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EDITOR OF REDSTATE

Marlin Stutzman Takes the Lead Among the Grassroots

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  March 8th, 2010 at 04:42 PM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

Dan Coats has a pretty website up now in Indiana. One thing you won’t there are the results of a devastating straw poll among tea party activists in Indiana.

Marlin Stutzman dominated the poll with Coats finishing dead last.

Now, I don’t put too much stock in straw polls, but they certainly are good at showing energy and trends. Compare it to the CPAC poll that had Ron Paul in first with Mitt Romney behind him. We know the energy is with Paul and Romney, being up there with him, sure looks like a contender.

Coats was at the very bottom. The energy is with Stutzman and Coats doesn’t even seem like a contender. Former Congressman Hostetler even beat Coats.

Also on Dan Coats’ website is a nice little press release with some platitudes by a few politicians in Indiana. Compare that to Stutzman who just picked up the endorsements of over 20 members of the Indiana State Legislature.

Marlin Stutzman also cleaned up at the most recent debate.

Stutzman said he has worked in the state Senate to reduce the deficit without raising taxes. “Folks, I oppose deficit spending in this country. It’s time we stop that problem in Washington before all else,” Stutzman said.

“It’s time to cut our federal government back to the size of the original piece of parchment that it was written on,” Stutzman said.

Amen. Folks we need to get Marlin Stutzman elected.

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  • hoosierstate

    Marlin also dominated a poll by the Senate Conservatives Fund. You can see the results here: http://bit.ly/a4aQCF

  • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

    The Senate Republicans are going to be different next year. That much is clear with the candidates we have.

    Now we need KBH to keep to her word…

  • izoneguy

    Remember – Dick Cheney and Bush Sr. endorsed KBH…..

    A sitting Senator for 16 years, KBH only garnered 30% of the vote, while an unknown Medina garnered 18%.

    I just don’t know how the dems are going to spin Bill White?

    Meanwhile, we are all waiting with bated breath for the retirement announcement by KBH.

  • youthgrunt

    will buy you a coke at the vending machine. The debate means nothing as well since no one actually listens or watches it.

    Somehow Stutzman has to translate the Tea Party support into any candidate ID or votes in 2 months.

  • dforston

    Marlin has a great promotion idea on the site called Team 51.

    http://www.gomarlin.com/team51.aspx

    What is it?

    Team 51 is being used by Hoosiers for Stutzman all over the state of Indiana to help elect Marlin Stutzman our next U.S. Senator. In short, it’s a grassroots movement that is connecting Hoosiers from every county in the state, working together for one purpose. Join Team 51 today and help Marlin win the Republican Nomination for U.S. Senate on May 4th.

    What is my part?

    First – Join the Team
    We want Team 51 members to be as active as possible. Sign up to receive campaign updates, become a fan on Facebook, subscribe to our YouTube channel, and follow us on Twitter. When you follow on Twitter make sure to turn mobile alerts on so you’ll get the latest information sent right to your phone. (Standard text rates will apply.)

    Second – 51 Dollars
    We know these are economically tough times but most people can scrap together $51 to contribute to the campaign. If you can do more that is great but please help us by contributing at least $51.

    Third – 51 Friends
    Whether by phone, email, text, Facebook, Twitter, snail mail or face to face please tell 51 people about our campaign and encourage them to join Team 51 . This will be a grassroots led campaign and the more that join the closer we’ll get to 51% of the vote.

    Fourth – 51 Minutes
    All we ask is that you donate 51 minutes a week to help the campaign. That could include listening to the radio, writing a letter to the editor, blogging about Marlin, making phone calls, joining our Rapid Response Team, and many other activities. Over the coming weeks our State Director will send out emails specific to your part of the state and how you can best use those 51 minutes a week.

  • redstatesuccess

    Marlin Stutzman is unwavering here, and it is amazing to watch him press on against the DC elites, whether it is Evan Bayh, the RINOs at the NRSC, or the current liberal leadership.

