Richard Durbin is getting a break in his desire to become a long-servin
g U.S. senator from our home state of Illinois.
The East St. Louis native who has lived his adult life in Springfield is going for term-number three – which usually is the point at which an incumbent is vulnerable. He’s been around long enough that people might be sick of him, and his enemies have built up enough ammo to try to take him down.
THE LAST SENATOR from Illinois to try to go for a third term was Alan Dixon, who lost in the 1992 Democratic primary to Carol Moseley-Braun. The last senator of ours who was in a position to go for Term Number 3 was Paul Simon – who chose retirement in 1996 and tabbed Durbin to be his successor.
Our last three-term senator was Charles Percy, who got taken down by Simon when he went for Term Number 4 in 1984.
But it looks like Durbin will get to cruise to his third term in the U.S. Senate, which comes after more than a decade representing the Springfield area in the House of Representatives (which makes him a successor to Abraham Lincoln – who once represented roughly the same district in Congress).
Not only does Durbin get the benefit of all the people encouraged to vote “Democrat” by the presence of Barack Obama at the top of the ticket, he also gets a lightweight opponent in Steve Sauerberg, a suburban Chicago physician whose sole campaign theme is “dump the incumbent.”
“WE
HAVE SUCH ineptitude in government,” Sauerberg said. “Washington has done such a poor job, and I couldn’t sit and wait any longer for them to do something.”
It’s not like Sauerberg has much in the way of ideas, aside from parroting much of the rhetoric of the right on issues such as abortion and taxes. At least that’s all that came out of their “debate” Monday.
I put that word in quotes because I don’t know that it’s accurate to describe their being interviewed by long-time Chicago broadcaster Carol Marin during a segment (not even an entire program) of WTTW-TV’s “Chicago Tonight.”
Heck, athlete-turned-sportscaster Dan Jiggetts talking about the Chicago Bears’ victory over Detroit probably drew more attention from the public affairs program’s viewers than the Durbin-Sauerberg segment did.
BUT IT QUALIFIES as one of only two joint appearances the two will make – and the only one that will be aired on television. So it will have to suffice, even though it falls far short of Sauerberg’s initial (and ludicrous) demand of 10 debates prior to the Nov. 4 elections.
Sauerberg is the doctor who talks of providing people with vouchers that could be used to let people buy their own health insurance policy, which would not be lost if a person were to lose their job or were to move to a new employer.
“Everybody should own their own insurance policy,” Sauerberg said, during the 25 minutes of the hour-long show devoted to the Senate race. “Right now, people can’t get health insurance (again) if they lose it.”
But Durbin hammers at Sauerberg for his campaign trail comments about abolishing Medicare and Medicaid, and saying that vouchers would not be sufficient for people with pre-existing medical conditions to get policies from insurance companies whose top priority (after all) is making a profit, not serving the public.
NOT THAT SAUERBERG didn’t use his “moment of glory” on Chicago-area television to bash away at Durbin.
He reminded us of Durbin’s moment of shame (at least insofar as the social conservatives are concerned) when he made comments implying that interrogation tactics used by U.S. military officials were reminiscent of Nazi Germany.
Durbin issued an apology at the time, but Sauerberg continued to demand a mea culpa from the “gentleman from Sangamon,” which he refused to give.
The two candidates even did some cross-flipping of sorts, saying things that could be interpreted as signs they support the other political party’s presidential nominee.
FOR DURBIN, THAT moment was when he reminded us of his support for a bill in the Senate to outlaw use of torture tactics, saying it was supported by the senator from Arizona who is now Obama’s opponent.
For Sauerberg, it was when confronted with his campaign ads that imply an Obama presidency would be a legitimate change in Washington.
“I think Barack Obama has said he wants change, yet he stands in pictures between (Sen.) Joe Biden (D-Del.) and Dick Durbin,” Sauerberg said. “We must change who we send to Washington. Who is more representative of change than me?”
But, of course, Durbin has been one of Obama’s most vocal supporters, and Sauerberg is casting his ballot for McCain, in part because he likes Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. “She comes from real life. She has lived a life outside of politics and understands it.”
OF COURSE, BOTH candidates tried to make themselves seem a bit human. Durbin says his wife is angry with him for the number of books he buys, and also noted that he has suffered from the financial crisis – he recently learned the value of his Springfield home has dropped by 20 percent.
But Sauerberg provided the moment I found to be most intriguing.
It was when Sauerberg did what many campaign professionals would have considered to be a gaffe of major proportions. He admitted to not owning a U.S.-made car.
Sauerberg drives a three-year-old Lexus ES 330, which he says that because of changes in his driving habits, gives him between 23 and 24 miles per gallon of gasoline.
“IT’S PRETTY COOL,” Sauerberg said. “I suppose I should say I want to drive an American-made car,… but I’m not giving it up.”
Oh well. It’s only another 29 days until Election Day. After that, Sauerberg can go back to being an anonymous doctor, and no one will care what he drives.
-30-
EDITOR’S NOTES: The nature of this campaign can be seen clearly by studying the websites maintained by the two campaigns. Steve Sauerberg uses his site (http://www.sauerberg2008.com/index.aspx/) to spread a lot of negative information about Dick Durbin, who uses his site (http://www.dickdurbin.com/home/) to tout other Democrats running for Congress in Illinois along with Chicago’s bid for the 2016 Olympic Games.
g U.S. senator from our home state of Illinois.The East St. Louis native who has lived his adult life in Springfield is going for term-number three – which usually is the point at which an incumbent is vulnerable. He’s been around long enough that people might be sick of him, and his enemies have built up enough ammo to try to take him down.
