John Gregg for Indiana (?)

I know this isn't going to make a lick of difference. Everyone knew as soon as he announced that Mike Pence was going to be the next governor of the laughingstock state of Indiana. The vast majority of people in Indiana are the kind of foolish conservatives who think Mike Pence for...well, for anything...is a good idea. The damage that will be done by eight years of ultraconservative bigotry and stupidity will take generations to undo—assuming that enough people of intellect and character choose to remain in Indiana in the hopes that conservatism will eventually pass into history like other outmoded ideas—such as slavery and communism.

John Gregg doesn't have a prayer of beating Mike Pence, but I can't just sit idly by and not at least try to do something to prevent a Pence Administration, which will surely be the worst thing to happen to the State of Indiana since...I don't know, the KKK? I'm actually tempted to sign up for both Facebook and Twitter, just to give the guy a couple of more "likes" and "followers." Pence is currently obliterating Gregg on both Facebook and Twitter, and that's sad because those are largely the domains of young people—and young people are supposedly bread and butter for the Democrats.

That said, though, I don't necessarily want to throw my support behind a conservative dressed in blue, just for the sake of voting for a Democrat. I'm not a Democrat, and I don't think Democrats are really that much better than Republicans. Liberals are better than conservatives, of course, but Democrat does not always equal liberal—especially in a laughingstock state like Indiana. When I read on Gregg's website that he's from southwest Indiana, I just shook my head. There aren't any liberals for miles around down there. That's Brad Ellsworth Blue Dog country, and that dude got smoked by Dan Lobbyist-Coats in a Senate race. Gregg will get likewise smoked by Pence because Hoosiers, mostly, are stupid.

And having said all of that, I still feel like I need to find out a little something about John Gregg before I decide if I'm going to vote for him or not. (And I won't vote for the Libertarian, either—those people are just pretentious faux-intellectual conservatives anyway.) So with that in mind, I went to Gregg's website today, and set him the following questions:

I am curious to know Mr. Gregg's position on issues such as education, gay marriage, Planned Parenthood, and immigration.

Does Mr. Gregg support the "letter grade" system of evaluating schools? This kind of simplistic system does a disservice to all parties (and is condescending, besides). Will Mr. Gregg instead support (or propose) a system of evaluation - for both teachers and schools - that focuses primarily on how much students learn year over year, rather than what they can demonstrate that they have memorized by taking a standardized test - and which, of course, provides different tiers of evaluation for different students, especially English Language Learners (ELLs) and those with special needs?

Does Mr. Gregg support the right of two people of the same sex to marry? When the State denies a marriage license to two people of the same sex, the State is committing gender discrimination. The national tide is turning, correctly, in support of gay marriage, and I believe that the next four years will see homophobic politicians swept out of office and those who support equal rights for ALL PEOPLE swept just as eagerly into office.

Does Mr. Gregg plan to immediately reinstate funding to Planned Parenthood? This organization provides many important services to women in need - not only the abortions that fear-mongering conservatives blindly claim are its sole reason for existence. By removing funding for Planned Parenthood, the State of Indiana sends an alarming statement about its lack of concern for women and children.

Does Mr. Gregg support the DREAM Act, and any other measures that would provide a path to full-time legal status or citizenship for thousands of people who are in this country illegally through no fault of their own? For those who have violated or are violating the law by being in this country, does Mr. Gregg support a plan that would allow these people to make restitution for their infractions and then pursue full-time legal status or eventual citizenship?

These are important issues, not just for Indiana, but for the whole country - and, indeed, for the world. I hope that the citizens of Indiana can count on Governor Gregg to lead with integrity on these issues, and I look forward to finding out where he stands on them.

Thank You.