Importantville: Where's Braun?—Indy lands YDA convention—Eli Lilly's future—New Trump Country book
Days to Midterm Election: 127
WHERE'S MIKE BRAUN? The Republican candidate for U.S. Senate has spent a lot of time fundraising on the coasts lately, a necessity in what sources are telling me could be a $100 million campaign. There's a certain political kabuki both sides partake in when it comes to attacking candidates’ coastal fundraising.
But Braun’s absence on Indiana’s hustings is becoming more conspicuous. It’s unclear whether Braun attended any Fourth of July parades over the weekend, a small data point but one indicative of a larger trend. (If you spotted him, let me know; it's possible I missed him). Donnelly attended three on Saturday alone—with more to come later in the week—and had by my count two media availabilities.
Today kicks off our month of celebrating this Great Nation. My team and I are excited to see you on the parade trail! What parades are you and your family attending? #INSen #IBackBraun pic.twitter.com/SoY9SRFSoN
July 1, 2018Admittedly, journalists like me are biased toward events to cover. Action on the trail. Issue conference calls and backgrounders. We are paying more attention to the inside baseball more than your average Hoosier, who is not reading this newsletter on the Monday morning of a holiday week. Some have told me Braun is on vacation. And it’d be easy for Braun to spin a vacation, if that were the case. All he’d have to say: Like many hardworking Hoosiers, and because I love America, I chose to take this week to celebrate our country’s birth and am spending time with my family. I look forward to challenging Democrat Donnelly when I return.
Take a breath, smart Republicans tell me. Braun’s doing fine, they say. Better at this point than Mourdock in 2012. Here's their theory of the case:
Braun’s internal polling has him tied with Donnelly, which puts him in a good spot to work from as the campaign heats up. He’s focused on having a good fundraising quarter. In a lot of ways, he’s running a Todd Young-2016-like campaign where he’s allowing his better-known opponent to take the slings and arrows. Braun faces a new audience for the general election. Unlike in the past, these Senate campaigns kick off right after the primary, not in late summer. So he had to ramp up fast after a bruising primary. More and more, especially with the SCOTUS development last week, Braun has a big opening against Donnelly. His numbers are so low for an incumbent senator, and the base intensity isn't there, these Republicans say. He's in an impossibly difficult position.
Importantville take: Donnelly is taking nothing for granted, and knows he has to run a perfect campaign to have a shot at keeping his seat. Despite his Sleepin’ Joe moniker, he's undoubtedly one of the most tireless campaigners in Indiana politics. His people see him as someone working for every single vote. Braun, they say, is the one who is coasting. This race will become more nationalized over the summer and fall, and the dynamics may be out of both of the candidates' hands.
What's next: We'll see the candidates’ quarterly fundraising figures this week or next. Donnelly’s campaign has announced the last two quarters in advance of the 15th, for what it’s worth.
Good Monday morning. I’m filing from Carmel, where chairs for the Fourth of July parade were set up as early as last Thursday—a full six days before the event.
Indy lands 2019 YDA national convention
First in Importantville: Indianapolis landed the 2019 Young Democrats of America National Convention, an event that will be held July 16 through July 22, 2019, will bring in a potential economic impact of $800,000. Indianapolis earned 103 out of 129 possible votes at a meeting of YDA national committee members hosted in Salt Lake City yesterday.
Per the forthcoming press release:
IYD’s bid received the support of the Indiana Democratic Party, Senator Joe Donnelly, Congressman Andre Carson, Mayor Joe Hogsett, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Mayor Tom Henry, the Indiana AFL-CIO, the Indy Chamber, the Indiana Stonewall Democrats, the Marion County Democratic Party, Senate Minority Leader Tim Lanane, House Minority Leader Terry Goodin, and a number of elected officials across the state.
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Eli Lilly credits tax reform for new $75 million campus
On Friday morning, ahead of the ribbon cutting on their new $75 million facility, I sat down for an exclusive interview with Eli Lilly CEO Dave Ricks and Chief Scientific Officer Daniel Skovronsky.
They talked about the future of Lilly, extolled the virtues of tax cuts, and hailed the arrival of what Ricks called the arrival of the “biomedical century.”
Inside Building 302, you feel like you are inside a Silicon Valley startup rather than a 142-year-old hulking Midwest pharma company. The new facility will allow the company to be more nimble in developing drugs targeted at Alzheimer’s, cancer, diabetes, and other illnesses.
Here are some interesting tidbits I took away:
Despite recent failures, the company is doubling down on Alzheimer’s research. “If you look at Alzheimer's, it's one of the great unmet medical needs that society faces,” Skovronsky told me. “And of course we're disappointed by the failure of recent critical failures. On the other hand, each time we do an experiment, each time we do a clinical trial, we learn something about Alzheimer's. I think we are more knowledgeable, more experienced than ever before, which gives us more hope for the future.”
The company has launched 9 products since late 2014; they expect to launch 5 more in the next 18 months. “This is unprecedented,” Ricks told me. Even after Lilly lost some original patents, and right-sized early on in his tenure.
