Poor Jon Elrod can’t catch a break. First, he couldn’t figure out what office he wanted to run for, and then he scheduled a political press conference with Mayor Greg Ballard in the middle of a murder spree.

But Ballard, presumably after his handlers realized what a terrible idea it would be to have the Public Safety Mayor show up at a campaign event while an Indianapolis police officer continues to recover from a gunshot wound to the head, bailed on this morning’s joint appearance.

Maybe this will be a wake-up call for Elrod to focus on issues that matter to residents in House District 97 instead of on shameless partisan pandering. If he spent half as much time serving his constituents as he did planning his political future, he’d know that Greg Ballard’s support of his campaign is not what’s on people’s minds right now.