Does Indiana Really Remember Dan Coats?

By: Erick Erickson (Diary) | April 20th, 2010 at 11:17 AM |

RESIZE: AAA

It has been more than a decade since Dan Coats left the United States Senate representing Indiana and moved to North Carolina to take up lobbying.

I’m finding in my conversations with people that many remember a different Dan Coats than who was actually there. The pro-life Senator was squishy on a lot of other things. In fact, Dan Coats is pretty bad on gun rights and recently renounced some of his old positions, while still trying to defend them with language used by Barack Obama on gang violence.

But what about a pretty good measure of those issues on which Dan Coats was bad to remind people of Indiana that they have a real choice and Marlin Stutzman really is to the right of Coats? It’s not a measure of the man, but of his votes — we all accept he is a fine man and a social conservative. But those are rarely the votes that matter these days.

Republicans think if they vote pro-life we’ll give them a pass on everything else. But we can’t. So what of Dan Coats on all the other issues?

Dick Lugar, Indiana’s other Republican senator is widely seen as a moderate — one of those centrist Republicans beloved by the Washington media. So how does Dan Coats stack up against Dick Lugar?

They served together in the Senate. How about this record I’ve got together on their votes? You might be stunned. From nuclear energy to federal regulation to taxes, Coats is to the left of Dick Lugar.

Think about that then think about supporting Marlin Stutzman. Remember, it is not enough that we restore the GOP to power if we don’t change the nature of the GOP.

The chart is below the fold. We’ll see if Indiana really remembers the man who left in Evan Bayh’s care so he could move to North Carolina.

Vote Description	Coats	Lugar	Date	Vote #
Mandate that all banks have Check cashing service for Govt checks	Yes	No	6/27/1990	130
Expand Clean Air Act Mandates	Yes	No	3/21/1990	37
Mandate taxpayer funded benefits for laid-off auto workers	Yes	No	9/24/1990	246
Cut Funding for MX Missile Program.	Yes	No	9/26/1991	208
Mandate that employers provide 12 weeks of family and medical leave.	Yes	No	10/2/1991	215
Allow employers to provide family and medical leave in a more flexible manner	No	Yes	10/2/1991	216
Bail out pensions when companies default on pension obligations.	Yes	No	11/19/1991	257
Federal Regulation of Cable Television industry	Yes	No	1/31/1992	14
Federal Regulation of natural gas pipeline rates	Yes	No	2/19/1992	22
Pro-growth tax cuts.	No	Yes	3/11/1992	39
Eliminate the 20% state matching requirement for transportation programs.	Yes	No	5/20/1992	101
Federal Regulation of Cable Television Industry	Yes	No	2/19/1992	22
$1B in social welfare spending and CDBG Grants	Yes	No	7/2/1992	146
Federally Mandated Family and Medical Leave Veto override	Yes	No	9/24/1992	232
Federal Regulation of Cable Television Industry Veto override	Yes	No	10/5/1992	264
Tax incentives for employers who provide family and medical leave.	No	Yes	2/3/1993	1
Allow employers to provide family medical leave as part of cafeteria plans	No	Yes	2/3/1993	4
Federally Mandated Family and Medical Leave	Yes	No	2/4/1993	11
Increase statute of limitations for lawsuits by RTC	Yes	No	5/13/1993	119
Defund unauthorized earmarks	No	Yes	7/29/1993	226
Cancel the Space Station	Yes	No	9/21/1993	272
Prohibit the death penalty for any crime committed by someone under 18	Yes	No	11/8/1993	358
Federal crime against carjacking	No	Yes	11/9/1993	361
Mandatory sentences for using firearms in commission of drug or violent crime	No	Yes	11/9/1993	362
Habeas Corpus Reform	No	Yes	11/17/1993	374
Expand Federal spending on unemployment benefits with phony offsets.	Yes	No	11/20/1993	392
Bankruptcy Reform.	No	Yes	4/20/1994	95
Offshore Drilling	No	Yes	5/18/1994	120
Mandatory minimums for violent crimes with guns and death penalty for murderers.	No	Yes	5/19/1994	126
To provide military retirees the same COLA made available to civilian retirees.	No	Yes	7/1/1994	182
Require payment of fair market value for mining patents.	No	Yes	8/8/1995	372
Allow seniors to choose their own doctor under Medicare.	No	Yes	10/26/1995	508
Increase taxes on hardrock mining.	Yes	No	10/27/1995	540
Nuclear Power	No	Yes	7/16/1996	193
Condition repeal of Cuba Sanctions upon a Democratically elected govt in Cuba	No	Yes	4/30/1996	91
Repeal Davis Bacon wage mandates	No	Yes	5/22/1996	134
Nuclear Power	No	Yes	7/31/1996	259
Increase grazing fees on Federal lands.	Yes	No	9/17/1996	291
Nuclear Power	No	Yes	4/10/1997	36
Nuclear Power	No	Yes	4/15/1997	42
Alexis Herman to be Secretary of Labor in Clinton Admin	Yes	No	4/30/1997	54
Allow state and local control of discipline in schools.	No	Yes	5/14/1997	64
Increase taxes on hardrock mining.	Yes	No	6/26/1997	131
Increase taxes on mining certain substances.	Yes	No	6/27/1997	158
5% increase in taxes on mining.	Yes	No	9/18/1997	249
Require a frivolous taxpayer funded study of former welfare recipients for the purpose of proving welfare reform was unfair. (Coats was the only Republican to vote yes)	Yes	No	3/3/1998	19
Personal retirement accounts in Social Security.	No	Yes	4/1/1998	56
Increase funding for Juvenile law enforcement and detention by reducing juvenile delinquency “prevention” programs.	No	Yes	7/22/1998	220
Make it a Federal crime to tape a phone call unless all parties gave prior consent	Yes	No	7/22/1998	225
Prohibit paying court appointed defense attorneys in capital cases more than defense attorneys in such cases	No	Yes	7/23/1998	230
Increase taxes on hardrock mining	Yes	No	9/15/1998	268
Ban credit cards for individuals under 21 (unless parents assumed liability)	Yes	No	9/17/1998	274

