Inside Young's 2020 NRSC pitch—Buttigieg off the campaign trail—Macer on Holcomb's weaknesses

What's happening—and what's next—at the intersection of Indiana politics and business?

Days to first night of DNC debates: 9

By Adam Wren and design by Kris Davidson

National Republican Senate Committee Chair Sen. Todd Young stumped in Nashville on Saturday at the Tennessee Republican Party’s annual Statesman Dinner, making his case for the importance of electing Republicans in 2020.

His remarks were delivered inside the Presidential Ballroom at the Gaylord Opryland. They offer a glimpse into his party’s pitch to voters ahead of next year’s election. It’s a message of free enterprise vs. socialism, of conservative justices vs. a stacked court—and some culture war issues as well.

They also featured some implicit brushback pitches to fellow Hoosier Pete Buttigieg on policy. See if you can find them:

ON WHAT’S AT STAKE IN 2020:

2016 and 2018 were—and 2020 will be—a battleground in that fight for freedom.

In 2016, you helped elect Donald Trump into the White House and delivered majorities in the United States Senate and the House.

In those first two years, Republicans in Washington were your force multiplier.

Those GOP majorities advanced your shared values.

Those majorities have rebuilt the courts, confirming more than 100 federal judges—including two Supreme Court Justices—who believe in the Constitution, and follow it, instead of legislating from the bench.

ASSESSING THE 2020 DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL FIELD:

Now, House Democrats and the 23 Democrats running for president are trying to pass the unfinished agenda from the Obama years.

Did you know one out of every seven Democrat senators are running for president? I walk into the Senators-only gym, and it feels like the Iowa State Fair in an election year.

ON THE 2020 DEMOCRATIC AGENDA:

We know what the agenda is. It’s socialism. They don’t even try to hide it anymore.

You’ve got the Green New Deal. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think the only way to protect the environment is to destroy the economy.

There’s Medicare for all. Which would result in Medicare for None. As Lamar has reminded us so many times, Republicans are focused on reducing healthcare costs, not moving to a single payer system where the cost is borne by the taxpayer.

You’ve got beliefs on abortion that are so extreme, they won’t even outlaw killing a child born alive after a botched abortion.

You’ve got Supreme Court packing and abolition of the electoral college. Which is just another way to undo election results they don’t like.

Just a couple years ago, these would be extreme positions even in the Democratic Party. But today, they are prerequisites for anyone who wants to be the standard-bearer of the left.

Good Monday morning, and welcome to IMPORTANTVILLE.

WHERE’S VEEP? He has lunch with the president today.

WHERE’S PETE? Back in South Bend, off the campaign trail, dealing with the crisis of an officer-involved shooting, and a community looking for answers. At a 10 p.m. press conference last night, he said he learned from past similar incidents.

WHAT SOUTH BEND IS READING: “Grieving family wants answers in officer-involved shooting death in South Bend,” by Mary Beth Spalding:

Members of a South Bend family say they are waiting for answers in the officer-involved shooting death Sunday morning of Eric Logan, 53.

“The incident is not adding up,” said Logan's brother, Clifford Bonds, of South Bend. “All we can do is wait. He got five kids, a wife, a mother, nieces, nephews, everybody, brothers and sisters, trying to figure out what’s going on. And the story they’re giving, everybody in the family knows that’s not him, so that just makes it worse.”

Shafonia Logan, 50, the victim’s wife, said police haven’t answered her primary question: Why was her husband taken by police car to the hospital after the shooting rather than by ambulance?

Logan, married to Eric for 13 years, also said she wasn't told whether police have body camera footage of the incident.

“I just have a lot of questions,” she said.

WHAT'S NEXT: “The Metro Homicide Unit will complete its investigation of the case before an internal South Bend Police Department investigation begins into whether procedures were properly followed.”

WHAT BUTTIGIEG SAID: “One of the reasons we’re communicating upfront right now is because of lessons learned from members of the community. We’ve had prior cases of use-of-force incidents and officer-involved shootings where I hesitated, frankly, to get in front of cameras because we didn’t know very much and it was out of our hands. But what I learned, what I was told by people in the community, is it’s important to open channels of communication.”

FROM CNN: “Buttigieg was planning to be in New York on Monday, where he was scheduled to appear at an LGBTQ gala put on by the Democratic National Committee. But multiple Buttigieg campaign aides said the mayor was canceling that appearance -- along with other meetings and at least one fundraiser he was meant to attend -- to be in South Bend to respond to the shooting and meet with community members. Chasten Buttigieg, the mayor's husband, will speak at the committee event on Monday, instead.” More here.

THE BUTTIGIEG BEAT

It was a newsy Sunday and early Monday on the Buttigieg beat. Buttigieg reportedly raised $7 million in April alone, according to Politico. And CNN reported last week that he is on his way to a more than a $15 million second quarter. Assuming Pete World is lowballing, we’re talking about a total possible fundraising haul that could reshape the presidential race, and ensure that Buttigieg is in the race through Super Tuesday.

Yesterday, Buttigieg executed a full-court press on television, appearing on CNN’s State of the Union, NBC’s Meet the Press, CBS’s Face the Nation, and Axios on HBO.

The newsworthy bits and highlights here:

ON JUSTICE DEPARTMENT INDEPENDENCE:

My Justice Department will be empowered to reach its own conclusions. Two things are true and clear. One, nobody is above the law. And two, the prosecutorial process should have nothing to do with politics. The less this has to do with the president the better. Right now we have a president who seems to think that the president can just dictate what the DOJ is going to do, call for political opponents to be jailed. I believe that the rule of law will catch up to this president. It doesn't require the Oval Office putting any kind of thumb on the scale. I trust the DOJ to reach the right determinations, at least the DOJ that I would appoint and set up. And the less that has to do with directives coming out of the White House the better.

