Marshallgate: Marshall Sentenced to 18 Months in Prison after Guilty Plea

I'd be remiss if I didn't take a pause from my break in blogging to note that Mike Marshall, a Democratic Party operative from North Vernon about whom I blogged extensively back in 2011, plead guilty to vote fraud in January and today was sentenced to eighteen months in prison.

From the North Vernon Plain Dealer & Sun:

Michael R. Marshall, 60, of North Vernon, a veteran Democratic Party volunteer in Jennings County, was sentenced on Wednes­day to 18 months in prison, with nine months suspended, on three counts of voter fraud.

Marshall made an agreement last January to plead guilty, but sought to have the charges reduced from Class D felony to Class A misdemeanor counts at the sentencing hearing.

Jennings County Cir­cuit Court Judge Jon Web­ster levied the sentence following a two-hour hearing, discussing Marshall's executing three absentee ballot applications during the 2010 general election. Those three ballots were for Bernard Marshall, one of the defendant's sons; Robert Marshall, the defendant's brother; and J. Kevin Phelps, Mike Marshall's former roommate.

During the hearing, the crowded courtroom heard arguments from Marshall's attorneys, Larry Wilder of Jeffersonville and Jim Voyles of Indianapolis, and the special prosecutors, Aaron Negangard of Law­renceburg and Lynn Fled­derman of Batesville.

Negangard brought forth four witnesses for the state's case, including Anthony Scott of the Indiana State Police. Scott's involvement began with the request for investigation from the Jennings County Prosecutor's Office in January 2011, after the local Democratic Party placed an advertisement in the Plain Dealer. The ad pictured local resident John Cook was pictured holding a photograph of his son, Ben Cook, claiming that the Republican Party was attempting to disenfranchise his son as a voter in the 2010 election.

Several Jennings County elected officials took the stand with Clerk Mary Dorsett-Kilgore and Recor­der Lisa Jines-Plessinger, both Republi­cans, testifying for the prosecution.

"I believe the community deserves a sense of justice in this regard, and I believe he deserves to spend some time (in prison)," Dorsett-Kilgore said.

Jines-Plessinger had a similar sentiment, asking Webster, "As an elected official and a business owner, how can I look in the eyes of my constituents if justice isn't served?"

Jack Kelley, a Repub­lican who served on the 2010 Absentee Election Board in Jennings County, also testified at the hearing and spoke of the absentee ballot applications in question and their being challenged by him among the more than 240 applications he found to be questionable.

The article about Marshall's guilty plea a few months ago is available here; the guilty plea was apparently entered into in hopes of the court reducing the felony conviction to a misdemeanor.

The parade of Democrats rushing to Marshall's defense even as he heads off to prison is really something to behold:

Testifying on Marshall's behalf were Larry Franks, Leah Bowling and Karen Snyder, all longtime acquaintances.

Franks testified to the civic mindedness of his former boss. "Michael has helped so many people in this community. He is sorry for what he's done, and I don't believe that prison would be the right thing to do in this case."

"Mike is an honorable man, a man that cares about his community. We are all guilty of making mistakes, and I believe we all deserve a second chance," Bowling said.

Snyder, the county's Democratic Party chair, testified that Marshall's character and concern for his community were something that impressed her always.

Negangard argued, "I'm concerned that the Demo­cratic Party is using as their standard bearer someone who is now admitting to defying the law."

Understatement of the year from the special prosecutor. As always, it is Marshall's supposedly noble ends and intentions that justify his crooked means.

Snyder, the Democratic Party chair, was a member with Marshall of the so-called "Get Out the Vote committee" he led beginning in 2006. She's apparently quite close to him, and Marshall helped her with her transition to become Jennings County Democratic Party Chair, and "encouraged her to run."

Marshall's own statements about why he did what he did are also interesting:

In a statement to the judge, Marshall acknowledged the wrongfulness of his errors, stating, "I would never condone someone doing what I did, but I did it because of who I did it for."

The defendant was adamant that his actions were not done in malicet. [sic]

"I did it because I wanted to make sure they got to vote. The deadline was getting close, and I wanted to make sure they got to vote. I took my civic duty seriously, and I'm here today to admit that I made a mistake," Marshall said.

