Democratic gubernatorial candidate Glenn Poshard lashed out at Republican rival George Ryan on Sunday for suggesting the state law that gives veterans an advantage in getting state jobs is discriminatory and should be changed.
“If veterans lose this absolute preference, the likelihood is they will not get it back,” Poshard said.
The two candidates, both Army veterans, were campaigning during separate appearances at the Illinois State Fair’s Veterans’ Day.
Ryan, the secretary of state, told several hundred veterans at a gathering, “What I want to do with your help here today is to change that law so that veterans retain an advantage without limiting the rights of others who are qualified for state jobs.
“As the law stands now, the rights of women, African-Americans, Hispanics, the disabled, a lot of people, classes of people, are absolutely disqualified. I think that’s wrong.”
Poshard shot back: “How ridiculous. The armed services have stood as a monument to equal treatment for many years in this country, long before society in general came to that point of view.”
After Ryan said he is working with veterans groups to examine the law for potential changes, Poshard stood in the hot sun outside the Democratic Party tent and blasted his opponent.
“To take away an absolute preference is to take away an earned benefit,” Poshard said.
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Last year, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled that for state jobs, a veteran applicant receives an absolute preference over a non-veteran applicant if they received the same grade on a state employment test.
Ryan’s campaign says the standard is discriminatory, sometimes to veterans, and it contends the Supreme Court ruling went too far.
The Ryan campaign is looking at establishing a numerical scoring system that awards veterans with extra points in a move aimed at giving veterans preference without hurting other groups.
Ryan sought to assure veterans he was seeking fairness for all, saying, “We are all on the same page.”
But some veterans wondered.
“I sure would like to talk to him,” said Ben Beard, a former Marine holding a flag at the fair for the Springfield color guard of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 10302. “I’ve heard an awful lot of people in the VFW say that they won’t vote for him now because of that, and I think he made a big mistake there.”
Martin Conatser, a state commander of the American Legion, which has 150,000 members, said the group opposes any changes in the veterans-preference law.
“Once they start playing with the law, what else gets into the law?” he said. But he noted the veterans preference position is only one issue in the race.
The rhetorical squabble took on an added dimension Sunday because Ryan, who supplied miniature flags, has unleashed ads that criticize Poshard as an extremist for voting against the flag-burning amendment, a proposal popular among veterans.
Ryan’s position is that protecting the flag from desecration supersedes constitutional rights of free speech. Poshard has said his vote protected free speech and thus the flag in the process.
In Chicago on Sunday, Poshard said a Sunday report in the Tribune that took a critical look at his campaign fundraising obscured Ryan’s methods of raising political cash. Ryan’s campaign kitty reported about $4.9 million, about 10 times what Poshard had raised when they last filed reports on June 30.
Poshard has imposed fundraising restrictions on his campaign, saying he, unlike Ryan, is forgoing direct contributions from special interest groups.
The Tribune reported groups supporting Poshard have finessed the spirit of this restriction by coordinating direct contributions of their members. Members of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, for example, have contributed $243,225 to Poshard through individual checks, records showed.
Ryan has criticized Poshard for setting the limits but searching for ways to get around them.
In turn, Poshard maintained Ryan has taken large amounts of campaign cash from his employees, as well as gambling and corporate interests.
“I think that George Ryan is putting this state up to the largest bidder,” Poshard said.
Poshard was joined in Chicago by 1994 Democratic gubernatorial candidate Dawn Clark Netsch, who lost to the better-funded Republican Gov. Jim Edgar. Netsch read a statement from former Democratic U.S. Sen. Paul Simon.
“Glenn Poshard has gone beyond the requirements of (campaign finance) law,” the Simon statement said, “setting higher standards than other candidates are following. . . . His critics call on him to unilaterally disarm himself politically, while others are piling up huge arsenals of campaign funds.”