Carson Respected By Both Sides Of Aisle

INDIANAPOLIS -- Rep. Julia Carson has never been one to turn away from a challenge in her congressional career.

Her smile, statement-making scarves and hats and unforgettable sound bites have drawn chuckles and derision, sometimes depending upon which side of the political fence one sits.

Regardless of political preference, it has been impossible to ignore the presence of Julia Carson in Hoosier politics.

Carson made her first run for Congress in 1996 after serving in the Indiana House, Indiana Senate and as Center Township trustee in Marion County.

Carson was former Congressman Andy Jacobs' legislative assistant in 1965. When he announced his retirement in 1996, Jacobs urged Carson to run for his seat and endorsed her without hesitation.

"Instead of making speeches about balancing a budget and cutting taxes, Julia simply went and did it," Jacobs said. "She did it in a way that Washington should learn. She did it in a humane way."

Perhaps it is the humanity and down-to-earth demeanor that makes Carson the Teflon woman of Washington.

No matter what her opponents and critics throw at her, nothing sticks, and she has the respect of Democrats and Republicans.

"She was on Air Force One, and I went back to have a visit with her," President George W. Bush said recently. "If you've never had a visit with Julia, she's got a lot of wisdom. She's not afraid to speak her mind. She kind of reminds me of my mother."

Going against Bush, Carson was always against the war in Iraq. She also advocated people taking pride in themselves and in their community.

"I think the more we amplify the positive side of a community, the positive side of African Americans, perhaps it will somehow penetrate to the criminal element of our city," Carson said.

Carson's health troubles haven't kept her constituents from voting for her, even though a heart attack kept her from being sworn in on time when she was first elected to Congress.

She was too ill to travel and missed votes in Washington because of that in 2004. Not long after her 2004 illness, Carson responded to health questions.

"The doctor checked my heart. It's great. They checked my blood pressure -- great. Diabetes -- where it ought to be. Asthma -- where it ought to be, and I'm just fine," Carson said at the time.

Carson's latest bout of illness has kept her out of Congress for several months.