DAN K. THOMASSON Indiana mirrors national campaign

FRANKLIN, Ind. -- They recently held a political debate here at Franklin College, a 170-year-old little jewel of liberal-arts education. The discussion invites some comparison with the major-league affairs being conducted to determine who resides in the White House for the next four years.
While the issue of national security from terrorism to Iraq and Afghanistan and North Korea weren't the center of attention as it was in the Miami debate, the economy as it pertains to this state certainly was. On the podium were three candidates for governor -- a Democrat, a Republican and a Libertarian -- who are bent on convincing voters they have the answers to Indiana's pressing economic problems, which aren't unlike those of the rest of the nation.
What makes this contest a bit more interesting than other similar campaigns is that the Republican candidate is Mitch Daniels, George W. Bush's former budget director, who, if he weren't running for his own office, probably would be advising the president on how to respond in his upcoming confrontation on the economy with Sen. John Kerry. Ironically, however, when it comes to deficits, Daniels is taking a somewhat different stance than he did in his White House role only a relatively few short months ago.
Fiscal shortfall
Actually, for the purposes of the Indiana election, the deficit is on the other foot, so to speak. And although it amounts to a slight fraction of the federal variety, Hoosiers consider spending more than is coming in a very serious matter, even if it is only $800 million or so. The foot that deficit belongs to is the Democratic candidate, Gov. Joe Kernan, who ascended to his lofty post from lieutenant governor when the incumbent died. Although Kernan has held the job only a very short time, his party has occupied the governor's office for four terms and is having a difficult time blaming the Republicans for the fiscal shortfall.
Up until just recently, Daniels was considered well ahead, having visited hamlets, villages, towns and cities to press his message of badly needed reform of education and finance and health and so forth, and promising to bring solvency and responsibility back to the statehouse. Strangely enough, Kernan, despite the fact he is the incumbent, is promising the same thing, which strikes some observers as sort of an admission that the administration of his predecessor, Frank O'Bannon, might have some responsibility for any problems, economic or otherwise.
Both candidates now say the race has narrowed. Whether this was caused, as it was in Bush's case, by the debate or a series of negative attack ads seeking to link Daniels to a utility-company scandal of some time ago is still uncertain. Daniels is convinced the tightening has been caused by commercials accusing him of voting to sell the utility to an out-of-state company and then profiting from the sale of his own stock while the pensions of others were wiped out.
His answer is that the $500,000 profit from the stock was given to charity after he sold it to avoid a conflict of interest when he took the White House job. The assault on his character isn't unlike what Kerry has faced from the swift-boat veterans who managed to do at least temporary damage to his efforts. His backers believe the commercials attacking Daniels will cause a backlash as voters determine they are unfair.
The Indianapolis Star reported recently that Daniels believes the case for change after 16 years of the Democrats will be so strong "we will prevail in the end."
Lost jobs
When Bush and Kerry square off on the domestic agenda, many of the same issues will be the focus of attention. Only Daniels' old boss, whose coattails he may need, is the incumbent who must answer about where the jobs have gone and why the deficit has soared. In a debate, whether one is onstage at Franklin College or in a larger setting at Washington University in St. Louis, it isn't easy being the incumbent.
Perhaps the most pertinent comment during the gubernatorial debate came from Libertarian Kenn Gividen, who isn't expected to be a factor in this election. According to The Star, he said: "Cummins Engine Co., for example, one of the major corporations in Indiana ... recently exported 500 jobs to Jamestown, N.Y. Folks, when it is cheaper to do business in New York State than it is in Indiana, we have a problem."
In that case, the Republican president and the Democratic governor may have a similar problem.
X Dan K. Thomasson is former editor of the Scripps Howard News Service.