I have met OneMan socially a few times and I like him - he’s a decent guy. While we often disagree on policy, sometimes we agree, and I think he speaks with integrity regardless. Two days ago OneMan wrote,
“We are not going to be having any public forums before the special election. Foster pulled out of the Elgin League of Women Voters forum that was set for this Wed.
He also didn’t attend a bunch of forums before the primary….
Yes, I understand there is likely a tactical reason for doing this, but still don’t you think the voters deserve at least one public forum. Last time I checked the Elgin League of Women Voters isn’t a Republican front group.
If you feel your views are correct you should feel comfortable defending and explaining them in public and be asked questions about them.
If Jim was the one backing out of forums I know Archpundit and Hiram wouldn’t let it go without a comment (and rightfully so).”
OneMan makes a good point. All things being equal I believe in more public exposure of candidates, not less, including in debates. But in this case all things are not equal. Illinois had an unprecedented (in modern times) short primary season this cycle. But this change, while affecting partisan primaries, made the general elections between the parties longer - except for the 14th Congressional District, which has only a short time between the primary and the special election.
Republican Dennis Hastert, the former House Speaker decided to retire as 14th District congressman before the end of his term, requiring an extremely early special election - so early that county election officials had to sue in court to waive minimum time period and reporting requirements to accommodate the election. Dennis Hastert, who could have retired at the end of his congressional term in 2006 - or 2008 - instead decided to retire before the end of his term triggering a special election that will cost Kane County about $500,000 and ultimately cost taxpayers between $1-$2 million including other counties and municipalities. Most people think the shorter election time frame benefits candidates who have name recognition and money - since the lack of time makes organization difficult. Who does this benefit? Fox News thinks the Republican Party. This makes sense since their candidates are historically better known in the 14th District - and often have more money (not to mention more long-standing and developed organizations). Politico’s The Crypt was more specific last August that Jim Oberweis was the beneficiary, saying, “Several Illinois Republicans speculate that Hastert’s decision to resign stems from wanting to help Oberweis win the nomination.” In sum, most think that the special election forced by Dennis Hastert’s retirement decision was a “transparent” attempt to benefit the Republican candidate, specifically Jim Oberweis (as his main GOP opponent Chris Lauzen also implied).
The cost of $1-2 million taxpayer dollars, the cost of a rushed election schedule that limits voters ability to learn about the candidates, and a Republican office holder encouraging a confusing election process of “voting twice” on the electorate - none of this was good for the public. But it does provide advantages to the Republicans.
Do I generally believe in more candidate public debate? Sure. Would I like Bill Foster to have taken advantage of more opportunities for public debate with other candidates? Yes. Can I fault Democrat Bill Foster’s campaign, when Bill still has four appearances with Republican Jim Oberweis before the election,* for deciding how best to reach voters in an unprecedented short campaign brought about by Republicans for their advantage? No. Having more debates is not the Holy Grail curing every ill - it doesn’t trump everything. I might wish Bill had attended more debates, but I blame Republican leaders for “playing politics” in this (otherwise unnecessary) special election, giving us the short cycle that meant that the Foster campaign had less time to reach out to voters.
I’m not ok with the situation. I’m not ok with the unnecessary waste of $1-2 million, or that there is so little time, or that the playing field was slanted to benefit the Republicans. But I am ok with Bill. If Republican leadership really wanted more debates they could have had them - most congressmen serve out their term.
Notes:
* According to yesterday’s Beacon News - where both men met (yesterday’s meeting is not counted as one of the four more appearances)
Comments 7
Hiram, from what I’m hearing some schedules were changed in response to the NIU tragedy as well. As a DeKalb resident I appreciate such sensitivity.
Also, it’s not as if Mr. Foster can’t be found. I heard him and Mr. Oberweis on WBBM last weekend, and weren’t they on Chicago Tonight last night?
Posted 27 Feb 2008 at 10:42 am ¶Where do I start with this.
I really doubt the reason Foster backed out of the Elgin event is because of the NIU shooting. If that was the case to be frank I think they would have mentioned it.
Also that doesn’t cover all of the forums he didn’t attend before the primary.
As for Fosters comments about it being about access, he also didn’t attend the TLN forum before the primary (Leasch and Stein did) and that was offered up on Comcast On-Demand (as to make it more available).
Nice how Fosters lack of public forum attendance is in part due to Hastert stepping down.
Even the Beacon said
http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/beaconnews/news/815237,2_1_AU27_14THDIST_S3.article
He doesn’t seem to do well in these situations, the Beacon (follow the link) pointing out it seems like he has changed his ‘Get out of Iraq now’ plan based off of what he said to their editorial board.
Sorry, editorial boards with later web casts are not public forums and the two are different. Also meeting with the editorial boards isn’t really optional if you are running for congress.
It would cause the sky to fall for someone to say.
