2018 Midterms: The Senate’s Most Vulnerable Democrat

Republicans are seeking to unseat an incumbent Democrat in a state Donald Trump won by 19 points.

Joe Donnelly opposed confirmation of Trump Cabinet nominees Betsy DeVos (Education Secretary), Tom Price (Health & Human Services Secretary), Rex Tillerson (Secretary of State), Jeff Sessions (Attorney General) and Steve Mnuchin (Treasury Secretary) and Scott Pruitt (EPA Administrator).

The week before Christmas Donnelly voted against the GOP tax reform bill calling it a “partisan tax hike on Indiana’s middle class” that “does nothing to prevent outsourcing of U.S. jobs to foreign countries, and it’s a giveaway to Wall Street and other big money interests.”

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act significantly lowers the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%, doubles the standard deduction and doubles the per child tax credit.  When Donnelly cast his “No” vote he put his Party before the people of the Hoosier State.

Data-driven analyses from three separate nonpartisan organizations: The Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT), which is an official Congressional scorekeeper, the Tax Foundation (which leans to the right), and the Tax Policy Center or TPC, (which leans to the left) all agreed the GOP proposal would, on average, reduce the tax burdens of every income group in America.

In September when President Trump flew to the Indiana State Fairgrounds to rollout his tax reform bill he had Donnelly onboard Air Force One.  President Trump promised in front of the audience that unless Joe voted for tax reform, “We will come here, we will campaign against him like you wouldn’t believe.”

In October 2017, the nonpartisan Center for Effective Lawmaking, run by the University of Virginia and Vanderbilt, tagged Donnelly as the least effective Democrat in the U.S. Senate. Based on 15 different measures, from number of bills sponsored to number of bills becoming law, the center found that Donnelly was ineffectual at getting his bills through committee, let alone to floor votes.

Instead of acknowledging Obamacare has never worked, that Americans were lied to by Pelosi, Schumer, Sanders and The World’s Most Dangerous Community Organizer about costs and options and results, Senator Donnelly continues to insist Obamacare can be "fixed."

Donnelly earned the nickname “Mexico Joe” when a business linked to his family, Stewart Superior Corporation, profited from outsourcing jobs to Mexico.  According to a May 2017 financial disclosure form, he owned $50,000 in stocks which he sold shortly after The Associated Press published the story.

Primary elections in Indiana will be held on May 8, 2018 to determine which Democratic candidate and which Republican candidate will advance to the November 6 general election.  Before the May primary however, the Indiana Republican Party will host their first election year appearance of GOP senate candidates and conduct a grassroots Straw Poll on January 13, 2018 at the Congress of Counties in downtown Indianapolis.

“Our U.S. Senate straw poll will provide political watchers with the first grassroots barometer to measure early support in this high-profile, statewide race that has national implications. While our Republican candidates are supporting solutions to our nation’s biggest challenges, such as taxes and health care, Democrat Joe Donnelly stands as a roadblock alongside Chuck Schumer and his Democrat party bosses. I am confident that our eventual Republican Party nominee will defeat Democrat Donnelly next November─and events like this will help Hoosiers determine who that candidate will be,” said Chairman Kyle Hupfer.

Confirmed candidates for this special joint appearance are former State Rep. Mike Braun (R-Jasper), Mark Hurt (R-Kokomo), Congressman Luke Messer (R-Greensburg) and Andrew Takami (R-New Albany). Congressman Todd Rokita (R-Brownsburg) is also invited to attend and participate.

Register to participate in the straw poll and attend Congress of Counties here: http://www.indiana.gop/congressofcounties

If you're going to fight, fight like you're the third monkey on the ramp to Noah's Ark.

And brother, it's starting to rain.

— Schadenfreudelish (@aggierican) November 28, 2016