Democracy at Its Worst
The Chicago Tribune sponsored something of a Senate essay contest for candidates running for President Obama’s old Senate seat. You can and should read their full responses for yourselves, but if you don’t want to, here’s what I took out of their responses.
1) Not a whole hell of a lot.
2) Mark Kirk is funnier than Patrick Hughes. Question One asked the candidates “Please explain why you are seeking the U.S. Senate nomination and factors in your background or experience that voters should consider in making their choice?” After a brief overview of his resume, Kirk gets right to the point: “To begin down a path of reform, we must first choose leaders who do not become criminals.”
3) Patrick Hughes has zero chance of being the next United States Senator from Illinois. Why am I so confident? Because in one response, he writes that he believes the “best way to help Illinois would be to reduce the size of the federal government and the size of the federal budget. Our economy grows when private citizens and businesses are freed from unnecessary government intervention. Lower taxes, restrained government spending and the elimination of oppressive regulatory schemes that crush innovation and the entrepreneurial spirit are the hallmarks of my economic philosophy.” Seriously, would someone check if that came verbatim off the Club for Growth website? The Illinois voters won’t take kindly to those kinds of platitudes come general election time.
4) No wonder Kirk’s been so vocal in his opposition to the Thompson prison dispute….he has to contend with Hughes….and Patrick Hughes does not like terrorists! He isn’t big on nuance either: “These men are not American citizens, and planned and/or committed a military act against our nation. There is no place for them in our federal prison system. They should be tried in front of a military tribunal and incarcerated in a military prison.” Hughes was a lawyer….maybe he would like to explain where in the Constitution it says that citizenship is a requirement to enter federal prison….
5) Like I said, I learned pretty much nothing. Mark Kirk can win. Patrick Hughes cannot. Primary politics = democracy at its worst.