NEW CASTLE, Ind. | The Republicans running for their party's Indiana Senate nomination took plenty of swipes at Washington on Saturday, although not at the much-questioned Washington career of former Sen. Dan Coats since he left Congress more than a decade ago.
The five Republicans who want to replace retiring Democratic Sen. Evan Bayh shared a stage for the first time just hours after the race for the Democratic pick cleared up more with Rep. Baron Hill saying that he would seek re-election to the House and endorsed Rep. Brad Ellsworth.
None of the four other Republican candidates at Saturday's Henry County GOP event brought up the questions Coats has faced over his work as a Washington lobbyist and years away from Indiana since leaving the Senate in 1999.
All drew frequent applause from the crowd of about 200 people in a Moose lodge by faulting President Barack Obama and the Democratic-controlled Congress for their handling of the economy, push for revamping the health care system and increased federal spending.
"Washington is completely out of touch with America," said state Sen. Marlin Stutzman of Howe. "I believe that people voted to change Washington, not to change America."
Coats has the backing of national Republicans since he launched his Senate campaign Feb. 3, but his attempt at a political comeback 18 years after he was last on a ballot didn't prompt any of the other candidates to drop the campaigns they started months earlier.
Coats reassured the crowd Saturday of his intentions if he wins the party's nomination in the May 4 primary.
"I've re-engaged because I care deeply my country and care deeply about the future of this country and am fearful, absolutely fearful, about where we're headed," he said.
Stutzman came the closest to attacking Coats when he promised to continue raising his children in Indiana if elected and said the Republicans had a huge choice facing them.
"This is a chance for us to elect somebody from Indiana who will go to Washington, not to be a part of the club, the go-along-to-get-along crowd," Stutzman said. "The answers are here, they're not in Washington D.C."
The Republican primary campaign has taken on greater importance since Bayh's surprise Feb. 15 announcement that he wouldn't seek a third term. The GOP candidate will go into the fall campaign without having to face the most reliable vote-getter that Indiana Democrats have had in decades.
Hill, a five-term Democratic congressman from southern Indiana, said he considered the Senate race but decided to continue his House re-election campaign. Hill backed Ellsworth, a second-term congressman who entered the Senate race four days after Bayh's announcement.
Former state Democratic chairman Robin Winston said he didn't expect any other top-tier candidates to pursue the party's nomination. He said much could happen before the party's state central committee picks the nominee after the May primary passes, but Ellsworth appears to have the inside track.
"At this point he has certainly picked up a lot of support, and, at this point, it looks like he has the experience at the federal level that Hoosier voters may want," Winston said.
Coats said he believed voters will be better served by the nine weeks remaining in the Republican primary campaign that also involves former Rep. John Hostettler, financial adviser Don Bates Jr. of Winchester and tea party organizer Richard Behney of Fishers.
"Our candidate will be chosen by the people, theirs will be chosen by the party bosses without the people's say," Coats said in an interview.
The Democratic nominee will be decided by the party's 32-member state central committee because the timing of Bayh's announcement left no time for a party candidate to submit enough signatures by the filing deadline.
