Straight Talk is Rare During Silly Season

This column was first published here on October 27, 2010.

Edited versions were subsequently published,with permission of the author,
in print and online editions of community newspapers across Chicago.

“Be a little skeptical about what you see and hear in the days and weeks to come. Remember, it’s Silly Season in politics.”
So stated 23rd Ward Alderman Mike Zalewski at a recent rally on Archer Avenue.

True, Alderman, true.

The negative campaign ads get more shrill by the day, as candidates attack their opponents. And judging by the radio and TV ads, you’d think that only hardened inmates from the Stateville pen are allowed to run for office.

• “He partied with his Mafia pals and blew your child’s only chance to go to college.”
• “He released criminals to your church social.”
• “He voted to send puppies to the gas chamber.”
• “She sponsored a bill to outlaw Girl Scout cookies.”
• “He stole candy from babies and wants to take away your grandma’s pension.”

OK, so I exaggerate. But not by much.

On the flip side, those same candidates, when talking about themselves, promise more than they can or will deliver: “On my first day in office, I’ll end corruption, cut taxes, increase services, balance the budget, find you a better job, tutor your children, wash your car, walk your dog, shine your shoes and whiten your teeth while you sleep. And the next day, I’ll send you a box of chocolates and a dozen roses.”

Sure.

Kind of reminds me of the fall of 2002, when gubernatorial candidate Rod Blagojevich pledged to “put an end to business as usual.”

It got him elected. But in the end, voters were given the business. As usual.

One kind of politician I admire is the one who gives us the straight truth---which in politics is dangerous, because most voters seem to want candy-coated marshmallows.

My all-time favorite political straight talker is Winston Churchill, who in 1940, during Britain’s darkest days when people were desperate to hear even the slightest bit of good news, told his people: “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat. We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, many long months of struggle and of suffering.”

If that’s not honest, nothing is.

In the current crop of major candidates, the only one I see consistently giving us the straight truth is Governor Pat Quinn.

For example, everyone knows that a tax increase is needed to get our state government out of the financial mess it’s in---thanks partly to the economy and to the Blagojevich Administration. Any politician who says otherwise is a liar or a fool.

Much as I dislike any tax increases, I give Quinn a lot of credit for being honest enough to publicly state that a tax hike is needed---and to do so in an election year.

And if I see him at this Saturday’s Pumpkin Parade on Archer Avenue, I’ll shake his hand and say thanks. (Parade starts at 11:00 a.m. at Archer and Nordica.)

~ ~ ~

And on Tuesday I will head to my local polling place, do my civic duty and curse the voting booths as usual.

I never thought I’d say this, but I actually miss the old voting booths from the 1970s and ‘80s.

Remember them? Each booth was big as a Buick and probably as heavy, but as least the curtain gave you a measure of privacy.

I get no sense of privacy with today’s plastic-and-cardboard voting booths or stations or whatever they call them. They are too much in the open, too close together, and are so flimsy they look like they’d blow away with just a modest gust of wind.

They look like a toy, a child’s version of a grown-up voting booth. I half expect to see the Fisher-Price logo on the side.

But the good news about Tuesday is that we’ll see an end to this season’s political attack ads. The bad news is that we’ll immediately start a new round with Chicago’s mayoral and aldermanic primary---not to mention the many suburban municipal races.

So hang in there, and try to take comfort from Will Rogers, who said “It's a good thing we don't get all the government we pay for.”

See you next week….

Joan Hadac is a Chicago news/feature reporter, editor and columnist.Read her online at www.citymomchicago.blogspot.com