Gov. Mitch Daniels' new book has passages bashing a part of the state I'm very familiar with:
But Daniels uses a few pages to take aim at Northwest Indiana, a region that has a decades-long loyalty to the Democratic Party. In one passage, Daniels writes about his futile attempt to make inroads in the region by bringing jobs.
“Culturally close to Chicago in both economics and politics, and with a reputation for governmental corruption and labor union aggression, our northwest corner is a place employers are more likely to flee than invest in,” Daniels writes.
This has brought a sharp rebuke from a not-unexpected source:
Democratic gubernatorial candidate John Gregg lashed back at Daniels' comments Tuesday. The former speaker of the Indiana House of Representatives called Daniels' comments divisive.
I've also seen in another story that Gregg says the governor was showing disrespect for The Region and should not pit one area of the state against the others.
Well, no disrespect, but . . . I lived in The Region for eight years, and it is heavily influenced by the Chicago Way, which is, well, corrupt. I love that part of the state for a lot of reasons, but good, clean government is not one of them.
On the other hand, northwest Indiana residents already feel like outcasts, even more disrespected by Indianapolis than northeast Indiana residents, believe it or not. So this is not a good move to make them feel good about the state, let along influence them in any meaningful way. It's definitely the kind of thing a lame duck governor would put in a book, not something a gubernatorial candidate would ever say about any part of the state. If Mr. Gregg should win, then he can be truthful.
