Indiana Senate race - Stutzman gets applause, Coats gets outed

ERICK ERICKSON SAYS:

The beat goes on folks.

Jim DeMint is coming out for Marlin Stutzman. This comes on the heels of Dave Keene of the American Conservative Union and Mark Levin. Conservatives are rallying to the Indiana state senator.

Here’s the thing: this endorsement puts Jim DeMint out on a limb and really at odds with his colleagues in the U.S. Senate Republican Conference, particularly coming on the heels of his support for Ken Buck in Colorado.

Helping get Marlin Stutzman elected now has a lot to do with sticking up for Jim DeMint. He is going to bat for real conservatives. His record proves it. We need to stand up with Jim DeMint.

Go Marlin.

CONSIDER GIVING THROUGH THE SENATE CONSERVATIVES FUND WEBSITE SO JIM DEMINT KNOWS YOU SUPPORT HIM IN THIS.

It has been more than a decade since Dan Coats left the United States Senate representing Indiana and moved to North Carolina to take up lobbying.

I’m finding in my conversations with people that many remember a different Dan Coats than who was actually there. The pro-life Senator was squishy on a lot of other things. In fact, Dan Coats is pretty bad on gun rights and recently renounced some of his old positions, while still trying to defend them with language used by Barack Obama on gang violence.

But what about a pretty good measure of those issues on which Dan Coats was bad to remind people of Indiana that they have a real choice and Marlin Stutzman really is to the right of Coats? It’s not a measure of the man, but of his votes — we all accept he is a fine man and a social conservative. But those are rarely the votes that matter these days.

Republicans think if they vote pro-life we’ll give them a pass on everything else. But we can’t. So what of Dan Coats on all the other issues?

Dick Lugar, Indiana’s other Republican senator is widely seen as a moderate — one of those centrist Republicans beloved by the Washington media. So how does Dan Coats stack up against Dick Lugar?

They served together in the Senate. How about this record I’ve got together on their votes? You might be stunned. From nuclear energy to federal regulation to taxes, Coats is to the left of Dick Lugar.

Think about that then think about supporting Marlin Stutzman. Remember, it is not enough that we restore the GOP to power if we don’t change the nature of the GOP.

The chart is below the fold. We’ll see if Indiana really remembers the man who left in Evan Bayh’s care so he could move to North Carolina.




Vote Description

Coats

Lugar

Date

Vote #

Mandate that all banks have Check cashing service for Govt checks

Yes

No

6/27/1990

130

Expand Clean Air Act Mandates

Yes

No

3/21/1990

37

Mandate taxpayer funded benefits for laid-off auto workers

Yes

No

9/24/1990

246

Cut Funding for MX Missile Program.

Yes

No

9/26/1991

208

Mandate that employers provide 12 weeks of family and medical leave.

Yes

No

10/2/1991

215

Allow employers to provide family and medical leave in a more flexible manner

No

Yes

10/2/1991

216

Bail out pensions when companies default on pension obligations.

Yes

No

11/19/1991

257

Federal Regulation of Cable Television industry

Yes

No

1/31/1992

14

Federal Regulation of natural gas pipeline rates

Yes

No

2/19/1992

22

Pro-growth tax cuts.

No

Yes

3/11/1992

39

Eliminate the 20% state matching requirement for transportation programs.

Yes

No

5/20/1992

101

Federal Regulation of Cable Television Industry

Yes

No

2/19/1992

22

$1B in social welfare spending and CDBG Grants

Yes

No

7/2/1992

146

Federally Mandated Family and Medical Leave Veto override

Yes

No

9/24/1992

232

Federal Regulation of Cable Television Industry Veto override

Yes

No

10/5/1992

264

Tax incentives for employers who provide family and medical leave.

No

Yes

2/3/1993

1

Allow employers to provide family medical leave as part of cafeteria plans

No

Yes

2/3/1993

4

Federally Mandated Family and Medical Leave

Yes

No

2/4/1993

11

Increase statute of limitations for lawsuits by RTC

Yes

No

5/13/1993

119

Defund unauthorized earmarks

No

Yes

7/29/1993

226

Cancel the Space Station

Yes

No

9/21/1993

272

Prohibit the death penalty for any crime committed by someone under 18

Yes

No

11/8/1993

358

Federal crime against carjacking

No

Yes

11/9/1993

361

Mandatory sentences for using firearms in commission of drug or violent crime

No

Yes

11/9/1993

362

Habeas Corpus Reform

No

Yes

11/17/1993

374

Expand Federal spending on unemployment benefits with phony offsets.

Yes

No

11/20/1993

392

Bankruptcy Reform.

No

Yes

4/20/1994

95

Offshore Drilling

No

Yes

5/18/1994

120

Mandatory minimums for violent crimes with guns and death penalty for murderers.

No

Yes

5/19/1994

126

To provide military retirees the same COLA made available to civilian retirees.

No

Yes

7/1/1994

182

Require payment of fair market value for mining patents.

No

Yes

8/8/1995

372

Allow seniors to choose their own doctor under Medicare.

No

Yes

10/26/1995

508

Increase taxes on hardrock mining.

Yes

No

10/27/1995

540

Nuclear Power

No

Yes

7/16/1996

193

Condition repeal of Cuba Sanctions upon a Democratically elected govt in Cuba

No

Yes

4/30/1996

91

Repeal Davis Bacon wage mandates

No

Yes

5/22/1996

134

Nuclear Power

No

Yes

7/31/1996

259

Increase grazing fees on Federal lands.

Yes

No

9/17/1996

291

Nuclear Power

No

Yes

4/10/1997

36

Nuclear Power

No

Yes

4/15/1997

42

Alexis Herman to be Secretary of Labor in Clinton Admin

Yes

No

4/30/1997

54

Allow state and local control of discipline in schools.

No

Yes

5/14/1997

64

Increase taxes on hardrock mining.

Yes

No

6/26/1997

131

Increase taxes on mining certain substances.

Yes

No

6/27/1997

158

5% increase in taxes on mining.

Yes

No

9/18/1997

249

Require a frivolous taxpayer funded study of former welfare recipients for the purpose of proving welfare reform was unfair. (Coats was the only Republican to vote yes)

Yes

No

3/3/1998

19

Personal retirement accounts in Social Security.

No

Yes

4/1/1998

56

Increase funding for Juvenile law enforcement and detention by reducing juvenile delinquency “prevention” programs.

No

Yes

7/22/1998

220

Make it a Federal crime to tape a phone call unless all parties gave prior consent

Yes

No

7/22/1998

225

Prohibit paying court appointed defense attorneys in capital cases more than defense attorneys in such cases

No

Yes

7/23/1998

230

Increase taxes on hardrock mining

Yes

No

9/15/1998

268

Ban credit cards for individuals under 21 (unless parents assumed liability)

Yes

No

9/17/1998

274