CEO Dave Ricks credits tax reform for the new $75 million facility. “These policies have made a difference,” Ricks said, “And they’ve made a difference right here in Indiana.”
Lilly’s plans to win the argument on drug pricing revolves around switching to a value-based model.
Spotted: Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch, Mayor Joe Hogsett.
Bloomberg: Mitch Daniels feels politically ‘homeless’
From Al Hunt:
There are prominent Republicans who are troubled by the cult-like following of a dark and deceitful president.
One of them is Mitch Daniels, who boasts a distinguished Republican pedigree. He was Reagan's chief political adviser, director of the Office of Management and Budget under President George W. Bush and a successful two-term Indiana governor. Before the rise of Trump, he would have been considered by knowledgeable Republicans, conservatives and moderates alike, to be a top-quality candidate for president.
But now he says this: “I feel homeless.”
Bizarre news story of the day, per AP: Indiana police say they seized ‘Trump-shaped ecstasy pills’
We’ll sidestep the “America is already great” joke here. From the AP:
Some drug traffickers appear to be using President Donald Trump’s image to brand their illegal wares.
An Indiana State Police news release about 129 arrests in a series of drug busts in northern Indiana includes a photo of what police describe as “Trump-shaped ecstasy pills.”
They are orange and stamped with a face. On the back are the words “great again,” an apparent reference to Trump’s campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again.”
The Importantville Interview: Ex-Pence and Heritage Foundation aide takes on trauma and poverty in rural America
Indianapolis author Ericka Andersen Sylvester is digital marketing director of Independent Women's Forum, and formerly the digital director of National Review and online and digital manager at the Heritage Foundation. She also served as the director of online media outreach for Vice President Mike Pence when he was chairman of the House Republican Conference.
In her new books, Leaving Cloud 9, she “candidly shares the inspiring life story of her husband, Rick Sylvester. Sylvester grew up with an abusive mother on a trailer park called ‘Cloud 9’—a depressingly ironic misnomer—in rural Arizona,” according to Publisher’s Weekly. “Sylvester and his younger sister, Jenny, were victims of neglect, abuse, and ongoing trauma as their mother stumbled through life in a haze of drugs and alcohol.”
Importantville: In a lot of ways, your book reminded me of J.D. Vance's Hillbilly Elegy. In what ways do you think stories like your husband's should influence our national conversation about issues like poverty, trauma and mental illness?
Ericka Andersen Sylvester: My husband was born into poverty dysfunction. His mom was a severe alcoholic and drug addict and as a result, he experienced a wide range of abuse and neglect throughout his childhood growing up in both Colorado and Arizona. As a result of these traumatic experiences, he ended up dealing with a lot of depression, social anxiety disorder, anger issues and bipolar disorder. It robbed him of a normal life and he wasn't able to live normally or feel happiness as an adult.
My husband did have a similar experience to J.D. Vance, given his family situation and some of the other trials they both faced. I think my husband's story should show people how important the issues of child neglect and trauma are across the country right now. Specifically, children are going through some of these right now because of the opioid crisis. It's vital that we as individuals, communities, churches, family and government step up and do what we can for both people dealing with addiction and the children who are affected by it. Childhood trauma hurts someone for the entirety of their lives, and we need to limit it to as few kids as we possibly can. I hope this story shows people the importance of becoming a mentor, planting churches in places where churches are dying out, and recognizing that mental illness can be treated, just as physical illness can.
Importantville: As a former comms staffer for now-VP Mike Pence, what does the national media get wrong about him? What do they get right?
Andersen Sylvester: Having worked for Pence, I can tell you he is truly an honorable man who puts a lot of prayer into any decision he makes. I have no doubt a lot of prayer went into his decision to become Trump's running-mate. I'm thankful that he is in the White House because I know that he is seeking higher authority in his decision making and has a strong, conservative record on the issues. I may not always agree with the way he has handled everything, but I never doubt he is doing his best and trying to live by his principles.
Importantville: Heritage, another of your former employers, has played an outsized role in staffing our federal government at the moment.
Andersen Sylvester: I had many fears about Trump becoming President. I've always been a conservative Republican, but there were many justified fears about Trump— a former Democrat who has been hypocritical on a number of issues—and how he would handle policy, Supreme Court judges and the rest. Heritage was smart in recognizing that the White House would need intelligent conservatives to help shape policy if Trump were elected. Because they were on top of things, they have done just that, staffing up the White House with some of the best and brightest policy folks there are. I haven't personally agreed with every policy made, but certainly many of them have been welcome and I credit Heritage for some of this. I am glad to see many friends working in the White House, even if the President makes it very difficult for them when he goes off the rails with his tweets, insults and the rest.
Buy the book.
That’s all for today. Enjoy the holiday. Let me know what I missed—and send along tips—by emailing me at cadamwren@gmail.com.
Jacob Perry. Political campaign strategist. Former Hoosier now living in
Tallahassee, FL. Like My Man Mitch, I'm currently politically homeless and
his comment reminds me of why I once named him "The Most Presidential Man
in America." It's still true, btw.