CHICAGO — After spending a week in the Loop covering the Democratic National Convention, I’m not sure which one is a more pathetic entity: the Chicago White Sox or the Indiana Democratic Party.

The Chisox last week became the quickest Major League Baseball team to notch its 100th loss, on the way to surpassing the expansion 1962 New York Mets as the worst team ever. 

Since 2014, Indiana Democrats are 0-13 in statewide races. Other than candidates for governor or U.S. Senate, the party’s statewide candidates polled between 36% and 40% during this abject losing streak. Hoosier Democrats have watched the Indiana GOP extend its General Assembly supermajority status to a record five consecutive cycles, with a sixth on the way in November. Democrats control only two of 11 congressional offices and only 10% of county courthouse offices.

I used to say it was Indiana Libertarians who “play political party,” raising little money, its candidates for governor or senator offering a little debate levity on their way to 3.5% of the vote. That 2020 nominee Donald Rainwater was able to extend that number into double digits was just another pathetic milepost of futility for these political donkeys.

Indiana Democrats are knocking on this door of ineptitude. A major political party is supposed to win elections. These folks simply aren’t.

When they gathered at the Fairmont Chicago during the DNC, two positive trend lines were presenting themselves. The first was the Biden-to-Harris presidential race reset. The ascension of Vice President Kamala Harris has been a best-case-scenario, too-good-to-be-true opportunity. It is verging on a movement of fired-up female voters that could, if properly exploited, lift all ships, possibly even Jennifer McCormick’s threadbare gubernatorial campaign.

The second is that movement’s preset occurring two years ago when the U.S. Supreme Court rendered Roe vs. Wade to the historic dustbin, sending the abortion issue back to the states. Hoosier Republicans quickly obliged, enacting some of the most draconian restrictions in the nation.

Using the Dobbs decision and Gov. Eric Holcomb’s signing of SEA 1(ss) to inspire suburban female voters from Elkhart, Hamilton and Clark counties to vote Democratic became the mission. Referendums establishing reproductive rights in red states such as Kansas, Kentucky and Ohio revealed that such a comeback is possible.

This comes as the Republican presidential nominee, Donald J. Trump, was branded a “sexual predator” by a New York jury and judge in the defamation case of E. Jean Carroll (a former Indiana University cheerleader).

But the state’s most conspicuous Democratic officeholder — Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett — has been exposed for letting his horndog Chief of Staff Thomas Cook use city and campaign staff to satisfy his sexual proclivities. Cook resigned, but years after the first allegations surfaced, with the mayor paying little heed.

On the eve of the DNC, rising star state Sen. Andrea Hunley called out Mayor Hogsett in an Instagram post: “Somehow, the city of Indianapolis, one of the largest employers in the county with over 7,500 staff members across 30 divisions, doesn’t have a comprehensive sexual harassment prevention policy or reporting mechanisms. [And] neither does the Indiana Democratic Party, the organization that trains Democratic volunteers, candidates, county party members and elected officials.”

Hunley wasn’t the only one to call the party out. The Indiana Latino Democratic Caucus released an angry retort: “Despite knowledge of Cook’s predatory behavior, Mayor Hogsett and his administration continued to work with Cook for six years, protecting him and keeping him as a close advisor. During this time, additional abuses occurred. Additionally, the lack of meaningful intervention from any party leaders reveals a breakdown in trust and failure in leadership.” 

Hunley said on Instagram, “I learned my lesson. I reminded myself that I was given a voice and platform for a reason. It wasn’t to wait for somebody else to speak on my behalf, so I’m speaking up now. I’m not going to stop until accountability is taken, an independent process for reporting is established, and a formal, third-party led audit has been conducted.”

Last Friday, the Hogsett administration announced the mayor intends to sign an executive order “in the coming days” to require employee sexual harassment prevention training.

But Hunley’s criticism was blunted when she and fellow Senate Democrats didn’t call out state Sen. David Niezgodski for allegedly sending dozens of unwanted texts to a woman who tried to end a business relationship. Niezgodski called it a “private personnel matter.”

Then there’s the gubernatorial campaign of Jennifer McCormick.

