Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Pence Awards Sagamores To Departing GOP Officials

I've never quite understood why anyone would want to be awarded a "Sagamore of the Wabash" award by Indiana's governor since they seemed to be handed out like patronage jobs even though it's supposed to be Indiana's highest civilian award. The AP says Gov. Mike Pence gave Sagamores to Indiana GOP's two top departing officials, Eric Holcomb and Sandi Huddleston. They join a list of thousands of Hoosiers who've received Sagamores.

Former Gov. Mitch Daniels, who handed out far fewer Sagamores than previous governors, bemoaned the fact that the value of a Sagamore had been so badly cheapened that he created a higher honor, the Sachem Award, which can only be given to just one Hoosier annually. Former Indiana GOP Chairman Mike McDaniel told WISH-TV's Jim Shella that he had received three Sagamores in his lifetime. Shella reported earlier this year that Pence planned to hand out more Sagamores after he announced a policy of allowing each state lawmaker to nominate two people annually to receive a Sagamore.

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