A lot of political pundits get all worked up these days over the very notion that Roland Burris co
uld possibly think he has a chance of winning election to a full six-year term in the U.S. Senate.
They want to write commentaries and spout pompous rhetoric saying that Burris has no business thinking of himself as a legitimate candidate, so he shouldn’t even be allowed to run in the 2010 Democratic primary – to be held just over nine months from now.
PERSONALLY, I THINK those people are wasting their breath. They’re making themselves look arrogant and foolish, as though they don’t understand a thing about the way Chicago political practices work.
For I fully expect Burris’ name to be on the ballot when people decide who the Democratic nominee should be in the November 2010 general election. I think anyone who has a problem accepting that needs to get a grip on reality.
Now one should not take this declaration as a statement that I would actually vote for Burris to be the Democratic Party’s choice for the junior senator from Illinois in next year’s elections.
Nor am I denying the reality that he ranks so low in the polls taken thus far and has so little campaign cash (and has shown evidence that he will be unable to raise any significant amount of money).
I REALIZE ALL these strikes against Burris.
Yet I also realize in his mind that when he thinks of his political future, he hears the “Roland, Roland, Roland” jingle playing (sung to the theme music of the one-time television show “Rawhide”). He sees a noble character willing to take on the established interests.
He also reeks of that ever-present characteristic of Chicago politics which figures that, at age 71, he has put in his time and deserves to be in line for a top-ranking political post (seriously, the two senators, Chicago mayor and Illinois governor are the top of the local political pile).
And he’s also told the story of how he integrated the swimming pool in his Southern Illinois hometown of Centralia (by just showing up and diving in) that he believes he is destined to be more in life than just a retired political who once was Illinois attorney general.
IT IS ONE of the standing jokes of Illinois politics – even in a line of work that attracts people with an over-bloated sense of their significance, Roland Burris has a big ego.
This is someone who will think his natural essence will overcome any of the so-called strikes (the fundraising, the low poll numbers) that logically make him an impossibility to win.
And for those who wonder how Burris can possibly campaign under such circumstances, I think his most recent campaigns will give us all the evidence we need.
Roland is now the candidate of the African-American voter bloc centered around South Side Chicago. It is a world that in some ways is so cut off from the rest of Illinois (even from the rest of Chicago) that it is possible for locals to think their way is the only way.
IN HIS MOST recent campaigns for public office, Burris was the subject of jokes from political operatives who would wonder if he ever campaigned outside of the South Side.
The answer was “no.” He won’t this time. His campaign events will be geared toward places that he can drive his car to. It will be places within a few miles radius of his Chatham neighborhood mini-mansion that once belonged to gospel singer Mahalia Jackson.
He will focus on trying to get the black vote of Chicago all enthused about supporting him. Perhaps he will spew ideas that his campaign is comparable to that of the 1983 Democratic mayoral primary bid of Harold Washington.
That was supposed to be the election between Jane Byrne and Richard M. Daley, with this Washington character just taking up space. Instead, he so thoroughly dominated the black vote in Chicago that it was enough to beat the white vote that split between Byrne and Daley.
PERHAPS BURRIS THINKS that with five or six white people (none of whom on paper can match Burris’ political resume – few people under age 70 can) splitting up the vote, that a solid South Side vote for his campaign will be enough to win.
It sounds delusional. It is. But it is the type of rhetoric that we’re going to hear.
It also is the logic behind the theory that already is being peddled that the Democratic Party faces a potential crisis if Roland Burris gets dumped for a white nominee and if Todd Stroger is replaced for Cook County Board president.
We could get the situation where the only black face on the Democratic ballot is Jesse White for Illinois secretary of state. That would not be seen as advancement. It could very well make a lot of black voters in Illinois decide that the 2010 elections are not worth casting ballots for.
THAT WOULD BE a scary proposition for Democrats. In fact, it could very well be the only way that Republicans have a legitimate shot at winning (I still say the GOP in this state is such a mess that they won’t be able to take advantage of the Blagojevich factor).
So don’t be too surprised if Roland starts pushing the theory – as though his presence on the ballot is the only thing that can “save” the Democratic Party from catastrophy. Of course, other people think Burris’ presence on the general election ballot is what will cause the catastrophy. So perhaps the party is doomed, no matter what.
Or more likely, Burris’ presence on the ballot will provide a sense of comic relief for the Democratic primary season. So instead of getting all worked up in outrage at the thought that Roland is running for Senate, we should take a rest.
Roland may well turn out to be the most interesting presence on the ballot of an election cycle that no one can honestly predict an outcome for at this early date.
