Used Coats
Posted by David Darlington on 5 February 2010 | 14 responses
Politico and 538.com are reporting that former Senator Dan Coats is planning a comeback against Senator Evan Bayh this year. Coats was Indiana’s Senator from 1989 to 1999, first having replaced Dan Quayle as senator when the latter became vice president. Coats has worked as ambassador to Germany under George W. Bush and as a lobbyist in the meantime. The lobbying job might get him in a bit of a pickle, as Coats has been registered to vote here in northern Virginia for most of the past decade, not Indiana. But we’ll see how forgiving Hoosiers are.
If he makes the ballot, Politico considers Coats the GOP frontrunner against John Hostettler and Marlin Stutzman.
14 Responses to “Used Coats”
For what it’s worth, Howey Politics first reported this, and I’m not sure he’s always getting credit for it from the other publications.
Coats would undoubtedly be the front runner, but I think Hostettler’s ultimate percentage will surprise a number of people.
Also, in order to get on the ballot, Coats has to collect 4500 signatures in two weeks. That’s not an impossible task, but he better get moving on it now!
I agree with Josh. Hostettler has been constantly underestimated throughout his political career. I think that is because he inspires an unusual amount of loyalty among his supporters. Coats probably would start the general campaign in a stronger position than Hostettler, but Hostetter is my personal favorite in this race.
(For ITA readers who aren’t familiar with him, Hostettler is similar to Ron Paul in his political stances, but without the “crazy old guy” persona.)
“(For ITA readers who aren’t familiar with him, Hostettler is similar to Ron Paul in his political stances, but without the “crazy old guy” persona.)”
Right, he has the “crazy younger-guy persona” instead. Eric, there is too much evidence to ignore, so don’t even try. And I’m not gonna debate on this. Just ask around. Or google.
Mary, your comment is far too vague for me to respond to. Are you saying that you do think Hostettler does come off with the kind of agitated and cranky vibe that Paul has (in which case I’d have to strongly disagree, but that’s a matter of opinion), or are you saying his political stances are crazy? And if so, which ones?
Take your pick. But I really don’t like the c-word. Maybe stupid is better? I don’t like that one either. So, here are some incidents to consider for oneself when deciding if this is someone qualified by temperament or belief to represent me in Congress. I’m not going to quote, just so I don’t accidentally misquote. Being named the “dimmest bulb in Washington” by the WaPo (I know, this might be a badge of honor for some). Telling HS students that the right to bear arms theoretically extends to nuclear arms in one’s own backyard. Humiliating breast cancer survivors in his congressional office by speculating that they caused their cancers by having had abortions, (that one qualifies as both crazy and stupid IMO). Having a staff member articulate his stand on health insurance as everyone should do as he would — ie if I or a family member get hit by a car and break a leg, I should pay the medical costs out of my own pocket — did he not have his own family signed up for the congressional insurance at the time he said that or consider that some injuries/illnesses cost far more than a broken leg? Saying the Bible was his authority for not protecting wetlands. Who did he say killed Jesus, and why would that even come up in a Congressperson’s speech? What did he say about Democrats and Christianity? When he was my congressperson, I saw him in person many times. At no time that I saw him was he allowed to speak in public without a handler right at his elbow, and he still said these things. (At least one of the handlers, whom I personally knew, was scary too.) Took a firearm onto an airplane (who forgets what they packed in this regard?) which he needed for protection from constituents. I really enjoyed voting against this guy. I just don’t want to have to do it again. It’s fun but the risk is too great.
Correction — firearm that he SAID he needed for protection while in his district.
Mary,
I don’t have the time to research all the claims in your comment, but I know that at least two of them are inaccurate. First, he did not take a firearm onto a plane. He was stopped by security because he forgot he’d left his pistol in his briefcase. Second, he did not claim that the right to bear arms extends to private ownership of nuclear weapons. The closest source I can find is an op-ed which claims that he “implied” such. (See the last result on this search page…unfortunately, the whole article is not available for free online.) To the contrary, an op-ed written by my friend Scott Tibbs in 2002 asserts that Hostettler was asked a question about nukes and the 2nd amendment, but the bell rang before Hostettler was able to answer, so his campaign opponent claimed the non-answer indicated he thought it might grant the right to own nuclear weapons.
In closing, I’ll just point out that none of the things you listed have anything to do with Hostettler’s voting record. I’m sure you disagree with his political stances, too, but smear tactics are so much easier.