    I can’t wait to see him elected as Indiana’s next senator, but as Erick has stated, WE HAVE TO help him get past the May 4 primary against DC lobbyist, Dan Coats (learn more about Coats here http://vimeo.com/9435517 and here http://vimeo.com/9815541 )

    Stutzman would be grateful to get help fundraising, recruiting volunteers, and getting media, especially as the media has suddenly gone dark about Dan Coats’ shortfalls (see media helping get McCain to be our GOP nominee in 08).

    Please visit Stutzman’s webpage, facebook page, follow him on twitter, and become part of the group on Linked in.

    Here’s how:
    http://GoMarlin.com
    http://www.facebook.com/MarlinStutzman
    http://twitter.com/MarlinStutzman
    http://twitter.com/GoMarlin
    http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=2579094&trk=myg_ugrp_ovr

  • itsjoanne

    if DeMint and Mike Pence endorse Marlin. Really hoping both do.

    I think Marlin’s main competetor is Behney not Coats or Hostettler.

  • jfindl2

    Dan Coats. Also Marlin’s main competition is Coats and Hostettler, Behney is a joke.

  • perceptorii

    Stutzman won the debate, but he didn’t dominate. All five candidates had their good moments. But Stutzman was best able to connect with the audience and stay away from the bickering that the other candidates, especially Behney and Hostettler, got into. His line about how people in Congress need spend some time back in their own districts living under the laws they passed drew the biggest applause of the morning.

    I thought Dan Coats did OK. He was a big target for the others early on, leading him to joke that he felt like he should be pointing to someone to the right but there was no one there (he was on the right end of the stage). That drew the biggest laugh of the morning. He came across as serious and respectful of the audience and what they stand for. I thought he won some respect from the audience, but not their vote. Judging from the results of the straw poll I’m right about the latter.

    John Hostettler was the most aggressive of the candidates. He repeated a theme of “record vs rhetoric” and often gave a mini-lecture of the particulars of the Constitution in his answers. He revealed himself to be an unabashed Ron Paul supporter. His knowledge was impressive, but I think he also showed a bit of a mean-spirited streak against his fellow Republicans that left a lot of people cold. His attack on Don Bates Jr that “this is why not everyone on this stage can be trusted” on a question about his support for the Contract with America while voting no on term limits drew the biggest groan of the morning.

    Speaking of Bates, he was a surprise. I wasn’t sure what to expect from him, as he’s never held public office. That’s something he wears as a badge of honor. But he gave specific answers to the questions and held his own against much more experienced candidates. I wouldn’t count him out.

    Richard Behney has a quirky charisma about him. His basic theme is that he’s “just ticked off”. He seems quite intelligent and I can see why the Tea Party folks like him, but he gave very general answers. He could become a great one with a little seasoning, but he just didn’t seem ready for the Senate.

    At this point I’m leaning Stutzman, but Coats and Bates both have a realistic shot at winning me over.

  • itsjoanne

    And didn’t realize Pence endorsed Coats. That is a surprise.

  • hoosierstate

    Yes, Pence endorsed Coats at the beginning but has done nothing for him since and will not be doing an events or fundraisers. Personally I think Pence is regretting making an endorsement so early. Mitch Daniels has agreed to remain neutral despite the Coats campaign coming out yesterday with quotes from him. (Nice try Pete Seat.) I have to agree with you that Behney is a joke and the real competition will be Hostettler & Coats. Behney did well in that first straw poll because it was a Tea Party crowd. The fact he didn’t win it would suggest tea party members are now realizing they need to support someone else in order to win this fall. (Ellsworth would mop him up.) Don’t get me wrong. Behney is a very nice, sincere man and I know his intentions are honorable. But you don’t sprint before you crawl in politics. He would have been better off running for a local seat before jumping into a statewide race. Some call it Politics 101.

