Former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg could put Indiana back on the primary election map if he’s still running for president when Hoosiers vote in May, a political writer and TV commentator told local Republicans on Tuesday.
Speaking at the Montgomery County Lincoln Day Dinner, Abdul Hakim-Shabazz said having Buttigieg’s name on the ballot, along with Vice President Mike Pence’s Indiana connections, may drive more voters across the state to the polls.
With trademark humor, Shabazz quipped he would have to win the lottery to say whether President Donald Trump will keep the White House.
“If I could predict what’s going to happen in November, we would be doing this via Skype,” Shabazz joked to the crowd of local and state candidates and elected officials at the Crawfordsville Country Club, “because I would have won the Powerball eight times in a row and bought my island either in the Bahamas or the South Pacific.”
But if the election were decided that evening, he added, Trump would win re-election by a margin of victory similar to four years ago, an indication of the even split between the president’s diehard supporters and opponents.
“The fight will be for that 20% in the middle who don’t necessarily like the president, but everything in life is going OK … I would not be surprised if it’s based on the last thing he tweets,” Shabazz said.
In keynote remarks at the Montgomery County GOP’s annual fundraiser, the fast-talking political observer weighed in on the national and state government scene, called out “keyboard commandos” who stoke partisan fires on social media and issued a plea for civility in Washington.
Shabazz, who is also an attorney, writes for the Indy Politics website, hosts a daily program on Indianapolis radio station WIBC and appears as a panelist on WXIN/WTTV’s “INFocus.” He’s built a following on Twitter with his coverage of the homicide rate in the state capital and often sarcastic takes on the day’s political news.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I’m a black conservative named Abdul. I don’t have time to be politically correct,” he joked after comparing the campaign strategy of a recently-departed Democratic gubernatorial candidate to a college student saving up money to take a girl on a date and backing out after dinner.
With approval ratings above 60% heading in to his re-election campaign, Gov. Eric Holcomb appears to be cruising to another term, Shabazz said. Republicans may face more of a challenge in the race for Indiana’s top lawyer, with Attorney General Curtis Hill facing the suspension of his law license over groping allegations.
In the General Assembly, Shabazz predicted lawmakers would rush to finish the session as outgoing Republican House speaker Brian Bosma urged his colleagues not to drag their feet on this year’s priorities.
Shabazz said there’s been “overwhelming” bipartisan agreement on major issues, including raising the state’s legal tobacco age and banning cell phones behind the wheel.
The working relationship between the parties doesn’t extend to Washington, Shabazz said, bemoaning the name-calling and personal attacks against opponents.
“I would say that’s what four-year-olds do, but that would be an insult to four-year-olds, because four-year olds just need a cookie and a nap and then they’ll go back to being fine,” Shabazz said. “Grown people, I don’t know what the hell their problem is.”
