Your Voice: Democrats hope the Blue Wave comes to Indiana

Your Voice: Democrats hope the Blue Wave comes to Indiana
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SOUTH BEND, Ind. — could a Democratic Party-led movement impact Indiana’s U.S. Senate race?

While energy is building in St. Joseph County to ensure Joe Donnelly keeps his seat, the support for Republican challenger Mike Braun in other counties however could stop the so-called “Blue Wave” from hitting the political shores of Indiana.

“Well I’m still as optimistic as I was in January of 2017,” said voter Tony Flora. “People know that Joe Donnelly is a hard worker. He’s shown for more than 10 years that he’s been a hard worker in Congress for the people in this community and the people in this state.”

Democrats in town say they’re proud of Donnelly’s record in D.C. and they’re hoping more folks in Indiana will vote to send him back.

“He’s proven himself to be a productive public servant,” said voter Alex Giorgio-Rubin. “He’s been reaching across the aisle and representing Hoosiers for years now.”

That matters to these voters, but not so much to Republican voters.

Thousands of them rallied in Elkhart last week around their party’s U.S. Senate nominee Mike Braun.

They say, thanks to President Donald Trump’s support, Braun could be the one to defeat Donnelly.

“Well we can say that was then and this is now because we’ve seen a lot of elections, you take Pennsylvania for example,” said voter Stan Miles. “Or take Alabama for example. The candidate he backed in Alabama lost in the primary.”

But even if the president’s influence is inconsistent at best, could the Democratic Party effectively capitalize on it? Or is the party having a hard time getting its message across to voters?

“I think some of those criticisms are probably understandable but I do think the Democratic Party has a message,” said voter Anna Van Overberghe. “I think it’s stronger on the local level where parties can rally around particular messages that resonate specifically with the community. On the national level it’s a bit harder. I think the Democratic Party will get there though.”

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