INDIANAPOLIS | Indiana will descend into totalitarianism if Mike Pence is not elected governor.
That's the message the Republican Congressman sent to supporters this week while asking for a contribution of between $50 and $10,000 ahead of Thursday's deadline to be included on a key campaign finance report.
In his email, Pence quotes former President Ronald Reagan, who said politics is not about choosing right or left but up or down: "Up to man's age-old dream -- the maximum of individual freedom consistent with order -- or down to the ant heap of totalitarianism."
"That's the choice Indiana faces today," Pence said.
Pence's campaign manager would not comment on Pence's belief that Indiana is on the verge of totalitarianism, but said Indiana's future is at a crossroads.
"Mike Pence believes Indiana will have the choice to move forward or backward in the years ahead," Kyle Robertson said. "He believes that more government, more taxes and more regulation will take Indiana in the wrong direction."
Indiana Democratic Party Chairman Dan Parker said Pence's totalitarianism statement is what you'd expect from someone who has "spent a decade in Washington being a very divisive, ideological Congressman."
"Using this kind of language to run for governor of Indiana doesn't bring people together, doesn't create jobs, doesn't improve education -- it's more divisiveness and more ideological extremism," Parker said.
Parker said Pence routinely resorts to such hyperbole because "actions speak louder than words, and the problem for Mike Pence is he doesn't have a record of actually doing anything."
For his part, Pence said if elected he plans to build on the accomplishments of term-limited Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels and "make Indiana an example for other states to follow by focusing on creating good jobs, great schools, safe streets and strong families."
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