During each election,
candidates campaign nonstop for various kinds of votes:
the elderly, women, and the working class.
But what about the youth vote?
In addition to my
interview, last month, I had young people come up with
their own questions to ask Illinois’ gubernatorial
candidates. Is there a chance that conservatives will once again take the
governor’s mansion this November, through Jim Ryan, or
will that spot belong to a Democrat, this time being Rod
Blagojevich?
Not much is sure,
except that it is the issues that will determine this
year’s election.
Here, the candidates - also including Libertarian
Cal Skinner - show their platform, personality, and
goals if elected.
MY
QUESTIONS
All:
What would you like to tell kids and young people about
yourself, as well as why they should vote for you or
convince others to vote for you?
Ryan:
If you would like to know more about me, the place to
begin is with my family. My wife, Marie, and I met in
high school and have been married for 34 years. We
raised six children and have five grandchildren. Marie
is a teacher who most recently taught pre-schoolers
before joining me on the campaign trail. I am an
attorney who has been prosecuting criminals for more
than two decades. Marie and I live in Elmhurst, a
western suburb of Chicago.
I have served as your
state Attorney General for the past eight years. The
Attorney General leads the statewide fight against crime
and violence. In that role, I have made the safety and
health of children my top priority. Through my Safe to
Learn program, millions of dollars have gone to make
schools safer and to set up a tipline for students to
anonymously report threats of violence or weapons in
school. Further, I have led efforts to curb tobacco use
among children through anti-smoking programs in schools
and blanketing the state with 735 anti-smoking
billboards. You may have seen some of these billboards
in your community. I have also obtained passage of many
laws that better protect children from those intending
them harm.
Blagojevich:
The most important thing that I would tell young people
is that they-- and their issues-- are a big part of the
reason that I am running for governor.
I want to be governor
so that I can give every kid a chance to reach their
dreams. I
want to give them every opportunity to get the best
education that they can possibly receive. After all, that is where everyone’s chances for success
begin-in the classroom.
That is why I am
planning to bring real important changes to our
state’s schools.
For really young kids, I want to make sure that
more of them have the chance to go to pre-school, so
that they are ready to learn from the day they enter
school.
I want to hire more
reading specialists, so that every child can read at
grade level by the time they are in the third grade.
As of now, thirty-eight percent of them cannot.
That means that they are ill-prepared to succeed
in school.
As they progress to
elementary and high school, I want to make sure that
they are not stuck in crowded classrooms where they
don’t get the attention that they need from their
teachers. For
kids who want to go on to college, I am going to fight
to make sure that the tuitions that they and their
families pay do not continue to increase out-of-control.
If I become governor,
I also want to make sure that every kid in Illinois has
access to medical care.
It saddens me that so many children in Illinois
lack health insurance. That is a problem we should solve. If I become governor, I am going to work hard on those
initiatives and others that will help give kids greater
opportunities for success, happiness and good health.
Skinner:
I got my start in politics in school running for
classroom president in 5th grade and student council in
10th grade (after moving to Crystal Lake at
age 16). While
I certainly did not smoke then, now or in-between, at
the first student council meeting, the principal wanted
the student council to vote to move the smokers’
corner (yes, believe it or not, students were allowed to
smoke on school property in the dark ages) from right
outside the back door to the corner of the parking lot.
I voted, “No,” arguing that the student
council shouldn’t do that. Now I find myself the only candidate defending the people I
think are the new minority in Illinois
politics-cigarette smokers.
Before the 69% tax hike by the power party
legislators in Springfield, I was touring the state
arguing there was no need for any tax hike.
Receipts in the state’s general fund were only
down 2%. No
one deserves the title of manager if he or she cannot
cut a budget by 2%.
Why raise taxes $320 million, while keeping $126
million of pork spending in the budget?
Don’t take this as
encouragement to smoke.
At age 14, my mother was smoking, and my
12-year-old sister or I asked how it tasted.
“Try it,” she answered.
I did, started coughing, and never had the
inclination to smoke again.
