You didn't like the Republican Congressional hardball. Try this on for size.
Democratic arrogance keeps Bush off ballot
November 29, 2003
BY THOMAS ROESER
Chicago Sun Times
'I called the various news organizations that had colored charts in the 2000 presidential campaign and suggested they color in Illinois to whatever color there is for Democrats because we won,'' House Speaker Mike Madigan's spokesman Steve Brown told the press last week, implying the state is already in the Democratic column for 2004. Brown was referring to what happens on election night when the media networks color Republican states red and Democrat states blue. Now he says he was kidding, but the joke may be on the GOP.
Without George W. Bush's name on the ballot, Illinois will go Democratic by default, and election night may start out with the state painted blue. As we all know, Illinois is already awash in Democrat blue. Chicago has been blue-Democrat since 1931. The City Council is blue-Democrat except for the lone Brian Doherty from my old home 41st Ward.
All city offices are blue-Democrat; the Cook County Board is dominated by blue-Democrats. The circuit judges are almost all blue-Democrats. The state Supreme Court majority is Democrat-blue. The governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, comptroller, secretary of state -- all but the treasurer -- are blue-Democrats. The Illinois House is blue-Democrat, run by the speaker, who is also the state Democratic chairman. The state Senate is blue-Democrat, run by Emil Jones, whose anti-Bush anger is clear. ''I want to go after him [President Bush] [for] destroying the economy [and] triggering the war,'' Jones thundered to his chamber. (GDP growth is 8.2 percent annual rate, up from 7.2 percent, and latest intelligence links Saddam Hussein's spy agency and top al-Qaeda operatives, but who cares?)
How can Bush lose Illinois a year before election? Because the Republicans will hold their national convention in early September and the Illinois Election Code requires certification of ballots in August, a minor change needs to be made in state law. Madigan, who is also the state chairman, and Jones are holding up certification -- for a price.
Madigan and Jones say Bush will be put on the ballot if the GOP caves on two points. One would be to agree that the Illinois Board of Elections could, at any time, dismiss without prejudice any matters currently pending before the board -- especially applying to violations that were levied after the original state gift ban act. That means that Democrats fined for dozens of campaign disclosure violations would not have to pay fines -- fines running as high as $797,600 for Secretary of State Jesse White and 14 Senate members, all Democrats. A second condition, requested by the Cook County clerk, Democrat David Orr, would be to remove the requirement that voters who register to vote by mail must vote in person the first time they vote.
Republicans in the House reluctantly went along, but Senate Republicans, under Frank Watson, said no. Watson's refusal to buckle under led Republicans to stand opposed, and so the bill lost. As of now, George W. Bush will not be on the Illinois ballot. Was Watson wrong not to cave? Nope: Let the heat go to those who seek to deprive Illinoisans of their right to vote for president. Normally, lawmakers with a conflict of interest abstain from voting on legislation affecting them. On this issue, Democratic senators facing fines did not abstain from voting.
The issue now is what happens next. The Legislature will meet next spring and the issue will be revisited. Madigan has said that the same conditions will be applied next year.
Nobody asked me, but I say there should be no compromise: no give on the fines, no give on already-lenient election law. Let the unsurpassed arrogance of power stand. It will carry a backlash. Which means that those who so eagerly will do anything to color Illinois Democrat-blue for president, may confront a voter rebellion brimming with disgust. If Bush has to fight for Illinois on a write-in with one hand tied behind his back, he just could win. TV screens on Nov. 2, 2004, could show Illinois swabbed in Republican red -- to match the burning embarrassment on Democrats' faces.
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