Wednesday, March 29, 2006
What Is It About Rich Guys Always Having to Start at the Top?
From very early on, I had this theory that one could not run for office higher than the state legislature without selling one’s soul.
So, when I got the opportunity to run for State Comptroller in 1982, part of the reason I ran was to test that theory.
After it was over--with my giving bragging rights to Roland Burris that he had carried the state by over a million votes—I concluded I was wrong.
You can run for an office higher than the state legislature without selling your soul.
You just can’t win.
Fast forward to the late 1980’s. Gary MacDougal was thinking about running for governor. So was Jim Edgar.
Someone gave me his phone number and suggested I give him a call.
I called. I tried to convince him that the expenditure of $300-400,000 for an office like Comptroller might well be successful. I was unsuccessful.
MacDougal eventually served as chairman of the Illinois Republican Party until ousted by what Tribune columnist John Kass calls the “bi-partisan combine” and replaced by the short-lived chairmanship of House Republican Leader State Rep. Lee Daniels.
Think of all the millionaires who have run for the U.S. Senate or governor without holding any other office. Jim Oberweis and Ron Gidwitz ran this year.
Oberwies would have been a better candidate had he served elsewhere first. He would known that a primary goal of many members of the media is to play “gotcha.”
Andy McKenna, now Republican State Party Chairman, is another millionaire whose first run for office was U.S. Senate. As we know, he lost.
If he or any of the others had run for a lower state office first, Republicans might have a candidate other than Judy Topinka as its gubernatorial choice.
So, when I got the opportunity to run for State Comptroller in 1982, part of the reason I ran was to test that theory.
After it was over--with my giving bragging rights to Roland Burris that he had carried the state by over a million votes—I concluded I was wrong.
You can run for an office higher than the state legislature without selling your soul.
You just can’t win.
Fast forward to the late 1980’s. Gary MacDougal was thinking about running for governor. So was Jim Edgar.
Someone gave me his phone number and suggested I give him a call.
I called. I tried to convince him that the expenditure of $300-400,000 for an office like Comptroller might well be successful. I was unsuccessful.
MacDougal eventually served as chairman of the Illinois Republican Party until ousted by what Tribune columnist John Kass calls the “bi-partisan combine” and replaced by the short-lived chairmanship of House Republican Leader State Rep. Lee Daniels.
Think of all the millionaires who have run for the U.S. Senate or governor without holding any other office. Jim Oberweis and Ron Gidwitz ran this year.
Oberwies would have been a better candidate had he served elsewhere first. He would known that a primary goal of many members of the media is to play “gotcha.”
Andy McKenna, now Republican State Party Chairman, is another millionaire whose first run for office was U.S. Senate. As we know, he lost.
If he or any of the others had run for a lower state office first, Republicans might have a candidate other than Judy Topinka as its gubernatorial choice.
Labels: Andy McKenna, Gary MacDougal, Jim Edgar, Jim Oberweis, Judy Baar Topinka, Ron Gidwitz
