Most political observers seem to have concluded that longtime Indiana Senate President Pro Tem Robert Garton lost in the primary mostly because he was an entrenched incument who thought he could get away with supporting outrageously generous perks for legislators. The possible effect of the highly organized effort of right-to-life forces for Garton's opponent, Greg Walker, is downplayed. Nationally known columnist David Broder thinks so little of those activists that he does not even mention them.
Think about it: An issue requiring individual voters to hold on to their discontent and remember to take it with them into the voting booth is given more weight than a get-out-the-vote effort by passionate people who have demonstrated time and again they they care enough about this one issue to make it matter in elections.
If you focus on the wrong dynamics, you are likely to learn the wrong lesson. Broder brings up the Indiana case only to springboard to his real point, which is the electorate's search for "authenticity" in presidential candidates:
The voters can sniff hypocrisy and spot what is synthetic about a candidate. They also can accept disagreement with a politician's policy views if they believe he is genuine in his convictions.
Yes, up to a point. But positions matter, the issues matter, philosophy and core beliefs matter. If John McCain, mentioned almost lovingly in the Broder piece, ends up being the Republican candidate, his reputation as a "straight shooter" will carry him only so far. As election day draws closer, voters will start thinking about what he's actually shooting at and what he might hit.