Eric,
I said earlier that I was not going to debate and people should research, perhaps google to find out more. I made it clear I was not purporting to quote anyone.
So, he didn’t take the firearm onto the plane …because the security officer found it and stopped him. Big difference. He tried. I find it hysterical that anyone wrote an Op-ed piece about a high school social studies guest speaker. That would just garner more attention for an otherwise laughable incident. Someone must take themselves pretty seriously.
Clearly, my description of his persona was my opinion, but he has more than earned my opinion through the aggregation of many reported incidents and observations. There are too many to say they are not representative of how he thinks, speaks, acts. I don’t care who agrees or doesn’t agree. I don’t expect agreement (but plenty of people do agree with me) and I don’t try to change anyone’s opinions.
I responded when you said my other post was vague. I gave you examples. And, yes, I would say there is a huge correlation to how he votes: these issues would not have come up otherwise. The breast cancer survivors were in his office to ask him to vote for increased funding for research. The wetlands comment was made when there was legislation or at least advocacy to preserve wetlands. I am not taking time to go back and track the outcomes now. If he runs statewide =– you bet I will.
Smear…please. I’m not the one who introduced the c-word.
Wouldn’t be so sad to see useful idiot Bayh go. Obstructionist GOPers get their butts covered by Dems like him who threaten to filibuster with the other team on big issue after big issue.
Then again, if Reid goes, and Schumer ascends, all things might change, including Bayh’s tune.
This will be interesting to watch.
Not saying two wackos make a right, but outlandish statements seem to be the way of politics these days, as anyone who has listened to our President knows all too well. (Actually, I seldom actually listen, but I do read.)
Jerry,
Be careful what you wish for or settle for. You do not want Hostettler to represent Indiana, believe me. He was my congressman and he was an embarrassment, a frustration, and he did not understand the issues if the Bible wasn’t involved. I am not an un-religious person, but not his brand. Two years with repeats was bad enough, but six would be downright perilous.
Mary,
To post a lot of unsourced claims and then disclaim them by saying “I’m not going to debate this…google it yourself” is the laziest way I’ve ever seen to try to smear a candidate (even if it is a common practice on internet forums).
Hostettler did not “try” to take a firearm on a plane. He forgot it was in his briefcase which, as he admitted, was a “stupid mistake.” For you to attempt to spin that into an intentional attempt to smuggle a gun onto a plane is simply ridiculous.
I’m not sure what you mean about it being “hysterical” that someone would write an op-ed about a guest speaker at a high school. Hostettler’s campaign opponent was the one who made a big deal about it at first, and then (eight years later) the editorial board at the Bloomington (IN) Herald-Times wrote an op-ed mentioning the whole foofaraw, and Scott Tibbs wrote an op-ed in response. So, yeah, I do find it somewhat “hysterical” that Democrats and liberals have made so much over this non-incident over the years.
I am happy to discuss any policy arguments that people might have regarding Hostettler’s policy stances. But I am finished re-hashing years-old mudslinging.
Eric,
I know I am the most egregious person on the whole world wide web. In order to maintain civility, I will try to refrain from upsetting you in the future. One reason I suggested googling or researching for themselves was for the purpose of people making up their own minds and not me finding and filtering or presenting only sources that were convenient to my point of view. The high school incident and reactions to it were reported during the campaign in the Evansville Courier or Press or both or Courier-Press (they are consolidated now but I don’t remember if they were one or two newspapers at that time). ALL the issues I mentioned were reported in the local papers when they occurred so they will not be hard for someone to research and make up their own minds about them. My thoughts on the gun incident were not clear and I should have reread and revised them – oh I did, but maybe not clearly enough. My earlier post said how I formed my opinions of him. I don’t see why that should be upsetting to you, don’t you take in lots of information and process it before coming to an opinion? Actually, there was more than I mentioned, but I didn’t go into it all because some of it would not be able to be googled, or were my perceptions and observations that others could have seen differently. As far as dredging up or rehashing past incidents — both sides do it all the time. Why is it not useful for people to know someone’s background who is presenting themselves for consideration and asking for our votes and our trust?
Now, I’m also done with this topic because I have some other urgent things to be thinking about and doing.
Mary,
I don’t live in Indiana, so Hostettler would just amount to one more far-right nutjob in the US Senate to me. If that’s what the GOP base in Indiana wants, good luck to you, and I guess to the rest of us.