Right On The Right

Jon Elrod, despite his best efforts, was unsuccessful in taking down the Democrat machine in the Special Election that occurred yesterday in Indiana's 7th. Reuters has the news:

INDIANAPOLIS (Reuters) - Indiana voters on Tuesday elected a Muslim to Congress, only the second of that faith chosen in U.S. history.

Andre Carson, grandson of the late Democrat Rep. Julia Carson, was elected to serve the balance of her term in the U.S. House of Representatives in a special election.

The article goes on to say that Carson converted to Islam a little over a decade ago. This is a fact that hadn't even affected my decision to support Elrod, though it would've. I have plenty of questions for any followers of The Religion of Pieces. Carson will face a primary in May to get his own party's nod to run in the actual election in November, where he just may face Elrod again (I believe). This is a race to watch.

About a week ago I blogged about Indiana Republican Jon Elrod making his final push in a bid to win a special election in Indiana's 7th. Elrod is facing a well-established Democrat machine in the area, but he's running a different type of campaign, and his ad reflects it. The Slatecard blog has the video of the ad:

Jon Elrod is the Republican standard-bearer in a special election coming up on March 11th in Indiana. Recent polling have Elrod behind the Democrat in single digits, and leading amongst educated voters. This is despite the fact that Elrod has half the name recognition. Here are some details via RedState about the matchup:

The candidates will be Republican, Jon Elrod versus Democrat, Andre Carson.

Andre is the grandson of Julia Carson, the previous Representative who died while in office. Last year he was appointed to fill a City County Councilor seat when another Councilor was found to have not been living in his district. He went on and won the seat (unopposed) in the general election. That is the entirety of his elected office experience. He has precious little experience in any other way, as well. In other words, his primary qualification is his last name.

Jon Elrod spent 3 years in the township government and then won a surprise victory in 2006 against a well established Democrat. In Indianapolis, that is saying something--particularly in 2006.

Slatecard has been raising money to give Elrod a little extra to help out with his final push. Amongst the Slatecard community, Elrod has received an outpouring of support adding up to over $1,200 in a very short period of time. I've added Elrod to my Slatecard, so feel free to chip in a few bucks to help make the difference.