"I have learned my lesson. I promise the court I will not disappoint you ever again," he added.

Again with the protestations of the supposed nobility of his motives and the ends he sought. You'd think these people were all singing from a songbook that had a common author.

In fact, back in January Democratic Chair Snyder couldn't wait to have Marshall back up to his old tricks:

Jennings County Democratic Party Chair Karen Snyder said she stands behind Marshall and said his decision on the plea agreement was a very difficult one for him...

Snyder said she trusts Marshall and that the Democratic Party will be glad to get him back as a volunteer after he sat out the 2012 election because of the charges pending.

"I know Mike as well as most people and I trust him," she said. "Without question, we will welcome Mike back to work for the party."

The judge's sentencing ruling is worth noting, as well:

Before handing down the sentence, Webster noted the vitriol surrounding politics on both sides of the aisle, and the measures he took toward ensuring the court's integrity.

"When this case first came about, I knew there was a possibility for political overtones," the judge said. "That's why I appointed special prosecutors for this case from both (political) parties."

While the judge made note of Marshall's longtime community involvement and lack of criminal history, Webster showed concern for the impact the defendant's actions could have.

"Those who tinker with the election process are tinkering with the foundations of democracy," the judge remarked. "I worry that this will only serve to further voter apathy and voter cynicism. I don't want the citizens of Jennings County to question the appointment of elected officials and wonder if it was really their votes that put them there."

That final bit there really flies in the face of the parting arguments made by Marshall's Democratic defenders, particularly the Jennings County Democratic Chair.

After the sentencing, the disappointment of Marshall's many supporters was palpable.

"I'm just amazed that a man of his character is not being allowed to serve his sentence on house arrest rather than be incarcerated," Bowling said. "People are found guilty on drug charges all the time, but this man, who has served his community for all his life, is being treated like more of a danger than they are. I just don't believe it."

Snyder expressed similar sentiments.

"I am just really disappointed. There are no victims in this case," she said. "We have three people who wanted to vote, and Mike wanted to help them do that."

That's rich. The Democratic Party Chairwoman in Jennings County thinks that vote fraud is a victimless crime.

The victims of Mike Marshall are the voters and citizens of Jennings County that cast legitimate and legal votes, only to have their votes undermined and cheapened by Marshall's illegitimate and illegal votes.

That's not a victimless crime. That's a crime with thousands of victims, tens of thousands when you consider every elected office on the ballot whose election outcome was influenced by the actions of this man.

Photo of the Day: John Gregg Steps Out in Style

Who wears wingtip dress shoes, gray pinstripe dress slacks, a pink dress shirt, and a tie to a parade? Why John Gregg, that's who.

Today, at the Harrison County Fair Parade:

Note also the bizarre giant cardboard cutouts of Shelli Yoder's head that her supporters were carrying in the parade.

Quote of the Day: Lincoln on Liberty

"The world has never had a good definition of the word liberty, and the American people, just now, are much in want of one. We all declare for liberty; but in using the same word we do not all mean the same thing. With some the word liberty may mean for each man to do as he pleases with himself, and the product of his labor; while with others, the same word may mean for some men to do as they please with other men, and the product of other men's labor. Here are two, not only different, but incompatible things, called by the same name — liberty. And it follows that each of the things is, by the respective parties, called by two different and incompatible names — liberty and tyranny."
- Abraham Lincoln, April 18, 1864

WISH TV:

Republican Senate candidate Richard Mourdock is a student of Abraham Lincoln but his use of a Lincoln quote during a speech in Texas last night is raising some eyebrows.

Mourdock is under fire from Democrat Joe Donnelly for his efforts to stop the Chrysler bankruptcy. His defense of those efforts led him to use part of a Lincoln quote that also includes a reference to slavery. (see full quote below)

He was speaking to a Freedomworks audience in Dallas telling the conservative political action committee that he fought the Chrysler bankruptcy to stop the bankruptcy court from taking the pensions of retired teachers and state troopers. "So that someone else can be given their assets," he said. "It is the same tyrannical principle as in 1858."

