Shabazz Commentary: The Straw and the Camel’s Back
By Abdul Hakim-Shabazz IndyPolitics.org October 18, 2026 If Max Engling loses the Secretary of State’s race, that will be the straw that breaks the Bactrian camel’s back. And yes, I picked the two-humped camel on purpose. In this story the humps are the state party chair and “...”
Shabazz Commentary: In Praise of Boring
By Addul-Hakim Shabazz IndyPolitics.org October 14, 2026 I went to two candidate forums this week, and I have a confession. They were boring. Not boring in the stare-at-your-phone, scroll social media, count-the-ceiling-tiles sense. The candidates had plenty to say. They were bor “...”
Shabazz Commentary: The Ghosts of Elections Past
By Abdul-Hakim Shabazz, Esq. IndyPolitics.org October 7, 2026 This week I had a flashback, from the ghost of elections past. In 2002, I was working for Illinois Attorney General Jim Ryan, who topped the Republican ticket as the nominee for governor. Also on that ballot was a subu “...”
Shabazz Commentary: Polling is art versus science versus reality
By Abdul-Hakim Shabazz IndyPolitics.org October 1, 2026 Every election cycle, someone emails me a poll with a subject line in ALL CAPS. The poll always shows their candidate winning. It’s always “brand new.” And, purely by coincidence, it’s almost always paid for by the c “...”
Shabazz Commentary: As God Is My Witness, I Thought Prices Could Fly
By Abdul-Hakim Shabazz, Esq. IndyPolitics.org September 27, 2026 I spent the weekend in Cincinnati, the town that gave us Charles Keating, Larry Flynt and WKRP. Keating spent a good part of his life trying to put guys like Flynt out of business, and WKRP spent one Thanksgiving le “...”
Shabazz Commentary: Same Suit, Different Day
By Abdul-Hakim Shabazz IndyPolitics.org September 23, 2026 Can you imagine an elected official literally banning media he or she doesn’t like from their news conferences and other media events? Well, I can, because it was me five years ago. In October 2021, Attorney General “...”
Shabazz Commentary: Sleepless in Seattle
By Abdul-Hakim Shabazz Indy Politics September 21, 2026 I took my vacation in Seattle this week, and I got five days of sunshine and 70 degrees. I packed for 55 and rain. The locals insist this never happens. I told them I bring my own weather. Meanwhile, back home, Indianapolis “...”
Shabazz Commentary: Schrödinger’s Election Board
By Abdul-Hakim Shabazz IndyPolitics.org September 16, 2026 In 1935, Austrian physicist Erwin Schrödinger came up with a thought experiment. Put a cat in a sealed box with a vial of poison that may or may not break. Until you open the box, the cat is technically both alive and de “...”
Shabazz Commentary: Thank the Progressives for Your Primary
This column was originally published on IndyPolitics.org. By Abdul-Hakim Shabazz IndyPolitics.org April 21, 2026 Every few years, someone in Indiana politics — sometimes me — argues that taxpayer-funded primaries are unfair, unconstitutional, or both. The argument usually boi “...”
Shabazz Commentary: a decade later, the First Church of Cannabis still sparks conversation
This column was originally published by TheStatehouseFile.com. By Abdul-Hakim Shabazz IndyPolitics.org July 9, 2025 Ten years ago, Indiana got an unexpected spiritual awakening—complete with incense, music, and a serious conversation about religious freedom and marijuana. On Ju “...”