Buttigieg headed back to Iowa—Donnelly's new gig—Gannett rejects Alden takeover bid
Discover more from IMPORTANTVILLE
Buttigieg headed back to Iowa—Donnelly's new gig—Gannett rejects Alden takeover bid
What's happening—and what's next—at the intersection of business and politics in Indiana?
By Adam Wren and design by Kris Davidson
Days until the 2019 election: 274
Days until the Iowa Caucuses: 364
Days until the 2020 election: 638
PETE BUTTIGIEG’S BIGGEST CONTRIBUTION TO THE DEMOCRATIC FIELD SO FAR? Giving Democrats a language and ideological framework for talking about progressive policy in red states. That ability was on display again Sunday morning in an appearance with George Stephanopoulos on ABC’s “This Week”:
“Conservatives care a lot about one kind of freedom and it's freedom from," Buttigieg told Stephanopoulos. “Freedom from regulation, freedom from government, but certainly in my life experience, there are a lot of things besides government that can make you unfree.
“You're not free if you can’t start a small business because leaving your job would mean losing your healthcare. You are not free if you can't marry the person you love because some county clerk is imposing their interpretation of their religion. You’re not free if you can’t sue a credit card company even after they get caught ripping you off. So I think we need to have a much richer, much thicker discussion about what it truly means to be free in this country and I think it falls to Democrats to lead the way on that.”
Full transcript of the interview here.
Buttigieg also endorsed a single-payer health system, making it one of his early policy endorsements—alongside abolishing the Electoral College.
STEPHANOPOULOS: You said you are for Medicare for all. I want to talk about the issues in the campaign. You're for it, but isn't Kamala Harris, who is also running for president right when she says that means doing away with private insurance?
BUTTIGIEG: I don't see why it requires that. I mean, after all, if the framework we're using is Medicare, a lot of people who have Medicare also have Medicare supplements, Medicare Advantage, something like that. There can be a role for the private sector, but just leaving people...
STEPHANOPOULOS: but you're for a single payer system, aren't you?
BUTTIGIEG: I think so. I think that’s the right place for us to head as a country, and we can debate the finer points of how to get there.
But former Sen. Joe Donnelly said such a policy wouldn’t fly with Hoosier voters in a recent interview with CNN. “But when you talk 'Medicare-for-all' ...you start losing the people in my state," Donnelly told the network in December. “When we start talking about, ‘Hey, we’re going to work together with the insurance companies to lower premiums,’ that's what connects.”
Importantville Take: If Pete Buttigieg’s presidential bid doesn’t catch fire or land him a job in a future administration and he returns to Indiana politics at some point in the future, Republicans here will use everything he says the next year and a half to paint Buttigieg as far too liberal for Hoosier voters.
Good Monday morning, and welcome to Importantville. Did a friend or colleague forward this to you? Subscribe below at a special discount to get the full version of Importantville, including all my scoops and analysis, plus bonus editions.
WHERE'S VEEP? He lunches with the president at 12:45 p.m.
BUTTIGIEG HEADED BACK TO IOWA: He’ll travel to the state on Friday and Saturday, visiting Ames, Grinnell, Ankeny and Johnston. On Sunday, he’ll launch his book, “Shortest Way Home,” in South Bend at 2 p.m. at the Century Center.
DID BUTTIGIEG WHIFF HIS ROLLOUT? “How Kamala Harris Won the Rollout Primary,” by Bill Scher in Politico Magazine—”The Whiffs: Julián Castro and Pete Buttigieg”:
In their rollouts, former San Antonio mayor and secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julián Castro and South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg didn’t get their breakout moments. And they may not have nine months to find one.
….
Buttigieg, who announced only last week, hasn’t been as active as Castro, and doesn’t have much in the way of signature ideas yet. But he managed to rack up nearly 1 million views for his announcement video, which put heavy emphasis on his youth and his sharp dismissal of his political elders: “We can’t look for greatness in the past.”
