this race isn’t generating as much coverage as the others, simply because it is turning out to be not much of a race. the endorsement interview at the chicago tribune can be found here:
if you watch this video, which was ended abruptly where others were extended, the interviewer asks jay footlik the question that is on everyone’s mind: why are you running, and “risk the possibility of perhaps splitting sensibilities among democrats when he (seals) came so close last time?” it’s the question on many democrat’s minds in the tenth.
mark kirk’s supporters would like this to be more of a race. i suspect footlik’s supporters would, too. but we’re just not hearing it on the ground. footlik’s name recognition still seems to be problematic, and it doesn’t appear that dan seals will have to spend as much money to beat footlik as i’d wager they planned to spend.
the tribune covered the session of the video above, noting:
The two Democrats seeking to unseat U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) from his North Shore seat clashed on the Middle East and where they live Tuesday in their first meeting of the campaign season.
Former White House adviser Jay Footlik criticized Democratic primary opponent Dan Seals for saying during his previous congressional run that he would support “peace” in a conflict between Iran and Israel.
[…]
Footlik, who runs a homeland security consulting business, said he currently resides in Buffalo Grove.
Seals then got Footlik to admit he’s only renting a house in the district.
footlik, who likes to tell his audience that he started his career as “the cute kid,” played it cute about the residency issue:
Jay Footlik, a Democratic candidate for Congress in the North Suburban 10th District, sent out a map this week showing four houses for sale in the district under $400,000 in case his opponent in the Democratic primary, Dan Seals, wants to buy one.
this stunt would have been more cute if footlik’s wife hadn’t told people they were planning on buying a house in the 10th congressional district. it makes you wonder if the kirk campaign has an office pool for when footlik returns to his home within the beltway.
the daily herald also wrote about their endorsement session:
Democratic congressional candidate Dan Seals says lobbyists can’t change Washington, but opponent Jay Footlik says that neither can neophytes.
“I’ve already delivered real results,” Footlik argued, referring to his work as a security consultant, Middle East policy adviser and lobbyist for foreign interests. “I have been involved in trying to find solutions.”
But business consultant Seals argues Footlik doesn’t have the kind of experience voters want.
“If you are going to deliver change, I don’t think you can do that as a lobbyist,” said the Wilmette resident.
this has been a busy week for the two campaigns in the 10th. three debates were scheduled, one remaining for tomorrow night (lwv forum at the arlington heights library). several papers covered last night’s exchange. in a spirited exchange of the two candidates, they went deep into local issues. on transportation issues, seals wants to utilize the lake to its fullest extent as a transportation system while footlik supports expanding o’hare and getting the municipalities to cooperate on roads. on the environment, seals thinks the lake is our greatest resource and must be protected. he used the recent bp amoco fiasco as just one example. footlik agrees that while kirk makes a appearance about bp, he’s done nothing. seals also noted that he would be willing to sign on for more punitive action against those companies that discriminate.
both candidates were asked what 2 committees and what 2 pieces of legislation would you like. seals said he wants to sit on the education and armed forces committees and would sponsor troops returning in a year. footlik said he wants to sit on the transportation and foreign affairs committees. press coverage of the debate had one write:
Seals, a business consultant at Northwestern University said he is running to change Washington, D.C.
“We need to change healthcare, the war in Iraq, the deficit and business overall in Washington,” said Seals.
Seals said he believes the government is putting freedom at odds with security when it comes to electronic surveillance and other methods used by Homeland Security.
“Wire tapping, the eavesdropping, and the torture our troops are putting on some of the prisoners are just some examples that are having an opposite effect on security,” Seals said. “We need to focus on police work and good intelligence by addressing border issues and reading security checks.”
Footlik said the country needs to reach out to the Muslim world and communicate in a more effective way.
“There are great solutions for anti-terrorism laws, but it starts with first responders like police and fire back home,” said Footlik.
