Some may
dismiss one-time Illinois Senate President Emil Jones as “crass,” but
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Chris Kennedy is banking that he can turn
the March 20 primary into a one-on-one fight with J.B. Pritzker – the man who
has support from much of the Democratic establishment of Illinois.
 |
| KENNEDY: Can non-Anglo vote make him a winner? |
For
Kennedy, whom some polls indicate has been caught by third candidate Daniel
Biss, is the guy using radio spots featuring the gravelly voice of Jones to
appeal to the African-American portion of the electorate.
PRITZKER
HAS BEEN ahead in various polls, indicating his self-provided millions have
been effective in getting his name recognition out there. But he’s also made
his share of gaffes indicating he may have offended potential black voters.
Which
has Kennedy going in for the kill.
He’s
hoping that becoming the gubernatorial candidate of choice for black people
will put him back in the running against Pritzker. Because it could make Biss’
attempt to appeal to a certain segment of white people insufficient to win
overall.
For what
it’s worth, Jones uses his minute of time in the radio spot to remind an older
generation of African-Americans just who Kennedy’s father (Bobby) and uncle
(Jack) were.
 |
| JONES: Obama mentor boost Kennedy? |
THE MAN
WE recently learned was belittled by Pritzker (in private conversations a
decade ago with then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich) tells us how the Kennedys, “fought
and struggled and sacrificed alongside Dr. (Martin Luther) King (Jr.) in the
civil rights movement,” and also tells us that Chris would continue on in “the Kennedy
way.”
Indicating
that Kennedy is banking on the black vote to turn out in strong enough force to
enable him to overcome those polls of late that say Biss has actually overcome
Kennedy to be the serious challenger to Pritzker.
Actually,
what the polls say is that there remains a strong-enough share of people who
are undecided in the Democratic primary, with Pritzker, Biss and Kennedy all
following behind.
 |
| PRITZKER: Still leading, but can he hold it? |
This
primary may be just a month in the future, but it is far from settled.
PERHAPS
THE KENNEDY campaign is influenced by that PPP poll (conducted for Our
Revolution Illinois/Chicago) that shows amongst potential black voters, Kennedy
is not only second behind Pritzker (38 percent to 31 percent), Biss is
virtually irrelevant (7 percent).
And when
it comes to the Latino vote, Kennedy is actually the leader (31 percent to 28
percent), with Biss only at 14 percent.
Perhaps
it is the spirit of the Viva Kennedy clubs of old that enabled Chris’ uncle,
Jack, to win the 1960 presidential bid, but it may well be a combination of the
Latino and black vote that keeps the Kennedy gubernatorial dreams alive.
And
ensures that the suburban white segment of the Democratic primary electorate
that actually takes Biss seriously never grows into a larger coalition that
could actually win the March 20 primary.
IT MAKES
ME wonder if this campaign advertising spot (which is airing on the Chicago radio
stations appealing to African-American listeners) is going to be the first of
many the Kennedy campaign will issue.
 |
| Can Chris resurrect JFK's 'Viva Kennedy' spirit? |
Will we
see every ethnic and racial name dredged up to make endorsements in hopes they
will sway more non-Anglo voters to turn out for the primary election – hoping they
will be the kind of voters who will not easily be swayed by the millions of
dollars that Pritzker could put into his own campaign for governor.
Which, to
be honest, seems to be the primary factor that wins over the support of his
political backers. They like the idea of someone who won’t be constantly
hitting them up for more money in order to pay for his campaign.
Although
it should be noted that with the dozens of millions of dollars that Gov. Bruce
Rauner has committed to campaigns for himself and for allies in the General
Assembly, even Pritzker will be grossly outspent in a campaign battle for the
Nov. 6 general election.
-30-
No comments:
Post a Comment