I have long argued that Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard completely failed to use his three years in office to position himself for re-election. Instead the issues Ballard plans to run on - jobs (or at least "commitments" for jobs) and a lower crime rate are doomed to failure as they do not fit into the preconceived beliefs people have about those issues. Any political strategist will tell you that there is not enough time to both convince voters that their perception about certain issues is wrong, and then use those issues in a political campaign.
In yet another blow to the Ballard crime strategy, today featured three homicides in Indianapolis. There was
a killing this morning in the Greenbriar area on the northwest side, and a
double homicide on the east side late this afternoon. For one day at least, we have an annual crime rate over 1000.
It doesn't matter if Ballard is right about the crime rate going down, it is a losing issue for him. It continues to amaze me how poor the political advice is that the Mayor is apparently receiving for the $10,000 he pays monthly to political consultant Jennifer Hallowell.
