Clark County (The Evening News)
Republican candidate Dan Coats seeks return to Senate
Bayh’s decision ‘shocking,’ but will not change strategy
>>SOUTHERN INDIANA —
But shortly after Coats announced last month his plans to run in the Republican primary, Bayh said he would not seek re-election.
“It was shocking to me,” Coats said. “I fully believed [Bayh] would be the Democratic nominee.”
While Democrats wait for party leaders to officially choose a nominee, the campaign is heating up for the five Republicans running in the primary.
During a trip through Southern Indiana on Wednesday morning, Coats stopped by The Evening News for an interview. He says Bayh’s departure does not change his strategy.
“It doesn’t change the way I’m going to campaign at all,” Coats said. “I love to travel through Indiana. I’m going to campaign retailer to retailer, person to person.”
He says Republicans may benefit from Democrats not having a primary election.
“Being in a primary does sharpen your focus, and I think the advantage is the people of Indiana are going to have a chance to choose their candidate rather than have their candidate picked by 32 party bosses in a room,” Coats said.
He said back-room deals are already being made, citing Rep. Baron Hill’s statements that he might seek the party’s nomination and then dropping out. Congressman Brad Ellsworth is presumed to be the front-runner for the nomination.
WHY HE’S RUNNING
Coats had not expected to return to Congress but said he “felt a sense of duty to get back in the arena” after watching President Barack Obama and the Democrat-controlled Congress this last year.
“I could not stand idly by and watch this liberal agenda of Obama, [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi and [Senate Majority Leader Harry] Reid be forced on the American people. This is not what Hoosiers believe in,” he said.
The main issue, Coats says, is Obama’s health care proposal.
Coats said the government should address health care issues incrementally, not with one large bill that he says will “bankrupt the country.”
“To add on probably a trillion dollar program and bring this much uncertainty into the system, especially with this economy, is absolutely the wrong track,” Coats said.
“The first thing they had to do [after taking control of Congress and the White House] was get the budget back in order, and yet they keep spending,” he said. “Too much is going to Washington, and too little is going to local government.”
He accuses Democratic Party leaders of trying to push through health care legislation that he says most people do not want.
“The process they’re using is what I call a cramdown. It was never designed for a major policy and should never be used for major policy,” Coats said.
FOREIGN FEELINGS
As for foreign policy, Coats said the U.S. must be more willing to stand up to the Chinese, which opposes heavier sanctions on Iran. He says Iraq is a success story, an example of freedom from dictatorship.
“It’s necessary for us to go to places like those where people want to destroy us,” he said. “I think we have to keep them off balance and can’t allow them to have safe havens.”
Coats believes momentum is shifting in favor of Republicans. He says the conservative movement is stronger now than during the so-called “Reagan Revolution.”
“I think independents, and even moderate Democrats, are saying, ‘We wanted a change and hope for the future, but this is not what we thought we would get from a liberal agenda,’” Coats said.
FACING CRITICS
He has faced criticism in national blogs for his recent career as a lobbyist and for being registered to vote in Virginia. He said accusations that he helped Bank of America secure bailout money and represented Yemen and controversial Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez are inaccurate and “laughable.”
He said his law firm helped Bank of America before the financial crisis and that he represented a small oil company fighting Chavez. He also says there is a disclosure stating that he was not involved in any agreement with the government of Yemen.
Coats said his lobbying career, which he says he ended when he started his campaign, will not influence any decisions.
As for why he became a lobbyist, he said, “My background is in law. I was trying to provide financial stability for my family.”
Coats said he has nothing to gain personally by going back to the Senate, which he says will make him more willing to speak his mind and less politically cautious.
He criticized Ellsworth for voting against the economic stimulus package and then voting for it, which he believes demonstrates giving in to political pressure.
Many pundits believe Coats’ main challenger is former Rep. John Hostettler. Coats avoided taking shots at any of his Republican opponents, but said he believes his experience sets him apart from rest of the field.
He also was a U.S representative and ambassador to Germany from 2001 to 2005.
Also running for the GOP nomination are Don Bates Jr., Richard Behney and Marlin A. Stutzman.
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Hill agrees to two debates
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