MR. SUNSHINE ON ROBIN KELLY, DEBBIE HALVORSON, AND THE ILLINOIS 2ND CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT RESULTS

2/27/13

Lifelong bureaucrat and political hanger-on Robin Kelly won the Democratic primary, and effective election, in the race to succeed the disgraced Jesse Jackson, Jr. (See my 2/16/13 post, LET’S FINALLY TELL THE TRUTH ABOUT JESSE AND SANDI JACKSON)  in Illinois’ second Congressional District.  

Ms. Kelly campaigned almost exclusively on the issue of gun violence, despite the District’s other problems, including a foreclosure rate in its Chicago and suburban precincts that is the highest in the state.  Robin Kelly appears to really believe that we can “end the plague of gun violence” simply by passing more stringent gun laws.  (See my 2/24/13 post IT’S NOT GARRY McCARTHY’S FAULT.)  She won the race with the help of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s pro-gun control USA PAC, which spent $2.2 million on pro-Kelly advertising.  She apparently successfully portrayed the race as a Davidic race against the Goliathine NRA, which stayed out of the race, though its Illinois affiliate did spend a relative pittance supporting one of her opponents, Debbie Halvorson.   (More on Ms. Halvorson below.)  Ms. Kelly also had the tacit support of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel.   Unlike past great Chicago mayors, like Richard J. Daley and Tony Cermak, the last two have eschewed publicly supporting candidates in primaries, preferring to sneak around and maintain plausible deniability, but I digress.  Robin Kelly also has had problems with, er, sloppiness, similar to those of her two predecessors.   Her lackadaisical approach to the rules manifested itself primarily in recordkeeping when she unsuccessfully campaigned for State Treasurer when her time sheets showed that she was working…for the State Treasurer.  Ms. Kelly evidently has no problem with being paid, by you, while she campaigns for her next spot at the public trough.  

Ms. Kelly’s big victory (52% of the vote in a very crowded field) once again confirms the wisdom of one of yours truly’s idols, H.L. Mencken, who observed

“No one in this world, so far as I know—and I have researched the records for years, and employed agents to help me—has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people. Nor has anyone ever lost public office thereby.”

Perhaps the low turnout (15% in Chicago and suburban Cook) limits the reach of the application of this latest example of Mr. Mencken’s acuity of mind.   Then again, the low turnout may confirm Mr. Mencken’s astuteness, but I digress again.

Clearly, there were better candidates in the race.  Newly elected State Senator Napoleon Harris, who has actually done a few things in life beyond feeding at the public mammary gland, comes immediately to mind.  But he was only a minor candidate who dropped out rather early, and even the so-called major candidates never really had a chance once Michael Bloomberg came in with his money, Mayor Emanuel starting throwing his weight around (behind the scenes, of course) and Toi Hutchinson dropped out.  See my 2/18/12 piece,  2^ND CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT PRIMARY IN ILLINOIS:  ROBIN KELLY-- BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE?

One of those candidates who never had a chance, though she basked in the delusion that she did, just as she basked in the delusion that she could have defeated Mr. Jackson in the 2012 primary, was former Congressperson and State Senator Debbie Halvorson, of whom I wrote extensively in my 2/18/12 post.   As a somewhat close observer of this race, I heard Ms. Halvorson speak a few times and read some of what she spoke.   If following this race did nothing else, it did explain quite a few things about Illinois politics to this long time observer of that curious and fascinating endeavor.   Ms. Halvorson was perhaps the least impressive candidate in the race, certainly the least impressive of the major candidates.   Watching Ms. Halvorson in action could almost lead one to the conclusion that the Democrats of the 2^nd District should be excused for nominating Robin Kelly, or at least were smart not to have nominated Ms. Halvorson.  Ms. Halvorson was once Majority Leader of the Illinois Senate!  O tempora, o mores!  That such an unimpressive candidate, shallow thinker, and reflexive flip-flopper could actually have been the Majority Leader of the Illinois Senate explains a lot about the sorry condition of the state of Illinois.

One final thing.  Now that Ms. Kelly has been effectively elected to Congress, we are already hearing about how a “new era” has broken out for the 2^nd District, that she will be “a breath of fresh air” and a source of “refreshing change” for the District.  

One would hope that the cheerleading media would refrains from such hagiography until we learn more about Robin Kelly, especially about how her aforementioned laxness of attitude concerning campaigning on the public dime might manifest itself once she gets to Washington.   Why?   Because we heard the same things about Jesse Jackson, Jr. when he replaced Mel Reynolds and we heard the same things about Mel Reynolds when he replaced Gus Savage in 1993.   Though Mr. Jackson did not share Mr. Reynolds weakness for pubescent girls, and Mr. Reynolds did not share Mr. Savage’s apparent anti-Semitism and strong distaste for those who did not share his racial background, Mr. Reynolds and Mr. Jackson were both moral pygmies who brought disgrace to their district, their city, their state, their country, and their families.   The initial breathless adulation did not pan out, and the hosanna choruses in the press that greeted both gentlemen wound up looking worse than foolish.  One would think the media cheerleaders would have the decency, or at least the good sense, to go easy on the bowing before Ms. Kelly until things develop a bit.  

See my two books, The Chairman, A Novel of Big City Politics and The Chairman’s Challenge, A Continuing Novel of Big City Politics, for further illumination on how things work in Chicago and Illinois politics.