We at CCO want to offer our analysis of the resounding victory won on Tuesday by our incumbent Mayor Lloyd Winnecke.  We think it is worthwhile to try to learn from every campaign we witness, and we congratulate both political camps on their efforts.  By comparing those efforts, we hope future candidates can learn to run more successful campaigns that will draw out larger percentages of eligible voters.

The contrasts between the parties’ efforts on behalf of their candidates could not be more stunning.  Like most incumbents, Mr. Winnecke began running for re-election on the first day of his first term as Mayor.  Mrs. Riecken’s campaign began rather late in the election season which placed her at the disadvantage in fundraising.  She had a few months to raise a treasury that could compete with the one the Mayor had amassed over four years.  The Democratic Party had little to offer in the way of financial support to her, and the Republican Party had full coffers for their candidates to draw on.  The power of the incumbency also provided more free media opportunities to Mayor Winnecke, who made full use of that advantage by showing up at ribbon cuttings, beauty contests, and groundbreakings.  He even managed multiple groundbreakings for the proposed hotel and IU Medical school across from the Ford Center.  Local news media jumped at  every chance to label Gail’s questions concerning the City’s finances and choices of how our money is spent as “negative,” when we see them as sensible.  Mrs. Riecken had virtually no opportunity to launch a media campaign because of the lack of funding and the fact that the Winnecke campaign had media buys “locked up.”

The Mayor also made brilliant use of “surrogates.”  Kelley Coures showed the brighter side of his sometimes abrasive personality when he managed to find federal money at every turn to use to court non-profits and favored contractors.  By passing out Façade Grants, making generous gifts of buildings to be renovated by certain builders, and other “pork barrel” projects, he did a grand job of building good will for his boss.  The same is true of Police Chief Billy Bolin.  In spite of the legitimate questions about Bolin’s competence to lead EPD, he was deployed to various civic fundraising events where he managed to convince many voters that he is such a good guy he deserves to keep his job.

The biggest difference in the two parties’ efforts was the well-organized unity and intense focus on their goal exhibited by the Republicans, versus the fragmentation of the Democrats.  There is no evidence that the Dems have taken a first step toward reunification under the “leadership” of Chairman Rob Faulkner.  It is fair to say that a number of Democrats did find unity and leadership under the Republican Chairman, Wayne Parke.  We’re not just talking about the obvious Winnecke Democrats, Council candidates Missy Mosby, Jonathon Weaver,  James Brinkmeyer, and City Clerk Laura Brown Windhorst.  It appears that Democratic County officeholders are also getting on the Republican boat.  We noticed Sheriff Dave Wedding and Assistant Coroner Steve Lockyear joined the celebration at Tropicana. We also watched with interest that former Mayor Jonathan Winezapfel sit on the side line and never offer any help to Mrs. Rieckens campaign.

The timing of the news conference to announce the money that DMD awarded the “politically neutral” Reverend Adrian Brooks in order to reopen the for-profit grocery on Lincoln Avenue that had recently closed due to a lack of businesses.  How odd that one of the most powerful people in the Central City appeared on TV with the Mayor and Coures days before the election in which a Republican supported Independent made an impressive run against Connie Robinson.

The last minute budget cuts to nonprofit organizations sponsored by City Council Finance Chair, Conor O’Daniel at the eleventh hour seems suspect, too.  We understand that O’Daniel, who lost in his Council seat in the Primary, is interested in seeking a nonpartisan judgeship. The last minute axing of popular community projects and the Mayor’s politicization of the cuts hurt Democrats in general and Mrs. Riecken in particular, and she was powerless to change that.

The splintered Democrats seemed to cause their candidate difficulty even when they were apparently trying to support her.  If outgoing City Councilman John Friend had translated his budgetary proposals into language that was understandable to everyday people, he could have been an asset to the Riecken campaign.  Instead, he used “CPA jargon” that muddied the issue in the minds of some voters.  Outgoing Councilman Al Lindsey’s lasting feuds with the Fire Chief and some of his fellow Democrats cost him credibility, and likely made some voters stay away from the polls located in the 6th Ward.

We give all due credit to Wayne Parke and Lloyd Winnecke for elevating the local City Election to the level of a typical gubernatorial race.  The campaign went on twenty-four hours a day, and had a professional air about it.  The huge war chest held by a united Republican party will make the Democrat party impotent for years to come unless they can free themselves of Faulkner, unify, and regain appeal to their usual allies.  At this point, we see little hope for Vanderburgh County Democratic candidates for years to come.  The party is broke financially and broken spiritually.

We are sorry to hear that Gail Riecken is retiring from politics at the end of her term in the State Legislature, but we surely understand it.  We do hope that she will remain active in the community in the same way she has been all of her life.  Her work to ease the lives of the poor, defend children who are at risk, and speak for the voiceless is a precious gift she has given this city during her entire life, and it will be missed if she opts to step completely out of the public eye.  Whatever her decision is, Gail Riecken’s is a life truly well lived, and our hats are off to her.

