups, a la Zirkle.

Amazingly, Zirkle was still getting press for his excursion to a Chicago Nazi rally two weeks after the event, with a speaking engagement scheduled on Wolf Blitzer’s CNN show “Situation Room” Friday.

Instead, Puckett said Thursday he was planning a charter flight to the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), where Puckett would like to drill for oil. He’s even inviting U.S. Rep. Joe Donnelly, the freshman Democrat who’ll be facing the Republican nominee in November.

“This is a genuine opportunity to change the mind of our current congressman and other vulnerable freshmen Dems on this issue,” Puckett said. “I want to take Donnelly out to the Alaskan tundra and I want him to show me and the press that will be in attendance exactly which areas he objects to us drilling in.”

Wait a second ... did we read “press in attendance”? Sounds like a job for Ken de la Bastide.

Goodnight hands stage to Clinton

After taking some grief for not showing up at Sen. Barack Obama’s April 25 town hall meeting in Kokomo, Kokomo Mayor Greg Goodnight was front and center at Sen. Hillary Clinton’s rally Wednesday.

Tan from his weeklong vacation, Goodnight gave a rousing introduction to a crowd of 3,000.

“I don’t think anyone in the room will disagree that we, as a country, desperately need new leadership,” Goodnight said. “The good news is Senator Clinton has a plan to jumpstart the economy, restore the middle class, and provide quality, affordable health care for all Americans.”

So did Goodnight’s speech constitute an endorsement? It sure seemed that way.

“It’s a Goodnight in Kokomo,” Clinton punned, “and I appreciate that.”

Goodnight, however, said Thursday he’s not endorsing either candidate.

Campaigning in the shadows

Normally during a presidential election year, the focus of voters and the news media is on the gubernatorial race in Indiana, this year is different.

With the Indiana primary playing an important role in which candidate will gain the Democratic Party nomination for president, the battle for the party’s gubernatorial nomination between Jill Long Thompson and Jim Schellinger has been a blip on the radar screen.

“It’s a concern,” Schellinger said during a campaign stop in Kokomo of the attention being given to the presidential candidates. “We can’t control it. The presidential contest is the big focus of the media.”

Although the media is concentrating on the presidential candidates, Schellinger said people in the state want to discuss state issues.

“This is the first time Indiana has been in play in a presidential primary in 40 years,” he said. “It is creating a passion, we should see a record turnout.”

Pain at the pump

Long Thompson has started a petition drive among Hoosiers to ask Gov. Mitch Daniels to suspend the state’s 7 percent sales tax on gasoline once the price exceeds $2.75 per gallon.

She said the move would save Indiana motorists about $100 million per year.

Based on the current price of gasoline in Howard County, which is approximately $3.72 per gallon the savings would be 6-cents per gallon.

The petition can be signed online at www.hoosiersforjill.com.

“We are one of the few states that even charges sales tax on fuel, and, in this time of economic uncertainty and high fuel prices, Hoosiers deserve a break,” she said.

Election night

Local Democrats will gather at their downtown headquarters to follow the election returns. With no local contested nominations, the interest will focus on the presidential and gubernatorial races.

Republicans will be at their headquarters for what is expected to be an early evening with only one local and two congressional contests.

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