THE FORGOTTON ROLE IN THE INDIANA SENATE PRIMARY BATTLE

It was a Chilly Saturday in January 2011 in Tipton County. A group of about 200 Tea Party Movement people met in a church building at the request of Hoosiers for a Conservative Senate, a meeting that was the brainchild of Monica Boyer, and Greg Fetting. The meeting was to decide if they could come together on selecting a candidate to run against Indiana Senator Richard Lugar in the 2012 Primary election. This would hail to be one of many meeting that would lead up to the victory of their chosen candidate Indiana State Treasurer Richard Mourdock.
In the audience was “a lone Black man” according to the media. The media went on to say that this lone Black man had been chosen by and called up to the front by Radio Talk show host Pat Miller to lead The Pledge of Allegiance. [1]The media also made it seem like the Tea party groups that had gathered together were somehow exclusive of minorities.

This would turn out to be an historic event as the groups decided to move forward, organize, and place their support behind one candidate.
The meeting resulted in many weeks, and months of hard work for the Tea Party Movement in Indiana working with each other and the Republican voters and party.
The name that came to the forefront during this time frame was that of Rich Mourdock. A few months later the groups would meet again in Greenfield, Indiana; for a straw poll to choose between Mourdock and Lugar as the dominate candidate. Mourdock won. A rally was held after the event and I was one of the speakers.
A year or so earlier I had the pleasure of meeting with Richard Mourdock, and appearing on several stages with him as a speaker. I also had the pleasure of sitting down with him for a luncheon and spending time with him at his office in the Indiana State office Building.

During this time most of the people in northern Indiana were not familiar with Mr. Mourdock.
I decided that it was time for them to meet him and for me to actively work to help spread the word that in Richard Mourdock we had a man that would make a great Indiana Senator. So I began to speak about him wherever I went and asked local Tea Party groups to invite him as a guest. Some accepted the invitation, but many were skeptical.

A short time later Mourdock began to investigate his options and finally came to the decision that he would run for the seat currently held by Mr. Lugar. The battle began, and it was now time to introduce Mr. Mourdock to Indiana. Mourdock then spent countless hours marching in parades and meeting people at county fairs and events. I had the pleasure of attending several with him and for him.
I spent many hours writing emails, traveling to cities and major events around central, NW and NE Indiana introducing Mr. Mourdock and talking about him to my fellow Hoosiers. I also had the honor of appearing in one of his ads. I had been asked to do more, but schedule conflicts prevented me from doing do.[2]

Over the course of the next eighteen months or so Hoosiers worked together and worked hard to show support for our candidate even though the odds were against Mr. Mourdock winning according to the media, and most organized county Republican Party headquarters.
I became very active and began seeking to convince a few national groups that we could win. I also was able to convince our Fort Wayne 912 Group to host Mr. Mourdock as a speaker and to rally behind him so that other groups would do the same. Our efforts paid off.

On April 29Th of this year I was able to convince The Tea Party Express to come to Fort Wayne to rally for Richard Mourdock. This turned out to be the largest rally in our state.[3] I also stood with Mourdock at his announcement to run at The Allen County Republican Party headquarters and attend two Republican Party Dinners with Mr. Mourdock in Allen County and worked at convincing the people that I came into contact with to vote for him.

The final rally for Mr. Mourdock was held on May 5th 2012.[4]
This was an event put on by Hoosiers for a Conservative Senate and FreedomWorks. At this rally I presented the Indiana Flag at the opening of the event.

The end result of our hard work and toil was a victory by our chosen candidate. Mourdock won the race with a 20 point win.[5]
Indiana had shown the nation that The Tea Party Movement is not dead and that this victory was an effort of all Hoosiers. We have lead the way for other states to follow.
This story was written to show the efforts of one person to help secure a victory in the Indiana Senate Primary Race. I wanted to let my fellow citizens and the nation know that no roll is too small, and that we must continue to work together for a stronger and better America.

[1] http://kokomotribune.com/local/x376909590/Public-eye-Sunday-Jan-30-...
[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWg5---nb6w&feature=share
[3] http://www.wane.com/dpp/news/local/tea-party-express-stops-in-fort-...
[4] http://www.freedomworksforamerica.org/posts/rally-for-mourdock-kick...
[5] http://thestatehousefile.com/mourdock-easily-defeats-six-term-incum...

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Sincerely;
FREEDOM and LIBERTY {Use Them Or Lose Them}
Emery McClendon / KB9IBW
Recipient:2010 Americans For Prosperity "Activist Of The Year Award"
www.armad.net