Matt Kelty's Motion to Dismiss is Denied

As expected the judge denied Kelty's motion to dismiss - I doubt this was a real shock to anybody. Dan Turkette of Fort Wayne News was in the courthouse and you can read his coverage here.

According to Turkette the trial date was set for Aug 18 in order to give the defense time to appeal the judge's ruling. Seems like a waste of time and money to me - money Kelty surely doesn't have at this point...

Why the Republican Establishment Can't Stand Huckabee

I had a 12 hour drive the other day through the Midwest and so about the only thing on AM radio was conservative talk radio. I can't say that it's my favorite programming but Rush Limbaugh was on so I decided to listen in for a while. The whole time I was listening Rush was attacking Iowa's Republican caucus winner Mike Huckabee and the idea of populism in general. From what I could tell Rush didn't seem to like Huckabee because he wasn't a "true conservative", and if you pay attention you'll hear this a lot from the Republican establishment.

Like I said, I had some free time, so I decided to think about the current crop of Republican candidates and why the establishment seems to view Huckabee with nothing but contempt. First things first, it definitely can't be because he's not conservative enough; I mean this is a field with Giuliani, Romney and McCain. But then I started to think about the philosophy behind conservatism and it hit me. The establishment doesn't like him because he threatens the status quo and will expose the "conservative" ideology for the farce that it is. Stay with me here.

For decades the elitist Wall Street conservatives have dominated the Republican party. They've been able to gain power by convincing social conservatives that their interests are aligned with the interests of the business elite. These elitists have used the social conservatives to further their financial agenda while paying lip service to social issues and fiscal conservatism. Social conservatives have been the machine behind the grassroots movement within the Republican party as they are the ones making phone calls, organizing rallies, stuffing envelopes, etc.

Despite all evidence to the contrary, social conservatives continued to vote Republican because the alternative was to support more socially liberal candidates. Regardless of how bad the fiscal and foreign policies became they continued to support the party. But all that changes with Huckabee - he's one of them. And he's telling them things they've known deep down for some time but just didn't dare express. He's telling them how "free market" and "free trade" policies aren't always the answer. He's telling them that our health care system is a disaster and getting worse.

His populist rhetoric is working and it scares the hell out of the establishment. Because once social conservatives realize they have been bamboozled by the current crop of elitist conservative cronies, they will seize their party leadership and begin to promote policies actually strengthen working class Americans. And where will the elite Wall Street robber barons go then? They are no longer welcome in the Democratic Party - I suppose their only hope would be a Hillary victory. Just watch how this debate shapes up, the elitists will decry populism as a divisive political ploy that pushes class warfare to further a political agenda. But what they won't tell you is that is exactly what they have been doing to social conservatives for decades.

And if all this sounds familiar it's because we're watching the same thing happen here in the Allen County Republican Party. Matt Kelty was an outsider that threatened the entrenched interests within the party. Instead of simply using the average Republican voter he vowed to give them a voice. He brought new people into the party and fought like hell to change the status quo. Now Kelty had his flaws (we all do) and ultimately they were his undoing but his message of change was powerful and it scared some people in his own party.

Now Huckabee is no Kelty as he's a seasoned politician who has been through the ringer a time or two. Some seem to be writing his Iowa victory off as anomaly but I'm not so sure. The populist wave is rising, even within the Republican Party, and those that choose not to ride it will likely be crushed...

Election Board Member Should Resign

Months ago during the Election Board's first hearing on Matt Kelty's campaign finance violations, board member David Wright informed all those in attendance that it would be his final hearing because he would be stepping down. Wright then went on to embarrass himself and the sully the board's credibility by not asking a single substantive question during the hearing. Readers might remember that I rightly chastised the board at that time.

It was a pathetic display all around. The two Republican board members (Therese Brown and David Wright) asked ONE question between the two of them and Bopp didn't directly answer a SINGLE QUESTION from Andy Downs' (D) list.

