Mike Sodrel's Big Weekend

I blogged late last week about an email that was sent out by Dee Dee Benkie, Indiana's national committeewoman on the Republican National Committee, and Larry Shickles, the former 9th District chairman, for a lunch for Congressman Mike Sodrel.

First of all, to put an end to the many inquiring emails I have received since I made that post, Mike Sodrel made no announcements this weekend at any of the three events he attended.

And, yes, Sodrel attended three events this weekend. At least, he attended three events where I personally saw him. He may have been at others, too. He attended a social event on Friday put on by the Floyd County GOP. He attended the aforementioned lunch on Saturday in Harrison County. And he attended, and spoke, at the Tea Party in Corydon later Saturday afternoon.

The lunch on Saturday a successful event, particularly given the very short notice (less than 48 hours) given with the timing of the invitation email. The event lasted for about two hours and had a pretty steady flow of people through. Folks came from even the far corners of the district, and there were even attendees from Monroe County, Bartholomew County, Dearborn County, and Ripley County.

Your humble correspondent left before the event was over (I had a Tea Party to get to, and I knew that parking in downtown Corydon was going to be awful so I wanted to get there early; everyone else at the event that followed me to the Tea Party said that they wished that they had left early too), but I am told that some more people came after I left.

If the point of the event was for Mike Sodrel to stick a proverbial toe in to "test the waters" for a potential campaign, he probably found the waters comfortable and to his liking. He made no announcements, but found a lot of encouragement. Sodrel spoke about the state of the country and the state of the Republican Party. With regard to the former, he talked about the dangers presented by the current Congress and the Obama administration. With regard to the latter, he talked about the victories in New Jersey and Virginia and (of particular interest) the race in NY-23.

The night before, Friday night, Sodrel showed up unexpectedly at a social event held by the Floyd County GOP. Interestingly, he showed up about ten minutes (if that) after Todd Young left. The two quite literally could have passed each other, with one coming into the building and the other leaving. The contrast between the reception the two got was quite interesting to see.

Mike Sodrel and his wife Keta were soon surrounded by people wanting to know whether he was going to run and frequently encouraging him to do so. One person, quite seriously and sincerely, asked Keta Sodrel whether they should be praying for Mike (not to run, but for wisdom in the decision). Keta didn't tell this person not to pray, and she certainly didn't indicate that she had any problem with Mike running. I was surprised that she appeared to have no issues with Mike running.

At the Tea Party, the next afternoon, Sodrel got a standing ovation from the crowd when he got up to speak about cap-and-trade, and again when he finished. Some people even shouted, "We like Mike!" and others shouted for him to run against Baron Hill.

Before and after the event, Sodrel was surrounded by people asking him whether he was going to run, with many encouraging him to do so. Again, to use the tired old "testing the waters" cliche, Sodrel probably found the waters at the Tea Party also to his liking.

Of particular interest to me was the reaction that Sodrel got from the crowd at large. The Tea Party was not a partisan event, and the organizers went to great lengths to avoid making it so (as I noted in passing, here). They were particularly concerned that Sodrel (and State Treasurer Richard Mourdock) would be seen as too partisan and might offend conservative Democrats that attended the event.

I spoke with a couple of conservative Democrats that were present afterward (one of whom told me last year that he couldn't bring himself to ever vote for a Republican, despite his huge dislike for Obama). None were offended, though several didn't like the handing out of campaign literature. Another said that he had changed his mind about Sodrel now but had always voted for Hill in the past (this same Democrat, a union member, grumbled to me about Mourdock stopping the Chrysler bailout).

If this past weekend was Mike Sodrel's way of testing the waters, he certainly found nothing to dissuade him from running, and plenty to encourage him. His reception from conservatives of all political stripes at the Tea Party in Corydon was particularly noteworthy.