Ballard wins Indy mayor race

[AwakeAtLast]

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/frontpage


Ballard wins Indy mayor race

By Mary Beth Schneider
[e-mail]

Mayor Bart Peterson called GOP challenger Greg Ballard to concede at 10:21 p.m.

"I feel good, real good." Ballard said after getting the mayor's call.

Ballard took the call from the two-term mayor in a hallway, then returned to share the news with his supporters

"He told me, 'It appears to be over,' " Ballard said. "He congratulated me. He was very gracious. He was very nice."


I am in utter shock. This was a case of a Dem getting the bad side of the property tax mess under the leadership of Bushbot Gov. Daniels. Peterson led by 14 pts. a month ago. Shocking results!

:(

[DefenseLawyer]

1. Turnout

A 14 point lead in the polls doesn't mean much when most of those polled don't vote. Perpetually angry republicans mobilized while Democrats stayed home.

[Felix Mala]

2. I don't think the D's took Ballard seriously, even after polls showed tightening

race.

[democraticinsurgent]

3. A lot of arrogance on the Peterson adminstration's part

Tolerating corrupt city councilors and city officials...raising city income taxes right before huge property tax bills hit homeowners...which, though primarily the result of state legislature actions were made worse by lots of small neighborhood taxing unit stealth increases...ridiculous moralistic actions like trying to outlaw violent video games, pit bulls, adult services and clubs, etc....

Ballard had no real support from the Republicans--those I know never believed in a million years he would win. The good news is that the Republican machine doesn't own him in any way. They never funded him or supported him.

I noticed this morning on my way to work that there were virtually no Peterson signs in the black neighborhoods. I think they stayed home.

Though I never really like it when Repubs win, I think this might be healthy for Indy. It shows that any candidate can win any election, no matter how much money the favorites have. Time for incumbents and favorites everywhere to take stock, and time for challengers to be emboldened.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

4. I'm heartsick

I was expecting that Peterson would win a 3rd term handily. It wasn't until the recent polling results showed a REAL tightening of the race that I started to worry but I continued to believe that most people would stick with him for at least another 4 years. Ballard had little backing from even his own party and ran a campaign based on stupid sloganeering ("had enough?") and (as far as I was aware) presented no major plans to address any of our city's problems other than cutting taxes, which is about as much of a "plan" as Bush's "plan" to invade Iraq turned out to be. *sigh* Now I hear that one of Ballard's first acts as mayor is to regain control of IMPD? What is THAT about?
:wtf:

[democraticinsurgent]

5. see my post above (#3)

Bart lost touch. I don't know if it was the Julia Carson machine that helped to isolate him, or his horde of underlings. He had the city in the palm of his hand four years ago and forgot about the people that got him elected.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

6. I wasn't happy with everything he's done either (i.e. Colts stadium boondoggle)

However, with this being Indiana(polis), I have come to expect there to be little practical difference between Democrats and Republicans and things probably wouldn't have been much different had a Republican been in power for the past 4-8 years. My expectation is that Ballard will find managing the city to be a lot more complex then he seems to think it will be and he will definitely be in need of more of a "plan" for addressing things like our inner city crime problem than just cutting taxes. Cutting taxes ALWAYS makes people happy (why wouldn't it?) but it certainly doesn't have the power to DO anything other than make people's paychecks a bit bigger which ultimately doesn't mean much if it also deprives government of revenue to fund vital community services (i.e. Police). My understanding is that Ballard promised to "fire himself" if he doesn't perform up to expectations, so I think we all need to make sure to hold him to that if he doesn't deliver anything better.

[democraticinsurgent]

7. Agreed, Butlerd

I thought Bart would win handily too. Hell everybody did.

Ballard is a stranger in a strange land. I don't think he's a bad guy, but he has no experience and will definitely be vulnerable to the Republican machine, even though he doesn't "owe them". They'll try to program him and we will all have to watch out.

[IndianaGreen]

8. And he won't be able to deliver on property tax relief

because the mayor doesn't control that, but people that voted for him will expect him to produce results. I expect voter anger to remain high.

[democraticinsurgent]

9. yes

which hopefully will translate to a revolt against mymanmitch next year.