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BLOOMINGTON – The third and final gubernatorial debate took on a different tone in more ways than one as the participants gathered around a table Tim Russert-style and answered some unconventional questions about integrity and character.
About 1,000 Hoosiers listened to Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels, Democrat Jill Long Thompson and Libertarian Andy Horning during the 60-minute debate at Indiana University in Bloomington.
One of the more poignant moments of the night came when Daniels answered a question about the biggest defeat, loss or setback in his life.
"I made a big mistake when I was in college and I spent a night in jail. I paid the price for that," Daniels said, recalling his 1970 marijuana arrest at Princeton University in New Jersey.
Daniels was arrested along with two others after a five-month investigation. Eventually, he pleaded guilty to a disorderly person charge stemming from his use of marijuana. He was fined $350, and prosecutors dismissed other charges.
He noted the worst part was facing his father and then telling prospective employers about it in the years to come. In fact, he said his first real job – working on Dick Lugar’s mayoral re-election campaign – only happened because he volunteered the truth when the interviewer made a joke about running afoul of the law.
"The single worst mistake I made turned into a positive lesson about telling the truth, being up front," Daniels said.
On that same question, Long Thompson talked about her family nearly losing the family farm in Whitley County during the 1980s farm crisis. And Horning talked about how he was "basically an idiot" until he found Christ when he was 31.
Long Thompson has been struggling in recent weeks to connect with voters. Her television commercials have been off the air for a month and her attempts to vilify Daniels’ for his use of state aircraft never gained momentum.
What has kept her close at all – at least in several statewide polls conducted by media outlets – is likely the souring economy and Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama’s growing presence in Indiana.
Long Thompson generally had trouble keeping her answers to the time limit and sometimes moderator Tom Cochrun – who consistently called the candidates by their first name – gave Daniels extra time to rebut when she wandered off topic.
For instance, she segued awkwardly from her answer about saving the family farm into a critique of the governor’s economic performance.
At that point Daniels corrected her, saying "Where is Sgt. Friday when you need him? Just the facts ma’am."
He said Indiana’s unemployment rate has not gone up two percentage points as she claimed. According to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, when Daniels took over in January 2005, the rate was 5.6 percent and as of August had grown to 6.4 percent.
But it has jumped two points since January of this year when it was at 4.5 percent.
Daniels also had the funniest moment of the night when the moderator forced the three candidates to rate the legislative system and performance of the Indiana legislature on a scale of 1 to 10.
"7.628," he said, chuckling in his chair.
Daniels is seeking his second term in office after beating then-Gov. Joe Kernan in 2004. During his first campaign he traveled the state in an RV and alternately laid out dozens of plans for the state while attacking 16 years of Democratic control.
With "change" as an election-year buzzword, Daniels has pointed out that he embraced the word years ago.
His accomplishments include moving Indiana to daylight saving time; improving the state’s child welfare agency; leasing the Indiana Toll Road to pay for years of road construction; balancing the state budget, cutting property taxes and implementing a new health insurance program for low-to-moderate-income Hoosiers.
But he hasn’t been shy about raising taxes for some of his programs, from a special fireworks tax to the state cigarette and sales taxes.
Daniels said Lugar was the biggest influence in his life aside from his parents, while Long Thompson pointed to her immediate family.
"The influence that has been most significant is the value of hard work and integrity and working to make a difference," Long Thompson said. "The world is not about me – it’s about what I can give to my community."
Afterward, she said she called the questions interesting and said she thought the questions were designed to show Hoosiers how they would make decisions.
Daniels termed them fair but different – "I’m not really an introspective person. I don’t spend a lot of time soul searching and thinking about things like this. It’s not a bad idea to be forced to think about things that aren’t in your general contemplation."
The only truly new item in the debate was when Long Thompson criticized the fact the state has allegedly invested nearly $1 billion of the proceeds from the Indiana Toll Road lease in either junk bonds or Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae mortgage-backed securities.
She had no information on whether Indiana has taken a financial hit and laid the blame on Daniels despite the fact that Republican State Treasurer Richard Mourdock is in charge of investing public dollars.
"These are risky investments…and we shouldn’t jeopardize public dollars," Long Thompson said in a news conference after the debate. She is set to give more details on the subject today.
Daniels dismissed the criticism, saying she didn’t understand basic governmental structure for who is in charge of the money.
"I thought eventually we might see a kinder gentler you but I guess it’s not in the cards," he said to Long Thompson during her attack on this subject.