I went to Oberlin
College in Ohio because it started mock political
conventions. (I
had Northwestern as a back-up.
It also had a mock convention.) I joined the
Young Republicans (now called College Republicans) and
actively campaigned for the local candidate for
Congress. My
sophomore year a steelworker ran for Mayor of
neighboring Lorain, Ohio, and I campaigned for him.
My junior year I was the student campaign manager
for the congressman and mustered 2800 man-hours of
student effort. That
same year our student council was scheduled to set up
the 1964 mock convention and we Young Republicans
decided we wanted it to be Republican.
So, we ran candidates for student council and
took control. (I
was one of the winners.).
Oberlin held a Republican mock convention and I
was named chairman.
(We thought this very liberal campus should hear
the other side of the political spectrum at least once
in four years.) Let me stress that I learned more about my future profession
in my extra-curricular activities
I was undecided what to do after graduating.
I finally decided to go to grad school in public
administration, but got a real (civil service) job in
the U.S. Budget Bureau in the Executive Office of the
President before getting my degree from the University
of Michigan. I
was the only budget examiner who was willing to admit he
was a Republican during the Lyndon Johnson
Administration. I
had the Small Business Administration budget (largest
independent agency budget).
It was a heady experience!
When I called the SBA, its officials didn’t
know if it was that 23-year-old kid or the President of
the United States.
My father had run as
an outsider for county auditor in 1964 and lost by only
300 votes, even though the Republican Party had endorsed
someone else before anyone had even filed for office.
I tried to convince him to run for county
treasurer in 1966. He suggested, instead, that I should run.
I came home, met the opponents (a police chief
and a horse trader who had married a banker’s
daughter). I
figured I was at least as qualified as they were.
I ran and, two days after my 24th
birthday, I won the Republican nomination for McHenry
County Treasurer. I
think it would be safe to say I changed the way the
office operated in major ways, from fully investing the
money for the first time to beginning computerization of
the office.
When I was 29, I ran
for State Rep and, in the three-member districts of the
time, came in first, beating two veterans.
I served eight years before running an
unsuccessful campaign for Congress.
In 1982, Jim Thompson convinced me to run for
State Comptroller.
I lost, giving Roland Burris rights to brag that
he had carried the state by over 1 million votes.
That obviously wasn’t good enough to get him
the Democratic Party nomination for Governor.
I was in remission
for twelve years, running successfully again for State
Representative in 1992 and serving eight more years
before losing a primary contest to a Republican in name
only.
Since then I have
been retired, caring for my now 5-year-old son.
That’s when the Libertarian Party asked me to
run for Governor at MacDonald’s Playland.
I asked them why I would want to do that. Obviously, Republicans wouldn’t be happy and I probably
wouldn’t be able to run as a Republican ever again.
They didn’t have a good answer, but I had been
given a week to think before the meeting and had come up
with an answer.
Power is too
concentrated in Illinois.
Four people in Springfield control the
legislative branch. There is no reason for the other 273 legislators to even go
to Springfield. I
propose a constitutional amendment which would limit
legislative leaders (the Mike Madigans, Lee Daniels,
Pate Philips and Emil Jones’s) to six years in
office as a legislative leader. I figure that a public official in a position like that
should be able to make a big dent in his or her public
policy goals…if, indeed, they have any public policy
goals. It
is clear that the current leadership wants only power.
Since the legislative
leaders won’t put such a constitutional amendment on
the ballot, we shall have to do it by petition.
I need petition passers and anyone can pass
petitions in Illinois.
Libertarians know how to pass petitions.
One does not have to be of voting age to pass
petitions, but one does have to be a registered voter to
sign them. I
plan to have the petitions ready by election day and
hope to recruit people to stand out front of polling
places and get signatures that day.
Some of your little
brothers or sisters may watch “Veggie Tales.”
The one about David and Goliath has a song with
the refrain, “Little kids can do big things, too.”
Along that same theme, teens can be very
effective campaigners.