The full transcript from CNN’s SOTU here.

ON FOREIGN EFFORT TO TAMPER WITH ELECTIONS

Just call the FBI. It's not hard. It's not complicated. The FEC chair, I think, felt shocked that she had to remind everybody of this, but if you think there's a foreign effort to tamper with an American election and you're an American who cares about America, you call the FBI. This shouldn't be hard.

Full transcript from Face the Nation.

On Axios on HBO, Buttigieg talked about his post-deployment depression:

“Of course, it's the effect of having been exposed to danger,  and I think also some moral pressure that comes ... anytime in any way you are even remotely involved in killing. It takes something out of you, and it takes a lot of work to process that."

He also said if elected he wouldn’t likely be the first gay president:

“I would imagine we've probably had excellent presidents who were gay. We just didn't know which ones.”

THE NEW NARRATIVE: “Warren, Buttigieg surge in SC 2020 Democratic presidential poll as Biden still leads,” by the Charleston Post & Courier’s Andy Shain.

Buttigieg’s surprising run continues to strengthen.

The field’s youngest candidate, who was not even in the first S.C. survey taken in February, has moved up spots in each of the past two polls. This month, he received upticks in support from voters ages 65 and older, as well as independents.

Most notable is Buttigieg’s growing support from black voters. He collected 6 percent African American support, good enough for fourth this month, after he received none in May. Buttigieg sits between the race’s two main African American candidates — Harris, who has 11 percent of the black vote, and Booker, who has 3 percent.

Biden received a majority of black voter support in South Carolina at 52 percent, bolstered by a huge lead among African American women. Warren follows at 14 percent.

AROUND IMPORTANTVILLE

• In an interview with IMPORTANTVILLE, Rep. Karlee Macer outlined three to four issues that could form the contours of her challenge to Gov. Eric Holcomb: teacher pay (“It’s very obvious it did not,” she said, when asked whether his budget did enough to take care of teachers), his handling of the hate crimes bill, veterans’ issues, and ethics questions (She twice cited his private-jet flights with Spectacle Entertainment).

• Outgoing Rep. Susan Brooks talks with In Focus’ Dan Spehler. On rumors that she would run for Attorney General statewide to challenge Curtis Hill next year: “I am ruling it out, which I know is unusual,” Brooks said. “After 16 years in public service, I’m ready to close that chapter. I’m not interested in pursuing other public office. I’m not going to pursue other public office.”

• Rep. Jim Banks responds to Buttigieg’s foreign policy speech in Bloomington.

IMPORTANTVILLE READS

Kaitlin Lange, Indianapolis Star: “With Indiana's Susan Brooks bowing out, Hoosiers prepare for tight race in the 5th District”

As U.S. Rep. Susan Brooks looks toward a future outside of politics, she's leaving behind a district Democrats think they have a shot at winning in 2020 — and likely a hotly contested race as Republicans fight to keep the seat.

Since the Carmel Republican's first election in 2012, she has comfortably won the 5th Congressional District, which stretches from northern Marion County up to the city of Marion.

For more than two decades, Republicans have had little trouble maintaining that seat. And they say 2020 will be no different, pointing to a deep bench of potential candidates from their party who could take Brooks’ place.

But across the nation, suburbs — which make up a crucial bloc in the district — are changing. Democrats were able to take control of the U.S. House in 2018 in large part due to suburban voters shifting to the left, and the state party says the same shift can lead to a victory in Indiana.

Shane Goldmacher, New York Times: “Wall Street Donors Are Swooning for Mayor Pete. (They Like Biden and Harris, Too.)”

The behind-the-scenes competition for Wall Street money in the 2020 presidential race is reaching a fevered peak this week as no less than nine Democrats are holding New York fund-raisers in a span of nine days, racing ahead of a June 30 filing deadline when they must disclose their latest financial hauls.

With millions of dollars on the line, top New York donors are already beginning to pick favorites, and three candidates are generating most of the buzz: former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., Senator Kamala Harris of California and Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind.

...

Mr. Buttigieg is expected to post among the most robust second-quarter fund-raising figures. Even a donor who recently put together an event for one of Mr. Buttigieg’s rivals said that, these days, “the easiest event to sell out is a Buttigieg event.”

Mr. Buttigieg’s freshness has proved an advantage on the donor circuit: After he leapt in the polls this spring, contributors have jumped at the chance to pay $1,000 or more to size him up in person. A Harvard graduate and veteran of the McKinsey consultancy, Mr. Buttigieg is fluent in the language of elite New York circles, helping him transcend his initial base of donors in the gay community.

Colwell, South Bend Tribune: “Indiana's Birch Bayh and the rise of the caucuses”

The Iowa caucuses loom large in the selection of the Democratic nominee for president.

So large, though still nearly eight months away, that it was big news last week when an Iowa poll showed South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg in a virtual second-place tie among likely Democratic caucus participants.

The caucuses, once obscure events on the national scene, might not have become so important if it were not for the campaign in Iowa in 1976 by Sen. Birch Bayh, the Indiana Democrat who died earlier this year. That possibility is cited by Robert Blaemire, a long-time Bayh staffer, in “Birch Bayh: Making a Difference,” his new book published by Indiana University Press.

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