Tim Stratton, a Chicago attorney challenging incumbent state rep. Karen May in the 58th Dist., is accusing May of ducking a renewed challenge for a series of debates. May is a fairly well-entrenched incumbent from Highland Park, having been in the General Assembly since 2001.
For incumbents, it's not unusual to shirk debates with challengers, but on the North Shore, which has an abundance of intelligent, concerned voters, elected officials who blow off debate challenges do so at their peril. In the 2006 election cycle, challenger Dan Seals complained that Congressman Mark Kirk avoided debates, although Seals took heavy criticism for pulling out of a scheduled debate in Waukegan at the last minute. Dem primary challenger Jay Footlik then accused Dan Seals of the same tactics in avoiding scheduled debates until late in the primary election cycle.
Stratton's press release is here.
PRESIDENTIAL UPDATE: Looks like McCain is throwing some good punches at Obama and Obama's apparent lack of knowledge that we are fighting al-Qaeda in Iraq. Much like Seals, Obama's only clear statement on the war in Iraq is that it was a mistake in the first place. Okay, great, we get it. How does the man fill two-hour speeches when that's basically the only thing he has to say on the war? His underlying argument that anyone who supported the war must have fatally flawed judgment and is not fit to hold public office (Hillary) is too extreme to sell to Joe/Josephine Q. Public, IMHO. CNN reports that McCain stacks up well against either potential Dem candidate and appears to have better overall approval ratings that either Dem. This is going to be interesting...
LOCALLY: The Waukegan News-Sun printed a letter from Lake County Republican Chairman Dan Venturi blasting State Rep. Kathy Ryg for her vote to subsidize the Chicago mass transit system by sending our tax dollars to the City for the CTA bailout. So, Ms. Ryg, explain to me again why our sales tax in Lake County has now shot up, AND I have to pay a 10% fare hike to ride on Metra? You can bet this will be a hot issue this fall for the local state rep. and state senate races.
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17 comments:
I wonder how many debates Kirk and Seals will agree to this time? I would love to see them go at it in the fashion of the last few Obama-Clinton tussles rather than the sterile League of Women Voters style.
It would do the voters a service by showing Seals unable to hold a thought more than 30 seconds. I would love to see a forum before the Council on Foreign Relations like Kirk did with Lauren Beth Gash in 2000.
TA,
I'd remind anon that Mark Kirk offered the pup two chances in 2006. Seals showed up to one -- and then ducked the second. Will Seals duck debates again in 2008?
Sparty
If we had a state party, they would get a pithy name for the Karen May's and Susan Garrett's of the world that are playing the greatest game of two face since Yassir Arafat spoke peace in english and intifada in Arabic.
They go to springfield and stink up the state and come to HP and play paddycake at the chamber of commerce. I hope this guy can call them on it.
Seals snubs City Club's debate offer
News-Sun Staff Report
WAUKEGAN - Republican Congressman Mark Kirk's Democratic challenger Dan Seals, clamoring for more debates with the incumbent, canceled a scheduled one Tuesday night at the City Club of Waukegan.
Kirk has rejected numerous appeals from Seals to take part in debates. They have had just one, last month at Stevenson High School.
"This forum serves no legitimate purpose since it is not open to the public," said Patrick Mogge in a
Article 15 of 60, Article ID: 5_1_WA02_NOSHOW_S1
Published on November 2, 2006, News Sun, The (Waukegan, IL)
Karen May voted to increase Lake County taxes to bail out the CTA. She did it because the Democrats ordered her to and did not worry that she voted to raise taxes on her own constituents. May is also for raising federal taxes in speech after speech. How does this help our economy?
May threatened to take off her shoe and pound it on her desk until the transit bailout package passed.
But she missed an earlier vote on it two-three months earlier that would have saved the CTA/RTA/METRA millions of dollars they spent during the endless delay of Springfield. Seems she was out of town, or whatever.
Your view of the transit aid is warped. Mass transit goes in every direction, into and out of the City of Chicago. Many of you big North Shore executives probably use the connecting routes after you get off your comfy Metra coaches downtown. And, many of the city dwellers use public transit to reach their jobs in the burbs. Without an equitable city/suburban funding of mass transit, EVERYONE suffers.
Have you ever riden Metra? I've never seen a Metra "coach" that will be confused with comfy.
I notice that Rep. Jack Franks (D) of McHenry County is trying to introduce a bill to let McHenry County opt out of the transit sales tax imposed on them.
Any of our Lake County Representatives in Springfield willing to do the same thing? The voters of Lake County turned down that same tax twice before and now the Springfield Democrats (Ryg, May, Garrett, Link, Washington) in Lake County decided to override the wishes of the voters on this subject.
Any takers?
Why is it that no one is questioning the wisdom of large public subsidies of public transportation? Can't people pay a little more for the ride? Can't they make riding a little more pleasant so ridership will increase? Why isn't there a serious effort for a very large parking lot at a convenient stop on the Expressway where you can park and take public transportation quickly into the city?
I don't know, TA. If a CEO made as big a blunder as Bush/Cheney/McCain/Clinton made in Iraq, any self-respecting Board of Directors would have fired them a long time ago. They would be looking for someone who had a different kind of judgment going forward.
Anon 1:33 -
Who has the warped view on transit? The next time we up here in the burbs need our tollways fixed and a toll increase is propossed, or our local roads need to be fixed and paid for by a propossed local tax increase, forgetaboutit.
We'll just get our fantastic local General Assmebly representatives (May, Ryg, Link, Garrett, Bond and other intellectually bankrupt friends) to pass some more wacked legislation that makes folks from Chicago bail us out. People from Chicago (including Cook County) do drive to and from the suburbs and use our roads on a daily basis, believe it our not.
I'm sure the above cast of political characters will sponsor such legislation, because they're looking out for the people they represent in Lake County right?
Next time you're back in Springfield casting votes, remember who you are there to represent, not the Chicago-based Democratic leadership whom you have become beholden to.
Shocking that Karen May is chickening out of a debate schedule, truely schocking.
I missed the dog and pony show the political twins (Garett/May) put on this afternoon. Maybe we can get taller twin to explain her "present" vote on increasing our tax rate from 3% to 5%.
Present vote on a 66% tax rate increase, that there folks is true leadership.
Mr. Atsaves,
If you look at the bill you will see several Lake Legislators as co-sponsors.
Sorry, Several Lake Legislators as co-sponsors of the Franks bill!!
Two, or in this case multiple, wrongs don't make a right!!
Whatever happened to elected officials with a backbone? Oh right, we don't have many of those in Lake Co right now.
I guess that Senator Garrett is just following in the steps of our illustrious former IL State Senator, Barack Obama, who voted PRESENT more than 100 times while he "served" our State. Shows lots of strength of courage to do that. I hope that vote, and that of our other "leaders" will find it's way into the press.
TA: How many times did Lake County Democrats vote "present" in Springfield?
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