Tags: Dan Coats, Indiana

COMMENTS

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http://ruminationsaspirations.blogspot.com jonbingham

Stutzman is the strongest candidate to defeat Ellsworth and bring solid conservative Hoosier values to the US Senate in 2010.
Hostettler has the chops to challenge Lugar and improve the Senate in 2012.
Go Marlin now.
Go Hostettler then.
http://ruminationsaspirations.blogspot.com jonbingham

“Remember, it is not enough that we restore the GOP to power if we don?t change the nature of the GOP.”
JadedByPolitics

you would HAVE TO recognize that “people” have a SHORT TERM memory when all of a sudden some Republican that they screamed about when in office and or running for President all of sudden goes all Conservative to get re-elected and then like a bad dream the fog has lifted and by sheer will of power they are SUPER CONSERVATIVE…..NOT!

quoting smarter people then me

“Remember, it is not enough that we restore the GOP to power if we don?t change the nature of the GOP.?
http://www.erickerickson.org Erick Erickson

5555555555555.
Scope

And what needs to change first is the attitudes of those that still play by the old rules that a candidate should not be supported unless they have name recognition, a big war chest and have proven that they can win, because they won something in the past.

If everyone followed that thought process, then we would never be seeing the likes of Rubio, Stutzman, Buck, DeVore and many others. The best candidates running now are seeing wind at their backs, national recognition and so many engaged conservatives are wrenching the party back from it’s suicidal ways, and their enablers.
shadowtax

Who is responsible for the vote description? ACU? Stultzman campaign? Is this data spun or not?

I can’t testify to the accuracy of the Hoosier memory, but the Rasmussen Poll released yesterday shows Coats with a clear advantage in the general election.
Richard Mullins

I don’t think a crudy former senator to run again is a good thing. When you leave, don’t come back. 1 time and your done. No second chances for a Senate seat.
Richard Mullins

So that might be more Coats supporters on that day. I really don’t think Polls are quite reliable, so I’m more confident that those that didn’t answer the phone, are Stutzman supporters.
http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

You try to change the subject from the accuracy of the data to the person who created it.

Why is that, I wonder?
http://ruminationsaspirations.blogspot.com jonbingham

1) initial name ID has its advantages, and
2) Ellsworth is ALREADY behind Stutzman (with his limited name ID)!
The poll is not a reliable indicator of the strength of each potential campaign in October/November. Stutzman has much room to continue to rise from here, Coats is at his high water mark and would decline from here.
Aaron Gardner

And I shall dismiss you as an idiot. An idiot who engages in strawman and ad hominem.