Now we find out that special prosecutor Dan Sigler feels the same way I do:

In his response to a motion to dismiss Kelty’s charges, Sigler, a Democrat, wrote that the Republicans asked only one question before the board voted to find no violation.

Sigler wrote that the board disregarded its power to question witnesses under oath and its power of subpoena.

“The board ignored its investigative powers and had an absolute minimum invested in examining the defendant (Kelty’s) violations,” he wrote.

By contrast, Sigler said the grand jury met for more than a week and interviewed 15 witnesses and examined thousands of pages of bank records, e-mail and other documents.

The Election Board should certainly be embarrassed by their handling of the Kelty complaint. Andy Downs was the only member of the board that took that hearing seriously and actually tried to get answers out of the Kelty campaign. While his approach was ineffective, it should be noted that he was completely stonewalled by Jim Bopp with the help of the other two board members.

Andy Downs, Democratic member of the board, said all of Sigler’s assertions were accurate, noting he thought he asked several good questions that weren’t answered by Kelty or his attorney, Jim Bopp.

“We didn’t push the issue very far,” Downs said.

Instead of owning up for abdicating his duties as Board Member David Wright continues to make excuses and they're simply unconvincing:

David Wright, Republican member of the board, said he still doesn’t believe Kelty broke campaign finance law and felt the board did everything it was supposed to do.

“What does he (Sigler) expect us to do?” he said. “It’s not a grand jury. We don’t go out and investigate.”

Well that's true I suppose - this board certainly didn't go out and investigate. But I have news for Wright, something he should obviously know as a member of the Election Board, he can investigate. In fact it's spelled out right there for him in the Indiana Code:

IC 3-9-4-13
Audits; investigations
Sec. 13. The election division and each county election board shall make audits and field investigations from time to time with respect to reports and statements filed under this article and with respect to an alleged failure to file a report or statement required under this article. The election division may request the state board of accounts to assist in the performance of audits the election division considers necessary, and the state board of accounts may perform the audits that are requested.

It's time for some changes...

Election Board Hearing Coverage

I won't be able to attend the Election Board hearing about the unreported contribution from Dan Turkette to the Kelty for Mayor campaign. It would be great if another blogger/citizen that was there would post their thoughts on what transpires. If you don't have your own blog then e-mail me your comments and I'll be happy to post them later tonight...

The meeting will take place at 3pm in the City-County Building in the Commissioner's Conference room. That's the meeting room directly atop the escalators. Here's the official meeting notice that describes what's going to take place.

New Kelty Charge? (Updated)

Rumor has it that Kelty may be facing a new charge with regards to his failure to file the proper paperwork related to a $1000 contribution from blogger Dan Turkette. Readers may remember that this violation was originally discovered and reported right here at FWL. I'll keep you posted...

UPDATE: There's no new charges but there will be an Election Board hearing on the matter this Friday according to a report from Indiana NewsCenter. Needless to say Election Board member Therese Brown did not sound very happy with the Kelty campaign. The report mentions that the board is going to determine whether it was a failure to file a report or a "late" filing. I've already weighed in on this before and I think calling this a late filing is a joke. He filed it five and a half months late and only after I reported it was missing.

UPDATE2: More from the JG. Lanka reports that the Election Board will at least try to define parameters that will distinguish a failure to file from a late filing. As Knuth mentioned in the comments the law doesn't do that, so the board is taking a step in the right direction by trying to clarify this for future filings...

News Summary

I was out of town all day today and so, as you can see, there wasn't much posting going on. However there were a few things I wanted to mention.

1. WBOI had a great two part story about the local blogosphere. When I was interviewed for the story I was unsure which direction they were going to go but I must say that I'm impressed. Anyone that was unfamiliar with blogs would have a much better sense of what they're all about after listening to this story. So a big thank you to Don Clemmer and Jeanette Dillon for doing this story.



