When asked, the Democratic candidate for Illinois' U.S. Senate seat, Alexi Giannoulias, could not name the mayor of Peoria or Caterpillar's new CEO. When likewise asked, Republican Mark Kirk quickly rattled off Jim Ardis' name, then Doug Oberhelman's, noted that former Cat CEO Jim Owens had endorsed him, and then threw in Peoria Police Chief Steven Settingsgaard for good measure.More...
We don't mean to go all parochial on everybody, and running for high office is not a mere trivia contest, but the difference in the two responses should be important to voters because it's emblematic of some critical characteristics regarding public service: that you do your homework, that you care enough about the communities you represent to get to know something about their most influential citizens, that you don't intend to forget those places after the votes have been counted, that their issues are your issues. It's forgivable, perhaps, not to recollect one mayor from among hundreds, but if job creation is a centerpiece of your campaign, wouldn't you make it your business to learn about the head honcho at one of the state's biggest employers?
Unfortunately, this race has ranked among the uglier ones in the nation, getting off on a couple of tangents that should not be without relevance to voters but ultimately have little to do with the demands of the office. Fundamentally, who owns the knowledge base, temperament and political skills to get something accomplished without embarrassing Illinoisans, for a change, in the process?
Giannoulias, the 34-year-old Chicagoan and Illinois' current treasurer, would be the youngest member of the Senate if elected and is pretty much what you'd expect from a Democrat. He'd let the Bush tax cuts expire for the wealthiest and endorses "pay as you go" budget practices to tame the nation's deficits, but beyond that can't identify areas where he'd reduce spending. He favors public ballot "card check" for union elections [Correction--card check will end union elections] and backs "free but fair" trade, though says he'd be inclined to support the pending agreement with South Korea.Some more: "The Republican Party cannot be the Party of No. It must be the Party of Better," [Kirk] says.
And finally: "Where Giannoulias speaks in soundbites, Kirk reads the legislation, understands it and it shows. The Democrat here can be a charming guy who brings some talents to the table, but for now he can't compete with the Republican's deep, nuanced grasp of the issues."
Caterpillar and Peoria continue to remain headaches for the Democrats. Early into his term, President Obama traveled there to hawk his soon-to-be-failure-stimulus. He claimed that Cat would begin rehiring laid-off workers once the stimulus was signed into law. Not only did Caterpillar's CEO at the time declare this was not true--he said more layoffs would be coming. Later that year Cat said most of those layoffs would be permanent.
Mark Kirk has gathered most of the newspaper endorsements. Two notable exceptions, the Chicago Sun-Times and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, both of which endorsed then-Governor Rod Blagojevich's reelection effort in 2006, support Giannoulias, the failed Mob Banker. As for Blago, the warning signs were there early in his first term. But the Sun-Times and the Post-Dispatch just understand the issues better...right?
Related post:
St. Louis Post-Dispatch whiffs in its coverage of arrests in Gladney attack
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