Editor’s Note: Let’s Talk “Don’t Talk Politics”
For most Hoosiers I know, there’s a third rail of politics: politics. I’m not sure if it’s our Midwestern niceness, penchant for deference, or mind-your-own-business-ness, but I hear from a lot of you who have at least some level of discomfort with discussing the Xs and Os of statecraft in polite company.
Whether you like it or not, though, staying abreast of the issues and engaging in public discourse about them is part of our civic duty. And if you haven’t noticed, Indiana, which has produced or shaped its fair share of iconic political figures throughout history, has found itself in the national spotlight on a regular basis over the last several years. We live in interesting times and on fertile ground.
That’s one of the many reasons we’re fortunate to have Adam Wren as a contributing editor to this magazine. During the 2016 presidential primary, Wren began to notice that stories here had implications beyond our borders. In 2018, he built his twice-weekly political newsletter, Importantville, to chart and examine the nationalization of local, Indiana-bred issues and personalities. (Shameless plug: Subscribe.)
In this month’s issue, Wren writes about the changing nature of the 5th Congressional District. Whether you wear a red jersey or a blue one, the race between the GOP’s Victoria Spartz and Democrat Christina Hale is one to watch, a microcosm of a macro trend: suburbanites drifting away from the national Republican Party. What does that mean? It’s too soon to tell, but when the dust settles, we’ll be there with Adam Wren to help sort it out.