2. Thanks to Steve Shine for plugging our New Media, New Rules upcoming panel discussion on WOWO this morning.



3. Special prosecutor Dan Sigler rightfully lashed out at Matt Kelty this morning and called him "completely untruthful". Of course this isn't news to me as I've been saying that for months. A nickel's worth of free advice to Kelty. Pissing off the special prosecutor by making personal attacks claiming he's "politically motivated" is probably not wise when you're facing multiple felonies. Is there anything this guy can't screw up? I was going to post Sigler's response but Dan Turkette already has the documents and they should go up sometime tomorrow



4. Sylvia Smith had several good articles about Senator Bayh's wife and her "career" as a full time corporate board member. It just shows that if you can't buy off a Senator you can always buy off their spouse.



5. I see councilman Tom Didier is considering the idea of not rolling back the smoking ban. I know Didier is ultimately against the ban but his rational is right on the money on this one.

Prosecutor Responds to Kelty Dismissal

According to the JG, special prosecutor Dan Sigler has filed a response to the Kelty legal team's motion to dismiss. Also, Sigler has requested that part of Kelty's grand jury testimony be released to the public. Sounds like he wants the public to see the context of Kelty's testimony related to the perjury charges.

If it's not available anywhere else by tomorrow (can't do it today) then I'll head down to the courthouse and post Sigler's response for anyone that wants to read it...

Election Night Interview with Dan Turkette

We met up with Dan and a few other Republicans at Columbia Street West. In the interview he talks about the Kelty loss, Steve Shine and the future of the Republican party, John Crawford and a possible Matt Kelty challenge of Mark Souder.


Dan Turkette from FWL on Vimeo.

Election Day 2007

Fred Rost Helped Destroy the Kelty Campaign

I couldn't help but laugh at Fred Rost's guest column at FortWayneNews. The man passes blame around to everybody except himself. The "differences" he lists between Kelty and Henry are full of half-truths and outright lies, and it's not even worth my time to rebut them as they are that ridiculous. However, I will say that from day one Fred Rost has unintentionally undermined the Kelty campaign. At the end of the day Rost's insistence on secrecy will be the undoing of Matt Kelty.

First he didn't want to admit he commissioned the Harrison Square poll, then he didn't mention anything about Willis, then the loan he gives shows up as coming from Kelty instead of from him. So Matt Kelty should ask himself - "Where would I be if not for Fred Rost?" I'm not sure he would've won the primary but he wouldn't be facing 22 years in jail and he wouldn't have the tarnished reputation he has now.

Kelty is ultimately responsible for the decisions he made but Rost certainly didn't make it easy. It's easy to use people, to let others do your work while hiding in the shadows, but that's not what a friend does. A friend stands beside you as march into the fire. A friend stands beside you when you get burned. A friend never passes the buck when he deserves his fair share of the blame.

With friends like Rost, Kelty doesn't need enemies...

The Matt Kelty Timeline

I put together this chronology of the Kelty campaign as a service to the readers of this site. If any of you are still undecided on who to vote for then please just read this timeline. Also, I'm sure there's a few items I've missed so if you notice something then post it in the comments and I'll add it...

October 10, 2006 - Matt Kelty declares he will run for mayor

January 18 - Kelty outraises Nelson Peters in the first campaign finance reporting period. The majority of his $171k raised comes from a "personal" $148k loan. When asked about this Kelty responds "How can I ask others to support me if I haven’t invested in myself?"

February 7 - Kelty runs a newspaper ad using the Indianapolis Colts trademark without permission

February 22 - Election board chastises Kelty campaign for sending out illegal absentee ballot forms

April 7 - Matt Kelty says 9000 residents were polled in Harrison Square poll - turns out it was only 401.

April 13 - Kelty says he doesn't know who all is involved in the commissioning of the Harrison Square poll but says they aren't directly involved in any campaigns. Of course we later learn that Fred Rost commissioned the poll and then we learn that he also loaned Kelty $148k for his campaign. Most would call that direct involvement.

