Young’s political and fundraising prowess purchased him space to focus on policy, and he’s proven much more at ease pontificating about the “fourth industrial revolution” than talking about culture war issues such as a gender-neutral Potato Head.
“One can have all kinds of feelings about Mattel and whether or not they made the right decision about having a gender-neutral Mr. Potato Head and so forth, but what is a member of the United States Senate really going to be able to do about that? Almost nothing,” Young recently mused in an interview with David Axelrod, a conversation with a well-known Democrat that would have been verboten for certain Republican senators. “But you can get weeks and weeks of attention and probably fundraise a lot for your campaign by talking about this instead of making housing more affordable or coming up with better ways to use our tax dollars more wisely by investing in education and so forth.”
Young “has worked hard to find common ground” but has sidestepped anything provocative to attract MAGA heat, said Liam Donovan, a Republican strategist and former top aide at the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
During his time in the Senate, Young took a be-seen-and-not heard approach to his first term. He did not make an appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” for example, until 2021. He instead dedicated most of his time to working across the aisle on wonky domestic and foreign policy issues with the likes of Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.). He advanced housing affordability. He blocked a Trump State Department nominee during his first year in office in order to successfully force Trump to end Saudi Arabia’s blockade of humanitarian aid in Yemen, as millions faced potential starvation. And he focused on reforming presidential war powers.
Mark Lubbers, a longtime adviser to Lugar and former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, said Young managed to avoid a primary by taking an old-school approach inspired by his mentor. “Today, all politics is a quarter-inch deep, and Todd isn’t,” he said. “So to combat politics by Twitter, he has invested time and effort, not only into old-style politics — relationships with people in the party and with communities all around Indiana — but he’s taken the job seriously.”
More recently, Young paired up with Majority Leader Chuck Schumer in the Senate locker room to develop the framework of the China competitiveness bill now headed to a conference committee. He did this while simultaneously atop the NRSC, squaring off with the Senate majority leader for control of the legislative body in 2020. He’s worked closely with Biden Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo to champion the legislation, even as Republican Study Chair and fellow Hoosier Rep. Jim Banks, along with other 2024 GOP presidential hopefuls, have criticized the bill as ineffectual and expensive.
Closer to home, Young’s modicum of independence has not won him reprieve from Indiana Democrats. They plan to paint Young as a “spineless politician” during the general election, a weather-vane pol who flaked on voting for the bipartisan infrastructure law after working with a group of senators to craft key sections.
“Young’s attempt to have it both ways — negotiating a historic, bipartisan infrastructure deal only to back out at the last minute — not only makes Young look weak to the Donald, it makes him a weak senator for Indiana,” state Democratic Party Chair Mike Schmuhl said.
After Tuesday’s primary, Young will face off with McDermott, a brash five-term Northwest Indiana mayor and University of Notre Dame-educated lawyer who frequently swears on his podcast and matches Young’s military service with six years as a Navy nuclear submariner.
McDermott has struggled to match Young’s high-octane fundraising operation, maintaining only $117,000 cash on hand to Young’s $6.1 million. But that hasn’t stopped McDermott — who challenged Young to a charity boxing match last year, though Young did not respond — from pummeling the senator over his infrastructure vote.
“Sen. Young has done everything he can to try and make the former president, a resident of the state of Florida, happy so much that he voted against the best interest of the Hoosier state that he represents,” McDermott told POLITICO of Young’s reversal on the infrastructure bill. “I don’t see how anybody could get sent to Washington, D.C., and vote against bringing $8 billion home to their home state and still survive the federal election.”
Asked about a Trump endorsement earlier this year, Young said only that he was “focused on earning the trust and support of Hoosiers.”
Young may be one of the Senate Republicans who hasn’t received Trump’s endorsement — and one of the only Republicans in the country who doesn’t need it to win.
