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The yards signs went up in front of the aging two-flat about a month before the election. They were placed close to the
sidewalk for all to see. It most parts of the state such an action would hardly be worth mention. In the thirty-fifth ward
of the City of Chicago however, placing signs touting the candidacy of a Republican candidate for governor in front of ones
home is indeed worthy of conversation. It is also an act unlikely to warm the heart of the local precinct captain, whom at
one time in Chicago’s history was a good person to have on your side.
At one time if such a sign were placed in easy reach its life expectancy would be about twelve hours - or overnight - which
ever came first. If the signs were placed in a difficult to access place, such as a window, or firmly affixed to a second
floor porch, a personal visit by the captain could be expected (What did we do wrong? How can we help? Do you really need
that sign in front of your house, we were just about to start work on new curbs for your block - let’s not anger the
Alderman).
Why then did the signs remain unmolested and the home owner had to remove them from the front of his home the day after the
election himself? Perhaps the opposition heard that the home owner was a deranged biker who was looking to provoke one last
fight before selling and leaving the city? Or perhaps the local Democratic organization no longer cared?
In the week before the election in a walk to a nearby Metra train stop one has to do a double take and give thought to where
one is at. The Topinka for governor signs seem to be everywhere. They are positioned on the Kennedy expressway off ramps, on
ramps, on railroad property, on parkways, all over public property. Did we become transported somehow to DuPage County? Where
are the Blagojevich signs?
After a long work week, our Sunday morning ritual begins. We tune in and out of; Fox News Chicago, This Week, Meet the Press,
Face the Nation, Late Edition, etc in our quest for knowledge. During the broadcasts we are peppered with campaign ads,
literally, one after another. One face and name that keeps reappearing is that of the incumbent governor of Illinois.
Strangely, another Illinois governor seems to be getting substantial air time. Convicted felon George Ryan’s name and picture
appear frequently. Oddly, the GOP candidate made an awkward attempt to link the Dem candidate to former Governor Ryan. Seeing
that the lady challenging Mr. Blagojevich was at one time close with Mr. Ryan, you would think that the prudent course would
be to minimize mention of George Ryan’s name and not to feature his picture in her ads - but she did.
With an obscene twenty million plus in his campaign fund, it was clear that the sophisticated operatives running the
Blagojevich campaign, put as much emphasis on yard signs as they put on campaign buttons and torchlight parades - quaint
things that many like, but don’t win elections. They knew where this race would be won or lost and television was much better
than a precinct captain. The TV ads work all day and night and they don’t have problems getting into high rise buildings and
gated comminutes.
In Illinois the ground game has always been the Democratic Party’s biggest strength. At least in Chicago they controlled the
yard signs, passed out the palm cards and rang the doorbells. On Election Day they had checkers, runners, passers, and
captains working the precincts; that end of the business clearly belonged to them.
In this past election it seems that the doorbell ringers of the regular organizations must have taken a long vacation. Has
the Shackman decree finally born fruit, with city employees actually showing up for work on Election Day (to their real jobs)
without fear of losing their jobs? Or has the political game really changed to the point where the Democrats – at the high
end of the ticket anyway - no longer believe that the old style door to door campaign organization can deliver.
There is a saying in military circles that the generals usually are fighting the last war. This line of criticism could be
applied to the Topinka for Governor Campaign, as well as the many grassroots organizations that supported her. They were
running a campaign that may have been relevant four years ago (more likely twelve years ago). They, along with their fellow
travelers became the AMTRAK of politics, trying to revive an era that is past, throwing good money after bad.
The Topinka campaign won the battle of the yard signs by default. The other side never bothered to show up. It would figure
that when the Republicans could possibly compete at that level, such efforts as planting yard signs no longer mattered. In
the real battleground of television the Topinka operatives were clearly out of their league.
The new generation jet liner that was the Blagojevich campaign flew over his negative numbers while the GOP express train
sputtered and chugged along main line to North Riverside; the end of the line for the Republican Parties quest for statewide
constitutional offices.
Will the grand old party revive its self in four years and replace the trolley with an aircraft of a campaign capable of
competing in the information age. Or will a stagecoach pull out of Bloomington to meet Ms. Madigan on the road to
Springfield? Looking at the numbers, if Blagojevich ran a jet of a campaign, we can expect a rocket from Madigan. Wonder if
Mr. Brady is planning any torchlight parades?
Michael Kerr
Publisher
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