April 16 - Kelty campaign places illegal sign on downtown building with some in the campaign claiming it was a "banner" and not a sign

April 17 - Kelty unleashes his grand vision for Fort Wayne - the Kelty Dome. He wants to put a glass enclosure over downtown and claims he's producing renderings. No word of who in the private sector will fund such a venture

April 20 - Fred Rost admits he commissioned the Harrison Square poll but doesn't mention Don Willis' role

May 8 - Kelty wins Republican primary

May 14 - Kelty is asked by party members how he could afford to loan his campaign $148k. He attempts to bamboozle them saying "my wife and I live a very frugal lifestyle"

May 24 - Kelty files addendum to campaign finance report to show Rost as the source for the $148k loan

May 31 - Kelty hires Jim Bopp to save the day after receiving heavy scrutiny for his campaign finance report

June 19 - Election board holds a hearing to rule on Kelty's campaign finance reports where they rule in Kelty's favor on a 2-1 party line vote. The hearing is a complete whitewash as the Republicans on the board only ask a single softball question between the two of them.

July 3 - Allen County prosecutor Karen Richards appoints special prosecutor Dan Sigler to take over the Kelty campaign finance investigation. Sigler appoints a grand jury

July 9 - In a Fort Wayne Left exclusive, councilman Sam Talarico becomes the first elected official to bash Kelty

July 13 - Kelty reneges on his plan to cut property taxes by 10%

July 21 - Congressman Mark Souder becomes the only elected official to public endorse Kelty

August 14 - Kelty Indicted on 9 counts including 7 felonies. Two of the seven felony indictments are for perjury related to his grand jury testimony

August 21 - GOP executive committee holds an informal vote and the majority are against Kelty's candidacy

August 23 - Ken Neumeister, president of the executive committee,resigns because he can't support Kelty

August 23 - Shine disbands executive committee

August 23 - Kelty lies to Mark Mellinger when asked whether or not anyone in the GOP asked him to step down. This is such a blatant lie that Mellinger repeats the question 4 times but Kelty doesn't budge.

August 23 - Kelty claims he's just a poor kid from the old Catholic Ghetto. Of course he actually lived in Forest Park which is synonymous with money.

August 23 - Kelty lies about whether or not he knew who was involved in the HS poll in an interview with Mark Mellinger

August 24 - Former GOP Vice Chair Cathy Hawks publicly endorses Tom Henry

September 16 - Kelty bashes mayor Richard for not doing enough to support the FWCS facilities petition drive. Of course Kelty never signed either petition and stayed silent during the entire process; to this day it's unclear where he stands on the issue

September 19 - Kelty hires criminal attorneys to defend him against the 9 charges against him including 7 felonies.

September 27 - Tom Henry holds a Republicans for Henry rally. Kelty says he could've had one 4 times that size with Democrats despite no prominent Democrat voicing support for him.

October 7 - Matt Kelty's birthday cake attacks several local Republicans and shows the divisiveness of the campaign. The pictures only become public after the Kelty campaign posts them on their campaign website.

October 9 - Kelty tells Peters he doesn't know what he's talking about when asked about the cake

October 11 - Congressman Mark Souder bashes Kelty

October 15 - Congressman Souder says he hasn't made up his mind whether or not he'll vote for Kelty

October 16 - Congressman Souder publicly withdraws endorsement of Kelty citing his divisive campaign and points to Dan Turkette's blog, FortWayneNews.com, as an example

October 17 - Tom Henry releases campaign finance report early showing he has raised $730k and has over $300k cash on hand. FWL alerts readers to watch for Kelty's inevitable turn to negative campaigning in light of Henry's strong fundraising

October 18 - AFA runs negative ad against Tom Henry.

October 19 - Kelty campaign reports woeful campaign finance numbers. Henry outraises Kelty 2-1

October 19 - Kelty says he hasn't heard the AFA ad and knows nothing about it

October 20 - GOP Chairman Steve Shine rejects AFA ad in a letter drafted to Kelty

October 21 - Kelty is in default on Rost loan as he has only paid back $30k and not the $100k required by the promissory note.