WHAT INDY STAR REPORTERS ARE READING: “Gannett Co. said Monday that its board has unanimously rejected an unsolicited proposal to be acquired by media company MNG Enterprises Inc., also known as Digital First Media, saying the proposal undervalues the company and the board doesn’t believe the offer is credible. MNG on Jan. 14 offered to buy Gannett for $12 a share in cash, which at the time was a 23 percent premium above its most recent closing price of $9.75 a share. Gannett shares rose as high as $11.99 a share on Jan. 14, but closed Friday at $11.22.” (USA Today).
HOGSETT’S WEEK AHEAD: “Mayor Joe Hogsett and Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD) Chief Bryan Roach will launch a process to study the feasibility of a body-worn camera program in Indianapolis,” according to the mayor’s office. “The process is designed to be community-and stakeholder-driven, seeking feedback from neighborhoods as well as rank-and-file officers.” WHEN/WHERE: 2 p.m. at Edna Martin Christian Center.
The mayor will also be marking the end of his 2,000 Homes Initiative this week. “We’ll be highlighting the work we are doing, not just to build new homes or demolish dilapidated ones, but to move problem properties through the system, returning them to the tax rolls and growing our housing stock,” says Taylor Schaffer, Deputy Chief of Staff. “It will take place in the Riverside neighborhood and highlight a house that will be rehabbed — it was a bank foreclosure that was acquired by RenewIndy and sold to INHP.”
Major Moves
Sen. Joe Donnelly has accepted a part-time teaching gig at Notre Dame, where he earned his undergrad and law school degrees. The Double Domer, I’m told, has four years of eligibility left in the event the baseball team is looking for a weak-hitting first baseman.
Kate Lynn Oehl, Donnelly’s former press secretary, started last week as communications director for the Indiana House Democrats.
Around Importantville
Though the DCCC put the 5th Congressional District on their 2020 target list, it will be a tough slog. Rep. Susan Brooks finished 2018 with $864,000 in the bank. The next closest Indiana member? Rep. Larry Buschon at $264,000. In 2018, she won by 42,906 votes and raised $1.413 million.
Former Sen. Richard Lugar on the Trump administration’s recent withdraw from INF: “President Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty is gravely misguided,” Lugar said. “Withdrawing will not make us safer, it will rob us of leverage essential to our own security and power. It will foolishly play into the hands of Russian propagandists by focusing global attention on our rejection of the treaty instead of Russian violations. And it will make the world a more dangerous place.”
Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness filed for re-election on Friday.
Importantville Reads
James Briggs, Indianapolis Star: '“Greg Ballard on Indianapolis mayor's race: 'We need to put Jim Merritt in that office’”
Ballard spoke during the Marion County Republican Party’s slating convention, where the GOP officially endorsed Jim Merritt for mayor, making him the presumptive challenger to Democratic Mayor Joe Hogsett in November. Merritt still faces a likely May 7 primary challenge from two candidates — Christopher Moore and John Schmitz — who have never held elected office and did not participate in the convention.
Michael Wines, New York Times: “Republicans Rewrote Voting Laws for 8 Years. Now Democrats Say It’s Their Turn.”
Thirty-six states request some form of identification at the polls; the strictest measures were largely enacted by Republican legislatures after 2008. In two of them, Virginia and Texas, Democrats have introduced bills to repeal ID requirements; only the Virginia legislation is considered to have a chance of passage. An Indiana bill would expand that state’s strict ID law to include student identification cards.
Importantville Correction
In last Thursday’s newsletter, I inadvertently mixed up Sen. Todd Young’s committee assignment and leadership title: He is chair of the National Republican Senate Committee, and a member of the Senate Finance Committee. I apologize for the error, and I’ve brought shame upon my kin.
That’s all for today. Have a good week. Send me tips at cadamwren@gmail.com.
Did a colleague or friend forward you this email? You can subscribe here.
