We’ve saved the worst for last. And when I say “the worst” I mean, not only does the quality of the candidates takes a massive nosedive, but and these state/federal, senate/house races seem to bring out the worst in us. If you need proof just turn on your PAC addled TV.
The truth is, your school board, city council and county board (in that order) cost you far more tax dollars than any state or U.S. rep will spend on their best day. We all get crazy about Washington, but those folks pale in comparison to what a property tax levy can do.
All that said, let’s move on to the issue at hand. We’ll go in order of the Beacon-News sample ballot.
11th Congressional District – Judy Biggert
As we already covered here, we’ve got a true Republican moderate against an incompetent version of Sheldon Cooper who makes Joe Walsh seem positive by comparison. Trust me on this one. When he was a Congressman, I dealt with Mr. Foster and his people at length and every last one of them defined the term nightmare. If you’re going to lie, please do your best not to insult even my limited intelligence.
14th Congressional District – Dennis Anderson
Randy Hultgren’s best political quality is that he was in the right place at the right time and that’s just not enough to be granted a second term. He endorsed both Kevin Burns and Chris Lauzen for Kane County Chairman, he can’t even handle a town hall meeting, and with no possible benefit to him or us, he’s fallen in complete cahoots with the Hastert crowd.
Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t just a vote against Hultgren. Anderson’s vast health care background will serve us well and his ideas for bringing the federal budget in line aren’t bad.
25th State Senate District – Me (write in)
Facing off against a candidate who’s been a decade-long running joke, you’d think Democrat Corrine Pierog would be able to gain some traction. But no! She’s waging the kind of campaign that may well turn out to be the cure for insomnia.
Which brings us to Jim Oberweis, the guy who’s lost more elections that Lindsay Lohan has moving violations. I know it’s hard to believe, but I actually like the guy – though sometimes I think it’s out of pity.
Here’s a candidate who has more than most of us will ever have, but like the fat kid on the playground who’s been dying for acceptance, he’ll do anything to get in with the cool kids. He’s the one who would just walk over and hand them his lunch money. The problem is, Darth McConnaughay and her ilk are no longer in vogue and they all make fun of him the second he’s out of earshot.
It’s really sad to see him abused him like that, but that’s Jim’s basic problem. He’s not evil – he’s more clueless than Bill Foster which takes a very concerted effort.
Whether it’s getting Tao Martinez thrown out of a GOP meeting to appease his sniggering overlords, failing to show up at local GOP fundraisers, his repeated failure to thank anyone who’s ever helped him, or his ability to brush people off who can’t help or hurt him, he’s the last person that should be serving the public.
The sad thing is, if he chose to wake up and become an independent thinker, Jim could make a difference in Springfield. But once there, he’ll only kiss Tom Cross’s ass even more than Tim Schmitz already does. And that’s a difficult thing to do.
42nd State Senate District – No one
The last time I saw incumbent Linda Holmes she was on the side of a milk carton. And opponent Peter Hurtado used to be a Democrat. Talk about choosing between Scylla and Charybdis. Vote for the Libertarian or Green Party Candidate.
50th District State Rep – Kay Hatcher
She may not be perfect (what candidate is?), but I like the way she’s been giving Tom Cross fits lately. Someone’s gotta give that fricken’ Mike Madigan lite crap. The bottom line is, Hatcher is a reasonable legislator and the last thing we need in Springfield are more Democrats.
84th District State Rep – Stephanie Kifowit
I know, I know! I just said we don’t need more Dems in the state capitol, but Kifowit has shown a fiscal conservative side on the Aurora City Council and we really don’t need Pat Fee down there either.
Crack Beacon-News reporter Stephanie Lulay and I have discussed this race at length and, though Fee denies it, the tactics that she’s accused of employing – including approaching Kifowit’s children – are somewhat despicable. That kind of behavior should not be rewarded.
So that’s it for this year folks. In the end, I don’t care who you vote for as long as you get out and vote!