October 22 - Kelty violates campaign finance laws again by not reporting Turkette's $1000 contribution before the primary. Every single contribution was reported except Turkette's.

October 23 - Councilman John Crawford denounces negative AFA ad and asks Kelty to do the same

October 23 - Kelty says he is only vaguely familiar with the Metro ordinance targeted in the AFA ad despite the fact that a poll he commissioned specifically asked a question about the ordinance

October 24 - Kelty says he still hasn't heard the ad because he doesn't listen to that particular radio station and because nobody has e-mailed it to him. Of course that is a lie as I personally e-mailed him the ad and I know his campaign received it as they contacted me within a couple of hours of receiving my e-mail

October 27 - Senator Lugar endorses Liz Brown for city council but stays silent on Kelty despite their history. Kelty's website touts his political experience working with Lugar and even has a photo of him with Lugar.

November 1 - Kelty releases a poll with all the information execpt the head-to-head results with Tom Henry where he was likely getting creamed

No matter how you feel, VOTE

I have basically stayed out of the fray in local politics this year. My wife believes it is because I worked so hard in the last local election that I got burned out. And while I have to admit that I was disheartened by the results of the sheriff and congressional races, I was pleased by many of the other results - especially those in my precinct where I worked so hard.

The real reason I haven't been as involved is because my special needs son, Dustin is on a modified day at school, so I simply do not have the time to do the campaigning I did in the past.

I haven't written that much about the local race - there are more blogs covering the mayoral and city council races than ever before. This blog especially has done a bang up job.

I believe the vote for mayor is a no-brainer - it doesn't take any brains to know that Tom Henry will be the better mayor and anyone who would vote for Matt Kelty probably has no brain.

The city council races are interesting. Karen Goldner has run a text book campaign. She presses the flesh, gets her message out and has the resume to be the most effective member of the city council ever.

What concerns me are some of the other council races. I've noticed, to my chagrin that there are some bloggers - who shall remain unnamed - who have fallen for the well practiced schmooze ability of one of the candidates. I too was initially fooled by the schmoozing of this candidate, but quickly came to my senses when I discovered what a mixer he/she was. It makes you wonder if the Democrats who are backing this candidate are backing him/her on policy or personality.

I do not consider myself completely partisan - I think Crawford is an honorable candidate - but we need a council who will work with Mayor Henry. Yes, I realize I'm putting the cart before the horse, but I firmly believe the majority of voters in Fort Wayne know we need a man of integrity and not a man who thinks a few white lies are acceptable.

But no matter who you are backing, make sure you get out there and vote. Right now that is Matt Kelty's only hope - voter apathy. This is how he squeaked by Nelson Peters in the primary. All of Peters' supporters assumed he was a shoe-in and woke up on a Wednesday morning in May to discover just how wrong they were. Don't let Kelty steal another election through voter apathy. Take advantage of your right as a citizen and cast your vote this Tuesday so we don't awaken on November 7 to the nightmare of a Mayor Kelty.

Matt Kelty on Parking

Once again Matt Kelty touts his grand idea to overhaul downtown parking.

Kelty, however, said parking fines should not be changed. Instead, he favored ripping out all the downtown meters and offering free parking for one hour. He said parking enforcement officers could chalk tires to ensure people don’t abuse the spots.

So let me get this straight. We're going to pay to rip out all the parking meters and then we're going to have people chalk every car's tire so they don't have to pay a quarter. Brilliant!

And what if they want to stay in their spot longer than one hour? Are they going to have move their car or will the city contract out some private company to sell "Kelty's magic parking chalk eraser"? Do we really need to roll back to pre-20th century parking technology? Parking meters do their job and it makes parking enforcement efficient. We don't need to completely overhaul parking so that people that come downtown for an hour don't have to pay 25 cents. Some ideas have pros and cons - this one is just a bad idea.

