There has always been a downstater's lament: Illinois politicians just do not care about us. The big shots in the governor's race always seem to have Chicago tattooed to their butts, ahem, campaign buttons.
They rarely seem to be from here, and then when they are, they have left us for the colder, more politically charged North. They usually make some token visit to Southern Illinois, tell us all how much they care, and then escape back up Interstate 57 from whence they came.
But the latest primary election reflects a tiny shift in all of that.
Rod Blagojevich, who barely squeaked into the hotly divided democratic nomination, made numerous visits to the downstate region and spent big bucks dominating our television with campaign commercials. Paul Vallas did not get the downstate advantage, even with the endorsement of the 1998 democratic candidate, and Southern Illinois sweetheart, Glenn Poshard. In Jackson County, Blagojevich inched out Vallas by a mere 53 votes. But all the Southern attention helped give him the tiny boost he needed to secure a win.
Republican gubernatorial nominee Jim Ryan, who visited Carbondale Thursday, and Blagojevich both promised to re-open the Vienna Correctional Center, reflecting that office seekers have finally taken some real notice of affairs south of I-70.
As the candidates struggle now to claim their total party support and sweep up swing voters, Blagojevich and Ryan would do well to realize that there is a huge untapped base in our backyard that is hungering for needed change. We hope that the candidates will keep this in mind as they blaze toward the election in November, and we trust that whoever reaches the throne will not let all the love crawl back North.
Published on 11/17/05; 12:24:44 PM
