Long Thompson responds to Daniels' convention speech; urges reality check

Democratic nominee says Daniels isn't living up to promises

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - Democratic Gubernatorial nominee Jill Long Thompson issued the following statement in response to Governor Mitch Daniels' speech to the Indiana State Republican Convention on Monday.

"Governor Mitch Daniels stood before his party's convention and continued his attempt to rewrite history and his record. He continued to try to convince Hoosiers that we are all living on an "Island of Growth" and that he and his "Freight Train of Change" have improved our lives. Yet, the numbers tell a much different story.

Four years ago, at the same Republican State Convention, then-candidate Mitch Daniels promised to bring real change to Indiana. He criticized Governors O'Bannon and Kernan and said he could do better. He cited the state's high rates of job loss, personal bankruptcy and home foreclosures. He talked about the high school dropout rate, the fact that Hoosier workers earn less than the average American worker and he pledged to improve the efficiency of state government.

Now, after four years under Mitch Daniels' leadership, it is only fair to look at those same benchmarks to judge the effectiveness of his administration.

The results are not good. We are still hemorrhaging jobs. In April Indiana lost another 3,100 jobs and nine major layoffs were announced impacting 2,263 jobs. Hoosiers still make less than workers in other states and personal income has actually dropped since Governor Daniels took office.

Indiana is still among the leading states in personal bankruptcies and home foreclosures. Nearly one third of our High School students still don't graduate. And, from the Department of Local Government Finance, to the Family and Social Services Administration, to the Department of Workforce Development, the Daniels administration has taken mismanagement and inefficiency to a new level.

At this critical time in our state's history, when so many families are facing economic uncertainty, results matter now more than ever before. While the Governor criticizes anyone who sees things differently than he does and labels them "negative," Hoosiers deserve more. They need more than election year promises; they need leadership that understands the challenges they face each and every day, and leadership that will fight for them.

As Democrats head to our State Convention later this month, we will continue our call for wholesale change. We will talk about the problems facing Hoosier families, whether the Governor likes it or not. And we will continue to offer new leadership, new ideas and a fresh start.

By his own standards, Governor Daniels administration has failed - and it is time for new leadership that will put our state back on track and restore Indiana's promise."

Long Thompson represented Northeast Indiana in the U.S. House of Representatives serving from 1989 to 1995. She also served as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture for Rural Development from 1995 to 2001. She received her B.S. in Business from Valparaiso University and her M.B.A. and Ph.D. from Indiana University. Long Thompson most recently served as CEO of The National Center for Food and Agricultural Policy. A former educator, Long Thompson and her husband Don Thompson, a commercial airline pilot, live on a farm in Marshall County.

For more information about Jill Long Thompson or her campaign, please visit http://www.hoosiersforjill.com/ or call 574-635-JILL.


"We even understand the nonsense they so often spout. When, against an avalanche of evidence, they insist that Indiana's economy is doing fine, just fine, we recognize that, for the most human of reasons, they may actually believe it. If you had spent these last years in the comfortable insulation of public office, never once in Birdseye or Bippus, Merom or Mongo, you too might blind yourself to things the average Hoosier's eyes tell him every day."

Governor Mitch Daniels speech to the 2004 State Republican Convention