Speaking of bad ideas, will this new parking plan be rolled out in conjunction with the glass covered downtown that Kelty envisioned? You know, the Kelty Dome:

For example, I would love to see a development -- and I'm producing renderings to demonstrate this -- where you take Columbia Street and build a superstructure attached to the facades on both sides of Columbia Street and put the whole thing under a glass enclosure.

I'm sure private developers will be crawling out of the woodwork to fund the Kelty dome. Vote Tom Henry this Tuesday...

Barry Welsh Endorses Tom Henry

Sixth Congressional district candidate Barry Welsh has endorsed Tom Henry while simultaneously slamming Congressman Mike Pence for his support of Matt Kelty. Pence has become a caricature and his support for Kelty should not surprise anyone considering he has a history of interacting with individuals of questionable character.

October 31, 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Andrea Simon
andrea@levelsixpr.com
(317) 863-2550

Welsh Endorses Henry in Ft. Wayne Race/Pence Support of Kelty Raises Character Questions

CONNERSVILLE, IN - The contentious Fort Wayne, IN mayor's race has been a political flashpoint for Indiana Republicans in this year's municipal election season, with indicted Republican candidate for mayor Matt Kelty faced with wholesale defections from his campaign, lackluster support from his own party members and in a particularly embarrassing moment, withdrawal of the support of Indiana 3rd Congressional District Representative Mark Souder's endorsement.

In contrast to Souder's retracted endorsement, Representative Mike Pence, as he does with President Bush, stands in lock step with Matt Kelty, once again bringing Pence's alignment with politicians of questionable character into the public eye.

Democratic challenger Barry Welsh, the nephew of former Indiana Governor Matt Welsh and a United Methodist Minister on sabbatical to campaign full time in the rematch with Congressman Pence, has dogged Mr. Pence in recent years by raising questions about his choices; from Mr. Pence accepting contributions from and support of disgraced former Speaker of the House Tom Delay, for his fundraising dinners at convicted felon Jack Abramoff's exclusive restaurant Signatures in 2003, and also for his support of such recent scandalous luminaries as Idaho Senator Larry Craig, talk radio host Rush Limbaugh, child predator ex-Congressman Mark Foley, and now the indicted Fort Wayne GOP mayoral candidate Matt Kelty who's November trial on felony campaign finance irregularities will soon begin.

At a GOP fundraiser held in Fort Wayne on Monday night, according to a story in the October 30th Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette, Pence was the only speaker at the event to publicly embrace Kelty after several speakers rose to speak while avoiding mention of the mayoral election. Pence praised Kelty for "persevering in his campaign with grace under fire" [1] according to the Journal-Gazette.

Barry Welsh said in response, "Congressman Mike Pence's support for Matt Kelty is merely the latest in a series of bad judgments and questionable associations. He tells us Iraq is like Indiana, and then on the heels of his support of President Bush's veto of the SCHIP children's health program Mr. Pence further displays his blind party loyalty and all but total disregard for his constituents by supporting a candidate in Matt Kelty that has already violated citizen trust by questionable campaign activities. When Hillary Clinton learned of illegal campaign funds, she returned them. Congressman Pence refused to return the tainted funds from Tom Delay, and now stands alone in support of Matt Kelty, and the citizens of this district can clearly see the difference in the two political parties and they also see the constant mistakes Congressman Pence is making. "

Congressman Pence apparently is still supportive of the embattled Kelty campaign and continues to endorse and praise him at every opportunity. His letter of encouragement continues to be displayed on the Kelty campaign website [2] and this most recent statement in public raises concerns that Pence lacks the judgment necessary to serve as the 6th District's representative to Congress. Questionable judgment, a record of ignoring his constituents, and associations with morally repugnant and unsavory personalities clearly show that Pence's

judgment is flawed and will force voters to question if he is the kind of person who should be entrusted with power.


Voters have a moral alternative on the ballot in Fort Wayne's mayor's race this year in Democratic candidate Tom Henry and will have Barry Welsh on the ballot in November 2008 to make the right decisions. Barry Welsh endorses Tom Henry for mayor of Fort Wayne and is in complete support of his candidacy. "I am proud to support the honorable Democratic candidate Tom Henry and endorse his candidacy for mayor of the Summit City of Fort Wayne" Welsh said.

