Quick, who is Aldo D’Angelis? If you have an unusually long memory, you know he was the last person to run unopposed in the Republican primary for Cook County Board president and the last Republican to take a pounding in the subsequent general election. An intelligent, affable man, he couldn’t get media attention with a two-by-four. He wasn’t even a bump in Dick Phelan’s road.
Four years later, we Republicans haven’t learned a thing. Having in effect won his primary in January, Joseph Morris will have no one to talk to or about for almost two months. The combo on the other side of the political aisle is spewing opinions, charges and promises.
By the first of March, each will be well known to the voters. Meantime, the lone Republican will wait for the game to start. By the time the game starts for Morris, it will be over. He will be an unknown, desperately trying to tweak one of three strong Democrats already recognized by most voters.
Joe Morris’ mortal campaign wound is self-inflicted. He could have kept his one-time opponent Rita Mullins on board and traded words with her. The media would have had a show to cover, and in exchange the candidates would have had coverage for a discussion of the issues in Republican terms, a discussion that would have taken for granted some basic Republican premises-for example, that government growth is not a long-term solution for unemployment. Instead, Morris allowed a supporter to take out Mullins with a petition challenge, and Mullins let it happen.
The exercise of good sense before starting to challenge petitions is overdue. There are several situations where such a challenge is a bad idea. Just because you can shoot yourself in the toe does not mean you should. Some obvious questions should be answered: “Where do we want to go?” and “How does this get us there?” make a solid starting point.
Morris is not the only one who deserves criticism in this fiasco. Mullins violated the one hard and fast rule for the challenged. Juan Soliz faced a challenge several years ago, and his case made the law that governs petition challenges in Illinois. Distilled to its basic elements, that case held that all doubts are to be resolved in favor of candidacy-not all reasonable doubts, not all logical doubts, but all doubts. The smart money says that a candidate who hangs in against a petition challenge will prevail; it is extremely difficult to get knocked off a ballot without giving up. Mullins gave up.
It is a shame Morris and Mullins did not give their respective positions a little more thought. If they had, our county government might have been improved, and both candidates would have benefited. Four years down the road, Joseph Morris and Rita Mullins could have been more than vaguely familiar names.
