Barack Obama wrapped up an hour town hall meeting this afternoon in Garfield Park talking to Hoosiers about gas prices, education and the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

Obama said Senator Hillary Clinton’s call to suspend the gas tax for summer would only amount to savings of about 30 cents a day.  He says he’s putting the issue of Jeremiah Wright behind them and focusing on issues like health care and education.

Obama and his wife had lunch at the Beech Grove home of Mike and Cheryl Fisher.  They talked over sandwiches.   Mike Fisher, who considers himself a good judge of character,  said Obama came across as a very likable person and he did not hold the controversial remarks of Obama’s former pastor against him.  He also said the Obamas are not elitists and could connect with blue-collar, working class Hoosiers.

It’s been a long day and I’m really tired,  but I wanted to post these few items before bed.

The latest poll of the Presidential, Gubernatorial, 7th District and 5th District Congressional races are showing some interesting results. The poll conducted by Howey Politics Indiana and Gauge Market Research of shows Hillary and Barack basically tied.  Jill with a big lead over Jim and Andre and Danny doing better than Woody, David Carolene and John.

Jill got a letter from angry lawyers telling her to stop using images of schools their client designed in her commercial.  It wasn’t Jim’s firm, but the firm of Schenkel and Schultz.  I thought the taxpayers owned the schools, not the firms who built them.  This will be fun to watch.

Carl, Jim and Mike want to rewrite the state’s fetal homicide laws in the wake of the shooting that killed the unborn twins of a bank teller in Indianapolis.   Under the current law the fetus has to be viable outside the womb.  This would change that, however the state would still have to prove the defendant knew the woman was pregnant.

As you can tell by looking below I’ve gotten the first few posts from candidates for public office.   If you are a candidate, you are welcome to send me your thoughts in 100 words or less as to why you are seeking public office.

The best way to send the information is either in an e-mail.  I can cut and paste the text.  Send your posts to abdul@newstalk1430.com.  Be sure to include what office you are seeking.  Submissions are usually up within 12-24 hours.

Thanks for participating and helping inform the voters.

Woody Myers is a candidate for the 7th Congressional District 

I want to be your next representative in the United States Congress. I have the energy, the enthusiasm and the experience to do an outstanding job for you and your family.

The values I acquired growing up in Indianapolis have allowed me to achieve and contribute for 30 years.

Education, jobs and healthcare are our highest priorities, and where we need new investment.

I have served Indianapolis as a physician at Wishard Hospital, Indiana as Health Commissioner, and I have served as the chief physician in our largest healthcare company.

Give me this opportunity: I will not let you down.

Carolene Mays is a candidate for the 7th Congressional District. 

I’m running for Congress because I have a great understanding of the needs facing our community. I have been in the trenches, serving and fighting for our community to have access to quality healthcare and education; keep taxes equitable, protect our seniors and troops and create high-paying and sustainable jobs. Legislatively, I have displayed my ability to work across the aisle to deliver results to my constituency and Indianapolis. My combined community service, business leadership and legislative record far exceed that of my opponents. I will continue to faithfully serve you, in Washington as your Congresswoman.”

David Orentclicher is a candidate for the 7th Congressional District. 

David Orentlicher: A Principled Leader

David Orentlicher is a principled leader whose fight to change
Washington begins with his Ethic’s Pledge not to accept PAC or special interest money.  For the last six years, he has fought for Indiana’s families in the Indiana House of Representatives – playing a major role in policies affecting job creation, access to health care, the protection of children and property tax relief.  A doctor and a teacher, David teaches courses in medical ethics and constitutional law at Indiana University School of Law.  You can learn more about David’s fight to change
Washington at OrentlicherforCongress.com.  

The U.S. Supreme Court this morning, by a vote of 6-3, upheld Indiana’s Voter ID law. The law had been challenged as unconstitutional because critics said it put an undue burden on voters. The law requires to show a government-issued picture ID when they go to the polls. The Court turned away the undue burden argument, saying the state had a strong interest in fighting voter fraud and it also noted Indiana had highly inflated voter rolls which could contribute to fraud.

The Court also said voter ID was a reasonable effort to ensure the integrity of the voting process. The decision comes just eight days before the state primary. Tom Fisher, the state Solicitor General who argued the case before the Court, says the clear 6-3 majority of the Court shows the reasonableness of the state’s law.

The Court also noted that Plaintiffs failed to produce a single individual who had been disenfranchised by voter ID.

The Indiana primary is May 6.

I was on Fox News this past weekend talking about the Indiana Presidential primary.  Here’s the link.  Enjoy.

In an effort to help inform the voters in this year’s primary make the best decisions, I’m making this blog space available to the candidates.   It’s real simple.  In 100 words or less just tell the public why you want the office you’re running for and what makes you qualified for it.  I  won’t edit your piece.  What you write is what gets posted.  Just limit it to 100 words.  You words will be posted on all three of my blogs (Indiana Barrister, Capitol Watchblog and the WXNT blog).  Your words will be posted in the order I get them.  I don’t play favorites.  I just post.  Consider it a way to get your message out unfiltered.  I hope you take advantage of it.

WHO KNOWS? 

I was having a discussion with three of the smartest political pundits in Indiana recently and asked them who was going to win the Presidential, Gubernatorial and 7th Congressional District primaries.  All three said they weren’t sure and that anything could happen.  I’ve always maintained that truly intelligent people will always tell you what they don’t know.  One thing we all did agree on is that it’s the new voters who will make the difference.  According to the Secretary of State’s office there are more than 200,000 new voters and about 50,000 of them have already voted.  The question is where do the new voters go after voting for President?   Do they stick around long enough to vote for the other candidates or do they bolt?  If they do decide to stay I think they may have the biggest impact on the 7th Congressional District and favor Dr. Woody Myers since he’s had the biggest media presence of the major candidates.

“MILLER” LITE GOV?

With all the attention on the two major parties I have to take a second to talk about the Libertarians.  They are having their nominating convention this weekend and there’s word they may nominate Brad Klopfenstein, executive director of the Indiana Licensed Beverage Association and occasional fill-in host on my morning radio show, as their candidate for Lt. Governor.

IS THE HONEYMOON ALMOST OVER?

Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard and City-County Council Republicans may be getting ready for the first real fight of their new relationship.  My sources tell me that a lot of Republicans aren’t crazy about the Mayor’s plan to expand the search for a new fire chief outside of IFD.  Stay tuned.

A WALKING WORK OF ART

Special thanks to the folks at the Indianapolis Museum of Art for having me participate in Saturday’s Procession Art Parade.  I was “The Lone Blogger.” I marched in the parade down Virgina Avenue to Fountain Square.   It was a lot of fun and the crowd was great.  I also found out a lot more people read this thing than I originally thought. Once I get the photos, I’ll post them.   Thanks again, IMA.