Six More Days
by Jacob Swain
It's hard to believe that Illinoisans will be heading to the polls in six days to elect primary candidates for a variety of races. Obviously, most interest seems to be swirling around the Republican race for Governor. As someone who is normally never an undecided voter, I find myself in an interesting predicament: in light of the fact that there is not an "Anyone But Topinka" slot on the ballot, I find myself wringing my hands trying to decide which candidate will be most capable of taking on Topinka and, furthermore, taking on Blagojevich in the fall.
Oberweis has made a series of mistakes in recent weeks that shouldn't surprise anyone in light of his previous track record. That being said, I do think that Mr. Oberweis is probably genuine and has done a fairly good job of taking Topinka to task for her liberal record.
Gidwitz is probably running for the wrong race. He seems like a very good person and I've been fortunate to speak with him at length about his values and his views on what is wrong with the current state of Illinois politics. That being said, his liberal social stances mark him off of my list.
Senator Bill Brady seems most likely to get my vote. Other than his position on school choice, he's pretty well the perfect conservative candidate on paper. There are lingering issues about the length of time that it took for him to finally call for Bob Kjellander to step down and whether or not he would be strongly enclined to change the way business is done in Springfield.
I would be interested to hear where you all are at on this issue. Am I the only one wavering? I spoke with one Republican friend who says that she is simply going to see who is closest to Topinka in the polls (at this point, Oberweis) and vote for that individual. I see some danger in this strategy as the polls this year seem to be oversampling Chicago and the suburbs.
What say you?
(I would also like to say that I appreciate the opportunity that I've been given to post on the Illinois Review. I am glad that Conservatives once agan have somewhere that they can turn for socially conservative, thought provoking commentary.)
(Ed.note: IR welcomes Jacob Swain, a 22 year old Downstate Marion political activist who has already achieved elected office as a member of his local Regional Board of Education. Welcome, Jacob!)
