FORT WAYNE — Democrats painted Republicans as extremists who are beholden to their tea party wing at a convention Saturday where they also formalized their statewide ticket and energized members to work for the fall election.

Indiana Democratic Chairman Dan Parker called the Republican senatorial candidate, Richard Mourdock, “crazier than the tea party” and said the GOP’s presidential nominee, Mitt Romney, is afraid of the tea party.

“What we’re going to do is inflict on them a big loss for the tea party in 2012,” Parker said. “We are energized and ready to take the fight” to Hoosiers.

And in a speech that ignited the crowd, Democratic gubernatorial hopeful John Gregg said that his Republican opponent, U.S. Rep. Mike Pence, “is allowed to have his extreme opinions.”

“But I wonder why he has gotten so quiet about them all of a sudden,” he said. “Now that he is running for governor, he is trying to reinvent himself on the run. I’ll tell you why: It’s because even Congressman Pence knows that his brand of extremism is out of touch with Hoosier families,” said Gregg.

U.S. Rep. Andre Carson seconded Gregg’s comments. “It isn’t about progress,” for Republicans, Carson said. “It’s about polarization.”

More than 2,000 Democrats met at the Grand Wayne Center in Fort Wayne — the first time in years the convention has been taken outside Indianapolis.

U.S. Rep. Joe Donnelly, the Democrat running for U.S. Senate, even remarked on the convention’s new location in his speech. “Is this the most wonderful, most exceptional venue you could imagine?” he said.

The formal business was to nominate state Sen. Vi Simpson, D-Ellettsville, to run for lieutenant governor; Indianapolis attorney Kay Fleming to run for attorney general; and Carmel teacher Glenda Ritz to run for superintendent of public instruction.

All were unopposed.

But the convention’s real purpose was to invigorate party stalwarts as they take on the hard work of raising money for candidates, knocking on thousands of doors to campaign, and motivating other Hoosiers to vote for Democrats.

“You’ve got to talk to your friends. You’ve got to talk to your families, and you’ve got to talk to your neighbors,” Gregg implored delegates.

“Talk to someone who is unemployed or underemployed and share the vision of better jobs and a stronger economy. Talk to teachers and tell them that with us, the days of scapegoating them and other unions are over,” he said. “Talk to students and tell them our vision for this great state that we all love.”

The Republicans met for their convention a week earlier in Indianapolis, where Pence promised to continue the work of outgoing, two-term Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels to make Indiana a leader in the Midwest and the nation. Last week, Pence released his first policy proposal — a plan to bolster vocational education in Indiana high schools.

But Simpson — speaking after her nomination Saturday — said that Pence and Republicans are not focused on the most important issues facing Hoosiers.

“At a time when Hoosiers everywhere are calling for an urgent focus on jobs and economic development and providing them with the skills they need to compete and climb the economic ladder, those in charge have been too busy demeaning our democracy with the politics of distraction, destruction and division,” Simpson said.

She accused Republicans of “bullying us into a game of winners and losers. They win and we lose.”

“No one is safe from their sharp swords — children, working people, women, Latinos, the LGBT community, senior citizens, the poor, the disabled, our public schools and our teachers — even the Girl Scouts,” Simpson said, referring to controversial comments from a GOP lawmaker who accused the group of being a radicalized organization that supports abortion.

“Our entire middle class is at risk,” Simpson said.

Gregg said Pence is all about show, while the Democrat described himself as a “workhorse.” He reminded delegates that Pence drove into the Indiana Republican Convention hall in a red Chevy pickup truck, even though he voted against a bailout for the auto industry.

“Congressman Pence wants to put on a show so that people forget where he has been for the last 12 years,” Gregg said. “He wants to put on a show so people will forget what he has done in Congress and for what he has failed to do for Indiana for the last 12 years. He wants to put on a show because that’s what he is, a show horse.”

Gregg instead laid out an agenda he said would bolster the state’s economy, including investments in alternative energies — such as clean coal — and in transportation, agriculture and education.

Democrats are trying to take back the governor’s office — and win control of the House and Senate, where the GOP holds big majorities.

Simpson hearkened back to the years when Democrats spent 16 years in the governor’s office.

“Back when great leaders like Evan Bayh, Frank O’Bannon and Joe Kernan were in the governor’s office, we would debate, but we would do so without being divisive or mean-spirited,” Simpson said. “And, at the end of the day, we put progress ahead of partisanship and worked to lift up all Hoosiers.

“Indiana works best when we work together to put Hoosiers first — not just the privileged, but all of us,” she said. “Those are real Hoosier values.”

Tim Grimes is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.

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