Driven by competition

By Lesley Stedman Weidenbener
lstedman@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Those who know him well say they understand what drives Baron Hill: a remarkably strong competitive streak.

It's why he set and still holds the Indiana high school record for the 100-yard dash, and why he was voted a member of the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame. It's what got him into Democratic politics more than two decades ago.

And now it has him in the thick of a campaign to win back the 9th Congressional District seat he lost two years ago to Republican Mike Sodrel.

So when Hill made a campaign stop last month at WonderLab, an interactive science museum in Bloomington, it was no surprise that he took a long look at a two-story climbing maze designed for kids, kicked off his shoes and crawled in.

He squeezed and scrambled his way to the top, winning the respect of the kids in the maze and adults outside. As usual, he just had to prove to himself he could do it.

"Baron is one of the most competitive people I've ever seen," said state Rep. Dennie Oxley, D-English, whose legislative district shares eight counties with the 9th District. "It's a huge part of who he is. It's a big reason that he decided to run again. And it's what has put him into a position to win this year."

Hill already has won this seat three times, first in 1998, when longtime 9th District congressman Lee Hamilton retired.

But he lost once too, in 2004, when a big year for Republicans and a barrage of nasty attacks on Hill's character led voters to oust him in favor of Sodrel, a conservative Republican and Southern Indiana businessman.

The two are now facing off again, in a race that also includes Libertarian Eric Schansberg. Analysts and pollsters call the contest a tossup, but Hill says voters tell him they made a mistake two years ago and want to send him back to Washington.

On the campaign trail, he tells voters that he is the candidate who represents change, will provide an independent voice for the 9th District and won't be a rubber stamp for the Bush administration.

He wants to get the troops out of Iraq faster by imposing guidelines and deadlines on the country's new government. He wants to implement more of the recommendations from the federal 9/11 Commission. And he wants Congress to work harder to balance the federal budget, even if that means scaling back some tax cuts given to wealthy Americans.

"People we see out on the campaign trail want a change, and Baron is the only candidate who can provide it," said former U.S. Sen. Birch Bayh, who is traveling with Hill.

Read more about Baron Hill at the Louisville Courier-Journal.