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August 16, 2008

Public eye - Sunday, Aug. 17, 2008

By KEN de la BASTIDE and SCOTT SMITH The Kokomo Tribune Sat Aug 16, 2008, 04:59 PM EDT

Signs galore

With the presidential election less than three months away, the Indiana Republican Party is in the process of distributing John McCain yard signs around the state.

Of the first 2,500 signs that have been received 1,750 were delivered to the 2nd Congressional District committee on Monday which includes Cass, Carroll and parts of Howard County.

Jean Ann Harcourt, who is working with the state GOP organization, said the 2nd District raised the money to purchase the signs and other districts were lagging behind.

Harcourt said Indiana is not a swing state and should remain in the Republican Party column on Election Day.

McCain’s running mate?

During a stop Monday in Galveston, Murray Clark, chairman of the Indiana State Republican Party, said he didn’t know who McCain would select as a vice presidential candidate in the fall campaign.

Clark mentioned that former Ohio Congressman Rob Portman, who is currently director of the federal Office of Management and Budget and a former U.S. Trade Representative, was in Indianapolis to discuss economic issues.

After attending the meeting, Clark said Portman went to the Indiana State Fair. Clark said he didn’t know if that meant Portman was on McCain’s short list. But he did acknowledge that Ohio would be a key state in the race for the presidency.

Clark indicated that he didn’t believe Democrat Evan Bayh would be selected by Barack Obama. He did say that if Bayh was the vice presidential candidate, it could have an impact on the gubernatorial race, since the next governor would name Bayh’s replacement in the Senate if he was elected vice president.

Speaking of Craig Dunn

Clinton County Auditor Jacque (pronounced “Jackie”) Clements was in Kokomo Thursday, stumping for the House District 38 seat. The Republican nominee will face Democrat Bob Snow, a Kokomo businessman, in November.

Several prominent local Republican women were at the event, and State Treasurer Tim Berry was also on-hand to praise Clements as someone who fully understands the property tax reform debate.

But the obvious person missing was Craig Dunn. The Howard County GOP vice chair, Virginia Marner, said Dunn was occupied with business, and said he “was going to try to make it.”

While Dunn was absent, there was a box containing copies of the most recent edition of the official Howard County GOP newsletter. In it, Dunn lambasted Clinton County GOP chair Beverly Bush for what Dunn called an “unvarnished strong-arm tactic.”

Dunn is apparently still bitter about the fact Bush demanded loyalty from her precinct committeemen, in the same fashion Dunn demanded loyalty from his in the Senate District 21 caucus, and the 2007 fight with Matt McKillip over leadership of the Howard County GOP.

Bush’s maneuver won the nomination for Clements, and Dunn doesn’t appear likely to give sincere support to Clements in the election.

“Heath Vannatter is our State Representative and I look forward to seeing him on the 2010 Republican Primary Ballot,” Dunn wrote.

Dunn turns up the rhetoric

Howard County Republican Party chairman Craig Dunn said that incumbent 2nd District Congressman Joe Donnelly and Republican challenger Luke Puckett should have a one-on-one debate, and energy should be the sole topic.

Dunn said Donnelly’s unwillingness to discuss the energy crisis and price of gasoline with Puckett “borders on cowardice.”

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