Inside Indiana Business -- 2007 PR Winners & Losers

Looks like the folks behind Hoosiers For Fair Taxation and the property tax protests appear prominently on the list of PR winners published by Inside Indiana Business. Our work is also noted on the loser list as a contributor to the democrats getting thrown out of office in Indianapolis. Perhaps we aren't the "crackpots" the so-called political experts would have people believe we are and are effective agents for forcing political change.

UNDER PR WINNERS INSIDE INDIANA BUSINESS NAMES:
Property tax protestors
"It’s not often that the public shows up in large numbers anywhere in Indiana with protest signs and makes a point—especially middle-class white folks with college degrees who are longtime property owners, taxpayers and voters who generally don’t make much rabblerousing noise from street corners. No matter who took the lead and rallied the troops, they PTPs became a block force and pulled some effective public stunts to stay noticed. Like all grassroots campaigns, this one at least seemed untainted by well organized special interest groups who may have had a stake in the outcome. The bottom line is that politicians who generally listen only when the noise gets loud are forced to pay attention."

UNDER PR LOSERS INSIDE INDIANA BUSINESS NAMES:
Marion County Democrats
"Politics takes central stage in the state capital where a once-popular Democratic mayor slides down the polls so quickly losing to an unknown and unsupported challenger that even the winning Republican officials are slack-jawed and speechless by the win. And so are the media momentarily, though quickly regaining composure enough to chase the newly coined “accidental mayor” for new fodder. Bart Peterson and his band recede from public view to recover from the one-two punch and still haven’t figured it all out. Lesson learned: While some say only crackpots may come out to publicly protest and wave signs, a diverse pool of voters were silently fuming and came out in just enough numbers to register a real protest where it mattered—at the polls. Republicans may quickly move to the PR Winners list in 2008 if they don’t get comfortable like the Democrats did."