Mayoral candidate Greg Fischer is on the attack already, going after Hal Heiner for being a metro government "insider". In today's Jerry's kids article at the LEO, Phillip Bailey is disclosing that the Fischer campaign is conducting a poll to "question voters about the fact that Heiner opposed the Fairness ordinance, has scoffed at global warming and is a Metro government insider." I'm going to look at the insider question for the sake of this topic.

Sure, Mr. Heiner is a Metro Council member, and has been since the council's inception. He's been there learning how the city's government works, and was obviously very consequential in expanding transparency and accountability in our government. Setting ideological differences aside, it's clear that Heiner is a politician who believes in good governance, and practices it. Yes, it's clear that Heiner is an insider, so to speak, but I'm not sure how Heiner's insider aspects can be labeled a bad thing. Wouldn't we want a mayor who can jump into fast gear on Day One, especially in these economically difficult times?

As for Mr. Fischer, I wonder if he is engaging in what is called psychological projection. To put it simply, Fischer in many ways appears to be quite the insider himself.

After all, Fischer enjoys much of the same River Fields / East End power base financial support that Mayor Jer enjoys. He also shares the political party and associated machine with the current mayor. He even hired Mayor Jer's spokesman Chris Poynter.

And most importantly, Fischer has pretty much said he would be a continuation of the current mayor, who admittedly is still mildly (but no longer wildly) popular in Louisville Metro.

With Abramson already endorsing Fischer and accordingly giving him the inside access to his staff, and with Mayor Jer's protectorate, namely the C-J Editorial Board, squarely behind his electoral effort, can Fischer really claim he's not the real insider? Could Fischer simply be claiming that Heiner is the insider in an attempt to make voters forget just how much on the inside he is?

Well, now I'll open it up to you. Who is the bigger insider between these two candidates? And does it really matter as an issue in this race to you?

Steve Magruder — LouHI Administrator and web programmer


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I would have to agree. Based on the people Fischer is surrounding himself with, he is looking more and more like Jerry's prodigy so to speak.

Could you define "Insider" for the scope of discussion since technically they are both 'insiders.'

Otherwise I would say that Fischer is the least likely to make any changes from the business as usual model.

cellophane wrote:

Could you define "Insider" for the scope of discussion since technically they are both 'insiders.' Otherwise I would say that Fischer is the least likely to make any changes from the business as usual model.

Well, I would say that in politics, "insider" is a taunt that describes an opponent as more on the government in-game than they are, assuming that the public has the appetite to install someone who claims the mantle of "outsider", for as we all know, only an "outsider" can shake things up in government, or so is argued.

Both candidates indeed are insiders of different types. I would argue that Heiner's insider aspects make him more likely to challenge the status quo. Heiner has been the insider with the outsider perspective for all the time he's been on the council. Whereas Fischer is an outsider only in a technical sense, having all the inside connections and resistance to change that we might see from an incumbent or an incumbent's heir.