Report on Moline Democrat's Candidates Forum

My wife and I just got back from attending the Moline Democratic Central Committee’s candidates forum held at the Moline VFW hall on 7^th Street. Rock Island County Board member Virgil Mayberry spoke briefly in support of Hillary Clinton. No one showed up to speak for any of the other presidential candidates. Pat O’Brien spoke for Congressman Phil Hare.

Both incumbent State Senator Mike Jacobs and his challenger Paul Rumler spoke. Mike Jacobs emphasized the bills he had passed and the money he had brought home from Springfield. Paul Rumler talked about his commitment to Education and promised that he would conduct himself in Springfield in a professional and dignified manner. (Although he did not put it that way I took that as a promise that he would not embarrass us.)

Pat Verschoore spoke briefly. He was relaxed because again he has no opposition. Both incumbent State Rep Mike Boland and his challenger Jerry Lack spoke. Both men have a long history of working for the people of north-western Illinois. I suspect it will be a hard choice for a lot of people.

Rock Island County Recorder of Deeds Pat Veronda, Rock Island County Auditor Diana Robinson and Circuit Clerk Lisa Bierman spoke next.

The last to speak were the three candidates for Rock Island County Coroner. Incumbent coroner Sharon Anderson is retiring after 20 years, so the race is wide open. The Democrats of Rock Island County will have to choose between Dr. Ronald B. Fiscella (a licensed physician and surgeon in the state of Illinois since 1977), Brian Gustafson, a Registered Nurse and the current chief deputy coroner in Sharon Anderson’s office and Joel Moore, a Registered Nurse and a deputy coroner for Rock Island County. At this point at the very beginning of the campaign Brian Gustafson appears to be the better speaker and campaigner – he had campaign literature to hand out and worked the room better than the other two.

Acting like Democrats

According the latest Washington Post - ABC News poll 52% of the public trusts the Democrats more than the Republicans to handle the federal budget deficit, while only 29% trusts the Republicans. In a television ad that Mitt Romney is running he refers to the Republicans in Congress as "acting like Democrats" when they irresponsibly run up the deficit. Of course, this ad is aimed at the Republicans who will vote in the primaries and caucuses. I assume this ad works for him since the target of the ad is people who are in the 29% who think that acting like a Democrat is a bad thing.

I assume that if Mitt Romney wins the Republican nomination then during the general election campaign he will have to start promising that in fiscal matters he will emulate the Democrats since at that point he will be addressing the 52% who think that in fiscal matters acting like a Republican is a bad thing.

The “I’m OK” Democrats

Most people around the country who consider themselves Democrats are angry and appalled by everything about the Iraq War: the needless waste of life, the damage done to our military readiness, the waste and theft of federal tax dollars, the damage done to our international reputation and moral authority. Obviously, anyone who empathizes to any meaningful degree with those suffering as a result of this war would feel compelled to do anything and everything in their power to immediately stop this evil.

I can only conclude that many Democrats in Congress and the Washington insiders who advise them do not feel the pain of the war’s victims. They must be "I’m OK" Democrats. With apparent equanimity, they have decided that it would be better to allow the war to continue for another two years rather than take the blame for any downside involved in ending it. I wonder if the blood on their hands will interfere with their golf swings.