Over the weekend, Maureen Groppe penned a piece for the Star taking a look at the fundraising races taking place across Indiana in competitive congressional contests. Her take can be summarized as such:Democrats have the cash advantage in each of the three House districts in Indiana that Republicans hope to seize this fall.
But the gap could narrow, and cash isn't always enough when you're facing powerful political headwinds. The article cites the election of now-Reps. Baron Hill and Joe Donnelly in 2006 despite being outspent by their respective opponents.
What's important to note, though, is that at least in the case of Hill, he didn't need to spend as much because his name identification was already very high throughout the district -- he had, after all, already been elected in the Fightin' Ninth before.
And that's the biggest problem facing our Carmel-based friend Todd Young: it costs a lot of money to boost name recognition in Southern Indiana. There's a reason the GOP ran a guy named "Millionaire Mike" for all of those years.
In some ways, though, the Todd Young campaign strategy may see this as a feature, not a bug. Anti-establishment year or not, this part of the state is much more likely to support 'Generic Republican' this year than they are a Carmel native who has only lived in the district -- and Bloomington, at that -- for a few years. |
