Sen. Paul Simon is warning off any primary challenge to his Democratic colleague from Illinois, Sen. Alan Dixon, cautioning that a weakened Dixon could lose and drag other Democrats down with him.
Cook County Recorder of Deeds Carol Moseley Braun began exploring a bid to seek the Democratic nomination in the Illinois primary for Dixon`s Senate seat after Dixon voted for the confirmation of Clarence Thomas to the U.S. Supreme Court.
”If she would ask me my advice, my advice would be, `Don`t run,”` Simon said Tuesday in an interview with Chicago Tribune editors and reporters.
Meanwhile, Sen. Bob Kerrey of Nebraska, campaigning in Chicago Tuesday for the Democratic presidential nomination, also strongly endorsed Dixon for re-election. Kerrey called Dixon ”a great guy, very effective.”
Simon and Kerrey voted against Thomas` confirmation, which was approved 52-48.
Dixon had announced his intention to support the nomination before he learned of law professor Anita Hill`s allegation that Thomas had sexually harassed her 10 years ago.
Simon said some senators from both political parties ”hold their finger to the wind and say, `What do the polls have to say?` ”
Simon did not point a finger directly at Dixon, adding, ”I`m not picking on any one individual.”
Kerrey, however, said: ”A majority of people in Illinois said, `Alan Dixon, you should vote to confirm,` and he did. I don`t find that surprising at all.”
Polls after the hearings showed that most Americans believed Thomas, but Simon attributed that to the better television time that Thomas got for his vigorous defense against Hill`s accusations.
Though a Tribune poll released Sunday showed only 45 percent of voters polled approve of how Dixon is doing his job, only one in 10 said Dixon`s support for Thomas would cause them to vote against him.
Still, immediately after the Thomas vote, liberal women`s groups, offended by Dixon`s position, began a search for a challenger. The search narrowed to Braun, who is in the final stages of exploring a campaign. A spokeswoman for Braun said Tuesday that a decision would be forthcoming sometime in the next 10 days.
Simon, who previously issued a strong endorsement for Dixon, said that while Dixon ”will win in a primary,” a battle ”can do damage” in the general election a year from now.
”So my concern frankly is that Alan could lose in the fall or that he could be damaged, and with reapportionment here, that could hurt a lot of our House colleagues and state legislators,” Simon said.
Simon was referring to Dixon`s proven ability to attract a wide spectrum of Republican and independent as well as Democratic voters. In the general election a year from now, Senate candidates, as the first names on Illinois ballots after the presidential nominees, can pull voters to, or retain them in, their party`s column.
Kerrey called Dixon ”a strong voice not only for Illinois, but for reason. He`s a real force on the floor of the Senate for making government work right, for making sure the average citizen gets represented in the Senate.”
Simon, meanwhile, said that he and his fellow Democrats on the Judiciary Committee could have been more aggressive in questioning Thomas at the hearings called to investigate Hill`s allegations, but they had no strategy to confront him. When committee Democrats caucused during the hearing, they discussed housekeeping chores rather than strategizing Thomas` powerful refusal to be questioned in detail about his private life, Simon said.
While Thomas` Republican defenders were ”advocates,” Simon said, the Democrats decided ”to seek the truth.”
