Democratic Dirty Tricks in Indiana Gubernatorial Race

In a stunning display of dirty politics, the Indiana Democratic party has been caught in a regrettable game of gay-baiting. Local activists have learned the Indiana Democratic Party sent emails attempting to alert Republican lawmakers and conservative groups of efforts to court the LGBT vote by Republican Gubernatorial candidate Mitch Daniels.

Daniels, former White House Office of Management and Budget Director under President Bush, is running against incumbent Democratic Governor Joe Kernan. Kernan is viewed more favorably within the lgbt community, but has no discernable record to suggest he’s any better than Daniels. With Daniels holding a 6-point lead in the polls, Kernan is feeling the heat. Kernan added gender identity and expression to the states anti-discrimation policy in an effort to woo lgbt voters, only after it was made safe by Daniels issuing the same policy in his own campaign.

Daniels hasn’t taken the lgbt vote for granted, and recently requested to meet with LGBT leaders in a proactive outreach effort.

The following is Daniel’s invitation to leaders of local LGBT community:

Understanding you to be a leader in the community, Mitch Daniels invites you to a meeting at Jesus MCC Church (2950 East 55th Place, Indianapolis) on Tuesday, September 7th, to discuss issues of importance to you.

Immediately following Daniels invitation to court the LGBT vote, an email surfaced from “David Fleshacker” using a yahoo email address.

From: David Fleshacker [mailto:glbtindy@yahoo.com] Sent: Thursday, September 02, 2004 5:57 PM
Subject: Personal invitation to meet with Mitch Daniels

Dear Senator:
You’re invited to join our candidate for Governor Mitch Daniels in a
meeting with members of Indiana’s gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered community. Please see the invitation below. I believe it’s very important that you attend to share your concerns.
David

The email was sent to Republican lawmakers and conservative groups inviting them to attend. The only problem was the email was not sent from the Daniels
campaign or Republicans. Unbeknownst to the sender, the email headers IP
address 67.37.15.118 pointed directly to the Indiana Democratic Party.

Why would the Indiana Democratic Party want to thwart a progressive
Republican meeting with the lgbt community?

Marti Abernathey is the founder of the Transadvocate and the previous managing editor. Abernathey has worn many different hats, including that of podcaster, activist, and radiologic technologist. She's been a part of various internet radio ventures such as TSR Live!, The T-Party, and The Radical Trannies, TransFM, and Sodium Pentathol Sunday. As an advocate she's previously been involved with the Indiana Transgender Rights Advocacy Alliance, Rock Indiana Campaign for Equality, and the National Transgender Advocacy Coalition. She's taken vital roles as a grass roots community organizer in The Indianapolis Tax Day Protest (2003), The Indy Pride HRC Protest (2004), Transgender Day of Remembrance (2004), Indiana's Witch Hunt (2005), and the Rally At The Statehouse (the largest ever GLBT protest in Indiana - 3/2005). In 2008 she was a delegate from Indiana to the Democratic National Convention and a member of Barack Obama's LGBT Steering and Policy Committee. Abernathey currently hosts the Youtube Channel "The T-Party with Marti Abernathey."