It’s Sunday night, and I’m in a reflective mood, thinking about recent headlines and looking back on almost three years as a full-time political hack as I transition into a new phase of my life where I get to be my own boss and spend plenty of quality time with the Tiniest Democrat.

As I mull over the ups and downs of the life political, I’m left contemplating a few basic truths that apply to politics and, for the most part, to real life. Here they be:

• If you’re weighing whether or not a particular move is the right one, consider whether you’d be embarrassed if your mother read about it on the front page of tomorrow’s newspaper.
• Be aware of your enemies, but do not let them define you or the path you follow.
• There’s a lot of truth in this silly adage: The wise old owl sat in the oak. The more he saw, the less he spoke. The less he spoke, the more he heard. Why can’t we all be like that wise old bird?
• It never hurts to set up one of those plastic owls in a nearby oak to ward off the small varmints.
• If you find yourself with an infestation of small varmints on your hands, call Mitt Romney.
• If you work in politics for any extended period of time, you will probably become addicted to it and find yourself unable to leave.
• You should periodically remind yourself that there is a real world out there, and most people in it don’t care nearly as much about this stuff as you do.
• Never, ever hit a police officer.
• If you nonetheless find yourself in an altercation with a police officer, utter something memorable that can get you 15 minutes of fame.
• No matter which side of the aisle you’re on, remember that what you are doing should never be for yourself.
• If you’re going to be childish and petty, strive to be clever.
• Choose your battles wisely.
• Win those battles.
• Know when to quit.

You guys have no idea about how long I have been waiting to write that headline with exclamation points. With respect to last week’s local election results that swept Republicans in Indianapolis into the Mayor’s office and control of the City-County Council, I figured if one party lost either slot there would be infighting and soul searching taking place. But with the GOP in and Democrats out a war is about to break out that will make the War of the Roses seem more like the Rose Bowl parade.

Here’s why, many white Democrats are mad at elected officials like Monroe Gray because he became the face of the party through advertising and voter angst and his own actions which motivated a lot of Republicans and independent voters to come out; on top of the taxes. Secondly, there is talk Black Democrats on the Council will try to nominate Monroe Gray as minority leader over current Vice-President Joanne Sanders. Arguing Gray was unfairly attacked in the media and their loss was not his fault.

Now to add insult to injury, Democrats lost the Mayor’s office, it is very unlikely Congresswoman Julia Carson will run again because of health reasons so there is no leader for Democrats to rally around. And to add another intricacy to this puzzle, although some Blacks are publicly complaining that Mayor-elect Greg Ballard is trying to take control of IMPD from Sheriff Frank Anderson, they are privately upset that Anderson has hand picked Kerry Forestal, his top deputy who is also white, to take his place when he steps down in 2010. They are mad that they are going out on a limb to keep IMPD under the control of a Black Sheriff so he can just turn it around and give it to a white guy.

Look for these Democrats to rally around another Black candidate to take on Forestall in the primary; that Democrat is will likely be Center Township Trustee Carl Drummer. Drummer has strong ties in Center Township which is crucial for any Democratic victory in Marion County and being Julia’s favorite doesn’t hurt either. Of course no one will admit any of this publicly. It would be the equivalent of fighting over granny’s silverware and she’s not even in the grave yet.

But trust me, these discussions are taking place and a battle is brewing. I hope you love the smell of napalm in the morning, because there’s a lot of it coming.

It’s pretty obvious that Marion County voters made history on Tuesday. They tossed aside the two-term, well-known and well-financed incumbent Bart Peterson for the relatively unknown, Mayor-elect Greg Ballard.

No incumbent mayor has lost in Indianapolis since Bewitched and Batman were on ABC back in 1966.

But the big question is why? Not, “Why would voters trade in the devil they know, for the devil they don’t know?” That’s easy: taxes!

You take money out of someone’s pocket and see how far you get. But why would anyone would with half a brain raise income taxes 65 percent right after one of the largest property tax increases in history?

Easy, because they thought they could get away with it. Awhile back, Mayor Peterson said it took courage to raise income taxes at a time of rising property taxes. I think he meant to use another word which I can’t say on the TV because we’d get fined and I’d get fired.

Unfortunately for the Mayor, the 51 percent of the taxpayers thought otherwise. And now he has to go look for another job.

The tricky part for Greg Ballard will be to try to eliminate that tax and still pay for public safety. So instead of asking “why,” voters should now start asking “how?”

A lot of people have been calling Mayor-elect Greg Ballard to wish him well. Sometimes they get through; sometimes his voice mailbox is full. One person whose been having a little trouble getting through is the President of the United States.

Ballard told me this morning that George W. Bush has been trying to contact him to congratulate him on his victory over incumbent Bart Peterson, but every time he called Ballard’s voice mailbox was full. Ballard says he plans to keep his phone on vibrate and his mailbox messages down so he doesn’t miss other calls.

It does say something about the shape this city is in when it is easier for the president of the United States to get a hold of the president of Pakistan than the Mayor-elect of Indianapolis.

1. Throw out the old political rule that says, You Can’t Beat Somebody With Nobody.  Greg Ballard was the quintessential Nobody. 

No name recognition.  No political experience.  No money for ads.  No organized support. 

But like the Beach Boys used to sing, He caught a wave (of taxpayer anger), and he’s sitting on top of the world.  And he owes nothing to any interest group.  Like the Little Red Hen, Ballard can keep all the bread, because nobody helped him bake it.
 

2.    Having lots of money doesn’t help if you don’t spend it wisely.  Bart Peterson’s early feel-good ads turned off many voters who felt they didn’t reflect the precarious state of the city.  Then he compounded the error by reversing course in the final days and going negative, with ads that frequently mentioned Ballard by name, giving his opponent name recognition at a time when many voters probably still didn’t know who the Republican candidate was.

3.    If you’re going to stick it to the taxpayers, at least give them dinner and some sweet-talking.  Peterson was conciliatory about the need to increase taxes.  But he was undermined by Council Democrats under the arrogant Monroe Gray, who turned their chamber into a mini-Reichstag, complete with armed police to intimidate and keep out the public.  Would the soft-spoken, erudite leadership of Rozelle Boyd have worked better than Gray’s?  We’ll never know.
 

4.   This does NOT portend a return to the old Lugar-Hudnut-Goldsmith days, when the self-proclaimed Greatest Political Organization in the Galaxy could roll out any ticket it wanted, while underfunded, disorganized Democrats played the patsy role of the Washington Generals.  Republicans can win when they have the issues on their side.  But Tuesday does not reverse the changing demographics of Marion County, with its increasing number of minority residents who, more often than not, will vote Democratic.
 

5.   This just made statewide tax reform in 2008 much harder.  Governor Mitch Daniels may be willing to buck the conventional wisdom that you don’t mess with taxes in an election year.  And many lawmakers will view this as an even greater reason to reform property taxes.  But others will look on yesterday’s results as reason to vote no on ANYTHING involving money.  And that could be enough to doom any tax package.