Which
literally was Monday; Rep. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., wants to go from
representing the far west suburbs in Congress to representing the entirety of
Illinois in the Senate.
SHE
MADE THE announcement that she will take on Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., who is
seeking re-election to a second term following a lengthy stint representing the
North Shore suburbs in the House of Representatives.
I
was aware that she had an announcement stunt planned, yet still have to admit
to being caught up by the spin being put on the event by the various sides in
this upcoming election cycle.
We
haven’t even chosen a new mayor (or a sequel to the old mayor) yet, but already
we’re being asked to get into the heat of things for 2016 in what could turn
out to be the nastiest campaign that will take place in Illinois (we’re just
not going to care as much about president this time around since we won’t have
a ‘favorite son’ to root for, or against).
As
expected, Duckworth kicked off her campaign by reminding us of her military
service and the fact that she was a helicopter pilot who suffered severe
injuries that cost her a leg. “Ten years ago, I nearly lost my life when an RPG
tore through the cockpit of my Black Hawk helicopter in Iraq,” was how her
campaign statement begins.
NOTHING
NEGATIVE TO say yet about Kirk (who suffered a stroke shortly after getting
elected to his current term in the Senate).
Although
Duckworth did say in her introductory statement, “We deserve elected officials
who will do for our fellow Americans what my crew did for me in Iraq; look out
for our hardest hit and most vulnerable, work together for the sake of our
mission and refuse to give up until the job is done.”
I’m
not sure if she’s just saying that she’s a tough broad, or that Kirk is somehow
less than capable. I’m sure there will be countless future statements and
actions that will further elaborate on what we’re supposed to think of Kirk –
who served for many years himself in the Naval Reserve.
Yet
the Republican opposition that is determined to keep the Illinois post in the GOP
column for partisan purposes has its own share of shots it will take at
Duckworth, starting with the first three words of the statement issued by
Illinois Republican Chairman Timothy Schneider in response to Tammy.
“ROD
BLAGOJEVICH PROTÉGÉ... ."
Literally,
we’re told that Duckworth, “is not the kind of partisan politician Illinois
families want to represent them in the United States Senate.” For she’s
allegedly the, “extreme wing of the Democratic Party,” according to the party
hacks.
Aside
from reminding us of the Blagojevich tie – which was that she served as
director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs for three years back
when Rod responded to the title of “governor” rather than “inmate” – we’re also
told that Tammy voted “92 percent” in line with House Minority Leader Nancy
Pelosi, D-Calif.
Although
considering how often rank-and-file members of Congress vote along with their
respective party leaders, I’d wonder if the truth is more that she differed
from Pelosi some 8 percent of the time!
IT’S
ALL POLITICAL trash talk. None of it should be taken too literally.
Particularly
since in my case, the statement from Schneider showed up in my e-mail box some
40 minutes before I got the Duckworth statement telling me she was running.
Tammy was slow on the draw, it seems.
It
wouldn’t have mattered what she said or did; the key was to get the names “Blagojevich”
and “Pelosi” into the political discourse. Just as Duckworth wanted to remind
us of her personal tale – which offends the conservative ideologues who want to
believe anyone with military experience is naturally a Republican.
“How
dare she be a Democrat!?!,” is what the GOPers think. Just as da Dem partisans are
sputtering with disgust at the mention yet again of Blagojevich. And the rest
of us will stock up on Tylenol for the statewide headache we’re going to
experience between now and Nov. 8, 2016.
-30-
No comments:
Post a Comment