The 1858 reference is to a Lincoln quote, one that includes a reference to "one race of men enslaving another race." Today Mourdock said he wasn't comparing the actions of the Obama Administration to slavery. "No, that wasn't the issue at all," he said. "It was about governments actions and taking property."

This afternoon State Democratic Chairman Dan Parker issued a statement calling Mourdock's references to the Civil War era embarassing and inexcuseable. He said Mourdock should apologize.

Here's what Lincoln said in a debate with Stephen Douglas:

"That is the real issue. That is the issue that will continue in this country when these poor tongues of Judge Douglas and myself shall be silent. It is the eternal struggle between these two principles -- right and wrong -- throughout the world. They are the two principles that have stood face to face from the beginning of time, and will ever continue to struggle. The one is the common right of humanity and the other the divine right of kings. It is the same principle in whatever shape it develops itself. It is the same spirit that says, 'You work and toil and earn bread, and I'll eat it.' No matter in what shape it comes, whether from the mouth of a king who seeks to bestride the people of his own nation and live by the fruit of their labor, or from one race of men as an apology for enslaving another race, it is the same tyrannical principle." --October 15, 1858 Debate at Alton

Abraham Lincoln clearly felt in 1858--and still in 1864--that the key principle in question throughout history (not merely during the period of and leading to our Civil War) is not slavery, but that of tyranny: the notion of one person (or group of people) doing as they pleased with the fruits of the labors of other people.

That notion applies down through the ages in countless forms of despotism that elevate some men above others.

It's going to take more than false outrage over Richard Mourdock quoting Abraham Lincoln to get Hoosiers to elect a big government, big spending liberal like Joe Donnelly.

The Imaginary World of Joe Donnelly

Matt Tully's column this weekend is a love letter to Joe Donnelly, singing the praises of the liberal Congressman from northern Indiana whose voting record has been in lockstep with Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi from the moment he took office.

This liberal voting record--a hard and objective, unchallenged fact--is something that is inconvenient to the narrative of Tully's paean to Joe Donnelly (really a sour grapes lament of the defeat of Dick Lugar), so Tully simply omits it.

In Tully's world, Donnelly is a soft cuddly moderate who loves bipartisanship, a guy who can get away with an outright lie of claiming he never voted for Nancy Pelosi for house speaker when in fact he voted for her twice.

Let's look at the column:

It's easy to be depressed about politics these days.

Super PACs shape campaigns from the shadows, and cable news entertainers influence politics from the edge of sanity. Big issues go unaddressed because of partisan gridlock; yet, somehow, politicians such as Indiana's U.S. Senate candidate Richard Mourdock emerge with promises to bring even more gridlock and partisanship to Capitol Hill.

Mourdock bluntly said recently: "We need less bipartisanship in Congress." Among many other such statements, there was this one: "To me, the highlight of politics, frankly, is to inflict my opinion on someone else."

I could go on; Mourdock is the Energizer Bunny of juvenile political ideas. So it's been nice to see that his divisive brand of politics has caused him trouble recently and helped make Indiana's Senate race competitive.

I'm curious about what makes the Senate race any more competitive than the one in 2010, other than columnists like Matt Tully proclaiming it to be so.

Gone are the pre-primary days when the Republican state treasurer had only to appeal to a small slice of the voter pool -- a slice that loved his inflammatory rhetoric. The general election season has arrived, and Mourdock's opposition to working with anyone who doesn't share his far-right worldview is a tougher sell among the 91 percent of Hoosier adults who either didn't vote in the Republican primary or didn't vote for him in that primary.

Fair enough. Mourdock must now sell his worldview to the 60% of Hoosiers that had him lead the Republican ticket statewide in 2010 (and had him beat Joe Donnelly in Donnelly's own district). This is neither a tough sell nor a new one for Richard Mourdock.

Mourdock's fortunes are not helped by the fact that his Democratic opponent is a workmanlike Blue Dog moderate. Joe Donnelly, a former small-business owner and current third-term U.S. House member from Northern Indiana, delivers a message built around two core ideas: create more jobs and turn Washington, D.C. into less of a toxic swamp.

This is interesting, as Joe Donnelly is currently in Washington and has by his voting record contributed greatly to 1) things that destroy jobs rather than create them, and 2) continue to keep Washington a toxic swamp.