THE LAST SENATOR from Illinois to try to go for a third term was Alan Dixon, who lost in the 1992 Democratic primary to Carol Moseley-Braun. The last senator of ours who was in a position to go for Term Number 3 was Paul Simon – who chose retirement in 1996 and tabbed Durbin to be his successor.
Our last three-term senator was Charles Percy, who got taken down by Simon when he went for Term Number 4 in 1984.
But it looks like Durbin will get to cruise to his third term in the U.S. Senate, which comes after more than a decade representing the Springfield area in the House of Representatives (which makes him a successor to Abraham Lincoln – who once represented roughly the same district in Congress).
Not only does Durbin get the benefit of all the people encouraged to vote “Democrat” by the presence of Barack Obama at the top of the ticket, he also gets a lightweight opponent in Steve Sauerberg, a suburban Chicago physician whose sole campaign theme is “dump the incumbent.”
“WE
HAVE SUCH ineptitude in government,” Sauerberg said. “Washington has done such a poor job, and I couldn’t sit and wait any longer for them to do something.”It’s not like Sauerberg has much in the way of ideas, aside from parroting much of the rhetoric of the right on issues such as abortion and taxes. At least that’s all that came out of their “debate” Monday.
I put that word in quotes because I don’t know that it’s accurate to describe their being interviewed by long-time Chicago broadcaster Carol Marin during a segment (not even an entire program) of WTTW-TV’s “Chicago Tonight.”
Heck, athlete-turned-sportscaster Dan Jiggetts talking about the Chicago Bears’ victory over Detroit probably drew more attention from the public affairs program’s viewers than the Durbin-Sauerberg segment did.
BUT IT QUALIFIES as one of only two joint appearances the two will make – and the only one that will be aired on television. So it will have to suffice, even though it falls far short of Sauerberg’s initial (and ludicrous) demand of 10 debates prior to the Nov. 4 elections.
Sauerberg is the doctor who talks of providing people with vouchers that could be used to let people buy their own health insurance policy, which would not be lost if a person were to lose their job or were to move to a new employer.
“Everybody should own their own insurance policy,” Sauerberg said, during the 25 minutes of the hour-long show devoted to the Senate race. “Right now, people can’t get health insurance (again) if they lose it.”
But Durbin hammers at Sauerberg for his campaign trail comments about abolishing Medicare and Medicaid, and saying that vouchers would not be sufficient for people with pre-existing medical conditions to get policies from insurance companies whose top priority (after all) is making a profit, not serving the public.
NOT THAT SAUERBERG didn’t use his “moment of glory” on Chicago-area television to bash away at Durbin.
He reminded us of Durbin’s moment of shame (at least insofar as the social conservatives are concerned) when he made comments implying that interrogation tactics used by U.S. military officials were reminiscent of Nazi Germany.
Durbin issued an apology at the time, but Sauerberg continued to demand a mea culpa from the “gentleman from Sangamon,” which he refused to give.
The two candidates even did some cross-flipping of sorts, saying things that could be interpreted as signs they support the other political party’s presidential nominee.
FOR DURBIN, THAT moment was when he reminded us of his support for a bill in the Senate to outlaw use of torture tactics, saying it was supported by the senator from Arizona who is now Obama’s opponent.
For Sauerberg, it was when confronted with his campaign ads that imply an Obama presidency would be a legitimate change in Washington.
“I think Barack Obama has said he wants change, yet he stands in pictures between (Sen.) Joe Biden (D-Del.) and Dick Durbin,” Sauerberg said. “We must change who we send to Washington. Who is more representative of change than me?”
But, of course, Durbin has been one of Obama’s most vocal supporters, and Sauerberg is casting his ballot for McCain, in part because he likes Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. “She comes from real life. She has lived a life outside of politics and understands it.”
OF COURSE, BOTH candidates tried to make themselves seem a bit human. Durbin says his wife is angry with him for the number of books he buys, and also noted that he has suffered from the financial crisis – he recently learned the value of his Springfield home has dropped by 20 percent.
But Sauerberg provided the moment I found to be most intriguing.
It was when Sauerberg did what many campaign professionals would have considered to be a gaffe of major proportions. He admitted to not owning a U.S.-made car.
Sauerberg drives a three-year-old Lexus ES 330, which he says that because of changes in his driving habits, gives him between 23 and 24 miles per gallon of gasoline.
“IT’S PRETTY COOL,” Sauerberg said. “I suppose I should say I want to drive an American-made car,… but I’m not giving it up.”
Oh well. It’s only another 29 days until Election Day. After that, Sauerberg can go back to being an anonymous doctor, and no one will care what he drives.
-30-
EDITOR’S NOTES: The nature of this campaign can be seen clearly by studying the websites maintained by the two campaigns. Steve Sauerberg uses his site (http://www.sauerberg2008.com/index.aspx/) to spread a lot of negative information about Dick Durbin, who uses his site (http://www.dickdurbin.com/home/) to tout other Democrats running for Congress in Illinois along with Chicago’s bid for the 2016 Olympic Games.
1 comment:
Last Dec., I read that Dr. Sauerberg said that he was pro-choice and that the Illinois Federation for Right to Life endorsed one of his primary opponents. Now, he says that he's pro-life. I hope that he'll explain whether he changed his mind or lied.
The only candidate, in that race, who is pro-life, pro-gun rights, and anti-illegal alien is Chad Koppie. Please read his site, www.koppieforsenate.com.
Conservative Veteran
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