Young represents the 9th District. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)
When does a website signal a politician’s aspirations? When it changes.
An aide for Rep. Todd Young, a savvy Republican from southern Indiana, emailed reporters on Wednesday morning to announce the campaign is transitioning from its old website, ToddYoungforCongress.com, to a new URL, ToddYoung.org. The campaign’s social-media accounts are transitioning to a similar name.
The aide stressed the campaign wanted a simpler address. Mission accomplished — except Republicans also talk up Young as a statewide candidate down the line. He could run for Senate if Sen. Dan Coats, R-Ind., retires in 2016 or could challenge newly elected Sen. Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., in 2018. He could also run for governor, although that seat will not be open until 2020 as long as Gov. Mike Pence, a Republican, seeks re-election and not national office.
All of those opportunities are a long time away for the two-term Republican. But also consider the following: Full story
Former state Rep. John Koster has been in damage control mode. (Douglas Graham/CQ Roll Call File Photo)
In this election, some candidates have made unguarded comments at off-the-record fundraisers, while others have drawn fire for impolitic comments about women and rape.
Former state Rep. John Koster (R) has managed to do both. Koster, who remains closely tied with Democrat Suzan DelBene in Washington State’s 1st district, has been in damage control mode since Wednesday, when a progressive group released a secretly recorded audiotape of him saying that “the rape thing” does not justify abortion.
In the audiotape, posted on YouTube by the progressive group Fuse Washington, Koster responds to an unseen questioner who asks him: “Is there any time that you would agree with abortion?”
Koster’s reply includes the comment: “On the rape thing, it’s like: How does putting more violence onto a woman’s body and taking the life of an innocent child that’s the consequence of this crime – how does that make it better?”
Is it finally time to count Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) out of the veepstakes?
The Indianapolis Star confirmed the popular outgoing governor will become the next president of Purdue University.
Early this year, Republicans often mentioned Daniels as a potential running mate for presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney. But in recent interviews, Daniels never seemed too jazzed about the possibility of coming back to Washington, D.C., to serve in his administration. Full story
Updated 6:55 p.m. | Sen. Dick Lugar’s (R-Ind.) re-election campaign has seen better days, even this cycle.
The six-term Senator faces a tough primary against state Treasurer Richard Mourdock on May 8, but this must be Lugar’s worst week yet for his prospects. A request for response from Lugar’s team was not immediately returned this afternoon.
In the meantime, here’s the countdown of Lugar’s lackluster week:
1. This morning, former Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) chimed in with his support for Lugar on C-SPAN. Conservatives loathe Specter — a former Republican who lost re-election as a Democrat in 2010 — and Lugar’s backers probably wish he kept these four words to himself:
2. Lugar will have to cough up $4,500 to pay back the government for his Indianapolis hotel stays during visits to the Hoosier State, according to a Politico report out this morning. Forget the actual sum: The news underscores Lugar’s residency problems again. He doesn’t own a home in Indiana, and his office made taxpayers foot the bill for his overnight trips — accidentally, Lugar says.
Sen. Dick Lugar is up big over state Treasurer Richard Mourdock in Indiana’s GOP Senate primary, according to an internal poll the Senator’s campaign released.
The poll showed Lugar ahead of Mourdock, 55 percent to 30 percent among likely primary voters. The poll was conducted by Adam Geller at National Research Inc. Previously, Lugar used American Viewpoint to do his polling, but the campaign decided to switch firms, according to a Politico report.
