Who's set to grab headlines in 2013?
From a newly appointed senator to a retired astronaut, political observers will have plenty of personalities to watch out for in the next year. And with familiar faces reinventing themselves and new potential powerhouses arriving on the scene, expect noteworthy efforts from the following group of politicians, policymakers and media leaders.
Here's POLITICO's list of 13 to watch in 2013. You won't want to miss them:
Click here to read the entire list. http://www.nj.com/us-politics/index.ssf/2012/12/13_people_to_watch_in_politics.html
I am only going to include the information about U.S. Senator-elect Joe Donnelly from Indiana.
IndianaDG will be watching Sen. Donnelly to see if he will support President Obama's efforts to address climate change.
Laura Ann Arnold
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Joe Donnelly
Joe Donnelly said it over and over on the campaign trail this year: He will bring "Hoosier common sense" to the Senate.
While his opponent, Indiana state Treasurer Richard Mourdock, made news in 2012 with his controversial comment that "even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that is something that God intended to happen," Donnelly grabbed the headlines when they counted, winning Sen. Dick Lugar's seat. Donnelly, a 57-year-old three-term congressman, delivered a seat long held by Republicans to the Democrats, and he's the first Democrat to win statewide office in Indiana since Evan Bayh was elected to his second term in the Senate in 2004.
During Donnelly's congressional career, he has been a member of the moderate and conservative Blue Dog Coalition -- a once powerful group that saw its total membership cut in half in November -- and has notably broken with party leadership on budgetary issues.
In 2013, look for the new senator, who campaigned on his moderate voting record as well as his opposition to abortion and support for gun rights, to be a force in helping the centrist wing of the Democratic Party fight for relevance in the 113th Congress. It's time to see what "Hoosier common sense" really means.