I hope some readers will take a look at my
website (Skinner4Governor.org) and decide that Illinois
has had enough of corrupt Republicans and Democrats,
that it is time to try to convince people to voter
Libertarian for a change…for a real change.
Jim
Ryan: In campaigns,
there is so much talk about the other candidate. What is
true about you, and what isn’t?
Ryan:
My strengths rest on my experience and my commitment to
good government.
Throughout my public
career, I have conducted myself in an honorable and
professional manner. I have hired people based on their
skills and capabilities, not on their politics. My staff
at the Illinois Attorney General’s Office consists of
qualified people I recruited to state service and others
who worked for my predecessors, despite the fact that
they represent a different political party. I believe
public service is an honorable profession and I have
never put politics or personal enrichment before good
public service. I want to bring to the governor’s
office my administrative experience, as well as my
values about serving the public honestly and honorably.
Cal
Skinner: You returned to the State House after having
left 12 years earlier.
What did many representatives think about the
idea of you coming back, and how did they treat me?
Skinner:
All of the Republican House Leadership had been elected
after I had initially won election.
That made for some awkward times, especially when
I remembered something had not worked twenty years
before that they were proposing.
My role turned into one of questioning
leadership. I
was treated accordingly, but I did manage to play a
major role in killing Governor Edgar’s 33% income tax
hike proposal.
Rod
Blagojevich: How would you have handled the problems
with the Ryan administration if you had been in Jim
Ryan’s position?
Blagojevich:
If I were in the position - as Jim Ryan was - of being
the state’s chief law enforcement officer, and I heard
specific and credible evidence that a license-for-bribe
scandal had been underway, which meant that there were
potentially many unsafe and unqualified drivers on our
roads, I would have acted immediately to launch a
thorough investigation.
I certainly would not
have sat on my hands.
I would not have refused to lift a finger to look
into the largest act of public corruption in Illinois
history. There
was so much at stake-most of all, the health and
well-being of the people on our state’s streets and
highways.
Unfortunately, that
is exactly what Jim Ryan did.
Our state suffered as a result of Jim Ryan’s
inaction.
Jim
Ryan: Even though you are against Gov. Ryan’s actions,
what did you learn from the scandal - both as a person
and from your work as attorney general?
Ryan:
The corruption that has infected both the
Republican and Democratic parties is a disgrace to the
individuals involved and is an embarrassment to all of
the many state and local government officials who
ethically and honorably serve the citizens of this
state. As Governor, I will not tolerate this corruption
at any level of our state government.
I have always
required the highest ethical standards from those
working under me and I have been aggressively fighting
public corruption my entire career. I have prosecuted
Democrats and Republicans alike, in all, convicting more
than 60 public officials for various offenses.
Even more must be
done to keep officials from abusing their elected
office. That is why I have proposed one of the most
aggressive anti-corruption and ethics plans in the
nation to restore trust in our government. The plan
would put new restrictions on government employees and
create a State Police Public Corruption Strike Force to
focus on public corruption.
Rod
Blagojevich: Your wife, Patti, told the "Women for
Blagojevich" luncheon, "I know Rod will be
exactly that kind of no-nonsense, problem-solving
governor." What are you going to do in order to
bring that message into women’s lives if elected
governor?
Blagojevich:
One problem that I hope to solve is the fact that, in
Illinois and around the country, women very often make
far less than men-even when they perform the exact same
jobs.
Illinois ranks 42nd
among all states in the disparity in earnings between
men and women. For example, according the Institute for
Women’s Policy Research (IPWR), women are paid 68.7
cents for every dollar paid to men.
In the year 2002, it
is long past the time when women should be denied the
right to take home an equal paycheck for an equal
day’s work.
As governor, I plan
to work overtime to make certain that women in Illinois
do not have to work overtime to make the same amount to
raise their children and provide for their families as
their male colleagues.
Unless we improve our
performance in this area, we will never reach our full
potential for economic development, productivity or
innovation in the state as a whole.
I have unveiled a
series of initiatives proposals aimed at achieving
“pay equity.”