There is also nothing "workmanlike" about Joe Donnelly's background (he's an attorney and a Democratic party hack), just like there's nothing actually moderate about him when you examine his voting record.

"This is about making Hoosier lives better and our country stronger," Donnelly told me over coffee at the City Cafe Downtown last week. "(Mourdock) is going there as a partisan warrior. I'm going there as the hired help from Indiana to make our state stronger."

Again, with his votes for Wall Street bailouts, Obama's economy-strangling deficits, Obama's budget-busting failed stimulus plan, and Obama's government takeover of health care, there is no record of Joe Donnelly using his time in Congress to "make Hoosier lives better and our country stronger."

Does anyone seriously think that the life of the average Hoosier is better today than it was when Joe Donnelly went to Washington? Is our country stronger? Certainly not with Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, and Joe Donnelly minding the store. Indiana is not any stronger, either.

Hired help, indeed. Most people would fire hired help with a record like Joe Donnelly's.

So far, Mourdock has been Donnelly's most valuable political asset, routinely saying things that his opponents couldn't make up. For example, he has said that if the Senate is not in Republican hands next year, his main goal as a taxpayer-salaried senator would be to travel the country campaigning to get more Republicans elected. He believes compromise can be achieved only if Democrats and moderate Republicans cave on every issue and embrace his positions. He has offered a laughable proposal to eliminate several federal agencies and departments without offering a sensible plan to replace the services they provide.

If you believe that more government and more debt and more spending is the answer, clearly you're going to be voting for Joe Donnelly. If you want less government and less debt and less spending, clearly you're going to be voting for Richard Mourdock.

As Mitch Daniels is fond of saying, "You'd be surprised how much government you'll never miss."

"What will happen if you act that way is people will ignore you," Donnelly said. "How can you be a serious part of any discussion if you've said from the beginning that the only plan you'll be a part of is your plan?"

Joe Donnelly hasn't exactly gotten a lot accomplished in Washington other than be a rubber stamp for a liberal agenda written out of Chicago by Obama and San Francisco by Nancy Pelosi.

In a state that leans to the right, those pulling for Donnelly point to his opposition to abortion, his support of gun rights and his call for less spending.

Oh, well that seals the deal, right? How encouraging.

Joe Donnelly has "called" for less spending.

His voting record, however, has been in lockstep for ever more spending.

Joe Donnelly says he is opposed to abortion.

His voting record, however, has been for policies like Federal funding of abortion and coercion of private Catholic hospitals to go against their pro-life beliefs by order of government decree.

Pay no attention to what he does in DC, folks. Only pay attention to the sweet lies he tells back here in Indiana.

That record could help sell his candidacy to independents and moderate Republicans. But what about Democrats? To that question, he said he would support President Obama "when he's right" but added that the problems facing the country aren't about partisan labels.

If his voting record is any indication, by Joe Donnelly's own words we can conclude that he believes Barack Obama is right with ballooning government spending, raising taxes, and Obamacare.

Remember, Joe Donnelly says he supports Barack Obama "when he's right."

His voting record shows that Joe Donnelly thinks Barack Obama is right a lot.

It's Ellspermann

The speculation of recent days was correct.

Mike Pence will announce his pick for Lieutenant Governor at the YMCA in Ferdinand, Indiana, in just a few minutes. It will be freshman State Representative Sue Ellspermann (Ferdinand is her hometown).

The event will be followed by a next governor and lieutenant governor of Indiana barnstorming more than half a dozen announcement events statewide over the following two days.

These are two faces you're likely to see a lot of over the next eight to sixteen years:

A good pick, all in all. Sue Ellspermann will bring decades of valuable private sector jobs and economic development experience to the ticket.

(This information was embargoed until 10 a.m. on Monday, May 21. This post was written in advance and queued up to go live at 10.)

Pence Lieutenant Governor Pick Monday

Speculation is buzzing about who Congressman Mike Pence will pick as his lieutenant governor. Much buzz has centered around District 74 State Representative Sue Ellspermann of Ferdinand, who was first elected in 2010 by defeating then House Majority Whip Russ Stilwell and has a background in academia and economic development.

