It’s no secret – Illinois is in crisis. From the budget deficit to schools to the unemployed – we need answers.
It’s no secret – Illinois is in crisis. From the budget deficit to schools to the unemployed – we need answers.
So, on the evening of October 6, the Chicago Urban League and the Chicago Alumnae and Lambda chapters of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. opened the doors of the Urban League’s Bronzeville headquarters to co-host a community-wide “Candidates Forum.” The Forum was a chance for voters on the south side to see, hear and question the men and women running for the most important electoral seats up for grabs in Illinois this year — Governor, Senator, Comptroller and State Treasurer. As a non-partisan organization, the Urban League has traditionally been a place where business people, politicians and government officials know they can come and get a fair and respectful hearing, be they Republican or Democrat.
The free event turned out to be a hot ticket. All 300 seats in the room were taken. Late arrivals had to stand in the back or squeeze their way in to grab a squat on a windowsill or the floor. For the Deltas and Chicago Urban League, this kind of enthusiastic turn-out was inspiring. With the elections less than a month away, the Forum was set up to give voters the opportunity to meet the candidates up close and personal, away from the slick TV ads and clever campaign sound bites they rely on to carefully sculpt their image. For the candidates themselves this was a prime opportunity, too – to make their case directly to a roomful of voters, many of them representing the 35% of Chicagoans who are African American.
But when it came time to start the show, something was missing. Mainly, it was Republicans. Despite weeks of advance notice provided by the Deltas, including extensive outreach to the offices of all of the candidates, not one Republican showed up. “Scheduling conflicts” was the reason most commonly heard. Surely some of these candidates had genuine scheduling conflicts that prevented them from attending, but strangely, all of the Republicans seem to have caught a bad case of “scheduling conflict” at the same time.
None of this, however, stopped candidates from the Green Party, Democrats and Independents from showing up in full force to enthusiastically make their case. Event moderator Charles Thomas, political correspondent for ABC News kept the Forum lively by asking tough, fair questions — and digging behind the generalities and platitudes of political–speak. Governor Pat Quinn, Treasurer candidates Robin Kelly and Scott Summers, Comptroller candidate David Miller, and Senate candidates Corey Dabney, Lee Alan Jones, and Will Boyd each held their own, mixing it up on issues such as tax increases, education funding, jobs and how to attract business to Illinois. The lone Democratic no-show, Alexi Giannoulias sent State Representative Will Burns to speak for him. All of the candidates were respectfully received.
But with none of the candidates from the other major party showing up, the voters were deprived of an opportunity to hear a full range of views on the many troubles facing Illinois. And maybe these no shows truly had “scheduling conflicts.” Cynics will say the answer is in the numbers: in campaign offices, some political adviser looked at the meager numbers of African American Republicans and made the call that courting a few black votes probably isn’t worth the effort. But we would say that it is the duty of all candidates to take the issues to the people. Leadership isn’t always just about the pure calculus of votes. That path can leave diverse communities feeling marginalized or even ignored. Leadership is also about providing answers to the questions Illinois needs answered now: what do we do about jobs, education and fiscal reform? On October 6, south siders sadly only saw half of that picture.
Andrea L. Zopp is the president and CEO of the Chicago Urban League.
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