First, I have called
for passage of the “Illinois Equal Pay Act”
(currently HB 847) which prohibits employers from paying
unequal wages to men and women who work for the same
employer and perform equal work.
The bill would close gaps in the current federal
Equal Pay Act of 1963 which leave an estimated 330,000
employees in Illinois without such protection under the
law.
Also, I have
endorsed, HB 3772, which would provide state employees
the same anti-discrimination protections enjoyed by
workers in the private sector and by employees of the
federal government.
Enactment of the bill would enable employees of
the state to bring action against the state for alleged
violations of key federal laws that protect people from
discrimination based on gender-- most notably, Title VII
of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
I have proposed
several additional changes in state policy, including
administrative changes in the Illinois Department of
Human Rights aimed at allowing the department to
investigate patterns of discrimination by employers.
I also will work for
a higher minimum wage, to at least $6.50 per hour.
Since women are more likely than men to be
low-income single heads of households, an increase in
the minimum wage would help lift the economic standing
of many women and families.
I have also proposed
expanded child-care assistance to help parents enrolled
in four-year colleges, community colleges or vocational
training programs.
Ensuring that women
have every dollar in wages that they have earned s good
economic and fiscal insurance for our state.
Cal
Skinner: How did you react when Republicans decided you
were too independent to be part of their party?
Skinner:
You are the first reporter to figure out that this is
what happened. My
Republican County Chairman opposed me after two terms in
the 1990’s and he finally got me after three primary
elections. In fact, after I lost the primary, not one Republican came up
to me to ask what role I wanted to play in the
Republican Party. The
Establishment leaders obviously were not my friends, so
I guess it was no real loss.
Those who supported me because I did what I
thought was right, regardless of the consequences, are
still my supporters.
I often run into them while shopping or at the
beach with my 5-year-old son.
All:
If you were a voter with no party affiliation, why would
you vote for yourself as a candidate?
Ryan:
I think Illinois needs leadership we can trust and an
experienced leader to get us through our current
economic crisis. I am finishing my 18th year in public
service, 10 years as DuPage County States Attorney and
eight years as Illinois Attorney General. Both positions
required administrative ability and a high degree of
professionalism. The Illinois Attorney General’s
Office is a large statewide constitutional office, and I
have proven my administrative abilities by making the
office more professional and effective.
I have always
believed as a public official that we must focus our
efforts on enriching the lives of our children. They
represent the future of our state, and their interests
should far outweigh those of any special interests. As
Governor, I will reorder our state’s priorities and
put children at the head of the line - starting with
improving our public education system.
Blagojevich:
I think that my campaign speaks to some of the
fundamental concerns expressed by people who lack party
affiliation.
People often choose
to become independent voters because they believe that
it’s important for there to be a balance in the way
state government operates.
Certainly, the current situation-where we have
had nearly thirty years of one party holding onto the
governor’s office-is a good example what drives people
to become independent voters in the first place.
Three decades of
Republican control of this office has added up to
countless examples of misplaced priorities, missed
opportunities and some of the most damaging examples of
political corruption in Illinois history. It is time for a change-not only a change in terms of
which party holds power, but in the way we do business
in this state.
I think that my
candidacy offers independent voters a chance to enact
the kind of change that they are thirsting for.
Being an independent
voter also often means that you are fed up with the
status-quo, and that you are frustrated with the inertia
that sets in when people have become too accustomed to
simply holding power-rather than doing something
constructive to assist the people of the state.
Skinner:
Just look at the two power party candidates.
They are so alike on so many issues, that I’ve
started calling them JimRod.
The Illinois League of Women Voters has sponsored
gubernatorial debates for 30 years.
The organization laid down rules, all of which I
met after the Republicans capitulated and dropped their
challenge to my nominating petitions, except for having
polled at least 5% on some independent poll.
Two days after The Daily Southtown printed a poll
showing me with 5%, Jim and Rod stiffed the League of
Women Voters and decided to have four debates without
me.
