Indiana congressman Dan Burton has been in office for 14 terms.
Even as a total crackpot advocating for things such as the death penalty for drug addicts (*before* his own son was arrested for growing 30 marijuana plants and illegal possession of a shotgun, charges which up and vanished.*), and missing key votes including the Iraq war reauthorization bill in 2007 because he was out on a golfing outing sponsored by drug company lobbyists, Dan Burton has always had an unassailable lead over even less corrupt Republicans trying to take his seat.
*source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Burton#Controversies
(Though to be honest, with the record of the comparatively few votes he hasn’t been AWOL on, he’s probably better serving the American people and the Hoosiers that elected him to Congress better on the golf course)
So this article mentioning Republicans contesting Burton for his seat in Congress in the primary next year may persuade me to vote as a Republican in the “open primary” just to try to make sure that if we do get another Republican (this is a pretty hick area of a fairly hick state, so that’s likely), at least it won’t be him.
So if you live in Indiana Congressional District 5 (which includes Fort Wayne, Huntington, Marion, Kokomo, and juts south clear past the east side of Indianapolis I believe.), you may want to vote as a Republican for this seat in 2010 for one of Burton’s contenders.
There’s virtually no chance of taking that seat for the Democrats, so we should at least try to get a slightly more reasonable Republican elected. Failing that I suppose we could just drop him off at the “coast of Bolivia”. *grin*
The four candidates share a common purpose: Get rid of Burton. After 28 years in Congress, a mediocre legislative record, a tarnished personal past and mockable leadership history, Burton should be retired, the candidates contend, albeit not in such stark terms. Presumably, they agree with the Indianapolis Star’s editorial board, which called on Burton to take his congressional pension and go home .
The Star said Burton offers his constituents naught but “a record of self-serving, sometimes bizarre behavior that has drawn national negative press and cost the veteran lawmaker in terms of party favor and committee assignments. Antics such as the missed votes to play golf in 2007 and the ‘no’ vote on a House ethics bill that passed 430-1 are now legend.”
