The crowded field of U.S. Senate candidates spent the final Sunday of the primary campaign using everything from church pulpits to parade routes to e-mails to a hymn-howling dog as they scoured the state for votes.
With balloting Tuesday for the Republican and Democratic nominations, the 15 contenders in both parties crisscrossed Illinois as they sought support in venues as varied as a drugstore parking lot in southern Illinois, a diner in Decatur and a historic cemetery in Springfield.
One candidate even decided to break with the conventional wisdom that dictates candidates end campaigns on a positive note to avoid turning off voters just before they head to the polls. Republican Jim Oberweis debuted an 11th-hour radio attack ad questioning the veracity of GOP front-runner Jack Ryan.
Meanwhile, Andy McKenna, another Republican contender, spoke to groups of supporters in southern and central Illinois, including a gathering of about 30 at Abraham Lincoln’s final resting place in Springfield’s Oak Ridge Cemetery.
While McKenna engaged in the tradition of rubbing the nose of a Lincoln bust outside the tomb for luck, supporter Liz Eilers broke out in an impromptu rendition of “Gloria in Excelsis Deo.” She was accompanied by the yaps of her Lhasa apso, named Gospel Dog, who had a McKenna sticker attached to its forehead.
Also campaigning in Springfield, Ryan heard his name bandied about in an unusual way at an airport rally. Irv Smith, chairman of the Sangamon County Republican organization, predicted Ryan would not only restore the party to its former greatness but also restore the good reputation of his surname.
Ryan has tried to downplay his last name, which he shares with recently indicted former Gov. George Ryan, though the two are not related.
“That’s a great name. We’re going to put it back in business,” said Smith.
Jack Ryan noted later that he had “enough of a burden” to try to restore Republicans to the win column in statewide politics this fall without trying to also restore the aura of political integrity to everyone named Ryan. Still, he implored the two dozen supporters at the rally to help him “revive the Republican Party.”
But it was Jack Ryan’s personal integrity that Oberweis has sought to question during the final hours of the campaign.
Ryan has refused to release sealed portions of the court file relating to his 1999 divorce from actress Jeri Ryan, contending that the material must remain closed to public scrutiny to protect the couple’s 9-year-old son. But in his new radio ads, Oberweis suggests Ryan has something to hide.
In Peoria at a GOP fundraising event Sunday night, the two met behind closed doors to discuss Oberweis’ demand that Ryan submit the sealed material for independent review. Afterward, they couldn’t even agree on whether the meeting was private.
Ryan refused to discuss what went on, contending that what he and Oberweis talked about in a conference room at Bradley University was not for public consumption.
“I told him it would be private, so I’m not going to break that promise,” Ryan said.
But Oberweis said, “It was not a secret conversation” and said Ryan “didn’t want to discuss” Oberweis’ proposal.
Also at the Peoria dinner, GOP contender Steve Rauschenberger made a veiled reference to the Ryan divorce-file flap by urging voters to consider why some people are skeptical of the integrity of the Illinois Republican Party.
“In the first nomination since the indictment of Gov. George Ryan, we need to be very thoughtful about who we put at the top of the Republican ticket,” said Rauschenberger, a state senator from Elgin. “I’m tested and trusted.”
Asked earlier whether the party should be worried by anything under seal in the file, Jack Ryan responded, “I don’t think so.”
“I’ve been very open about everything that voters could possibly have interest in,” Ryan said.
On the Democratic side of the ballot, front-runner Barack Obama, an African-American state senator from Chicago, focused on ensuring a strong turnout among black voters.
“They’re talking that black folks won’t turn out, that progressives won’t turn out, that the ward machines are going to be gearing things up,” Obama said in West Point Baptist Church on South Cottage Grove Avenue in Chicago. “But I’ll tell you something. … Anybody who was here when [the late Mayor] Harold Washington was alive knows that we know how to turn out a vote.”
Obama also made a visit to Salem Baptist Church, headed by Rev. James Meeks, also a state senator. Meeks emphasized the importance of getting blacks to vote in big numbers.
“You can have the least amount of money to spend and have the darkest skin complexion, but if God blesses you, you can win,” Meeks said in introducing Obama.
Obama’s chief rival, Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes, used his boyhood back yard of the 19th Ward on the Southwest Side to campaign at the annual South Side Irish St. Patrick’s Day Parade. The route, which runs along Western Avenue, passes the Democratic Ward organization office headed by Hynes’ father, former Cook County Assessor Thomas Hynes.
“I’m retired,” the elder Hynes said when asked about his son’s campaign.
But state Rep. Kevin Joyce (D-Chicago), who marched with Hynes, said: “This is Dan Hynes country; there’s no doubt about it.”
Another contender, Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas, also campaigned in the parade while one-time front-runner Blair Hull focused his attention on Near West and Southwest Side churches with Latino congregations.
After introducing himself to parishioners, Hull defended to reporters his decision to spend $30 million of his own money. Hull said he was not beholden to special interests while his less wealthy rivals, who relied on contributions to fund their campaigns, were.
“I’ve learned about the political process,” said Hull, arguing that an outsider like him was needed in Washington. “The political process is a disgusting process.”
