A Note of Clarification...and an Open Letter to JLT

...to my knowledge, no offer for the LG slot was made to either Jonathon Weinzapfel or John Gregg. They just put down public speculation about whether they WOULD take the offer by withdrawing themselves from consideration.

I say this because JLT was NOT rebuffed by anybody in the way that, say, Governor Daniels was by the delegates who ignored his plea to select Bob Costas, the talk-show host sponsoring, marathoning mayor of Valpo, for Attorney General.

Having said that, Channel 6 reports today that "a campaign source" confirms that JLT has a running mate. She just won't tell us who it is until "closer to" the Democratic convention next Friday.

Now for my letter:

Ms. Long-Thompson (may I call you JLT?):

Waiting to announce your running mate is curious. You can get press NOW on a traveling tour instead of letting Daniels own both paid AND earned media for another two weeks. In addition, you can send out your LG to campaign, too, just like Mitch does with LG Skillman. If you make the announcement now, you also avoid walking on your own press at convention time by having to split the story limelight. The story will NOT be exclusively "here's JLT's message," it will be "here's JLT's running mate." Finally, if you have a "surprise unveiling," what if the delegates don't like your choice? Do you know how embarrassing it's going to be to have boo's on the convention floor? At least if you tell people now, you can put the word out to treat his/her introduction like the second coming.

You know factories are closing every day and that's pain the Governor can't make disappear with $20 million in TV ads. But you've got to give people an option. That takes dollars, and earned media drives fundraising. Yet I can't find a single story about you in any of the 20 major dailies over the past two weeks. Not one. Well, excluding today when a paper in your STRONGEST area (Fort Wayne) made you look bad for not already having a running mate. In contrast, Governor Daniels has averaged 2-3 stories PER DAY and each touches a different "media market." No, you'll never get the reception of a sitting Governor, but you can get SOME coverage.

I don't know if you ever watched The West Wing, but one of my favorite episodes has a conversation between President Bartlett (Martin Sheen) and his chief-of-staff, Leo McGarry (played by the late John Spencer) that goes like this:

The President to Leo: "...you said, 'Jed, let's run for President,' and I said 'Why?' and you said, 'So you can open your mouth and say what you think'...where did that part go, Leo?

Leo: "You tell me, Mr. President. I don't see a shortage of cameras and microphones around here. What the hell were you waiting for?. . . These people who would walk into fire if you told them to...everyone's waiting for you. I don't know how much longer."

JLT, there are cameras and mics everywhere wanting to hear from you, and there are Democrats who are waiting to help you. Just like me. But at some point, they're going to stop. The longer you wait to engage, the harder this becomes. Wallets are closing and enthusiasm is waning. I am generally not one of these people who plays coy about who I support, so I'll tell you point blank, "I supported Jim Schellinger." But (listen to this closely) I WANT YOU as my Governor. Yes, YOU. Not Mitch Daniels.

If you lose, it will sadden me and be tragic. This is an ideal year for retaking the Governor's Office. But if you don't run a strong enough campaign to exhaust Daniels' money supply, Daniels will have plenty left over to dole out in all the other statewide races AND in the Indiana General Assembly races. Part of leadership is handling pressure, so I don't mind telling you that if you don't ramp up immediately, you could inadvertently wipe out the Republican Party wipeout that should occur in November.

I'm praying you called State Representative Trent Van Haaften today with some good news and told him to get on his running shoes.

Chris Worden

A Note of Clarification...and an Open Letter to JLT