This seems like a good time to rate our various U.S. Senate candidates. Let’s start with the Republicans.
• Jack Ryan. A handsome multimillionaire with three Ivy League degrees, he quit his career as an investment banker and went to work as a teacher in an inner-city school. This guy could catch fire. He’s putting together a decent organization, he’ll have plenty of his own money to spend, and he appears to have won over a significant number of conservatives. He took 22 out of 58 votes in a recent straw poll of county GOP chairmen, coming in first in a large field. His last name is a big problem, of course. Just ask Jim Ryan. He’ll have to make sure people don’t mistake him for the “old” Ryans.
• Steve Rauschenberger. The state senator is the only GOP candidate with any real legislative experience. A favorite among conservatives, he’s counting on his myriad contacts to help him raise money and win the primary. Former state rep Jim Durkin could serve as a model for Rauschenberger’s primary campaign. Durkin never placed TV ads, yet beat two rich unknowns to win the 2002 Republican U.S. Senate nomination. But there are some pitfalls awaiting his as-yet-undeclared candidacy: Rauschenberger was busted for DUI several years ago, his family’s business declared bankruptcy, and he was the lead GOP negotiator in the state senate during the George Ryan budget build-ups. Yet he is the only candidate to have ever survived an intense campaign. The Democrats went after him with guns ablazing last year, and he still won handily. He’s also putting some early money into Internet advertising.
• Andrew McKenna. The president of Schwarz Paper Company in the Chicago suburb of Morton Grove, McKenna comes from a wealthy and politically involved family. A rumor circulated for months that McKenna has regularly contributed to Democrats, but that turned out to be false. The biggest knock on him so far is that he’s bland. But another way of looking at him is that he’s a sober, thoughtful person, surrounded by the right people to help him win.
• Jim Oberweis. Best known for the milk company his family owns, Oberweis came in second in the 2002 U.S. Senate GOP primary, behind state rep Jim Durkin. His campaign received some early bad press. Opponents claim his dairy company is running its first-ever TV ads to boost his political prospects. Oberweis finished first in a recent poll conducted by a Chicago TV station. And since he’s done this race before, he has made friends throughout the state.
• John Cox. The top of the second tier belongs to John Cox, an attorney and accountant who spent a million dollars of his own money for a third place finish (out of three candidates) in the 2002 U.S. Senate primary. But this time out he’s running ads imploring ordinary people to contribute to his campaign. His most prominent idea so far is to give people a tax credit for political contributions. Cox appears to be aiming at the core of Peter Fitzgerald’s angry conservative base. “I’m sick and tired of political decisions being made because of some crony or because it moves money to some guy who’s going to give you a political hand up,” Cox told the Chicago Tribune.
• John Borling. A retired Air Force general, Borling has an impressive resume. He spent six years in a North Vietnam POW camp. He was a highly decorated fighter pilot, director of operations for the Strategic Air Command during the first Gulf War, and chief of staff for the Pentagon’s super-secret think tank CHECKMATE. Whether Borling can translate his impressive resume into a formidable candidacy remains to be seen. He doesn’t have enough personal wealth to do it on his own. He is also pro-choice in a pro-life political party.
• Chirinjeev Kathuria. A wealthy, thoughtful, personable businessman
with a medical degree and all the right positions for a Republican senate candidate.
He also says he’ll spend $15 million of his own money on the race. So why is
he in the second tier of candidates? Well, he wears a turban. That may sound
bigoted, but you gotta admit it’s probably a huge disadvantage for an Illinois
Republican. Still, there’s something about him personally that could catapult
him into the first tier. He is so immensely likable that he could surprise everyone
and pull off an upset. Stranger things have happened in Illinois politics .
. . but not much.
This article appears in Sep 11-17, 2003.