Why should third
parties have to get five times as many signatures
(25,000) to get on the ballot than the power parties
need? Why
should Jim Ryan challenge my petitions when they had ten
times as many signatures as Jim Ryan had to obtain?
(Jim didn’t challenge the independent who filed
only one signature, but he challenged me with 52,000.
Go figure.)
Why won’t Jim and
Rod let me debate them?
Third party candidates are included in Indiana,
Missouri, Georgia, Arizona, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, etc.
How does that meet
the American standard of fairness?
Maybe, it’s because
I have as much experience in Springfield as both of them
combined. Maybe
it’s because Jim Ryan did nothing to the Secretary of
State’s employees who were revealed in a Chicago
Tribune article to have been challenging Libertarian
Party petitions in 1998 while they were being paid by
the taxpayers. Maybe it’s because Rod Blagojevich knows that he can beat
Jim Ryan, but isn’t sure that once people figure that
out that I might beat him.
Who knows?
But
what we all know is that the Illinois political system
is corrupt and we can’t expect products of that
corrupt political system to clean it up.
Electing me will
shake things up big time in Springfield, and that’s
why my toll free number is 1-866-SHAKE-UP.
Jim
Ryan: Your family has gone through hard times during
these past few years. How do you think your experiences
will help you if elected governor?
Ryan:
My family has had to deal with sickness and death just
as every family must face. It is part of being human. I
have had to endure treatment for cancer, the death of my
youngest daughter and the near-death of my wife. But my
faith and my family helped to carry me through these
difficult times and strengthened my resolve to make a
difference.
Rod
Blagojevich: What have your father’s experiences in
Europe taught you about your own life?
Blagojevich:
Hearing from my father about his experiences in Europe
taught me the importance of perseverance and courage.
It gave me, most of all, a perspective on what it
truly important in life.
It also gave me a
stronger sense of responsibility, a feeling that I had
an obligation to help improve people’s lives.
It showed me that
there are, from to time, evil forces that come to power
in some parts of the world.
But, it also taught how precious our freedoms are
here in the United States, what a unique nation we have,
and reminded me that we should never take those
liberties for granted.
Jim
Ryan: If elected, what is the one thing you would most
like to see happen?
Ryan:
I am determined to build the strongest children’s
agenda in Illinois history and to lead a crusade for
excellence in education. This includes committing more
dollars to education and supporting better
accountability for schools and teachers, ensuring that
all needy children receive health care coverage and
continuing my efforts at protecting the safety of
children.
KIDS’ QUESTIONS
(ROD BLAGOJEVICH WAS
UNABLE TO ANSWER THIS SECTION)
Q:
How do you feel about teens voting?
Alina Bolsakova, 17
Ryan:
Voting is an important and serious responsibility for
every citizen. It is our way of demonstrating the
strength of our democracy. Teenagers are allowed to vote
when they turn 18, which I believe is a proper age to
begin voting. By age 18, a teen is close to or has
graduated from high school, thus he or she has been
taught about the workings of our government and will be
more capable of making educated choices among
candidates. There are many young people capable of
making informed choices before they are 18, but there
must be a generally accepted minimum age that voting can
be allowed.
Skinner:
I once voted to allow 14 year olds to serve on library
boards as elected officials, but I think citizens should
be 18 before being allowed to vote.
Q:
How will you help our public schools?
Raychel Yoken, 17
Skinner:
During the last four years I served in the
House of Representatives, state aid to education was
increased 45% and no one I have talked to think that
educational results improved significantly.
I do not believe public schools will improve
significantly until they have competition.
I endorse the Heartland Institute’s scholarship
program, under which each student in a school district
would be able to spend whatever is spent on public
education (divided by the total number of participating
students) wherever he or she (or his or her parents)
wanted to. (Any
left over after paying private school tuition would go
into a college scholarship fund for the student.)
Once the public school district figured out that
if it does not do a good enough job that it would lose
students, I believe you would see improvements that
cannot today be imagined.
