Welcome to the HoosLeft podcast, a show about Indiana politics, history, and culture from the unapologetic perspective of the Hoosier left. My name is Scott Aaron Rogers and I’m recording from Bloomington.
I’m very excited to introduce today’s guest. Not only is she the podcast’s first statewide candidate, but a major party nominee for the state’s highest office. Dr. Jennifer McCormick spent 10 years in the classroom and another 15 as a public school principal and superintendent. In 2016, Jennifer, a life-long Republican, successfully ran for state superintendent of public instruction, to play a pivotal role in shaping education policies and championing the needs of ALL Hoosier students and educators. Once in office, however, she clashed with members of her own party, who had a different agenda for Indiana’s schools. After her one term, the GOP legislature eliminated the position as an elected office and gave the governor power to appoint the state’s top educator. Since then, Dr. McCormick has jumped ship to the Democratic side and will represent the party as their nominee for governor in this November’s election.
We’ll talk about her time in the classroom, in administration, AND in public office. I’ll ask about her positions on reproductive freedom, “woke” culture, legal weed, the US-Mexico border, China, policing, climate change, and the IEDC. We’ll talk GOTV strategy and I’ll press her about the party switch. But first, I need your help.
HoosLeft is dedicated to calling out Indiana lawmakers, their financial backers, and the networks of people actively working to make our lives worse, those whose policies endanger children, those that sow grief in our homes and communities. I work to highlight these bad actors so we can replace them with more empathetic leadership, and also shine the spotlight on the Hoosier activists, organizations, and elected officials who are doing the hard work to build a more just, equitable, and compassionate Indiana.
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Here’s my interview with Jennifer McCormick.
Once again, that was the Indiana Democratic Party’s nominee for governor of the Hoosier State, Jennifer McCormick.
I’ve gotta be honest. Last year, when it became apparent Dr. McCormick was likely the only serious Democrat in the race, I wasn’t super thrilled. Here we go again, I thought, nominating another cookie-cutter centrist, a Republican in Democrats’ clothing, chasing an imaginary center instead of putting forward a compelling progressive. So, I really wanted to understand her core values.
I believe her when she says she was never a terribly partisan person. Public school teachers, administrators, these are hardworking people without the time, generally, to be political sickos. It’s serious mental and emotional work; it requires presence; you can’t stay under headphones all day consuming podcasts like some of us. But they understand the importance of public education, and of organized labor.
So, I believe she brought the conservative values, with which she was raised, to the table, and she was generally apolitical until she got to the statehouse and saw how the sausage is made. It turns out the nominal conservatives of the Indiana GOP aren’t really out to conserve public education.
I’ve been through this before, but it’s worth saying again; the Republican coalition is a mix of economic libertarians who want to privatize EVERY state function AND fundamentalist Christian extremists who want their religious indoctrination taught in schools. Both groups want to eliminate public education.
In fact, Republicans don’t want to conserve much of anything: public education, the right to control one’s own body, the environment, children’s lives. These are radicals interested only in wealth and power. Again, I’ve been watching the GOP radicalize over decades, but if you’re not a political sicko, that must be a shock to the system for a sincere public servant of any party.
Do I agree with Jennifer on every issue? Probably not. We talked about this. But, we do agree that quality public education is the backbone of society, that women deserve reproductive freedom, that systemic oppression still exists, that Indiana should legalize marijuana in some way, that climate change is an existential threat, that policing can be improved, that government should be conducted transparently, and -most of all - that Hoosiers deserve better than we’ve been getting for the last 20 years. I’ll take that over continued Republican supermajority rule every time. I’ll take that over likely GOP nominee MAGA Mike Braun’s extreme positions. Madman Governor? No thanks. Madam Governor? Yes, please.
Anyway, even the biggest rah-rah Democratic cheerleader knows Republicans will, in all likelihood, continue to control the General Assembly. Electing Dr. McCormick can give Hoosiers veto power over the worst GOP legislation. Her ability to appoint diverse people to boards, commissions, and especially the judiciary can help break the extreme MAGA stranglehold on our state.
Just staying here in Big Ten country, look at Wisconsin and Michigan. Before Democratic governors grabbed a toehold in the those statehouses, both were trapped under Republican trifectas, just like Indiana. Now, Michigan has a Democratic trifecta, and Michiganders have autonomy over their own bodies. Wisconsinites will finally have a chance to vote in fairly-drawn districts this fall. We’re a few years behind our neighbors, but Hoosiers deserve better. We CAN have nice things, but it starts by breaking the supermajority and electing Jennifer McCormick this Novermber.
Thanks for being with me. Again, subscribe at scottaaronrogers.substack.com. Follow me on facebook, YouTube and Tik Tok at hoosleft and on most other social media sites at scottrog78. If you want to reach me, send me a DM on the socials or email me at scottrog78@gmail.com. Until next time, this has been the HoosLeft podcast. I’m Scott Aaron Rogers. Love each other, Indiana.
HoosLeft #24: Madam Governor vs. Madman Governor
Guest: Dr. Jennifer McCormick
We’ll talk about her time in the classroom, in administration, AND in public office. I’ll ask about her positions on reproductive freedom, “woke” culture, legal weed, the US-Mexico border, China, policing, climate change, and the IEDC. We’ll talk GOTV strategy and I’ll press her about the party switch.
Subscribe at https://scottaaronrogers.substack.com
https://www.mccormickforgov.com/
https://www.wfyi.org/news/articles/mccormick-aims-to-pull-politics-out-of-state-superintendent-job
https://fox59.com/news/republican-jennifer-mccormick-projected-to-win-indianas-superintendent-race/
https://www.chalkbeat.org/indiana/2018/10/12/21105882/the-toxic-politics-behind-mccormick-s-decision-to-reject-a-second-term-as-indiana-schools-chief/
https://www.indystar.com/story/news/politics/2020/09/17/republican-jennifer-mccormick-endorsing-democrats-election/5819384002/
