The controversy over suspending the state sales tax on gasoline is certainly reinforcing the old adage about politics making strange bedfellows. How about Jill Long Thompson with John McCain and Mitch Daniels with Barack Obama? Yesterday, Long Thompson repeated her call to suspend the 7% sales tax on gasoline, while Daniels appeared to back off from a statement he made in mid-May about it being something worth “taking a look at sometime.” The Governor wasn’t available for comment, and both his Statehouse press secretary and campaign spokesperson said that “nothing had changed” that would lead him to pursue the idea at any time in the immediate future.

This puts Long Thompson squarely in line with McCain, who has advocated a holiday for the federal fuel excise tax, and puts Daniels on the same page with Obama, who calls the idea an election year “gimmick” that wouldn’t provide any real help for drivers. Long Thompson was quick to disclaim any philosophical alliance with McCain, saying his idea involved the excise tax, which is used to build roads, and hers involves the sales tax, which goes into the state’s general coffers for, among other things, property tax relief.

But the real key here is not where the tax money goes, but how much relief a suspension would provide to taxpayers. And the federal excise tax of about 18 cents and the state sales tax, from 20 to 28 cents a gallon, would provide approximately the same amount of savings. So Long Thompson and McCain are a lot closer on this issue that she wants to admit. So are Daniels and Obama, and I don’t think the Governor is all that unhappy when that is pointed out.

That’s because Daniels and Obama share the same key word that’s central to both campaigns….Change, with a capital C. Democrats love it when Obama talks about change, but they have fought virtually every change Daniels has tried to implement for three and a half years. In a year when everything the Democratic presidential candidate touches seems to turn to gold, Daniels doesn’t mind one bit when people make the connection. In fact, he smiled and said he noted the irony of all this when I asked him about this philosophical confluence a few weeks ago.

If the key to the Democratic campaign in Indiana in 2008 is that change is good when it’s Obama saying it, but change is bad when it’s Daniels, they’re unlikely to win both, or either, races.

It’ll probably take a few more days for the wounds to heal after Monday’s GOP convention, where chief deputy attorney general Greg Zoeller upset Guv-backed Valparaiso Mayor Jon Costas to secure the Republican nomination for the state’s top legal job.

While that family feud gets patched up, Democrat Linda Pence, a well respected Indianapolis lawyer, will kick off her campaign with a statewide fly-around tomorrow. She’ll visit six cities to promote her bid. From the press release:

“I am running for Attorney General because Hoosiers need an independent voice to stand up for them,” said Pence, a practicing attorney for 34 years. “Whether it’s fighting mortgage and consumer fraud, or battling the scourge of methamphetamine in our communities, Hoosiers deserve an Attorney General who is tireless and relentless. I am ready for the challenge.”

A 1971 graduate of Indiana University, Linda Pence worked her way through IU’s law school, taking night classes while holding down two jobs. She began her legal career with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), where she took on big oil companies when gasoline price gouging was a common practice. During her nearly ten years at the DOJ, Pence also investigated corporations for bribery, embezzlement and tax fraud.

Make no mistake: Pence is tough, and according to this story, she raised almost a quarter-million dollars in less than three months.

Greg Zoeller didn’t have much of a wedding ceremony at Monday’s convention, and he’s certainly not going to get a honeymoon with Pence officially hitting the trail.

I’m posting this a little bit late, but as anybody who knows me could expect, I was up until beyond the wee hours going berserk over my Pittsburgh Penguins’ spectacular comeback triple-overtime victory in the Stanley Cup final. Now on to my second enthusiasm in life, politics.

Yesterday was not a good day for Governor Mitch Daniels. Yes, he made a good speech that was well received by Republican state convention delegates. But then they turned around and rejected, by a substantial margin, his candidate in the only contested race, that for attorney general.

The last time this happened was in 1992, when delegates refused to ratify gubernatorial candidate (and outgoing attorney general) Linley Pearson’s choice to replace him. Pearson threw a fit and walked out of the convention hall. State chairman Rex Early had to (beg/threaten, depending on which version you hear) Pearson to get him to come back. Pearson went on to get stomped by Evan Bayh.

You can make an argument that Greg Zoeller will be a better candidate. After all he substantially outworked Jon Costas, who seemed content to rest on his endorsements. It was actually like a hockey game, with Zoeller going into the corners to scrap for delegates while Costas stood in front of the goal crease waiting for a pass. You can also argue that Zoeller would be a better attorney general, given his experience and Costas’ delicate situation as a member of a law firm which has defended most of the shady Lake County characters Steve Carter has spent years pursuing.

But there’s no question it’s a slap in the face to Daniels to deny him his choice. And there’s no question that Daniels did have an argument on the geographic balance issue. The governor, who lives in (take your choice: Geist, Hamilton County, North Meridian St.) is the northernmost person on the Republican ticket. Since people along the Toll Road are still seething at him over the lease to foreigners, this won’t help him.

It was also a bad day for Marion County Republican Chairman Tom John. It’s not necessarily a bad thing to anger the rank-and-file by twisting arms to get them to support your candidate. Big city machine pols have done this for years. But when you twist arms and still don’t win, you just reveal yourself as being ineffective. Look for a move to replace John at some point.

Most political insiders are chattering tonight about chief deputy attorney general Greg Zoeller’s landslide upset over Valparaiso Mayor Jon Costas in the GOP state convention fight to become the nominee for Attorney General this year.

By golly, I’m not going to be left out of a good debate.

What does it mean?

The Guv and his crew backed Costas, and from all reports, that backing meant lots of arm-twisting and behind-closed-doors negotiations for delegate votes.

That’s not surprising. This is politics, after all, not table tennis.

What is surprising is that it didn’t work.

By more than 350 votes.

Insiders may say Costas ran a terrible campaign, and if these video clips are any indication, yes, he did.

And Zoeller had several high-profile names, including Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi, on his endorsement list.

But there’s no way this isn’t a huge embarrassment for the Guv. Zoeller fought the law, and, uh, he won.

What does it mean for November? Potentially nothing. The down-ticket statewide races most often depend on the top-ticket contenders, which means that if John McCain and the Guv do well, Zoeller will probably do well, too.

Still, it’s not often that you get to see this kind of fight in the bare light of day, played out in front of thousands of party faithful and the media.

Congratulations, Greg. You’ve gone and made things really interesting, and I can guarantee you’ll be getting more than a few phone calls this week from Costas supporters looking to get right before November.