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The U.S. News – Best Lawyers® “Best Law Firms” rankings are based on a rigorous evaluation process that includes the collection of client and lawyer evaluations, peer reviews from leading attorneys in their field and review of additional information provided by law firms as part of the formal submission process. To be eligible for a ranking, a law firm must have at least one lawyer listed in the 21^stEdition of The Best Lawyers in America^© for that particular location and specialty.

Client Focus, Industry Insight, National Reputation. Jackson Kelly PLLC is a national law firm with more than 175 attorneys located in twelve offices throughout Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana, Colorado and the District of Columbia. With a focus on companies working in and around the energy industry, the Firm works with its clients to help resolve their operating challenges by teaming to develop and implement strategies that minimize risks, quickly and effectively. Focusing on clients’ industry-specific needs, the Firm serves a wide variety of corporate and public clients and enjoys a national reputation in business, labor and employment, litigation, government contracts, tax, safety and health, permitting, natural resource and environmental law. The Firm’s clients and peers recognize its commitment to providing superior client service as Jackson Kelly has repeatedly been selected as a Go-To Law Firm for the Top 500 Companies in the U.S. and is regularly named to BTI’s Client Service A-Team.

By Susan Stamper Brown

Apparently, integrity and critical thinking are not qualities found in today’s mainstream media.

We know this after watching the CNBC-hosted Republican debate billed as one which would focus on “the key issues that matter to all voters—job growth, taxes, technology, retirement and the health of our national economy.”

Obviously, that did not happen.

Instead, Americans watched moderators with the seeming intellectual prowess of June bugs disrespectfully hurl boneheaded attacks and stupid questions at GOP presidential hopefuls, offering millions of viewers a front row seat to observe proof positive they are nothing more than extensions of, and left-wing propagandists for, the Democratic Party.

For this gift we should be thankful.

Americans needed to see this irrefutable idiocy for themselves. CNBC promised candidates an opening question on financial or economic issues but instead were lowballed with: “Tell us your biggest weakness in 30 seconds.” Later, one moderator went so far as to ask a ridiculous question about fantasy football.

It was almost as if moderators didn’t want crucial matters discussed, circumventing any possibility of intelligent debate with off-the-wall questions and personal attacks. In fact, a Media Research Center analysis found that 65 percent of the “questions” posed by moderators John Harwood, Carl Quintanilla and Becky Quick “hit the candidates with negative spin, personal insults or ad hominem attacks.” Ad hominem attacks like asking if one of the candidates was running “a comic book version of a presidential campaign” or disparagingly asking the world-renowned neurosurgeon, Dr. Ben Carson, if he could do math.

At that point I was rather thankful a baseball bat was not in arm’s reach, or my living room would be minus one flat screen. I was not alone. Public outcry shows it backfired. Presidential debates are intended to field the tough questions so voters can gain a window into each candidate’s vision for how he or she would lead America.

Senator Ted Cruz was right when during the debate he defended fellow GOP contenders saying, “The men and women on this stage have more ideas, more experience, more common sense than every participant in the Democratic debate,” which reflected “a debate between the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks.” And I would add the “Bull-shi-viks” but I wasn’t onstage.

Truth is, the left-stream media have no interest in allowing Americans to think for themselves and form their own opinions. The world burns, rogue nations toy with nuclear weapons, the world’s economy teeters on the brink of collapse — and the left-stream media are preoccupied with “gotcha” questions. And protecting Hillary Clinton.

“Comes with the job,” said moderator John Harwood after The Blaze News asked him to respond to the overwhelming outcry from critics after the debate. Comes with the job? Apparently, asking Democrat Party contenders similar questions with the same condescending tone doesn’t come with the job. Nor does questioning Hillary about Benghazi or about Her Highness’s metastasizing email scandal presently under FBI investigation.

Senator Marco Rubio nailed it during the debate when he said the Democrats’ “ultimate SuperPAC” is the mainstream media. “Last week,” Rubio said, “Hillary Clinton went before a committee. She admitted she had sent emails to her family saying, ‘Hey, this attack at Benghazi was caused by al-Qaeda-like elements.’ She spent over a week telling families of those victims and the American people that it was because of a video. And yet the mainstream media is going around saying it was the greatest week in Hillary Clinton’s campaign. It was the week she got exposed as a liar…”

And the mainstream media will continue to remain silent to ensure her coronation.

After the debate, CNN reported that some CNBC employees were heard saying “they were proud that the moderators had pointedly challenged the GOP candidates and potentially changed the course of the presidential race.” That’s all they cared about and that’s the reason why people trust the left-stream media about as much as they trust Hillary Clinton.