Indiana Democratic Chairman Mike Schmuhl told Howey Politics Indiana/State Affairs that Republican nominee Mike Braun is “vulnerable” if McCormick can catch onto any wave Kamala Harris might generate. 

“Mike Braun is a sitting U.S. senator who is not doing very well in the polls,” Schmuhl said. Asked what internal polling was showing, Schmuhl replied, “I can’t get into specifics, but for a sitting United States senator in Indiana in a presidential year, he’s not in terrific shape.”

Time out!

During this era of futility, Indiana Democrats have demonstrated a penchant for publicizing internal polling, setting up a façade of hope. But not this time.

McCormick is a historical anomaly, the first major-party nominee to switch parties. But as her midyear campaign report revealed, she is not being supported by the biggest Democratic benefactor: the unions.

In her June report, McCormick posted $250,000 from the Indiana Political Action Committee for Education (which has since put in another $208,000), but that’s the crux of her campaign that had a mere $700,000 cash on hand on June 30 — a ridiculously puny amount for a major-party nominee for governor.

The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Voluntary PAC and the United Food & Commercial Workers PAC have each given $10,000, the Anderson Federation of Teachers PAC anted up $4,000 and the United Mine Workers gave $2,500.

To put that into perspective, the 2016 campaign of Democratic nominee John Gregg had received $228,000 from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers; $100,000 from the Indiana Political Action Committee for Education; $500,000 from American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees; and $130,000 from the Service Employees International Union Healthcare PAC. In March 2016, The Associated Press reported that Gregg had received $2.5 million from unions. 

Or as Maureen Hayden described in her 2016 column in the Terre Haute Tribune-Star, union volunteers made 65,000 calls in the waning weeks of the campaign encouraging fellow members to vote for Gregg. Labor phone banks had made 260,000 calls as part of a monthslong campaign that also involved social media outreach and knocking on doors to push for Gregg’s election while “stressing labor’s role in determining the state’s future.”

When I asked Schmuhl whether more union money was headed for McCormick, he responded, “I think so.”

And this financial edge is extending down the ballot. According to the latest legislative caucus campaign reports covering the period through April 12, the House Republican Campaign Committee had $2,762,173 cash on hand (spent $4,919,399 during 2022 cycle) while the Indiana House Democratic Caucus had $493,529 cash on hand (spent $1,748,980 during 2022 cycle). The Senate Majority Campaign Committee had $1,769,911 cash on hand (spent $2,443,296 during the 2022 cycle), while the Indiana Senate Democrats Committee had $228,656 cash on hand (spent $666,333 during the 2022 cycle).

My final mission with Indiana Democrats last week was to catch up with U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, the former South Bend mayor and 2020 presidential candidate. He’s the biggest Hoosier star the party has produced in a decade, except he moved from Indiana to Michigan.

Catching wind that “Mayor Pete” would address the delegation on Wednesday, I asked Schmuhl and the party communications director if I could attend or get a minute or two with Pete. No response. No access. What Pete said was … a secret. No sense in alarming MAGA deep in the Hoosier hinterlands.

Buttigieg has been the Democrats secret red state weapon, spending time on Fox News urging Republican viewers to use the Google machine to get the real lowdown. Because my weekly column runs in about 20 small-town newspapers like the Decatur Daily Democrat, The Bluffton News-Banner and the legendary Crothersville Times, I figured to afford Hoosier Democrats a chance to make a pitch to folks in North Judson, Walkerton and Seymour.

Mark Leibovich, writing for The Atlantic, observed: “Officially, Buttigieg is the United States secretary of transportation. But his far more prominent role of late has been as a sound-bite and surrogate sensation for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz (and at the expense of Donald Trump and J.D. Vance). According to his staff, Buttigieg plowed through more than 30 TV, radio, and TikTok appearances over the course of 96 hours in Chicago, along with 30 speeches to constituent groups (veterans, mayors, students), 12 sets of remarks to delegation breakfasts, dozens of scheduled and unscheduled drop-bys and meet and greets with various dignitaries and appendages, and one prime-time address on Wednesday night. The next day, in the final hours of the convention, I was granted brief access to the inner swirl of this particular dust cloud.”

