The Outstater
“A conservative is someone who stands athwart history, yelling, ‘Stop,’ at a time when no one is inclined to do so, or to have much patience with those who so urge it.” ― William F. Buckley
Assessing the Next Indy Mayor
AS INDIANAPOLIS SLIDES into progressivism, the way to think about Democrats is not what candidates stand for but what they stand against. We once had Henry “Scoop” Jackson, who, despite being a staunch supporter of labor, could be depended upon to oppose Communism. And of course there was John F. Kennedy, a machine Democrat who understood the supply-side mechanics of the American economy.
Yes, that was long ago. Today, given a moribund local GOP and unconscious Indy newsrooms, which one of the Democrat candidates for Indianapolis mayor will stand against Mamdani-style rule?
Assuming that Joe Hogsett retires, there is nothing to indicate that the leading candidate, the comely Andrea Hunley, will raise so much as a quibble against Mamdanism. At best, she is a quasi-black version of Abigail D. Spanberger, the Virginia governor who campaigned like a school marm and is governing like a Nazi. And Indianapolis City-County Councilor Vop Osili or unionist David Bride are just different paths to the same oblivion.
So Hunley it is. A more pleasant woman you will not meet. What could go wrong?
First off, the demographics don’t promise mitigation of the blue-city blueprint. As we have noted here before, both the black and muslim populations of Indianapolis, now joined by an influx of assorted immigrants, are sizable and led by radical elements. If you want to know what I mean by “radical,” check out Andre Carson’s voting record in Washington.
However charming the disposition of Hunley, a former secondary school principal, she will be under serious pressure from a Mamdanian wing here. Be reminded that a Gallup poll last year found that fully 66 percent of rank-and-file Democrats have a positive image of socialism.
No, you say, not our Indy, not our Nap Town, not the home of the gormless but lovable Dick Lugar. And now we will have municipal grocery stores? “Free” city busses? Exodus-driving property taxes? Store-closing minimum wages? Rent freezes and housing shortages? Homeless encampments? Muslim calls to prayer? Militant public-sector unions? Fiscal collapse? Police retreat?
We hope we’re wrong. But again, who stands in the way? My colleague at the next desk thinks our best chance is that the situation in New York City becomes so miserable even the media becomes concerned.
Anyway, while you are thinking all that over, there is a pertinent article by William Voegeli in the current issue of the Claremont Review of Books, “Night of the Living Woke: The Democratic Party’s Center Cannot Hold.” As the title suggests, it is not optimistic.
Voegeli predicts that no matter how deep the potholes or how high the property taxes Democrats cannot “escape the vise grip of progressive primary voters.” In American cities he sees intra-Democratic victories such as those of Mamdani as increasingly to be the rule rather than the exception. An excerpt:
“The only true principle of the modern Democratic Party is that it is on the right side of history. This, after all, is progressivism distilled to its essence. But because moderates believe this vaguely, while leftists believe it fervently, it is nearly impossible for the former to induce the latter to be patient and restrained. Since believing oneself to be on the right side of history is unfalsifiable, the fervent view any setback as temporary, a speed bump on the social justice highway. To concede anything more is not prudence but cowardice, shameful pandering to the bigoted, reactionary forces that progressivism exists to discredit and defeat.”
The takeaway? If you own property in Indianapolis, reassess your portfolio regularly these next few election cycles. — tcl
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