McHenry County Blog

Moderate Party candidate Bill Scheurer, the peace candidate who actually intimidated Mike Madigan's Democratic Party into not challenging his petitions in the 8th congressional district, came up with a campaign gimmick that apparently only I think is a good idea.

Scheurer unveiled McBeaney, a donkephant, at the Lake County Fair, but McHenry County Blog is the only place I can find a picture of it.

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It reminded me of JimRod, a creature used in our 2002 Libertarian Party campaign for governor of Illinois.

The Illinois League of Women Voters announced that it would invite any candidate who could achieve a 5% support level in a non-candidate poll. We advertised in August before anyone else and actually reached that goal in the Daily Southtown’s first poll.

Then, Jim and Rod, chickens that they were, decided not to accept the League’s invitation. Anyone want to guess why?

So, on the day of the first debate, we unveiled JimRod in Chicago and Rockford, where the first debate was being held.

Not only did we have a costumed two-headed chicken, which cost a lot less than I thought it would—but it looks a bit weak, somehow representative of the two power party candidates—about $100.

We also had a cartoon character. We were going to have more than one cartoon, but it was so good, we couldn’t think of a way to improve upon it.

We even had a radio ad that we ran relentlessly on Rockford radio the week before the first debate between Rod Blagojevich and Jim Ryan. Think of the old Chickenman radio series in the late 1950’s and 1960’s.

Maybe I’m too nostalgic about my second little foray into statewide politics.

Certainly, memories are all that resulted, with my receiving just 2% of the vote, about what Rockford’s David Kelley (who now serves on the Rockford School Board) got in 1994. I got more votes for state representative in the 1970’s when cumulative voting was in effect.

In any event, Bill Scheurer’s imagination deserves at least a little attention from local and regional media.

He is on the ballot and he will get more than 2% of the vote…even if the media ignore him.