For more information please contact Andrea Simon at (317) 863-2550 by telephone or via email at andrea@levelsixpr.com. You may also learn more about Barry Welsh at his website at http://barrywelsh.org [3], on his blog at http://blog.barrywelsh.org [4] or via his various social network profiles accessible from the front page of BarryWelsh.org.

[1] http://www.journalgazette.net/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071030/LOCAL/710300305
[2] http://www.mattkelty.com/mattkelty/endorsements.cfm
[3] http://barrywelsh.org
[4] http://blog.barrywelsh.org

Does Anyone Take the Election Board Seriously?

My communications with the election board lead me to believe they are going to call Matt Kelty's failure to file a CFA-11 for Dan Turkette's contribution a "late filing". Give me a break. The only reason it was filed at all, 5 months late, is because I reported it missing. If one uses the election board's logic then the very act of identifying a report as missing would make it a "late" filing. In other words, there is no possible scenario that anyone could get in trouble for not filing a report.

When Robert Enders filed the LPAC report a few days after the deadline - that was a late filing. When a candidate indicted on 7 campaign finance related charges retroactively files a report after a citizen complaint - that is a failure to file. Is there any other board in all of Allen County that is as ineffective and in need of a complete overhaul than the Allen County Election Board?

Henry Ahead in News Sentinel Poll

I Don't have much time today but you can read the results here

The breakdown

Henry - 51%
Kelty - 37%

That's 58% of decided voters for Henry at this point. No big surprise here - the breakdowns that the NS will publish over the next few days will be more interesting...

Senator Lugar Endorses Liz Brown & Ignores Matt Kelty

I previously wrote that I was little surprised that Senator Lugar had not done a fundraiser or offered Matt Kelty any kind of public endorsement. This is strange because Kelty highlights the work he's done for Lugar and even has a picture with him on his website. But now one must really wonder what's going on between Lugar and Kelty because Lugar has publicly endorsed Liz Brown in a recent mailer (shown below).

What does it say about Matt Kelty that Senator Lugar won't do a mailer for him but will for Liz Brown? I think it says Lugar agrees that Kelty should not be our next mayor...

Jim Bopp Slams Brownback for Pro-Rudy Comments

Looks like our local Kelty supporter/attorney, Jim Bopp, is back in the news because he is irate that former presidential candidate Sam Brownback is giving Rudy Guiliani a pass on his pro-choice position. Bopp is a supporter of Mitt Romney so one can imagine why he might be angry. However, publicly attacking Brownback before he's even made an endorsement is not particularly good politics; then again this is the same guy that helped send Matt Kelty's mayoral campaign into the tank because he wanted to further his own anti-campaign finance reporting agenda.

Note to candidates - avoid Jim Bopp at all costs...

One of the big stories of the day in GOP primary politics is conservative Senator Sam Brownback's new and eyebrow-raising assertion yesterday that he is suddenly "much more comfortable" than before about Rudy's abortion views. Brownback said this after meeting with Rudy yesterday.

Now there's been another key development in the story.

Jim Bopp, one of Mitt Romney's top social conservative supporters, just lashed out repeatedly at Brownback in an interview with me for his kind words about Rudy's abortion views, accusing Brownback in scathing terms of putting "personal benefit" before the pro-life cause.

"There's obviously something more going on here than fidelity to the pro-life cause," said Bopp, a legendary pro-life activist and lawyer who is an important voice for Romney because he vouches for his conservatism. "Brownback is angling for some personal political benefit by cozying up to Giuliani."

Bopp's stinging criticism of Brownback is somewhat surprising, because the support of Brownback, who recently dropped out of the Presidential race, is coveted by GOP candidates such as Romney because it would shore up their conservative credentials. Romney and Rudy are engaged in a heated war over the evangelical and social conservative vote.

