Democratic secretary of state candidate Jesse White is accused of being “X-rated on pornography” in a commercial that is being aired statewide on Christian radio stations by a conservative pro-family group.
But the leader of another conservative group has come to White’s defense, reflecting the schism that Republican nominee Al Salvi’s candidacy has created among organizations that supported his U.S. Senate bid two years ago.
The issue of pornography is relevant to the secretary of state’s race because the winner will become the state librarian. White has told library groups he opposes the use of filters on computers to shield children from obscene content on the Internet. Salvi backs legislation mandating the use of filters as well as a stricter obscenity law.
Paul Caprio, the director of Family PAC, said that when his group realized where White stood on the issue, it decided to invest $12,000 in the new radio commercials, calling the Democrat’s position on Internet pornography “scary.” The commercial, which endorses Salvi’s candidacy, urges voters to “send Jesse White a message that you want our children protected against pornography.”
While Family PAC’s support of Salvi was expected, White’s endorsement by the Family Taxpayers’ Network was unusual. Salvi lost that group’s support after he moderated his views on gun-control issues. With nowhere else to go in the general election, Jack Roeser, president of the network, announced this week he was backing White.
“There’s got to be some decent way to limit pornography on the Internet, but you can’t just interfere with all this 1st Amendment right to free speech,” he said.
Showdown: With statistics unholstered and rhetoric blazing, Democratic U.S. Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun and Republican opponent Peter Fitzgerald fired away at each other Wednesday with dueling charges of extremism and public endangerment.
Moseley-Braun, campaigning with gun-control advocate Sarah Brady, said the world would be an unsafe place had Fitzgerald succeeded in passing state legislation allowing citizens to carry concealed weapons.
Fitzgerald shot back that Moseley-Braun’s refusal to support mandatory minimum sentences on criminals who use guns has helped crowd the streets with “violent punks.”
Also Wednesday, Fitzgerald released reports showing he has pumped $1.55 million more into his campaign since Oct. 15, bringing to $4.4 million the amount of his own money he has spent in the general election.
School lessons: About 50 students at Lawndale Community Academy attended a rally for Moseley-Braun on the West Side. Trouble is, the students didn’t have proper approval.
All field trips have “to be directly or indirectly tied to the curriculum and have to be approved by the regional education officer,” said Chicago Public Schools chief Paul Vallas. “Based on the information I received, neither thing was done. As a consequence, it’s likely that the principal will be disciplined” with a “warning resolution.”
Cover charge: Democratic gubernatorial candidate Glenn Poshard on Wednesday blasted the recent mailing of an Illinois National Guard magazine that featured a picture of his Republican opponent, George Ryan, on the cover. Calling the magazine cover “too much,” the congressman said he would ask for a review of the $14,000 in federal money spent for printing and mailing the magazine.
Putting Ryan’s picture on the magazine cover was related to him being a statewide officeholder and had nothing to do with Ryan’s candidacy, which was not mentioned in the magazine, said Maj. Mark Hurley, spokesman for the Illinois National Guard.
Excused absence: The number of Chicagoans who have cast absentee ballots in person for Tuesday’s election–an indicator of possible voter turnout on Election Day–is up nearly 10 percent from the last non-presidential general election four years ago, officials said Wednesday.