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uld possibly think he has a chance of winning election to a full six-year term in the U.S. Senate.They want to write commentaries and spout pompous rhetoric saying that Burris has no business thinking of himself as a legitimate candidate, so he shouldn’t even be allowed to run in the 2010 Democratic primary – to be held just over nine months from now.
PERSONALLY, I THINK those people are wasting their breath. They’re making themselves look arrogant and foolish, as though they don’t understand a thing about the way Chicago political practices work.
For I fully expect Burris’ name to be on the ballot when people decide who the Democratic nominee should be in the November 2010 general election. I think anyone who has a problem accepting that needs to get a grip on reality.
Now one should not take this declaration as a statement that I would actually vote for Burris to be the Democratic Party’s choice for the junior senator from Illinois in next year’s elections.
Nor am I denying the reality that he ranks so low in the polls taken thus far and has so little campaign cash (and has shown evidence that he will be unable to raise any significant amount of money).
I REALIZE ALL these strikes against Burris.
Yet I also realize in his mind that when he thinks of his political future, he hears the “Roland, Roland, Roland” jingle playing (sung to the theme music of the one-time television show “Rawhide”). He sees a noble character willing to take on the established interests.
He also reeks of that ever-present characteristic of Chicago politics which figures that, at age 71, he has put in his time and deserves to be in line for a top-ranking political post (seriously, the two senators, Chicago mayor and Illinois governor are the top of the local political pile).
And he’s also told the story of how he integrated the swimming pool in his Southern Illinois hometown of Centralia (by just showing up and diving in) that he believes he is destined to be more in life than just a retired political who once was Illinois attorney general.
IT IS ONE of the standing jokes of Illinois politics – even in a line of work that attracts people with an over-bloated sense of their significance, Roland Burris has a big ego.
This is someone who will think his natural essence will overcome any of the so-called strikes (the fundraising, the low poll numbers) that logically make him an impossibility to win.
And for those who wonder how Burris can possibly campaign under such circumstances, I think his most recent campaigns will give us all the evidence we need.
Roland is now the candidate of the African-American voter bloc centered around South Side Chicago. It is a world that in some ways is so cut off from the rest of Illinois (even from the rest of Chicago) that it is possible for locals to think their way is the only way.
IN HIS MOST recent campaigns for public office, Burris was the subject of jokes from political operatives who would wonder if he ever campaigned outside of the South Side.
The answer was “no.” He won’t this time. His campaign events will be geared toward places that he can drive his car to. It will be places within a few miles radius of his Chatham neighborhood mini-mansion that once belonged to gospel singer Mahalia Jackson.
He will focus on trying to get the black vote of Chicago all enthused about supporting him. Perhaps he will spew ideas that his campaign is comparable to that of the 1983 Democratic mayoral primary bid of Harold Washington.
That was supposed to be the election between Jane Byrne and Richard M. Daley, with this Washington character just taking up space. Instead, he so thoroughly dominated the black vote in Chicago that it was enough to beat the white vote that split between Byrne and Daley.
PERHAPS BURRIS THINKS that with five or six white people (none of whom on paper can match Burris’ political resume – few people under age 70 can) splitting up the vote, that a solid South Side vote for his campaign will be enough to win.
It sounds delusional. It is. But it is the type of rhetoric that we’re going to hear.
It also is the logic behind the theory that already is being peddled that the Democratic Party faces a potential crisis if Roland Burris gets dumped for a white nominee and if Todd Stroger is replaced for Cook County Board president.
We could get the situation where the only black face on the Democratic ballot is Jesse White for Illinois secretary of state. That would not be seen as advancement. It could very well make a lot of black voters in Illinois decide that the 2010 elections are not worth casting ballots for.
THAT WOULD BE a scary proposition for Democrats. In fact, it could very well be the only way that Republicans have a legitimate shot at winning (I still say the GOP in this state is such a mess that they won’t be able to take advantage of the Blagojevich factor).
So don’t be too surprised if Roland starts pushing the theory – as though his presence on the ballot is the only thing that can “save” the Democratic Party from catastrophy. Of course, other people think Burris’ presence on the general election ballot is what will cause the catastrophy. So perhaps the party is doomed, no matter what.
Or more likely, Burris’ presence on the ballot will provide a sense of comic relief for the Democratic primary season. So instead of getting all worked up in outrage at the thought that Roland is running for Senate, we should take a rest.
Roland may well turn out to be the most interesting presence on the ballot of an election cycle that no one can honestly predict an outcome for at this early date.
-30-
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