I assume he's a Democrat, but you'd sure never know it by his campaign commercials. The first tranche was all about him be a gun lover and big military supporter, with a lot of Tea Party vibes (tax cuts). The last batch I've seen has him in the gym channeling Hegseth and all the testosterone bros. Nothing whatsoever about his party affiliation. Same on the front page of his website. Only mention of his party is the headline of a Politico article they have linked.
I guess it's come to this. A Democrat can't win in Indiana, so Democrats have to pretend they're not Democrats, or at least hide from the fact. I get it, but I don't like it. It strikes me as dishonest. He'll get my vote, as will most Democrats on my ballot, but I won't be enthusiastic about it.
Are you pissed off?
(His tagline in one of the ads.)
.
I assume he's a Democrat, but you'd sure never know it by his campaign commercials. The first tranche was all about him be a gun lover and big military supporter, with a lot of Tea Party vibes (tax cuts). The last batch I've seen has him in the gym channeling Hegseth and all the testosterone bros. Nothing whatsoever about his party affiliation. Same on the front page of his website. Only mention of his party is the headline of a Politico article they have linked.
I guess it's come to this. A Democrat can't win in Indiana, so Democrats have to pretend they're not Democrats, or at least hide from the fact. I get it, but I don't like it. It strikes me as dishonest. He'll get my vote, as will most Democrats on my ballot, but I won't be enthusiastic about it.
He seems like a normal dude in the commercials. I think your party needs more politicians like him, especially in any state that's not deep blue. Trust me your party already has the market cornered on freaks and geeks. You don't need more of them.
He seems like a normal dude in the commercials. I think your party needs more politicians like him, especially in any state that's not deep blue. Trust me your party already has the market cornered on freaks and geeks. You don't need more of them.
I don't disagree. Indiana has elected any number of competent sensible centrist Democrats over the years -- Donalley, Birch and Evan, Lee Hamilton, etc. -- but none of them have hidden from the fact that they're Democrats, or gone as far as he seems to have gone to make people think he's a closet Republican. That's what's distasteful to me. But again, I get it. He's doing what he thinks he needs to do to get elected. Too bad he has to go about it this way.
I assume he's a Democrat, but you'd sure never know it by his campaign commercials. The first tranche was all about him be a gun lover and big military supporter, with a lot of Tea Party vibes (tax cuts). The last batch I've seen has him in the gym channeling Hegseth and all the testosterone bros. Nothing whatsoever about his party affiliation. Same on the front page of his website. Only mention of his party is the headline of a Politico article they have linked.
I guess it's come to this. A Democrat can't win in Indiana, so Democrats have to pretend they're not Democrats, or at least hide from the fact. I get it, but I don't like it. It strikes me as dishonest. He'll get my vote, as will most Democrats on my ballot, but I won't be enthusiastic about it.
He comes off as a douche to me. But I'll vote for him, too.
He comes off as a douche to me. But I'll vote for him, too.
Agreed. Pretending to be a Republican does that. The ad with him in the gym is especially douchey to me.
@unclemark Haven't seen that one. I've only seen the "Are you pissed off?" ad. About a dozen times a day.
He'll get my vote, as will most Democrats on my ballot, but I won't be enthusiastic about it.
He comes off as a douche to me. But I'll vote for him, too.
And that's the point, he knows he's got the (D) vote on lock down. His hope is these ads will appeal to right lean independent voters and maybe even catch the stray disgruntled (R) protest voter. Further, this SoS race is different than the past due to former GOP 2 term Indy mayor Ballard running as an independent. The (R)'s have already been running attack ads against Ballard so you know they are worried, first and foremost that Ballard will split too much of their base and allow Bayh with that last name recognition swoop in and take this race. But IMHO I think this will backfire on the (R)'s.
If Bayh's people are smart they'll keep making these ads, sit back and let the (R)'s try and beat up a good man like Ballard. They'll bloody each other up and Bayh will benefit.
This will be an interesting race.
A good friend will bail you out of jail, but your best friend will be sitting next to you in the cell saying "that was f***ing awesome"
@unclemark
WTFis your problem? A marine sniper. A captain. Being physically fit. Thinking taxes are too high. These are signs of being a Republican? Not everything needs to be political. It’s okay to be. a Democrat and be all of that. Really, it’s okay. You don’t need to be a fat lady in a Subaru with a defund the police bumper sticker to be a Democrat.
He seems like a normal dude in the commercials. I think your party needs more politicians like him, especially in any state that's not deep blue. Trust me your party already has the market cornered on freaks and geeks. You don't need more of them.
I don't disagree. Indiana has elected any number of competent sensible centrist Democrats over the years -- Donalley, Birch and Evan, Lee Hamilton, etc. -- but none of them have hidden from the fact that they're Democrats, or gone as far as he seems to have gone to make people think he's a closet Republican. That's what's distasteful to me. But again, I get it. He's doing what he thinks he needs to do to get elected. Too bad he has to go about it this way.
Is he really trying to make people think he's a Republican, or has the mainstream Democratic Party shifted so far in the other direction that he appears to be one (e.g., Fetterman, Machin)?
@unclemark
WTFis your problem? A marine sniper. A captain. Being physically fit. Thinking taxes are too high. These are signs of being a Republican? Not everything needs to be political. It’s okay to be. a Democrat and be all of that. Really, it’s okay. You don’t need to be a fat lady in a Subaru with a defund the police bumper sticker to be a Democrat.
You're kind of making my point.