EXTRA: Halvorson ideological “flip flop” is headache-inducing for us all

HALVORSON: Which extreme is she?

Am I the only one who thinks the trash-talk being spewed these days against the Congressional campaign of Debbie Halvorson is just a tad absurd?

To listen to the rhetoric being inspired by the political action committee headed up by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg – whose interest is in fighting for tougher gun control measures and against the political influence of the National Rifle Association – Debbie is Illinois’ answer to Sarah Palin.

HALVORSON, DURING HER two years (2009 and 2010) as a member of Congress, had a voting record that wasn’t totally despised by the NRA (compared to the “F” grade they gave to one-time state Rep. Robin Kelly).

But now we’re supposed to believe that Halvorson is some sort of gun nut. Maybe she’s out there in a corn field near her home in Crete at the edge of the Chicago suburbs with an AK-47 shooting at deer – just like Palin encouraged the image of herself hunting moose in the wilds of Alaska?

That image of Halvorson is just too ridiculous to take seriously.

It’s true that Halvorson says firearms restrictions alone won’t reduce urban violence – she also says we ought to have more funding to create vocational programs in hopes that non-college bound people will find some skills of use that will detract them from the streets and gangs and violence.

BUT THERE ARE people trying to push Debbie so far to the right that it’s downright absurd. She's probably somewhere in the middle; we agree with her on some points, and disagree on others.

Actually, it’s just as ridiculous as the rhetoric she faced back in the 2010 election cycle. That was when the residents of rural Will County turned on Debbie despite her life-long residency in the old Congressional district to send Republican Adam Kinzinger to Congress.

She was one of the targets of the “Tea Party” types who thought Halvorson was some sort of liberal urban freak (a graduate of Bloom High School in Chicago Heights and a Democrat who took marching orders from then-Senate President Emil Jones). In fact, those people who live in her newly-crafted Congressional district are the ones who are still going to dump on her for “liberal” tendencies – while others will trash her for “conservative” leanings.

Halvorson just can’t seem to win! No matter what she says or does.

NOW THIS IS not meant as any kind of Halvorson endorsement. Personally, I think circumstances are such that her time as an elected official has come and gone. Twelve years in the Illinois Legislature and one term in the House of Representatives is more time than many political dreamers ever get.

In fact, I fear she could become the female version of Roland Burris (who spent a decade’s worth of time in the 1990s and 2000s unsuccessfully running for office and gradually making himself look more and more foolish with each campaign).

Although I wonder if some sort of appointed post is in her future – particularly since the man (Jesse Jackson, Jr.) who was so vehemently opposed to her getting an Illinois transportation appointment is now gone from the political scene. Unless she persists with future campaigns that chip away at her public perception.

It’s all in her own hands!

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EDITOR'S NOTE: Insofar as the Bloomberg-inspired ads that Halvorson complains about, I just have one thought. How vehemently would New Yorkers react if Mayor Rahm Emanuel did or said anything to try to influence it? How quickly would they tell Rahm-bo to "stuff it!"