‘Foster wants to do as few forums as possible because they are not his strength’
Posted 27 Feb 2008 at 3:33 pm ¶Fine. They’re not his strength. But I stand by what I said, and the point is, anybody who wants to know about this guy is able to do so easily.
And if I were Foster I’d be pretty tired of trying to interact with an idiot like Oberweis. I could not believe Oberweis actually tried to make the case that Foster didn’t care about Fermilab, for example. Another ludicrous exchange.
Posted 27 Feb 2008 at 4:02 pm ¶Yinn,
So using your logic obviously Leasch and Stein must have been idiots too since that is why he didn’t want to interact with them either.
And to your point about Foster not caring about Fermi lab let me quote from his resignation letter
http://protondriver.fnal.gov/simulation/ProtonDriver/pd_documents/GW_Foster_Farewell_Message.pdf
“It has been a great disappointment to me that I have been unable to convince DOE to agree that the Proton Driver Project is a reasonable option to preserve. But I also realize that my voice will not be heard, since after years of insisting that unpleasant technical realities be respected in strategic planning in HEP, I find myself branded as a troublemaker with an axe to grind. Since the starting points for progress must be an acknowledgement by the ILC planners that a realistic ILC schedule is well into the future, and that a U.S. system test is essential, future progress may in fact be quicker if I am not in the room. In any case, I have no desire to continue a debate in which one side feels free to ignore demonstrable facts.?
So instead of sticking around and fighting for what he felt was right, he walked out. Some would say if he cared he would have stayed…
Also this
“I’d like to close by noting one of the amusing criticisms that I’ve been subjected to over
the last few years, namely: “how come Foster has all of the good guys working for him on the
Proton Driver, instead of forcing them to work on the ILC?” This is not an accident, of course:
you guys were my top draft choices. I selected you carefully and recruited you hard. I was able
to convince you to work on SCRF because you felt the Proton Driver was an interesting and
“technically real” project, and a legitimate stepping stone to the eventual goal of the ILC. I hope
that you are allowed to carry that enthusiasm through the Proton Driver effort as it continues as
an R&D program, and I truly hope that it re-emerges as something that provides an important
contribution to a bright future for FNAL’s accelerator-based HEP program.”
Leaders stay and lead, not bail because things are not going their way.
You may think my guy is way to conservative, that’s fine I can understand that, I think Foster is way to liberal.
But at least my guy has created jobs in the 14th congressional district, not walked away from the only job he had in the district.
Posted 27 Feb 2008 at 4:36 pm ¶“Leaders stay and lead, not bail because things are not going their way.”
Smart leaders recognize where they can make an impact too - and when they are better off trying different efforts.
We may genuinely disagree on my statement above. It’s what makes me believe we should have taken our troops out of Iraq a long time ago - and perhaps disagreement with it is why GOP Presidential Candidate John McCain (and apparently Jim Oberweis) believe we may need to be in Iraq 100 years or more. A pyrrhic victory is not a victory worth having by definition. Leadership is recognizing the battles you can win and the ways you can come back to fight another day.
Bill Foster running for congress in the 14th District represents another opportunity for him to try to help Fermi Lab. He was among the first to decry the recent budget cuts - and as a congressman he’ll be better positioned than he was when he worked at Fermi Lab to help it - if it can be helped from the neglect it has suffered from area Republican congressmen and President Bush. Recognizing where you can make a difference and going for it even if it’s out of your comfort zone - that’s what Bill Foster has done - and that is leadership.
Posted 27 Feb 2008 at 8:35 pm ¶“if it can be helped from the neglect it has suffered from area Republican congressmen and President Bush”
It was this budget that it got cut in and last time I checked, the Democrats lead congress, not the Republicans. I don’t recall them having major funding issues until this time around and I don’t recall either of our Democratic Senators saying boo about the funding until Fermi Lab said something about it.
“Smart leaders recognize where they can make an impact too - and when they are better off trying different efforts.”
Very true, the question is did he leave the lab fas his letter says
“The proximate cause of my decision was the canceling of the pending CD-0 approval of
the Proton Driver Project by DOE, on the grounds that it conflicts with the push for the “Fast-
Track International Linear Collider” (ILC).”
Or because he was so concerned about the war? If the CD-0 approval of the Proton Driver Project by DOE did occur would he be running for congress right now.
We don’t agree on what our next step is in Iraq, I understand where you are coming from, I don’t agree but I understand and if you want to get out of Iraq as quickly as possible without regard to impacts then Foster is still your guy (not as much as he was last week perhaps).
Posted 27 Feb 2008 at 9:12 pm ¶Wake up and smell the coffee! The only voters who give a rat’s ass about the debates are political nerds like you all who actually attend the debates.
The Aurora University debate pulled in maybe 100 people out of 750,000 voters in the district. Why should Foster or any other candidate bother wasting his time? His time is better spent on the telephone soliciting donations from 100 people that would buy eyeball time in for an ad that 10,000 will see.
Posted 28 Feb 2008 at 6:08 pm ¶Post a Comment