Ryan: We have many great public schools in Illinois, but
there are still too many schools that are failing the
I also want to improve the shameful statistic
that says more than 50 percent of minority students in
the third grade can’t read at grade level. A priority
in my education plan is to double funding for reading
programs and to support education programs for children
before they enter kindergarten.
Q:
How will you improve the capitol city (Springfield)?
William Grant, 16
Ryan:
Springfield showcases the history of our state and the
dedication of the many state employees who call
Springfield their home. As Governor, I will continue to
support the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and
encourage all Illinoisans to visit Springfield to
experience their state’s history. Additionally, I will
work with local officials on ways of improving the city,
whether it is improving the school system, fighting
crime or improving the city’s infrastructure.
Skinner:
Black infant mortality in Springfield is still several
times as high as it is for whites.
For that to be the case in Abraham Lincoln’s
hometown is a scandal of national proportions.
The problem, I believe, is that the public health
department does not have sufficient incentive to change
things. Back
in the 1980’s when I was working in Springfield during
the week (and commuting back to Crystal Lake on the
weekend) I heard an interview of a new public health
nurse on the public radio station. She said that she was “on the street now, but, after a
year, I’ll be in the office.”
That demonstrates the problem.
The front line people don’t want to be on the
front line. I
propose that other entities be allowed to compete for
the money now going to the public health department top
fight infant mortality.
Competition will mean more minority babies will
reach their first birthday.
Q:
How will you improve our roads and the downtown?
Courtney Enlow, 17
Skinner:
May I assume that this question also comes from
Springfield? If
so, roads are better in Springfield than in any other
city in the state, probably because the people who make
the decisions of where money is spent commute to work in
Springfield. State
government has spent many millions of dollars in
Downtown Springfield.
Almost any idea anyone comes up with is funded.
Frankly, I have no new ones.
Ryan:
As I indicated in the previous question, I will do as
much as possible to support projects beneficial to
Springfield and surrounding communities. The state’s
current budget problems limit the funding that can be
provided for local projects. As Governor, I will work
with local officials to provide funding for the city’s
most urgent needs.
Q:
Do you think 16 is too young to be driving?
Rachel Wilson, 15
Ryan:
Motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of death
for people from 15 to 20 years old. Many of these
accidents are the result of inexperienced drivers and
drivers who drink. Driving is a privilege that should be
made available to those 16 years old and older to allow
them to get to school and work and to assist their
families. In recent years, Illinois law has been
strengthened to require teens to gain more experience
behind the wheel before getting their licenses and
increasing penalties for those under 21 who drink and
drive. As long as the laws are properly enforced and
teens are properly educated about the danger of drinking
and driving, I will support continuing to allow 16 year
olds to drive.
Skinner:
That’s when I started driving, so I guess I don’t
think it’s too young, based on my experience.
Obviously, younger drivers are more prone to
accidents. I
think it’s part of thinking one is immortal when one
is young. That’s
why Illinois now has a law which phases in driving
privileges and takes them away, if teens don’t follow
the rules.
Q:
Do you think 15 is too young to be able to work? If so,
why?
Kristen Nickles, 15
Skinner:
The first job of 15-year-olds is to succeed in school.
I worked an hour a day 6-7 AM) delivering 100
newspapers. Maybe
your question is whether 15 year olds should be allowed
to work at fast food establishments or something like
that. That might deserve consideration, but I think the privilege
should be linked to school performance, as should the
number of hours. Obviously,
your great-great grandparents worked at age 15.
Ryan:
I believe that someone of age 15 should not be working
during the school year. At this age a young person’s
primary concern should be his or her education. I
understand that in some families this income may be
sorely needed, but I would hope a child’s parent (s)
could find some way to keep their son or daughter from
working during the school year. When school is not in
session, I agree that someone of age 15 should have the
opportunity to work as long as the job is in line with
state child labor laws.
Krystle Russin writes for The State
Journal-Register(IL) and contributes political articles/interviews to several
publications including
PurePolitics.com.
Politics
Today 
Politics
Today: Cal Skinner (L) for Gov. for the State of
Illinois