Ellsworth starts campaign

By Nate Smith, Staff Writer

July 01, 2008 09:59 pm

— VINCENNES — Eighth District Congressman Brad Ellsworth, D-Evansville, said his job is not fun during a kickoff rally Tuesday for his reelection campaign.
The fun, Ellsworth said, comes from meeting constituents.
“It is not the most fun job in the world,” Ellsworth said. “It is an honor to serve and a dream come true.”
The rally held near the George Rogers Clark Memorial was the third of four events on his kickoff tour Tuesday. Ellsworth, who will face Republican Greg Goode in November, said over the course of the campaign, he hopes to continue listening.
“I’m willing to talk with you and listen to the issues that concern you,” Ellsworth said. “And we will take that back to Washington (D.C.) because they’re your struggles and your concerns.”
Ellsworth mentioned he has held about 400 meetings with constituents in the district.
The freshman congressman highlighted his record, telling the crowd of about 30 that his work on veterans’ benefits, budget rules and holding federal contractors responsible for taxes owed has worked on the national level.
“You know, they call us the ‘Do-nothing Congress,’ but that’s not accurate,” Ellsworth said. “The things that we’re doing, I’m very proud of.”
Ellsworth said that part of a congressman’s job is to help projects back home. He mentioned programs for continuing education at Vincennes, Rose-Hulman and Indiana State universities and the University of Southern Indiana, as well as infrastructure.
“We work with commissioners, we work with mayors and we work with universities to do the right thing and bring good, valid projects back to our district,” Ellsworth said. “You probably won’t see me ask for a ‘Bridge to Nowhere,’ that’s not what I consider good and valid spending.”
After the rally, the congressman said he wanted to continue his work on causes he talked about two years ago on illegal immigration, Iraq, education, health care and energy.
“A lot of those issues I talked about are the same,” Ellsworth said. “I did a commercial a year ago in front of gas pumps and I can’t remember what the price was. I believe it was pushing $2 then and people said it was outrageous.”
Also, working with legislators from both sides of the aisle.
“These issues we are facing are tough,” Ellsworth said. “The energy problems, our economy, it’s going to take all of us working together. Some people don’t want to hear that.”
The electorate might see a little more of Ellsworth than Goode in the campaign. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Ellsworth had $715,526 on hand by April 16. Goode, who has been in the area at parades and fairs, had $43,480 on hand.
Ellsworth said Tuesday that people should prepare to hear negative advertising about him and his record. He said his campaign will be honest about his first two years in the House.
“You don’t deserve to be lied to for votes,” Ellsworth said. “If you’re being lied to get a vote, the person doesn’t deserve it and you better kick them to the curb.”
He then said if any person has a problem with a vote he made, that voter can call him and hear what Ellsworth said was “the real story” behind the vote.
After the rally, Ellsworth said he does not expect the campaign to be overtly negative, but is not sure what groups are out there, on either party, ready with attack ads.
“I expect more nastiness, if and when that happens, from the national campaigns,” Ellsworth said. “That seems to be the trend.
“They’re people that sit up in these booths in Washington D.C. and say ‘What’s the nastiest campaign ad I can think up about the opponent?’”
Ellsworth also talked after the meeting about the flooding in the area that hit 12 of the 18 counties in his district. He said the Federal Emergency Management Agency would not forget the area even though there has been widespread flooding elsewhere in the Midwest.
“It may not be as fast as we like it, but (the federal government) also wants us to spend,” Ellsworth said. “This is our tax money. They are taxpayers and they want us to spend that money wisely.”
He also said FEMA can be slow at times, but help is one the way, responding to complaints heard in the area about the agency. After hearing about possible flooding, Ellsworth was seen in Elnora and Plainville and talked with emergency managers.
Ellsworth praised Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels and officials throughout the state for their efforts in getting the documents together for a federal emergency declaration.
“It won’t be forgotten,” Ellsworth said. “Our (congressional) delegation nor the governor won’t let that happen.”

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