The Chicago Tribune has endorsed Republican Judy Baar-Topinka’s candidacy for governor:
Those who believe in the platform of the Green Party will probably find cause to vote for him despite his views on guns. But as a protest vote, well, it might feel good, but the practical impact will be to preserve the status quo in the governor’s office.
That office is sagging under the status quo. The Tribune endorses Judy Baar Topinka for governor, because the governor’s office desperately needs a change.
and zeroes in on the problems with the Blagojevich governorship here:
The governor who promised in 2002 to “end business as usual” would have you pay no attention to the gathering evidence of broad corruption.
He points to his efforts in health care and education. He has indeed expanded access to health care for Illinois children. He has expanded government-funded preschool. The governor says, next up: universal health care in Illinois!
But he refuses to acknowledge that he can’t pay for all those things. He can’t pay for the government we already have. The state’s long-term debt has grown dramatically during the Blagojevich administration.
Blagojevich says the state has a balanced budget. Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes–a fellow Democrat–says the state has more than $3 billion in unpaid Medicaid bills. Hynes paints a very grim picture. “State pension, Medicaid and debt obligations will absorb virtually all likely new economic revenue growth over the next few years, allowing little opportunity for growth in other state programs,” Hynes stated in a recent report.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with Illinois, in Illinois public employee pension and benefit programs have constitutional force—they can’t be abrogated, altered, or even delayed without amending the state constitution. And the state also requires a balanced budget so, when governors do what Blagojevich has done and borrow from the state pension programs to pay for current operations, it’s merely delaying the inevitable. The revenue has to come from somewhere.
It’s not terribly surprising that the Trib would endorse Topinka. The Trib tends to be center-right on its editorial page.
Both of the major party candidates for governor here are deeply flawed and more than half of Illinois voters aren’t satisfied with either of them:
A recent Tribune poll found that more than half of potential voters are dissatisfied with the two main-party candidates, Gov. Rod Blagojevich and Republican challenger Judy Baar Topinka. That’s a sad state of affairs, even in Illinois politics, and yet another reflection of the widening gulf between consultant-driven politicos and the people they aspire to represent.
Topinka is tarred by her connection to former governor George Ryan and hobbled by the self-immolation of the Illinois Republican Party. Blagojevich is weakened by his obvious spendthrift ways and the manifest corruption problems within his administration.
With Blagojevich holding a 14-point lead over Topinka, the Republican challenger can use all the help she can get.
I met Topinka, a nice lady, when she was first elected but now she seems to be a much wearier person. She’d have to be weary, losing to Governor Hairhelmet as she is.