Eight Years Later
Whenever I am on the lecture circuit giving a speech to local organization about city and state politics, I always start off with the joke that when I first came to Indy eight years ago, nobody knew who I was and nobody would talk with me. Eight years later, everyone in the political class knows who I am and they still won’t talk to me.
All kidding aside, getting people to talk really isn’t a problem. Some do it very publicly, others for fear of repercussions do it privately, thus The Cheat Sheet. Regardless, today officially marks eight years since I left WMAY-AM in Springfield, IL to come to do radio here in Indianapolis. And although the radio station and I parted ways last August, I still use the day after Labor Day as a very important marker. It marked the day I gave up a very comfortable existence to take a chance and see what would happen.
You may not know this but my original game plan was to spend a few years doing talk radio, practice law on the side, probably marry the girl I was dating and then getting to run for public office in Springfield. As you all know things turned out a little differently. Actually, I could argue they almost turned out the same. Doing a little bit of law on the side is one of my 8 million jobs. I did marry the lovely girl I was dating three years ago. I’m working on a statewide public affairs radio program which we hope to launch soon. And as far as public office goes, well, we’ll see. I do know that I could put a political infrastructure in place in 10 minutes, so that part I don’t worry about.
Nonetheless, Indianapolis has been very good to me during my time here and I really do love this city. I have great friends. The eyes and ears of the political movers and shakers who matter. And I even have a few haters who just can’t stand the fact I get more ink and airtime than they ever will. (That part actually is fun). With that said, I have no idea what the next eight years will hold or for that matter whether I will do them here or head back across the border and help lead a revolution in 2014 or someplace even bigger. Regardless, I plan to have fun and stay in the public eye while doing it. I hope you’ll continue to watch, read, compliment or complain.
Life is too short to sit quietly and watch it go by.
