Crazy political year far from over

Historians writing about Indiana politics are going to have their hands full when it comes to explaining 2016. It’s been one of the craziest years on record, and it’s only a little more than half over.
In a normal year, any one of these developments would have been a stunner:
•Three Republicans square off for the Senate seat of Dan Coats when he decides to retire. Trouble is, one of them goofs up the routine petition procedure and has to fend off a challenge in order to stay on the ballot.
•A popular lieutenant governor is encouraged to take a job in academia in order to free up that spot for one of the three Republicans seeking the Senate nomination.
•The Democratic candidate for that same seat in the Senate fails to get any traction in the polls or with campaign donors, drops out of the race and is quickly replaced by a former Democratic governor and senator who just happens to have nearly $10 million in campaign funds sitting around.
•The most controversial Republican presidential candidate in memory decides that he needs to balance his ticket by choosing an orthodox conservative, the incumbent governor facing a tough re-election fight. That forces the governor to decide — at the very last minute — to take his name of the ballot for re-election so that he can be on his party’s ticket for vice president.
•The new, hand-picked lieutenant governor, who has barely gotten his seat warm, is now one of three candidates seeking the Republican nomination for governor. And he’s joined by a couple of Republican representatives in the House who are willing to trade their jobs in Congress for a shot at the governor’s mansion.
It has been nothing short of dizzying. The only thing that could have been crazier is if Democrat Evan Bayh had decided to join the tussle over the Republican gubernatorial nomination.
And at this point, no one knows how this wild ride will end.
Will the presence of centrist Democrat and popular campaigner Bayh boost Hillary Clinton’s long-shot odds in Indiana? What will the impact be on the campaign of John Gregg, which has been slow to get off the ground?
Who will the GOP pick as their nominee for governor and what impact will that have on the race? Will Mike Pence’s decision to join the campaign of Donald Trump prove to be disastrous or brilliant?
It’s anybody’s guess.
Stay tuned. There’s plenty of 2016 left to unfold. — J.R.