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MATTHEW TULLY

Tully: The sad state of the Indiana Democratic Party

Matthew Tully

If U.S. Rep. Todd Young didn’t collect enough signatures to run in the May 3 Republican Senate primary, that’s his fault. We’ll see what happens, but rules are rules, and details are details. If he screwed up — and that is up for debate — it’s game over. I have no problem with that.

But I also will say this, then sit back and prepare for the wrath of the partisans: This scuffle over whether Young collected the 500 petition signatures needed from each of Indiana’s nine congressional districts, or whether he fell three signatures short in one of them, has once again exposed just how little the Indiana Democratic Party has to offer.

Seriously, this is your grand strategy to win a U.S. Senate seat? To go around desperately looking for ways to avoid a faceoff with a candidate who scares you? To look for little missteps at a time when voters have made clear they are desperate for big leadership?

Yes, folks, that is your Indiana Democratic Party.

They might win a battle here and there with this strategy. But when it comes to the big picture, all the intellectually bankrupt party is doing is reminding of us how much it has lacked in big ideas, or any ideas, for years.

Don’t get me wrong: The Democratic political bosses have every right to challenge Young in this way — kind of like a police officer who lurks in the shadows and then chases you down for going a whole 3 mph over the speed limit. And, as I said, if Young fell short on the petition front, he’ll have nobody to blame but himself and his campaign. It will have been, as Senate President David Long put it, “one of the most colossal mistakes” imaginable.

But, my goodness, if anything could do more to show just how vacant and scared the Indiana Democratic Party is, and how it lacks any true identity or vision, it’s a soap opera like this. One in which it has inserted itself into a Republican primary because its knees are so shaky nine months before Election Day.

Of course, Democratic Chairman John Zody has insisted the challenge is based on a deep concern about candidate eligibility rules. Baloney.

This is about one thing only: A party that doesn’t trust its Senate candidate, former Rep. Baron Hill, to effectively compete against Todd Young in a general election. This effort is based on the cynical hope that it can knock Young out on a rules violation. That would pave the way for the nomination of Republican Rep. Marlin Stutzman, who veers more to the right than Young and, in the Democratic Party’s opinion, would be easier competition in the fall.

I wrote on Twitter on Wednesday that the legal maneuver looked petty. Then I heard for hours and hours from the same Democratic Party echo-chamber insiders who trash me every time I dare question their tired tactics. But here’s the thing: It does look petty. It looks like you’d rather fight about something as small as whether Young fell three signatures short in Northwest Indiana, after collecting roughly 5,000 signatures statewide, than about real issues.

While those insiders insisted this was simply about the rules, don’t tell me they would have fought to get Stutzman off the ballot if his petitions had been those in question. This is an effort to make sure voters in November don’t have a choice, in Young, that Democrats fear would be more attractive to moderates and independents.

How's that for inspiring? The Indiana Democratic Party actually wants to increase the odds that the tea party-backed candidate, Stutzman, will be the next U.S. senator from Indiana. Desperation is an ugly thing that makes you do strange things.

Two more thoughts:

First, if you want to understand why so many voters are so utterly sick of establishment politics, it is because of stuff like this. Yes, both parties play games. But if you’re one of those workers at Carrier who just found out your job is being shipped to Mexico; or if you’re one of those moms whose child has been gripped by heroin addiction; or if you’re one of those voters deeply concerned about national security, please tell me how impressed you are that one of the state’s major parties is spending its time trying to rid the other party’s primary voters of choices.

Second, while both parties indeed play games, I’ve been struck time and again by the particular nastiness and shrill no-holds-barred mentality of some on the Indiana Democratic Party’s team. They feel the need to bring machine guns to fistfights, and to swing as hard as possible at every pitch.

On Wednesday, the party blasted incoming Republican Lt. Gov. Eric Holcomb for what was a very mainstream position he took on gay rights 16 years ago. It was a comically inept attack from the Democrats, as it raised questions about the even more troublesome history on gay rights of their gubernatorial candidate, John Gregg.

It really is time for the Indiana Democratic Party to grow up. Our state needs ideas and hard-fought debates, not more pettiness.

A final point: I’ve said all this as someone who leans left on a majority of issues, who has never voted for a Republican presidential candidate, who has repeatedly criticized Republican Gov. Mike Pence, and who generally thinks Democratic policies offer a better path forward for the country.

Plenty of Democrats in Indiana are doing good work, and many Democratic candidates are worth supporting. Problem is, their state party sure makes it hard to root for them.

Republicans eye updating law that imperils Todd Young campaign

You can reach me at matthew.tully@indystar.com and on Twitter: @matthewltully.