Some of the last radio ads
aired by Gov. Rod Blagojevich's campaign were just about a perfect microcosm of
the entire governor's race.
"Listen as Judy Baar
Topinka runs down those who honor our veterans," began one ad. "I'm a
veteran. Served in Vietnam. Proud of my service. I was shocked by what Judy
Baar Topinka said. Running down people who honor our soldiers," started
the other.
Both ads referred to a
remark Topinka made about Lt. Governor Pat Quinn's commitment to veterans.
Quinn has attended just about every wake or funeral of Illinois service members
killed in Iraq and Afghanistan and has been a tireless fighter for veterans
rights. After Topinka praised Quinn, she chastised him for not speaking out
against Gov. Blagojevich's skirting or even breaking state government hiring
laws that give military veterans an advantage over non-veteran political hacks.
Story after story has
documented how one politically connected player after another got around the
veterans hiring rules by starting off as an "intern" (one such
"intern" was over 60 years old). Some Chicago hacks were also hired
for undesirable, low-pay part time jobs out in rural areas and then later the
positions were moved to Chicago and made full-time. That's apparently how
Beverly Ascaridis was put into her state job, after her husband had written a
$1500 check to the Blagojevich's and after she had reportedly failed the state
hiring test.
"I don't want this to
sound, you know, bad, but you have to do more than just go to funerals,"
Topinka said at a campaign event.
Like so many other things
that routinely emerge from Topinka's mouth, she meant it, but it was over the
top and probably not the most politically bright thing to say. Here's a hint
for all future candidates: If you find yourself starting a sentence with
"I don't want this to sound bad," stop right there. You are heading
for big trouble.
That ill-considered
sentence was used to "prove" that Topinka is somehow anti-veteran,
even though her own son is an officer in the military who served in Afghanistan
and she has long been a military cheerleader - and even though the governor has
clearly shafted untold numbers of veterans out of well-paid state employment so
he could give jobs to his cronies.
The governor has
repeatedly touted his "Veterans Care" healthcare plan, and used
Topinka's supposed opposition (she actually supported it) as further proof that
she's anti veteran. But what he doesn't say is even after all the outreach only
500 veterans have inquired about the program and, word is, only three veterans
have actually been signed up. The Illinois commander of the Veterans of Foreign
Wars called the program's financing "suspect at best" back in
September.
Polls show voters never
believed much that Rod Blagojevich ever said. But they do believe what they see
and hear, and the Blagojevich campaign masterfully used Topinka's own words
against her. "I love you dearly," she said to George Ryan at an
emotional State Fair event in 2002. The now infamous video clip of her speech,
along with the reportedly electronically altered sight of her bobbing her head
up and down as Ryan spoke at the podium was replayed about a billion times on
TV. The Blagojevich people have built almost their entire campaign around that
clip, which makes the case for them that she was "George Ryan's
treasurer."
The people who know Judy
Baar Topinka know that almost all of the charges made by the Blagojevich
campaign against her were baseless or just plain lies.
I've known Topinka for 16
years and I don't believe she has a corrupt bone in her body. She's too cheap
to be corrupt. And I know for a fact that she does whatever she can for
military veterans.
But the voters could see
and hear Topinka talking about her "love" for George Ryan or saying
something off the wall about unnamed people who care about veterans. And,
understandably, they didn't like it.
For way too long we've
been an electorate that focuses on out of context quotes or laps up gotcha
games that deliberately distort meaning just because we can see or hear the
so-called "evidence" for ourselves. If voters don't start seeing
through this blatantly dishonest, cynical manipulation by the professional
hucksters (both in politics and in the media), we're heading for serious
trouble.
-30-
Rich Miller also publishes
Capitol Fax, a daily political newsletter, and thecapitolfaxblog.com