You are just one logical fallacy after another.
http://www.erickerickson.org Erick Erickson

Not ACU. Not Stutzman. Just me and a few friends unconnected to any campaign. You can look up the roll call votes yourself so you can decide if it is or is not spin.

I’m just reporting. You decide.
http://www.theprecinctproject.wordpress.com ColdWarrior

by getting INSIDE IT as precinct committeemen. ONLY precinct committeemen elect the leadership of the Party. For example, we got Michael Steele as our RNC Chairman because not enough conservatives are IN the voting ranks of the Party — in the 2008 election cycle, HALF the precinct committeeman slots were unfilled. HALF. And they were split about 50-50 nationwide between conservatives and RINOs. That ratio could go to 75-25 overnight if conservatives would flock into the Party in droves to occupy every vacant precinct committeeman slot. Imagine, a FULL-STRENGTH, SOLIDLY CONSERVATIVE Republican Party. We CAN make that happen. Will you help?

Go here to learn more:

http://www.redstate.com/coldwarrior/2010/02/02/tea-partiers-becoming-politically-relevant-through-civic-duty-and-the-precinct-committeeman-strategy/

and to my little blog below.

We conservatives MUST change the nature of the GOP from INSIDE IT. If we don’t, we may very well lose the rest of our liberties.

It only takes a couple of hours a month to attend your local GOP committee meeting. It took me 45 minutes this year to get the 10 signatures one needs here in Arizona to get onto the ballot to become an elected precinct committeeman. Every state has a different system for becoming a PC — none are onerous.

I hope you’ll all join me and the other conservatives already INSIDE the Party so we can return the Party to its principles as set forth in the 2008 Party Platform. We need you. Plus, it’s FUN!

Thank you.
ColdWarrior, PC
Conservatives, UNITE! CHANGE the Republican Party and the world by becoming precinct committeemen. NOW!
fideist

The attacks now from fiscal conservatives against social conservative Coats reminds me a great deal of Romney supporters attacking Huckabee, taking them both down and allowing RINO McCain to take the win.

Will we ever remember Reagan’s secret to landslide success was uniting all the conservatives? Will we ever remember his adage to never say anything negative about a fellow Republican (read “Conservative”)?

Conservatives, regardless of stripe, need to stop attacking each other and take aim on the real enemy — liberal and statists.
http://www.erickerickson.org Erick Erickson

We want the best guy to win. You have to be able to show why he is the best guy and part of that involves the record of the opposition.
Mayhem

Much as he irritates me, that seat won’t change hands until Dick Lugar decides its time for it to change hands.

He’s already got his 2012 site up, BTW: http://lugar2012.com/
fideist

DeMint comes out and endorses Stutzman. Does he rip Coats? No. Dobson comes out and endorses Coats. Does he rip Stutzman? No.

Negative ads do not give the viewer reason to vote for your candidate, only reason to not vote for the opponent. These same negative ads broadcasted in the primary carry over to the general! Rip your less-conservative candidate now and if he wins, he is scarred when going up against the real enemy.

In the primary, tout your candidate’s strengths if he really is the stronger candidate! You shouldn’t need to tear down the fellow conservative (albeit lesser so) opponent.

Save the negatives for the general — tar and feather the bad guys only!
fideist

The end doesn’t justify the means.

Just sayin’.
http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens
Aaron Gardner

You are trying to broaden that to include preventing discussion on substantial policy differences.

Also, the 11th Commandment wasn’t Reagan’s invention, and he broke it in his ’76 run against Ford.
shadowtax

For your answer. It was not clear to me whether the chart was your work or not. You do report, but you also advocate. I hope that you consider my inquiry a fair one.
http://gooberment.blogspot.com gooberment

Ginsburg was confirmed 96-3!!! You do realize that to move any legislation in the Senate, you have to have some bipartisan support, right?

Coats is no Crist, and he’s sure as hell no Snowe or Collins or Specter or even McCain. Remember: this is the guy who shepherded Alito through his SCOTUS nomination. The guy’s an army vet, an Evangelical, and he bleeds red, white and blue. I’ve met Dan Coats several times and he’s a class act.

And by the way, Mark Levin may have endorsed Marlin, but did you listen to that show? He called Coats a “good man.” Levin doesn’t throw around comments like that. I wish some folks on here would follow Levin’s lead and support Marlin without dragging a good man through the mud.
http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

He has a primary to win.

