Corinne Wood shook hands with commuters at a Metra station in the Republican bastion of DuPage County on Wednesday morning, a routine political ritual for a GOP candidate for governor. But in Wood’s case, that simple act has been anything but routine of late.
Just a day earlier, she had breakfast with lesbian activists in Lincoln Park, hardly a group that has traditionally cast Republican ballots. And the lieutenant governor has scheduled four campaign stops in Chicago on Sunday at churches with predominantly African-American congregations.
As Wood has slipped precipitously in polls of Republican voters, her campaign has increasingly been forced to turn to Democrats and independents in a last-ditch attempt to make up lost ground on the front-runner, Atty. Gen. Jim Ryan.
But as the self-styled moderate tries to reach out to voters who rarely, if ever, vote Republican, she risks further alienating those who always do.
Wood treaded into an ideological minefield for Republican voters when she told gay activists that while she was not now a proponent of same-sex marriages, “I’m willing to listen. I’m willing to be open, to hear more of the pros and cons, I would say.”
It sounded more like the stock answer of a Democrat running for the state’s highest office than a Republican who began her campaign with the goal of padding support from moderate GOP voters by attracting suburban “soccer moms” into her camp.
Those women were supposed to form Wood’s political base, a strategy that counted on more conservative Republican voters splitting their allegiance between Ryan and state Sen. Patrick O’Malley of Palos Park.
But public opinion polls show Wood’s tactics have failed to click with suburban women. Even her appeals as the lone Republican candidate in support of abortion rights–which many had thought to be her most valuable political card–have failed to resonate with female voters.
Groups at odds with GOP
With no firm political base heading into the last days of the campaign, Wood has been forced to seek support from interest groups typically at odds with the GOP. But even her closest supporters acknowledge it is difficult for her to make a hard left turn without appearing to have abandoned more steadfast Republican voters.
“I don’t know if there’s a risk in alienating someone, but I think everyone deserves to have their voice heard,” Wood said.
That strategy has been accelerated in recent weeks with polls showing about 30 percent of her support coming from voters who describe themselves as Democrats or independents.
Wood also brought strategist Don Rose into her campaign. His forte has been developing independent political activism using lakefront liberals and African-American voters as a base.
“We are not ignoring any potential vote,” Wood said.
But the fact she finally made it to DuPage surprised some of her west suburban field workers, who had expected to see a lot more of her during the campaign.
“That’s got to be one of the few times she’s made it out this way,” said one of those workers, who wasn’t included in her Wednesday campaign plans.
Breakthrough strategy
Some activists in groups Wood is courting see her strategy as a breakthrough.
“The important thing is she reached out to this community and was willing to sit down and dialogue, which really sets a historic precedent because our community has not been publicly approached before from anyone running for governor on the Republican side,” said Ellen Meyers, chairwoman of Equality Illinois, the gay-rights organization.
Some members of the group said they are now planning to vote for Wood, who supports the organization’s long-sought legislation to ban discrimination in housing and employment based on sexual orientation.
“I normally vote straight Democratic, but this year I’m crossing over,” said Lorraine Sade Baskerville. “You will become a Republican, for one moment, if you believe a candidate supports your issues.”
Wood also has sought to cultivate support in the African-American community.
“Corinne Wood is running an inclusive campaign aimed at inviting people from all communities into the Republican Party in Illinois,” said Bishop William Lee Jordan, presiding prelate of St. Mark’s Covenant Churches at St. Mark’s Cathedral in Harvey, which boasts more than 20,000 members. “She is also on the right side of the death-penalty moratorium and has committed to working to correct racial inequalities in our judicial system if she is elected governor.”
But putting together a successful campaign piece by piece is a long, involved effort and time is quickly running out.
“She could have run hard on business issues and been successful, but she chose polarizing issues instead of joining issues,” said one GOP strategist, referring to Wood’s moderate stance on abortion and gay rights. “That’s the dance she chose not to do.”
