Here’s a prediction: The 2006 Democratic
nominee for governor of Illinois will be a liberal white dude from
the North Side of Chicago. Another: It’ll probably be the
incumbent, Gov. Rod Blagojevich. It wasn’t until Dec. 17 did Edwin
Eisendrath, a proven fundraiser albeit relative unknown, enter the
race, insanely late to do any real damage to a sitting governor
who’s sitting on a mountain of cash, even one as embattled as
Blagojevich. A former Chicago City Council member and
Clinton-appointee federal housing official, Eisendrath,
who’ll turn 48 in February, has pegged ending pay-to-play
politics as his central campaign issue. Then again, so do a lot of Illinois candidates
who eventually find themselves the subjects of federal
investigations. However, Eisendrath says isn’t cynical enough
to accept the status quo. “I don’t think for a second
[government] has to be corrupt. I took on the Chicago Housing
Authority — notoriously, in fact internationally —
corrupt and I cleaned it up,” Eisendrath says. In 1997, the Chicago Housing Authority
received its first “clean” audit in years when
Eisendrath worked as the Midwest director of the U.S. Department of
Housing and Urban Development, which also controls CHA. Before that, Eisendrath taught elementary school and represented the Near North Side’s
43rd Ward as alderman from1987 to 1993. Currently, Eisendrath is
vice-president of academic affairs at Kendall College, a special trades
school in downtown Chicago. Four years ago, Eisendrath carried water to
help Blagojevich become the state’s first Democratic governor
in 25 years. But now, he says his well of support for Blagojevich
has dried up. “There wasn’t an
‘ah-ha’ moment,” Eisendrath says of when he
realized he’d lost confidence in the governor. “There
was just this growing sense that I have to stand up say this
isn’t good enough.” A St. Louis
Post-Dispatch poll released on
Saturday reveals that fewer than half of likely voting Illinoisans
approve of the job the governor is doing — a tiny victory for
Eisendrath, who believes that Blagojevich is out of touch with
citizens. Eisendrath was not mentioned in the poll. In more not-necessarily-bad news for
Eisendrath, this week the American Federation of State, County, and
Municipal Employees, one of the state’s largest labor groups
and a longtime Blagojevich backer, opted against endorsing either
candidate in the Democratic primary. Still, as Christopher Z. Mooney, professor at
the Institute of Government and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois at Springfield notes,
“If nobody knows you, you’re not going to win an election
just on the negative. They’d have to have broad name recognition
and lots of money.” The amount a candidate spends on television
advertising is a good indicator of their seriousness, Mooney says.
This week, the Eisendrath camp unveiled an ad on his campaign Web
site, which, though cheap, Mooney says will most likely shore up
support Eisendrath already has. Blagojevich hasn’t dipped into his
estimated $20 million war chest, or formally announced that
he’s running. Eisendrath, who comes from a wealthy family,
too, has ready access to lots of money and has shown that he can
raise more if he wants. Forking out over $600,000, Eisendrath spent
more than any candidate in the country in an unsuccessful attempt
to unseat U.S. Rep. Sidney Yates in the 1990 Democratic primary. This time around, if elected, Eisendrath pledges not to raise a dime until reforms are made
to state campaign finance laws. While largely campaigning on an ethics
reform platform, Eisendrath says that education and creating jobs are
his top priorities. “Other states have figured out how to
fund education and have a tax system that can grow the economy;
Illinois has not,” Eisendrath says. Even if he’s not a serious contender for
the Democratic nomination, some believe that because he has the
silent support of many trench Democrats, Eisendrath can at least
give Blagojevich a scare in March. Gene Callahan, a longtime Illinois political
observer and former chief of staff to U.S. Sen. Alan Dixon, likes
Eisendrath’s chances to “jolt” the Blagojevich
camp, especially if he manages to wrangle a third or more of the
vote. “[Blagojevich] has a poor record and
he’ll be a tough candidate to beat,” Callahan says.
But, he adds, “As a lifelong Democrat, I enthusiastically
applaud Eisendrath for giving us a choice.”
This article appears in Jan 26 – Feb 1, 2006.
