Hare
advantage
By
Mike Kroll
After nearly 23 year Congressman Lane Evans was
brought down not by one of his Republican challengers, but by the symptoms of
Parkinson's disease. When Evans made the surprise announcement that he would
not seek reelection this November many voters in the 17th district were
surprised but few were shocked that he would recommend his longtime aide and
friend Phil Hare to take his place on the ballot. Of course, it took more than
simply the Congressman's choice to make that happen; it took the overwhelming
support of Democratic precinct committeemen across Evans' district to get Hare
on the November ballot. He now must face Republican Andrea Zinga who is making
her second run for the congressional seat.
Before Evans' withdrawal from the race few
knowledgeable Republicans gave Zinga much of a chance against the popular
liberal Congressman. When Illinois was redistricted following the 2000 census
the 17th was carved into the poster child for gerrymandered political districts
as the incumbents fashioned a map including all or part of 23 counties that
made reelection almost inevitable. The end result was a decidedly moderate 17th
Congressional District that reliably reelected the progressive Evans. While
some of Evans' supporters may not have seen eye-to-eye with him on every issue
they respected and were grateful for his unfailing constituent service and one
of the staffers responsible for that record was Phil Hare.
By his own report Hare's personal views track closely
with those of Evans. ÒI can't think of very many differences between Lane and
me; we're pretty much in-sync on the issues. I guess that's why we've worked so
closely together these past 23 years. Lane is a model Congressman and I will be
lucky to live up to the standard he has established but that also means I will
be inheriting a strong legislative and service team. I intend to maintain
Lane's reputation for casework. I don't foresee there being too many changes to
the way Lane's offices now are run or in who staff them. Hell, if it isn't
broke, and it isn't, there's nothing to fix.Ó
A former union steward, Hare has been with Evans since
the beginning of Evan's Congressional career, 23 years. Hare has spent that
time not in Washington, D.C. but in his hometown as head of Evans' Rock Island district office. He
announced publicly Friday that he will resign from that post this month to
focus full-time on the November election. ÒI expect to be back on the Federal
payroll soon enough; it will be a very short retirement,Ó joked Hare.
Unlike many Congressional candidate Hare doesn't even
need to pause when asked about his stand on the political issues of the day. He
tends to divide such issues into two categories, national issues and issues
specific to life in the 17th district. On national issues he is nearly as
progressive as Evans.
Evans opposed going to war with Iraq and both believe
we need to disengage American military involvement. Both are very concerned
that the best interests of our military personnel aren't lost among the growing
public discontent over the war. Hare is especially concerned over the thousands
of military wounded. ÒThe Bush administration has behaved irresponsibly in
their handling of health care for our military. We need to increase funding for
military health care and apply that money to both active duty care and
veteran's care. I will move immediately to fully fund VA health care and honor
this country's obligation to the men and women who defend us. We have a
responsibility to this nation's military and to their dependent families that
has not been fulfilled by the present administration. And I believe the voters
of this district deserve a Congressman who takes a clear position on this war
unlike my opponent.Ó
ÒIf we are going to wage war to spread democracy and
freedom then we need to model those values here at home. The huge cost of this
war coupled with tax cuts for corporation and the rich has lead to reductions
in the funding of many domestic programs I believe in. We need to move toward
an affordable single-payer health care system for all Americans because health
care should be an American right. In the meantime we need to fully fund
Medicare and Medicaid to insure that the most vulnerable among us are properly
cared for and we need to recognize that the Medicare Prescription Drug plan is
a disaster. The next congress should immediately begin the job of writing a
prescription drug plan that puts the priorities on better health care rather
than pharmaceutical and insurance industry profits.Ó
ÒThe Bush budget is absolutely atrocious! The
president's priorities are simply backwards from my point of view. We cannot
afford the tax cuts already passed and those making over $250,000 per year have
had more than enough tax relief. It is time to begin serving the vast majority
of Americans who could never dream of making a quarter million dollars per
year. They just want their children to be able to attend good schools, grow up
healthy and be able to find a career that allows them to support their own families
as they become adults. Those expectations seem pretty reasonable to me.Ó
ÒWhen they get those jobs they should rest easy
knowing that their own government isn't working to ship those jobs overseas. I
will never vote for a piece of legislation that would hurt veterans, the
elderly, children or hard-working Americans like those in the 17th district. I
will never support 'free trade' because it isn't but I will work hard for 'fair
trade' that doesn't undermine either the American worker or our economy. It's
not a question of left or right. It's a question of being fair and
compassionate. It offends my sense of right and wrong when common people need
and deserve help from their federal government and don't get it because the
greedy can better afford to influence Congress and the president.Ó
Hare sounds very much like a more populist and vocally
forceful Lane Evans. He is neither as educated nor as polished as Evans and he
is definitely not soft spoken as is Evans but they do seem to be reading from
the same political script. For years the Republicans have run candidates who
claim Evans didn't represent the true politics of the 17th district despite his
electoral successes. Hare is betting his campaign on the premise that those
Republicans are just plain wrong.