Sunday, October 19, 2008

On Bailouts and Negative Ads

Baron Hill won my vote, but now he’s losing it.

Hill is an incumbent Democrat vying to return to Congress in Indiana’s 9th District. He is running against Republican Mike Sodrel, who previously held the seat. It seems like these guys have been fighting it out since the Nixon administration.

It’s always been a tough call for me.

I once met Hill at a Democratic function. He’s a former Indiana basketball star. This Baron seemed down to earth. I liked him.

My brother-in-law once worked for Sodrel’s trucking company. Sodrel is a self-made man who brought a lot of jobs to southern Indiana. My brother-in-law liked him.

I’m so conflicted that I’ve voted for both guys at different times.

So it was again this year, until Hill voted against the bailout. At that point, I figured Hill was my guy.

But I’m starting to waver again, mostly because of the onslaught of negative ads that are being run against Sodrel. In contrast, Sodrel’s ads (at least at the time of this writing) define himself rather than defaming his opponent, which I find refreshing.

I’m sure Hill would point out that the negative ads are being run by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and not his campaign. That's a technicality. I think any guy courageous enough to stand up against the bailout should be able to pull the plug on negative campaigning.

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