Back home, Seals believes Congress should pass the Children’s Health and Medicare Protection Act, because children “deserve our care,” he said.
there were other stories about the endorsements the two are getting. the news sun notes that footlik got the endorsement of the lake county federation of teachers while seals won the endorsement of the IFT’s northwest suburban teachers union. the tribune wrote about the switch to footlik, while the pioneer press said that “Jay Footlik believes his campaign is gaining momentum with the endorsement of two major teachers’ unions.”
otoh, one of footlik’s mailers got a different reaction than his campaign probably wanted. Footlik mailing draws fire was a headline in the winnetka talk:
The Footlik campaign says the ad was meant to talk about his faith in a humorous way, and the work he has done on issues important to the Jewish community and in promoting Middle East peace.
But others did not find the mailing so funny.
“I was just offended by the fact that whole piece had nothing to do with the issues,” said Buffalo Grove resident Jon Altenberg, who is Jewish. “The whole piece is based on the fact he’s Jewish. I’m Jewish, and I don’t think the fact that someone’s Jewish should have any relevance on whether he gets my vote or not.”
In a Letter to the Editor, Altenberg said the mailing “uses Jewish stereotypes and slang to try to insinuate that Jay Footlik is the only candidate to vote for simply because he has a Jewish surname.”
“If anybody who was not Jewish used the same terms, I think it would be seen as offensive,” he said.
Altenberg said he’s talked to neighbors who are not Jewish and they indicated they had not received the mailing.
sun times columnist neil steinberg called the mailer pandering to the northshore’s jewish voters. it appears, though, that reaction to the mailer broke on generational lines, with older jewish voters finding it as humorous as it was intended.
in the ‘what’s new’ department, the seals campaign reports:
A recent poll by Garin-Hart-Yang Research showed Dan leading his primary opponent 58-10
the campaign also notes that “Dan was endorsed by the Pioneer Press on Thursday, January 10.” seals has won the “endorsement race,” posting new endorsements by
* AFL-CIO
* Asian American Action Fund of Greater Chicago
* Communications Workers of America
* International Association of Machinists
* International Brotherhood of Boilermakers
* Illinois Federation of Teachers- Northwest Suburban Teachers Union Local 1211
* Independent Voters of Illinois-IPO
* International Longshoreman’s Association
* Sheet Metal Workers International Association
* United Auto Workers
* United Food and Commercial Workers
* United Transportation Union
footlik got some good blog support from the teacher’s union endorsement. his home town bulletin board had a nice appeal:
Niles North alumnus Jay Footlik is running for Congress. Those of us who are Skokie residents, including Jay’s mom, can’t vote for him, because we living in the 9th congressional district. This doesn’t mean we can’t help.
a volunteer from miami university had a really sweet post about her experience helping on footlik’s campaign and what it means. otoh, local blogstar, ellen gill asked fellow voters if they had received on the calls talked about in that volunteer’s post.
supporters of dan seals put up a considerable amount of video in the last month. one of these week’s debate had two questions posted, one on alternative energy and another on who’s his political role model. seals’ wilmette coffee in december was also posted, part one is here, part two is here and the final segment is here. the seals campaign has this video, Get to Know Dan! and video from the yearlykos future leader’s forum, where seals was a panelist, is now online.
there’s a lot of stuff coming up. jay footlik now has an events section on his website, although the calendar doesn’t seem to be for the general public (there’s no address listed for each item). the seals campaign continues to update it’s calendar page. and the league of women voters debate is tomorrow at the arlington heights library.
seals’ financial picture continues to get brighter. his actblue page shows he’s raised $258,784 from 1,093 donors across actblue. footlik still hasn’t raised a dime on actblue. full fund-raising numbers aren’t due in illinois until after the 16th.
footlik’s prospects don’t look that good. it’s not just the poll numbers; voters still don’t know who footlik is, and when they do, they wonder — just like the tribune interviewer — why he’s running. otoh, footlik’s challenge has forced the seals’ campaign to organize earlier, and knock on more doors than they probably would have otherwise. as seals turns his attention to unifying democrats in the 10th around his candidacy, and then a more potent challenge against mark kirk, he continues to be a down to earth, charismatic agent for change.