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| JACKSON: No new "Jr." in candidate field |
Which
sets up the big question. Are the people of the Far South Side, its surrounding
suburbs and the rural areas that immediately border it facing a dearth of
quality choices to pick from?
OR
DO WE have a flood of quality and we’re just too blind to see it?
There
have been some pundits around the country who are spewing out trash-talk these
days about all the mediocrities that are crawling out of the woodwork to try to
get themselves a “job” in Congress.
After
all, if the official who wins the 2013 special elections manages to handle
themselves right, this could be the government post that defines their
professional careers in electoral politics.
Of
course, many of these pundit types are the ones who are looking to be
malcontents. They want to gripe, and they’re going to do so regardless of what
the “facts” actually are. Some people just like to hear themselves complain.
ALTHOUGH
WE OUGHT to admit that any of the potential candidates for the post are going
to appear diminished compared to the man they’re replacing. Because in a sense,
the namesake son of the civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson sets a standard
that none of them can meet.
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| State Sen. Donne Trotter pleads with Dem Party officials to be the "present" in Congress. Photograph by Gregory Tejeda |
He
was, in a sense, one of the “celebrity” types serving in Congress. He was, at
one point, a legitimate candidate to move up to one of the top (mayor, U.S.
Senate or governor) political posts.
If
anything, it was the thought that his personal predicament created a situation
in which all he had to look forward to was being representative of the Illinois
Second Congressional district for another two decades (after having had the
post for 17 years) that may have caused him to decide to chuck it.
It
was probably that sense that Jackson was unique as a public official that
caused at least some of those votes in the Nov. 6 general election (they were
hoping there was a way he’d get around his legal predicament). Of course, there
also were those who saw the mediocrity of the Jackson challengers last month
who decided that Jackson and a special election in the future was preferable.
IN
THAT SENSE, a Congressman Donne Trotter or Toi Hutchinson or Robin Kelly or
Anthony Beale or David Miller is going to fall short. None of them are likely
to have that national name recognition ever during their lives – especially not
on the first day they approach Capitol Hill to serve.
Presuming,
of course, that they win on Feb. 26 AND April 9.
But
these aren’t exactly no-names. We’re
talking a long-time legislative leader in Trotter and a promising young
legislator in Hutchinson (at 39, she could be around for a while and rise to
levels of significance in Congressional status).
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| HUTCHINSON: The future? |
Even
the others have significant experience in Cook County government, the City
Council or the state Legislature. They wouldn’t exactly be amateurs – even though
former Rep. Debbie Halvorson tries to claim she’d be the only one who could get
things done immediately.
IT
IS THE reason why even those Democrats who have their preferred candidates aren’t
badmouthing the opposition, and why you have party leadership talking about the
quality of candidates that people will get to pick from as they try to replace
Jackson in Washington.
And
why we should all be watching closely come the first week of the new year –
which is when these candidates have to “put up or shut up,” so to speak, and
file nominating petitions.
The
real candidates will weed out the fringe ones who were looking this weekend for
their 5 minutes of fame in speaking before the Democratic slating committee.
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