Gubernatorial Debate

I do care about politics. I just began caring about this in the last two years after ignoring the entire process my entire life. I have spent lots of time reading, learning and listening to the presidential elections debates and not any time on the gubernatorial candidates. So tonight was the first time that I have invested any time in the local elections. I just finished watching the first of three gubernatorial debates in Indiana between Mitch Daniels (Republican Candidate) , Jill Long Thompson (Democratic Candidate) and Andrew Horning (Libertarian Candidate). I enjoyed watching it...when I first turned on the TV I thought I might just get through the first 20 minutes before I was bored and had to watch something else. I was presently surprised at how entertained I was.

Andrew Horning was very funny and he was able to interject humor into the debate by pointing out what most people are thinking. I really liked him after tonight’s debate and I am going to spend more time learning about him and his policies. I did not like Jill Long Thompson. She made several comments with disdain about the privatization of government holdings, including the Indiana toll road. She seemed to be for big government and the policies that she was in favor for would cost Indiana lots of tax dollars. I am not sure Mitch Daniels is much better with his idea of giving every Indiana the equivalent of two years free tuition at Ivy Tech. I don't believe it is the State Governments place to pay for higher education. Many socialist foreign countries (Germany) are moving away from that policy because it doesn't work and costs the tax payers too much money.

Both Daniels and Horning are in favor of doing away with the school book rental fee but did not propose a way to pay for this change. Daniels did mention that 41 out of the 50 states do not have book rental fees in grades K-12. They also had a long discussion on the virtues and evils of daylight savings time. Thompson wants to change it again to make the entire state on one system, Daniels likes it the way it is and Horning wants to do away with it completely. I like DST and enjoy it being daylight in the summer until 10pm, but I understand that most parents with small children struggle with it because the babies just don't want to go to bed.

There will be another debate next Tuesday. I am excited to learn more so I can make an informed decision in November. If only Election Day was a national holiday.

Candy