Brownback's dalliance with Rudy, Bopp said, is "particularly surprising in light of his unwillingness to accept Romney's conversion, which happened several years ago. Now he is willing to accept Giuliani's statements of the last day or so."

"Giuliani is unequivocal -- he wants abortion to be legal," Bopp continued. "Brownback claimed that the raison d'etre of his campaign was protecting human life. "So the only way that you can look at what he is saying now and what he is doing now is that he is prepared to compromise the pro-life movement and cause to advance his own personal political agenda."

The suggestion here is that Brownback is cozying up to Rudy because he thinks the Mayor is on his way to winning the GOP nomination -- and that he's willing to throw the pro-life movement under the bus to be with the winner.

H/T: TPM

Why Isn't Senator Lugar Supporting Kelty?

Matt Kelty touts his previous work for Senator Lugar as part of his political experience and he even has a photo of him and Lugar together on his campaign website:

In 1994 he worked for Senator Dick Lugar's successful re-election campaign, and later worked in Dick Lugar's grass roots organizing campaign in Iowa during Lugar's presidential bid in 1995.

Considering Lugar is an extremely popular Senator and his appeal crosses party lines, why hasn't the Kelty campaign brought Lugar in to do a fundraiser? I can only imagine how much money that would generate. And let us not forget that Lugar has done fundraisers for previous Republican mayoral candidates so this wouldn't be out of the ordinary. So, given his previous fundraisers and his ties to Kelty, why has there been nothing of support from Senator Lugar?

When I think over my own work history I imagine that I could ask any of my previous bosses for a letter of recommendation and they would all oblige. Is a fundraiser not the political equivalent of a letter of recommendation? It's not as if Lugar has anything to worry about politically - he's not up for re-election until 2012 and last time he was the only Congressman/Senator that didn't have a Democratic challenger. I think it says something about Kelty's candidacy that Lugar is nowhere to be found...

Political Notebook Covers Kelty's Missing Campaign Finance Form

Today's Political Notebook section of the JG briefly discusses my letter to the election board regarding Matt Kelty's campaign finance violation:

The Allen County Election Board might meet again to talk about the campaign finances of Republican mayoral nominee Matt Kelty.

The board is investigating a complaint that Kelty failed to properly disclose a $1,000 donation before the primary election. Jeff Pruitt, an author of a local left-leaning blog, asked the board Monday to investigate Kelty for not reporting a $1,000 donation given by Dan Turkette, the author of a local right-leaning blog.

Kelty’s most recent campaign filing shows he received $1,000 from Turkette on May 3. State law requires candidates to report contributions $1,000 or larger received after the pre-primary deadline of April 13 and two days before the election of May 8. Kelty did report several other large donations before the primary. The reports are due within 48 hours of a candidate receiving it.

Kelty on Tuesday filed the proper form listing Turkette’s May contribution, although he dated it Oct. 4.

Andy Downs, Democratic election board member, said the matter will be investigated and could result in a fine of up to $100. The board previously agreed to more strictly enforce deadlines.

Readers could interpret this complaint as some blog-war between myself and Dan Turkette. That could not be further from the truth. While we don't agree on some issues we are respectful of one another and this complaint had nothing to do with Dan - it just so happened his contribution was the one that wasn't reported.

Let me just say that the election board should investigate the matter and not simply declare this a "late filing". This was not late - it was never filed at all. It would have never been filed had I not made this public. Let me try and break away from the current Kelty campaign finance issues and discuss the election board in general.

This board does a great disservice to all candidates when it refuses to adhere to state campaign finance laws. The board never fines candidates and thus nobody is ever held accountable. So when a major issue/complaint does come forward there is precedent for ignoring it and calling it business as usual. If you ignore the minor violations but try to clamp down on the major ones, someone will always claim they are the victim of a partisan witch hunt. My advice to the election board would be to enforce all laws and draft a set of written procedures that tell candidates when they will be fined and what that fine will be.