The campaign's announcement roll-out schedule gives considerable credence to such speculation.

Emails sent out to Republicans in Vanderburgh and Warrick County invite them to an announcement at Tri-State Aero at the Evansville Regional Airport (map here)at noon on Monday.

So far, the campaign has given no information about any event elsewhere in the state that is scheduled earlier than the event in Evansville at noon on Monday. The event in Indianapolis is at three later that afternoon and is at the Express Scripts Distribution Facility at the former United Airlines maintenance complex on the back side of the Indianapolis International Airport (map here).

Though speculation in Indianapolis has centered on State Representative and Professor Sue Ellspermann, Evansville is also home to District 76 State Representative Wendy McNamara, who was likewise elected in 2010. McNamara, however, has a background in education, not in economic development. She faces a tough reelection fight against former State Representative Trent Van Haaften, who left open the seat she won in order to run for (and lose) the 8th District Congressional seat (itself left open by Brad Ellsworth's failed run for United States Senate). Her reelection bid may also be made more complicated from baggage gained during legislative sessions over the past two years.

Ellspermann's old district was heavy with union activity (Stilwell himself was a political director for the United Mine Workers). She voted (PDF warning) for right-to-work in the previous legislative session, as did McNamara. Ellspermann's new district is neither substantively more Republican or substantively less union (it gained, for example, heavily union and Democratic parts of Perry and Crawford Counties) post-redistricting.

Ellspermann faces a particularly challenging reelection campaign (largely by virtue of the nature of her district, not so much on the strength of her opponent, who is a retired school administrator whose website contains a map of the old district and not the new district; I wonder if he is even campaigning in the right places), and a move to lieutenant governor would either leave the seat open to a Republican candidate that does not have right-to-work baggage or at least free the House Republican Campaign Committee from having to invest a lot of money defending an incumbent in a very tough situation.

Sue Ellspermann's background in economic development would certainly be an asset to Pence's campaign. She doesn't have an extensive legislative resume, which could be seen either as an asset or a liability, depending on the role Pence intends for her to play in a future administration. She does not have the decade-plus of General Assembly experience Becky Skillman had when she became lieutenant governor, for example, so it is difficult to see her being a "legislative quarterback" for Pence's agenda in the same way that Skillman was for Daniels. Her focus, instead, would probably be entirely on economic development, which is probably a net positive overall given the nature of the economy and the early outlines being seen from Pence's campaign (and the campaign of his opponent).

And, of course, the selection of Ellspermann would be yet another blow to Democratic rhetoric about a Republican "war on women," particularly if--as is widely expected--Democratic nominee John Gregg picks a male mayor from northern Indiana as his lieutenant governor pick.

I am certain that there will be snark from some quarters about Republicans picking yet another blonde female state legislator from southern Indiana as their lieutenant governor nominee, but it cannot be said that Ellspermann--who holds a doctorate in industrial engineering, has decades of experience in economic development, and got elected in a very tough district against a very tough opponent--is not more than capable of performing the job.

There's another dimension to picking Ellspermann that also deserves mention. She is a graduate of the 2008-2009 class of the Lugar Series. Her selection could be seen as Pence, who assumed de facto leadership of the state Republican Party after the May primary, moving to heal some lingering wounds from the Senate contest between Dick Lugar and Richard Mourdock. Lugar supporters might still smart at their man not being on the ballot, but they could support the entire ticket knowing his legacy lives on (among other ways) in the nomination and election of Sue Ellspermann if she is indeed Pence's LG pick.

I know Ellspermann endorsed Lugar in the Senate primary, but I haven't been able to find what statements, if any, she has made about Mourdock's win. I do know, however, that she campaigned alongside both Pence and Mourdock in Boonville at a political rally in late October of 2010 when she was running for state representative. It's hard to see her having problems campaigning alongside Mourdock now if she was willing to campaign alongside him then.

Of course, all of the above speculation (and that of a great many other people) could be entirely wrong. That would be provably true if Pence has another announcement scheduled somewhere else in Indiana earlier than noon on Monday. It seems highly unlikely that the announcement itself would be distant from the home of Pence's lieutenant governor pick. The geography of the announcement events is the biggest clue going forward in the next two days.