I’ve looked at what Edwin Eisendrath has been doing in the Illinois Gubernatorial Primary with interest. He came to the Naperville Democrats January fundraiser, the Wayne Township debate, and his staff came to both endorsement meetings of DuPage Democracy for Illinois, where he split vote totals with Rod Blagojevich. It also sounds like Edwin is hitting Southern Illinois and being received well. Clearly Eisendrath has Chicago and North Shore connections. Edwin’s obviously trying to get around. What has interested me most about his campaign is why it doesn’t seem more ’successful’ - by which I mean Edwin still seems not to be the overwhelming choice of Democrats looking for a change (he’s got 18% support in one poll to Blagojevich’s 62% - with only 52% saying they want to see Blagojevich re-elected). While the Eisendrath campaign says it’s on track - I’m looking at the calendar and wondering.
What has bothered me most about the Eisendrath bid is the calendar. For a long time a lot of people in the blogosphere (and elsewhere) have wanted to at least see what an alternative to Rod Blagojevich would look like. Some Democrats desperately pursued Paul Vallas starting over 18 months ago - stopping just short of trying to kidnap the man in Philly and send him to Chicago. When I asked one of Eisendrath’s two representatives at our DuPage Democracy for America meeting about the timing question, she acknowledged the concern, and said that Eisendrath had been waiting for someone else to jump in and, when there were no takers, felt he had to do it himself. I totally understand it, and don’t hold it against Edwin. But the calendar isn’t forgiving - and it has cost him, despite the fact that Edwin’s campaign is improving and scaling better in just two weeks.
On Monday Edwin Eisendrath gave a good speech at the Chicago City Club. It hit many of the right notes. When you look at his stance on the issues, he also seems quite strong. There are clearly a number of reasons for Democrats to vote for Eisendrath - and yet he has not caught fire.
My guess? If Edwin Eisendrath can get over 40% in polls in the next three weeks we may have a real race. Otherwise, I think Edwin’s a protest vote - and that doesn’t mean there isn’t plenty to protest about.
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