EXTRA: Which one do we believe?

Perhaps I should get used to this -- campaign fliers cluttering my mailbox. Candidates trying to sway me to think of themselves as the only seriously legitimate politicos -- and everybody else as corrupt!
 

Pro-pop tax ...

The next primary election is March 20 and general election more than a year away in November.

YET THAT DIDN'T stop my mailbox from having a pair of leaflets stuffed in them -- rather glossy things trying to sway me on the merits of the pop tax.

It literally was a split decision -- one flier paid for by Michael Bloomberg telling me of the health risks of pop consumption, and the other from the Can the Tax Coalition (and paid for by the American Beverage Association) telling me of the evils of the penny-per-ounce tax on sweetened beverages sold within Cook County.

I think the Coke-like cans labeled "heart disease," "diabetes" and "obesity" look corny and cheesy. But the other spot looks just a bit too phony, as in the so-called real people who supposedly are opposed to the tax look a bit like beginning actors earning a fee by playing the parts of real people.

So which of these fliers should I take seriously? Should I bother paying attention to either one?

THEY'RE NOT THE first handouts I have received on this issue, and I'm sure there will be many more to come in upcoming days before the county board's Finance Committee holds the hearing Oct. 10 that is meant to review an ordinance that (if passed) would repeal the pop tax that barely passed the county board earlier this year.

... and con

One-and-a-half more weeks of this rhetoric about carbonated beverages, then we can move on to the assorted cheap shots we'll be asked to endure about the gubernatorial candidates and other officials who are up for re-election come 2018.

Including Toni Preckwinkle herself. The county board President may wind up not having to face a primary election challenger. But I'm sure many other people will take her name in vain as they try to bash about other politicos with whatever rhetoric they think will tie someone else to the pop tax.

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