  • john676

    This article sounds like Marlin Stutzman and Dan Coats were the only ones at the debate. The GOOD ones were not even talked about in your article. Richard Behney was the only Conservative Constitutional Christian man in the running. Richard started the Very first Tea Party in Indiana. He has won the hearts of many Tea Party groups. Also, he did not vote for one of if not the largest tax increase in Indiana history! I have heard Marlins defense, and it still does not fly. So, the only two who are not already politicians are Richard Behney and Don Bates. So, Indiana, think very hard about what you are about to do. Politics as usual or a REAL Constitutional Conservative! Richard Behney is that person!!
    John B
    Wabash Indiana

  • hoosierstate

    I don’t mean any disrespect because Behney certainly is a nice person and has good values. But when it comes to politics he is a lightweight. At the debate he had vague, non-specific answers. You need to go back and understand the issue Marlin was voting on. He was shifting responsibility of unemployment tax to those that use it. If you’re a small business and will not use UI, your taxes don’t go up they go down. Marlin has successfully defend this vote to everyone that is intelligent enough to understand the issue. If you took a serious look at Marlin you’d realize he is a committed Christian, a solid Conservative, and 100% believes in the Constitution. I know he understands the Constitution better than most people. Just because you start a Tea Party Group doesn’t qualify you to be a good US Senator. If you think electing Marlin will be politics as usual you’re the one that needs to think really hard about what you’re going to do.

  • allen1773

    Eric, your take on the poll was interesting. Wrong, but interesting.

    Stutzman is currently serving as a State Senator here in Indiana. Part of Koskiusko county – where the debate was held – is in his state senate district. He’s routinely mentioned in news reports for that part of the state. This event was in his back yard.

    In the non-scientific straw poll… Stutzman received 80 votes.

    The Tea Party Organizer & Plumber, Richard Behney, got 76 votes.

    As a recovering journalist, my news instincts tell me that the real story in those numbers is that Stutzman only won by 4 votes in his own backyard. In fact, if you remove the Koskiusko county votes from the totals, Behney captured 61 of the votes in the rest of the state. Stutzman only got 41. That’s a 20 vote margin out of 153 votes from the rest of the state.

    Since Stutzman’s campaign keeps billing him as one of the earliest tea partiers/patriots – from before the Tea Party movement was even begun – to see only a 4 vote margin in Stutzman’s backyard is disappointing to say the least. To lose by 20 votes in the rest of the counties just compounds the misery.

    As for Bates – he wasn’t even a close second despite his extremely minor Tea Party involvement (he sang at a Tea Party event in Louisiana last year).

    The real highlight of the actual debate came when Bates showed either his ineptitude or a desire to use miss-information to discredit a rival. When Bates called out the “politicians” for not supporting term limits, John Hostettler asked for clarification – was he was one of those Bates was calling out?

    Bates responded that Hostettler had broken his pledge and then called Hostettler’s honor into question about not supporting the Contract with America by voting FOR the Term Limits bill.

    Hostettler was forceful in his response – and lost traction with the Tea Party folks in his answer – which seems to be the target Bates was shooting at. Hostettler, however, spoke the truth – which most there don’t realize. Bates was the one blowing smoke on the issue.

    Bates was flat out wrong. It took me about 2 minutes of research to show that Hostettler DID support the CWA – he voted to bring the Term Limits bill to the floor for what the CWA termed: Open Debate and a Fair Vote on it.

    Hostettler was on record with the media in his home district as supporting the CWA – but disagreeing with two of the issues, including Term Limits.

    The CWA was worded – at the insistence of several candidates including Hostettler – to allow for just that: bring the bills to the floor where they can be debated openly and an honest vote be taken on them. No endorsement of the particular issues was required by the CWA.

    Hostettler had said early on in the 1994 race that he would follow the CWA to bring those bills to the floor of the house. Where people get confused is that the CWA only promised open debate and a fair vote on those 10 issues. For Bates to question Hostettler’s honor (yes, a politician with honor) was unsettling to me. Especially knowing that Bates brags constantly on hiring the best political team in the state (former Mike Pence team members).

    Knowing the skills and knowledge of that team hired by Bates, I can only wonder if Bates over-ruled their advice, and decided on his own to attack Hostettler that way?

    The move was obviously designed to pull Tea Party votes away from Hostettler by highlighting his opposition to a key issue in the Tea Party movement: Term Limits. Bates stepped way over the line by questioning the honor of Hostettler – when the record clearly shows that Hostettler lived up to his word and did support the CWA.

    But, spreading miss-information and questioning a candidates honor won’t win points with Tea Partiers, either. I can only hope that Bates reaps what he tried to sow amongst the Tea Party crowd. Every Tea Partier I’ve ever met won’t put up with that kind of behavior from any politician.