Tuesday, November 22, 2005
Roskam finally gets some company
The way Peter Roskam and the DuPage Republic party bosses muscled every possible primary challenger out of the way from day one was pretty interesting. Did I say interesting? I meant gross. I know it happens across political spectrums (see: Cook County Sherriff) and that primaries do have a weird impact on elections with the effect of essentially perpetuating the two-party system to the exclusion of all others, but the way Roskam just sort of took the mantle of "natural successor to Henry Hyde" just reminded me a little too much of how Bush was basically crowned GOP frontrunner in 2000 before any campaigning started. With little more to show than some "winnable" tag and hope for a centrist reputation belied by far-right credentials.
On the other hand, I thought it was a sign that the GOP was nervous as hell about Christine Cegelis that the powers that be's seemed nervous about the implications of a primary fight, particularly one that pushed their candidate to the right in a district that's shifting pretty clearly the other way.
That aspect of my thought was confirmed today after reading this article:
What's even more intriguing is that he's going to challenge Roskam from the center rather than the right. And the party bosses are mad as hell about it. Read the article if you want to see exactly how scared they are that Christine Cegelis is for real.
The money quote of the article:
Yeah. What he said.
On the other hand, I thought it was a sign that the GOP was nervous as hell about Christine Cegelis that the powers that be's seemed nervous about the implications of a primary fight, particularly one that pushed their candidate to the right in a district that's shifting pretty clearly the other way.
That aspect of my thought was confirmed today after reading this article:
School chief irks GOP with Roskam challenge
By Catherine Edman and Robert Sanchez
Daily Herald Staff Writers
Posted Tuesday, November 22, 2005
A local school board president and political neophyte is gearing up to challenge state Sen. Peter Roskam in the GOP primary for retiring Congressman Henry Hyde’s seat.
Though John Vivoda is swimming upstream financially against Roskam, who collected nearly $700,000 in campaign contributions through Sept. 30, Vivoda says he’s betting on principles rather than dollars to prevail.
What's even more intriguing is that he's going to challenge Roskam from the center rather than the right. And the party bosses are mad as hell about it. Read the article if you want to see exactly how scared they are that Christine Cegelis is for real.
The money quote of the article:
He said he wanted to avoid "this anointing of somebody who is an ultra-conservative."
Yeah. What he said.
