Tippecanoe County Democrats —

In Tuesday's kickoff event of this general election campaign for Representative of the Indiana Fourth District, David Sanders Sanders said all of the Republican candidates who competed in the primary seemed like they would continue the work that retiring incumbent Steve Buyer has done.

"I will be very different. I will be focused on local projects and bringing jobs to Indiana," Sanders said. He challenged Republican nominee Todd Rokita to differentiate himself from Buyer. Read more from the Journal and Courier here.

Governor Mitch Daniels is apparently considering skipping the special election to replace Rep. Mark Souder, who is resigning. The Governor argues that the election would cost the state at least a million dollars and would only provide about 20 days of representation before the November elections. Apparently Democratic Party Chair Dan Parker doesn't object. Local blogger Doug Masson is pretty uncomfortable with deciding whether to hold elections based on cost: "The cheapest solution would be one with no election costs and a lifetime of service by the officeholder. But, of course, our ancestors opted out of just such a system long ago." You can read Masson's comments here. The Star's coverage of Daniels' thoughts on the special election are here.

Rep. Mark Souder of Fort Wayne resigned as representative of Indiana's Third District on Tuesday. The tireless advocate of family values, outlawing abortion, banning gay marriage, and abstinence-only sex education resigned over an affair of long-standing with a female staff member.

In his resignation announcement, a tearful Souder blamed the "poisonous atmosphere of Washington" for forcing his resignation. However, Jim Shella reports that House Minority Leader John Boehner demanded Souder's resignation; he quotes Boehner as follows: “And I’ve also made clear that I will not tolerate behavior that’s unbecoming of a member and will take action,and we did.”

Perhaps the most vivid representation of the contradiction between Souder's politics and his actual life is a five-minute video about abstinence education in which he is interviewed by his mistress; you can see the video in the Indianapolis Star story here. More details of Souder's political demise can be found in the Washington Post story here.

Yesterday the Democratic Central Committee named Brad Ellsworth the party's nominee for the Senate seat being vacated by retiring Evan Bayh. The timing of Bayh's announcement of his retirement did allow for Democratic Senate candidates to compete in a primary.

"I'm humbled and I'm very proud at this moment to have the chance to go and represent you," Ellsworth said to the committee. You can read more about Ellsworth's nomination here. The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette's Washington editor, Sylivia Smith, offers this analysis of Ellsworth as a candidate and of the general election race against Dan Coats.

In an op-ed for National Teacher Appreciation Week, Former teacher Rep. Sheila Klinker praises teachers' dedication to children, laments the current funding problems that are hurting our schools and our children, and she makes a pledge: "To our educators, who daily prove their dedication to our community's students, I pledge that I will continue to work in a bipartisan manner to find solutions to this education funding challenge." You can read Sheila's entire Journal and Courier column here.

Reactions to the nomination of Elena Kagan as Supreme Court justice by Indiana politicians were fairly predictable. Evan Bayh called her “smart and accomplished" and says he will keep an open mind in the confirmation process. Richard Lugar dismissed his vote for her as Solicitor General as irrelevant and plans to take a "wait-and-see" approach. Dan Coats demanded that she face tough questioning and insisted that Brad Ellsworth take a position on the nomination, or "at least tell Hoosiers how he'll approach judicial confirmations." To which the Ellsworth campaign released a statement: "If elected to the Senate, he (Brad Ellsworth) would look for judges that are well-qualified, respect the Constitution, and approach each case with an open mind and a willingness to listen to both sides." Read more reactions here.

In keeping with his post-retirement-announcement candor, Evan Bayh disses the Supreme Court confirmation process: "You get these very erudite people coming before Congress saying as little as possible in very intelligent-sounding phrases. It's really kind of a sad kabuki theater but that's what it's evolved into." Read more from the Hill here.