Mark Leyva and The Definition of Insanity

Since the Northwest Indiana Patriots have hit rock bottom, it was brought to my attention that it was unsporting of me to continue kicking them while they were down, near death, and quickly fading back to ashes and dust.

So let us shift focus to something that actually DOES matter: the race for US Congress here in Northwest Indiana.

Albert Einstein said that the definition of insanity is "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

So does that make Mark Leyva insane, or is it a statement about the people who voted for him?

Regardless of how Democratic this area is, Pete Visclosky should be one of the most vulnerable Democrats in the country right now. Seriously, Visclosky is in so much hot water legally that the RNCC should be funneling millions of dollars to our Congressional District with the goal of making him the national characture of the Democrat ass. In other words, a strong Republican candidate here could have very positive effects across the country for the GOP come November.

The problem is that instead of a strong candidate, we've got Mark Leyva... again. This is really a shame because we had a few good candidates and fresh faces in the primary. Unfortunately, they failed to communicate, drop out, and rally around one or two of these candidates. I'll let you debate the reasons for that.

What's important is that Mark is our candidate now and nobody in Washington, Indianapolis, or Northwest Indiana is taking him seriously. It's his own fault, too. With a few radical exceptions out there, very few people who know anything about him even think he's worth taking seriously. In the southern part of the state, former Representative Mike Sodrel (R-IN9) lost this year's primary after failing to win his seat in 2002, 2006, and 2008. The people down there were ready to move on.

Here? Is anybody still counting the number of times Mark Leyva has run against Pete? Sodrel had the experience of one win, which is why he won the nomination again in 2008 despite a 33% record of victory. Sodrel also had a college degree, military experience, and a family business - all things that Leyva lacks. Yet, he continues to run, get nominated, and embarrass the Republican Party. This year, he proudly announces that he has filed for bankruptcy on his campaign website. Not only does he use this to compare himself to President Lincoln, but he also argues that he'll be fiscally responsible in Washington.

Here's an idea. If he really wants to be like Lincoln, why doesn't he go off and join some upstart political party so that the GOP doesn't have to worry about tripping over all the baggage he brings to the top of the regional ticket?

And before you leave a comment about your observation of me kicking Mark while he's down, allow me to admit that you're right. It's unsporting of me to kick Mark while he's down. The difference is that NWIPs are smart enough to see that they're down (they can't even fill a room at a public library). Mark Leyva still thinks he has a chance.

It's a shame that we conservatives have missed this golden opportunity in 2010 to make major inroads in Democratic strongholds. Hopefully the fallout from Petegate will continue through 2012 to give us another chance. Hopefully, we'll have the common sense enough to nominate someone different to take advantage of it in a couple years.