Republicans have finally found a candidate to challenge frosh Democrat Joe Donnelly in Indiana’s 2nd District: former Army captain Chris Minor, who is currently a Blackwater contractor working in Iraq, is taking the plunge in the R+4.3 district.
I won’t comment in detail on Blackwater, whose reputation has taken a beating since several of its contractors engaged in a trigger-happy shooting exchange with Iraqi soldiers and civilians several weeks ago.
I will, however, seriously question a guy who says this:
Minor said he would like to replace Pelosi with Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., “the pride and joy of the conservative movement.”Pence “lives and breathes Christian values we all respect,” said Minor, a retired U.S. Army captain who continues serving in Iraq as an intelligence analyst for the State Department.
Mike Pence? The same guy who described the Shorja market in Baghdad as “like a normal outdoor market in Indiana in the summertime”? I guess in Indiana, a normal market in the summertime is guarded by 100 soldiers in humvees, sharpshooters on the rooftops, attack helicopters circling overhead, and all incoming traffic blocked by military personnel.
Seriously: Mike Pence? I shudder to imagine a House under his speakership. It’s no wonder that someone who would like to follow in his footsteps would give a reality-challenged soundbite like this one:
“Our country’s at war right now,” said Minor, explaining why he is running. “Unfortunately, the majority of America has forgotten about why we’re there, who attacked us, how we were attacked, the nature of the attack.”Minor said it is time for Americans to reawaken to the fact that “we are threatened” and that there is a scourge “that wants nothing more than to destroy us.”
Um, do you really want to have a conversation about the facts, Chris? I’d love to hear his wild-eyed theory on how Saddam aided and abetted the 9/11 hijackers. While we’re at it, someone should ask him if he agrees that Iraq resembles Indiana in the summertime.
(H/T: Blue Indiana)
Race Tracker: IN-02
… other than what you’ve posted here, this does not seem to be the type of Republican or conservative to win over the Second District. Especially by Indiana standards, this is a very Catholic district (contains Notre Dame), and for many “Christian values we all respect” translates into “Bible banging fundamentalist nut job.” It is a socially rather conservative district, but it’s not like IN08 or IN09. And the war is just as unpopular there as it is in the rest of “Middle America.” If this is the best the GOP can come up with against Joe Donnelley, I’m not too worried about it.
of being in this district and being an incumbent and being a democrat in the middle of a blue tidal wave.
I know nothing substantial about Minor yet, but alone his link to Blackwater will not help him.
There is a coterie of hard-core Republican rank and file waiting for Pence to make a move for leadership. He’s one of the darlings of the crowd that admires Congressman Flake – the small-government, no-taxes type, and he’s developed reputation among these people that he’s extremely intelligent (which may be true; I know nothing to the contrary).
That’s one of the reasons why our pal Barry Welsh, IN-06 is someone who deserves the support of all Democrats from every faction of the party. In addition to being a very good guy with good positions on the important issues, if Barry Welsh could knock that cold, calculating sumbitch out of the House, an extremely dangerous ideologue would lose his power base.
Barry’s campaign website:
http://www.barrywels…
If you live in or near Barry’s district in central Indiana, think about volunteering. Barry’s on the Blue America slate, if you can help him out with a few bucks, or he’s on Carl Manaster’s ActBlue slate, here:
http://www.actblue.c…