I've never heard of this Greg Zoeller guy until now, but he definitely sounds like another Mourdock waiting to happen (is there something in the water that causes Indiana statewide officials to make idiotic fringe comments or what?)
Since they wouldn't actually be repealing the 17th, just biting the hand that feeds them by screwing over the conservative GOP primary voters in Indiana and giving them no say in their candidate, I hope Zoeller gets his way. A decade or so of the IN state legislature nominating Lugars in every Senate race should get it their through their thick skulls that state legislators are not the heroic stalwart defenders of liberty that Levin and his worshipers claim they are. Nearby states that have the power to nominate non-GOP hacks can laugh at Indiana conservatives for shooting themselves in the foot.
Speaking of which, the Illinois state legislature recently took power AWAY from voters to nominate who WE want for Lt. Governor, and left it up to state politicians who choose who THEY want. Where's the "democracy=mob rule/state legislatures know whats best for us/letting voters nominate who they want will destroy our republic" crowd to APPLAUD the Chicago machine for this wise move to restore "liberty" in Illinois? They should be REALLY proud of all the power the Illinois state legislature has seized, regardless of what the citizens of the state or federal law says about it.
Rather than what they did (allowing the gubernatorial nominees to appoint their running mates after they are nominated) I would favor having them run together in the primary on a ticket, just like in the general election, a system used in several states.
That would allow the gubernatorial nominees to choose who they want and not risk being paired with someone they don’t want (the only reason they did this is because of Scott Lee Cohen, after the Laroosie won the rat nomination in ‘86 it’s surprising how they let Cohen happen, it speaks to how ignored the post is) yet still have the choice be accountable to the primary voters, who should choose every candidate their party nominates.
I would also find some real powers for the LT to have.