Coats, like Obama in 2008, seems to be asking us to believe he’ll vote entirely differently from his prior record.
shadowtax

I inquired about the source of the chart.

I commented on the question posited, “Does Indiana really remember Dan Coats?” The most recent poll indicates that they remember him, but perhaps not accurately, if we accept the chart. As jonbingham notes below, Coats has name ID in his favor.

Why together? Because I didn’t feel the need to make two separate comments.
shadowtax

for the dismissal. I bear you no ill will for it. You don’t like me very much. You are not alone.
http://gooberment.blogspot.com gooberment

http://hoosieraccess.com/blog/2010/04/20/which-senate-candidate-was-for-a-tax-increase-before-he-was-against-it/
Aaron Gardner

Performance records are fair game in making judgment on whom to vote for.

If they aren’t, then how do you propose we run against Obama in 2012.

Seriously, you guys need to be less obvious.
Aaron Gardner
LibertarianHawk

And I’m sure it matters that I’m in the southern part of the state (Hostettler’s former district) while Stutzman is from up north….

….but I get the sense that Hostettler and Stutzman are splitting the “anti-establishment” vote.

I’m supporting Stutzman, based on what I’ve learned about him. I’ve kicked him a little cash and am encouraging those I know to vote for him.

But I hope I’m wrong about where things stand.
pilgrim

He has voted against authorizing Use of United States Armed Forces Against Iraq.
http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/107/house/2/votes/455/

He has voted against United States-Singapore Free Trade Agreement
http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/108/house/1/votes/432/

He has voted against United States-Chile Free Trade Agreement
http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/108/house/1/votes/436/

His values are more like those of Ron Paul than like Hoosiers.
http://gooberment.blogspot.com gooberment

LOL!!! FAIL.
http://gooberment.blogspot.com gooberment

was a bill to delay by two years a scheduled tax increase. Sorry; Marlin was opposite Gov. Daniels on that one.
Aaron Gardner

What you linked to said that Stutzman voted for 1379. It also linked to an article from the Indiana Chamber of Commerce written on May14 which reads as follows…

The General Assembly passed the massive tax increase on employers on April 29 and Gov. Daniels signed the bill yesterday.

Do you care to revise your assessment as to whether I FAIL?
http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

Since you had to change the subject.
aesthete

Some of the votes up there worry me, but others, such as the general package of laws federalizing crimes that should remain the purview of states, don’t seem like they should have been supported by conservatives. I find it hard to believe that Coats is to the left of Lugar, myself. I also think that there is a reasonable argument to be made against targeted tax cuts and tax credits; at least, the Flat Tax folks seem to think so. The missile cuts are similarly agnostic: is it not possible that those missiles were an unneeded expense?

My point is, many of these votes are potentially conservative, and it is difficult for a layman like myself to parse 50+ votes with variable content, and where context is crucial to understanding said vote. As a suggestion for your next post, could you outline the votes most injurious to the conservative cause and their context, in your opinion? That, I think, would be helpful for conservatives genuinely confused about Coats. I also wouldn’t mind a pros/cons look at Stutzmann and Hostettler.
txgho1911

I do humbly request to copy this article in it’s entirety in order to forward it to my entire address book. In doing so I will include all links intact and a link to this page. I will add at the top the Indiana line up of Republican candidates.
Primary:
Dan Coats
John Hostettler
Marlin Stutzman
Don Bates, Jr.
Richard Beheny
txgho1911

http://www.wishtv.com/dpp/news/politics/gop-may-primary-candidates-debating-tonight
* By: Jim Shella

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – The five Republicans seeking to replace Evan Bayh in the U.S. Senate are meeting in a debate on public television Tuesday night. It?s the only statewide televised debate of the GOP primary campaign in a race where all of the candidates are running to the right….

You can see Don Bates Jr., John Hostettler, Dan Coats, Richard Behney and Marlin Stutzman square off tonight live on WISHTV.com….

The debate starts at 8pm. Jim Shella will have full coverage on 24-Hour News 8 at 10 and 11….
youthgrunt

Quite frankly, depending on how you pull the data, Bayh comes out more conservative than Lugar. There is a lot of reading to use the above chart to actually say that Coats is to the left of Lugar. In the end, I think that is a difficult assertion to defend.

I, for one, will be thrilled when this is over so we can turn our attention to the general rather than eat our own.

RS

EDITOR OF REDSTATE

Does Indiana Really Remember Dan Coats?

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