With the pressure rising in a tight, three-way Democratic governor’s race, Rod Blagojevich on Sunday ridiculed one of his opponents as an arrogant “Buddha” and “sultan,” while saying the other hasn’t merited criticism because he “really hasn’t advanced anything.”
Rhetoric often gets heated as campaigns build to a finale, but it ranged from the harsh to the strange to the clinically academic as candidates for governor fanned out across the state trolling for votes with little more than a week to go before the March 19 primary.
One of Blagojevich’s rivals, Paul Vallas, steered clear of criticizing his opponents but then went out of his way to pin a label on himself that most campaigners steadfastly try to avoid–skilled politician. The third Democrat in the race, Roland Burris, avoided classic stump speeches and spent his day lecturing voters on the nuts and bolts of new voting technology designed to make sure their ballots are properly counted.
A new Tribune poll shows Blagojevich and Burris locked in a virtual dead heat, with Vallas not far behind. That led Blagojevich to step up his attacks on Vallas at a labor rally in Rockford.
He accused the former Chicago Public Schools chief of forcing the privatization of union janitors while supplying top school aides with chauffeured cars.
“I mean, who is he? Some big Buddha? Some sultan? Some potentate?” Blagojevich said.
Blagojevich also said Vallas’ criticism of his prescription drug plan for the elderly as a “massive entitlement” smacked of something that former conservative Republican U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia “was saying the first year I was in Congress. Social Security. Medicaid. Massive entitlement.”
After his speech, Blagojevich denied giving Burris a pass on criticism because he didn’t want to antagonize African-American voters. But in his denial, Blagojevich may have provided a greater insult to Burris, who is the first black elected to statewide office.
“Vallas and I have real differences. I’m not going to make up differences with Roland where they’re not apparent or they don’t really exist,” Blagojevich said. “It’s really about stark differences. Roland hasn’t put any plans out. Roland hasn’t really advanced anything, so it’s difficult to criticize a guy who really hasn’t advanced anything.”
Attending a fundraiser in Northbrook, Vallas said Blagojevich’s attacks show “issues don’t necessary lend themselves to good campaigning.”
Then Vallas, the only candidate for governor in either party never to hold elective office, defended his ability to work with state lawmakers.
“I’m no newcomer to politics. I’ve played politics for 20 years and I’ve played it well, but I’ve always used parameters beyond which I wouldn’t go,” Vallas said.
Still, he said, “Politics is an end to a means.”
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Burris, meanwhile, worked on efforts to ensure a strong turnout among his core constituency of African-Americans. He explained to South Side church parishioners how new ballot-counting technology could help prevent past problems of undercounted votes.
“Put [the ballot] in the machine, and if it spits back out, that means there is something wrong with your ballot. Check it. … The judge has got to give you a new ballot,” Burris instructed the congregation of the Carter Temple Christian Methodist Episcopal Church at 79th Street and Wabash Avenue.
Also visiting churches with predominantly African-American congregations was Republican candidate for governor Corinne Wood.
It was part of her efforts to encourage Democratic constituencies to cast a GOP ballot for her in the race against Atty. Gen. Jim Ryan and state Sen. Patrick O’Malley.
“I know all too well the doors have been shut on women, on minorities, on ethnic groups,” said Wood, the state’s first female lieutenant governor, speaking at St. Mark’s Church in Harvey.
O’Malley, a Palos Park lawmaker, reminded supporters of conservative Bill Simon Jr.’s recent upset victory over a moderate in the California Republican primary for governor.
Meanwhile, Ryan, the Republican frontrunner, attended a fundraising reception in Niles, where he called the Polish community a “highly important group, not only to my campaign but to the entire state.”