Leibovich reported that he spent 21 minutes in the “Buttigieg bubble”:

“I’m following you out,” I informed him as he headed to the door.

“Get some color?” Buttigieg replied, media-savvy as ever.

Yes, I would be seeking some “color,” I confirmed. “Do something colorful,” I commanded.

“I’ll be colorful,” he assured me. “Are you coming in the bubble?”

This columnist showed up a half-hour early hoping to catch the Pete spectacle, only to watch the “Buttigieg bubble” with the secretary, husband Chasten and his federal security detail hurriedly walk past me by an exterior stairwell.

When it comes to “color” and Hoosier Democrats in this one-party dominant era of Hoosier politics, the hues aren’t green or gold.

They are red … scarlet, ruby, cerise, cardinal, cherry, carmine …

Brian A. Howey is senior writer and columnist for Howey Politics Indiana/State Affairs. Find Howey on Facebook and X @hwypol.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Here in the city where Pete Buttigieg grew up, became Mayor Pete and launched an impressive 2020 presidential campaign, an oft-heard forecast is: “He’s going to be president someday.” 

Not this Election Day.

But he’s only 42 years old. He’s one of the bright prospects for a future Democratic presidential nomination. And his credentials have expanded from Mayor Pete to include serving as secretary of transportation and being a finalist for the party’s vice presidential nomination.

With Kamala Harris or Donald Trump as president, what will Buttigieg do after this presidential election?

Possibilities vary greatly, depending on the next occupant of the White House.

If Harris wins, she no doubt would welcome Buttigieg to remain in the cabinet. They are like-minded on the direction of the country, appealing to the middle class and Middle West at home and in confronting Putin abroad. Her regard for Buttigieg is clear — he’s the only cabinet member who was a finalist for running mate and given a prime-time speaking slot at the Democratic National Convention.

Secretary of transportation? 

The way he handled crisis after crisis on transportation issues — first attacked by Trumpsters and then prevailing with solutions — would make him a sound choice to continue in that role.

And he might want to continue in transportation, with opportunities to cut ribbons all across the nation on needed and popular infrastructure projects now underway.

Or maybe Buttigieg could move to a cabinet post regarded as more prestigious — secretary of defense or secretary of state, providing credentials in world affairs.

Or maybe something else in the administration. Or something for a time away from government and politics.

If Trump wins, Buttigieg of course would get no cabinet post.

It’s hard to picture two people more unlike in so many ways than Donald Trump and Pete Buttigieg. 

So, what would Buttigieg do?

Well, we don’t need to be concerned about Pete and Chasten Buttigieg being unable to adequately support their 3-year-old twins. Pete and Chasten are successful authors and will command big advance payments for future books. They will have no shortage of employment opportunities.

Mayor Pete won’t need to come back to run for his former office.

He could become a corporate executive, making far more than the salary of a cabinet secretary or president of the United States. Again, however, there is that difference with Trump. Making big money has never been an overwhelming goal for Buttigieg.

With his academic credentials — Harvard, Oxford, Rhodes Scholar and, yes, graduate of South Bend’s St. Joseph High School — he could become a university president.

He could become a TV personality. He already is, though not with his own show or any pay for appearing. In news interviews, Buttigieg is one of the most successful communicators of Democratic views, even appearing frequently to counter hostile questioning on Fox News. He began his convention speech with: “Here is a sentence I never thought I would hear myself saying: ‘I’m Pete Buttigieg, and you might recognize me from Fox News.’”

He could run for elective office. Certainly not for the House. Almost certainly not for the Senate. A race for governor in Indiana, Michigan or elsewhere also seems unlikely in his future. Chances are the only office he will run for is president. No additional stepping stone is needed.

In the immediate future, whether there’s a President Harris or again a President Trump, Buttigieg will have many opportunities. Will they lead to the White House?

It’s as impossible now to calculate chances on any candidate for 2028 or 2032 as it is to quote odds on Notre Dame winning the national football championship in ’28 or ’32. But it’s pretty safe to forecast that neither Pete nor the Fighting Irish will be relegated to obscurity by then.

Jack Colwell has covered Indiana politics for over five decades for the South Bend Tribune. Email him at [email protected].