In some political contests, candidates dive for the middle. They co-opt the issues of their opponents and render themselves a near-indistinguishable blur.
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Not so in the Republican race for U.S. Senate. Candidate Peter Fitzgerald, 37, a lawyer and state senator from Inverness, is laying claim to the state GOP’s conservative wing, appealing directly to anti-abortion and anti-tax activists.
State Comptroller and Chicago resident Loleta Didrickson, 56, pitches herself as a middle-of-the-road Republican.
He has attacked her as soft on such issues as abortion and taxes; she has attacked him as extreme.
Although both candidates hold elective office in state government, the race has the markings of an insider-outsider battle. Didrickson is supported by most state GOP leaders, who believe she is the party’s best challenger to the incumbent Democrat, Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun. Fitzgerald rails against those leaders as “political elitists” afraid to stand by the GOP’s core beliefs.
The race has been marked by a barrage of charges and countercharges over such issues as hypocrisy on lower taxes, trustworthiness and campaign finances. Strategists for both sides expect the mudslinging to increase in the 2 1/2 weeks to Election Day, March 17.
Let’s get them on the record without any of that. No handlers, spin doctors or paid consultants; no mentions of endorsements or trashing of opponents. Here are the candidates, speaking for themselves in interviews and recent broadcast debates on central issues that divide them.
ABORTION
Didrickson: “I just think that (the partial birth abortion) procedure is morally wrong. I’m pro-choice in all other instances. For starters, it’s the law of the land. I don’t mean to sound trite about this, but I believe it’s fundamentally a decision you make personally with your family and your doctor and your religious counselors. I just don’t think government should be in there. I don’t like abortion. I’m not pro-abortion. I’ve never been faced with that decision in any circumstance. I just think fundamentally that’s a decision a woman has the right to make.”
Fitzgerald: “Our United States Constitution . . . presents the question of whether an unborn child is a person for purposes of constitutional protection, and is entitled to the right to life. I’m very struck by the similarities between the argument made by the pro-choicers . . . with the arguments that were advanced by Stephen Douglas, for example, when there was debate whether black people in this country were entitled to be treated as persons or property.
“Douglas said he didn’t know whether black people were persons or property . . . therefore he would give his friends the right to choose whether they would treat blacks as persons or property.
“If there’s any doubt whether an unborn child is a human being for purposes of the Constitution, we ought to err on the side of assuming humanity, lest we make a horrible mistake.”
GUN POLICY
Fitzgerald: “I have always refused to believe that you have to adopt either the entire agenda of the (National Rifle Association) on one extreme or the gun control groups on the other extreme.
“I believe in 2nd Amendment rights, but with some checks and balances. The 2nd Amendment’s rights are not absolute. I supported the ban on assault weapons (in 1992) . . . and later the Brady Bill (which requires background checks and a waiting period prior to gun purchases).
“However, a couple of years ago Sen. Kirk Dillard (R-Hinsdale) introduced a bill in the state Senate (which did not pass) allowing law-abiding citizens who took 50 hours of training to obtain a permit to carry a (concealed) gun if they had the need. I have always been a strong supporter of law-abiding citizens to defend themselves from criminal attack.”
Didrickson: “I support the rights of law-abiding citizens and sportsmen to own guns. As a state legislator, I sponsored a ban on assault weapons. I oppose carry and conceal (legislation that would allow those with training to apply for a permit to carry a concealed weapon).
“Why would you ever need assault weapons? I wouldn’t want to be a law-enforcement officer with carry-and-conceal laws. That puts law enforcement in jeopardy.
“I support the 2nd Amendment. I support hunters’ rights. I’ve gone hunting, but I don’t call myself a hunter.”
FOREIGN POLICY/IRAQ
Didrickson: “Saddam Hussein and his regime need to go. We have fought for too long, since 1991, being ping-ponged back and forth. I’m very hopeful, always, that diplomatic agreements may work, but so far we have no reason to believe that Saddam Hussein is going to hold true to this. I’m hopeful. I’m hoping it plays out very strongly, but if it doesn’t, we must be prepared militarily to go in and make certain that Saddam Hussein shall not be able to stockpile weapons of mass destruction. He’s a threat.”
Fitzgerald: “I would draw the line. I would not favor a ground war that would ensure the elimination of Saddam Hussein. But I would favor bombing strikes that make sure he complies with this latest agreement worked out by the United Nations secretary general. We should keep our troops positioned in the (Persian) Gulf to enforce and make sure that he complies with the inspections now.”
TAXES
Fitzgerald: “The tax burden on the average American family is now three times what it was in the 1950s. The average Illinois family is paying a tax burden that is nearly 40 percent of its total income. The combined federal, state and local tax burden is now higher than it has ever been at any time in our nation’s history. Parents and families in Illinois are spending more on taxes than they are on food, housing and clothing combined.
“What that high tax burden means is parents don’t have the time they need to get involved with their children’s upbringing. That leads to kids growing up not having had the training that they otherwise might have had in values. It also means kids not getting the education we ideally would like to see them get. And then (not) having a good adequate education can lead ultimately to other problems in society, such as juvenile delinquency, drug problems, which lead to crime problems, which in turn can lead to welfare dependency and so forth.
“If I’m elected . . . I will diligently work to reduce the tax burden confronting all of our citizens.”
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Didrickson: “I’ve been a strong fiscal conservative who has fought for smarter, smaller government. I’m running for U.S. Senate because I want a change, and I want to be part of the reform of the federal tax code.
“I want a flatter, simpler tax code.
“For almost every tax dollar we collect, we burn up another dollar equal to that in terms of all the time and energy we spend in filling out those forms, and the lack of capital that goes into investment and research because of all the tax avoidance. All those tax expenditures and tax deductions provide for truly the really wealthy who know how to work the system.
“I don’t believe it ought to take us longer than 20 minutes to fill out our income taxes. I think it ought to be on a postcard, and I think part of that 20 minutes should be driving to the post office to mail it.”
INTERNET PORNOGRAPHY
Didrickson: “I don’t think any of us are for pornographic material. I don’t believe that any of us want our children to be able to access pornographic material. I don’t believe government should set obscenity standards statewide. I believe 1st Amendment rights should be cherished. I also believe that fundamentally, as a parent, as an adult, it’s our responsibility to assert our parental involvement with our young children to make certain they don’t have access to those kinds of movies . . . that kind of television . . . and the latest medium, the Internet. That’s my job as a parent.”
Fitzgerald: “I think we should have some restrictions on the availability of pornographic materials on the Internet in order to protect our children and our families. It’s unreasonable to interpret the 1st Amendment right to freedom of speech as being absolute and to take no restrictions whatsoever. Banning pornography on the Internet is a reasonable regulation for the government to impose.”
HEALTH CARE
Fitzgerald: “One of the things we need to do is, through federal and state legislation where possible, to help the affordability and availability of health insurance policies. One of the problems that the government engages in is that they constantly put more mandates on those policies, which consequently make those policies more expensive and less affordable and less available and throw people out of health insurance. I will not fight for new programs, but what I would fight (for) is to make sure health insurance is as affordable as possible and that we don’t have government regulations and interference that make those policies unreachable.”
Didrickson: “When we begin to look at who is uninsured, quite frequently they are people who are young children and they are people who are between employment from one job to another. . . . There is an appropriate (government) response. It’s a question of striking a balance. Everybody should have access (to medical care) when they are sick.”