Long Thompson for governor

The race for the governor’s mansion has been, perhaps, the most difficult to decide. Unlike so many races in Indiana, voters have been presented with two competent candidates, both capable of executing the executive’s tasks. Moreover, it’s not clear either candidate would do much more than that.

Mitch Daniels has not done a despicable job as governor. Most impressively, he has abolished the good-ol’ boy style of management that marked eight years of the Frank O’Bannon and Joseph Kernan administrations. In office, Daniels has professionally transformed more than $600 million of deficit into a substantial surplus.

But neither Jill Long Thompson nor Daniels is running on a platform of serious change or upheaval. Rather, each takes a relatively moderate approach likely to appeal to traditional voters. In this hard time and in stagnant Indiana, we would like to hear braver, more ambitious rhetoric from both.

While the candidates themselves stand out for their scholastic excellence and professional preparedness – Daniels graduated from Princeton and Georgetown and was an Eli Lilly executive while Long Thompson holds a Ph.D. from IU and served as undersecretary of agriculture in the Clinton administration – their lieutenant governor choices leave much to be desired.

Becky Skillman, Daniel’s running mate, is Indiana’s own version of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. Skillman has no formal college education and was a small-town bureaucrat and state senator before Daniels noticed her, likely for her local appeal to conservative southern Indiana.

Dennie Ray Oxley II, Long Thompson’s running mate, is a small-town teacher and state legislator.  He, too, seems to have been chosen for his appeal to the conservative southern portion of the state, even when that puts him at odds with Long Thompson over issues such as abortion and civil unions for same-sex couples.

We feel uncomfortable at the prospect of either running mate becoming governor.
The economy is lackluster, no place more so than in Indiana, where workers make 11.6 percent less than the national average. Compounding this problem, Indiana suffers from severe brain drain. Each year, one-third of its university graduates leave the state for good.

Daniels has succeeded in attracting a number of jobs to Indiana.

But Long Thompson’s proposal to target job growth through green technologies and provide additional incentives to employers who create jobs in the state’s most economically distressed communities is a far more holistic and sustainable approach.

By ranking counties into three developmental tiers, Long Thompson’s plan will restructure Indiana government to ensure all Hoosiers are given a chance to participate in the 21st Century Scholars Program.

Creating a surplus and attracting new employment opportunities have unquestionably made Indiana, as a whole, a better place. But to pursue this growth, the Daniels administration has grossly overlooked the betterment of individual Hoosiers.

To give everyone access to a better future, Long Thompson proposes to bring broadband to every community, including under-served urban areas, within the next few years.

Most egregiously, Daniels privatized state welfare. Now, those most likely to be unable to access phones or Internet – the elderly, the indigent, the homeless, etc. – must call or go online to claim the support they need to make ends meet. Long Thompson has spoken out against this privatization for what it is – corporate exploitation of the most vulnerable.

Daniels hasn’t governed atrociously, and Long Thompson offers much of the same, fundamentally sound approach to governing.

However, her greater respect for all Hoosiers, not just corporations, makes her the best choice.