Besides throwing a down-home, inaugural barbecue open to the masses, Gov.-elect Rod Blagojevich is harking back to a Democratic tradition by taking a whistle-stop train tour to his inauguration festivities.
Blagojevich will make the 200-mile journey from Chicago to Springfield aboard a railroad car, stopping several times along the way to meet with crowds, according to a Blagojevich statement to be released Thursday.
The idea of the railroad tour is “to underscore the key themes of openness, accessibility and new approaches that are central to the inaugural weekend as a whole,” the statement said.
Blagojevich’s campaign promised a return of Illinois government to the people after the scandal-plagued tenure of Gov. George Ryan and a year of controversial pork-barrel spending by state lawmakers. This tour is another way for him to show he plans to keep in touch with everyday citizens, Blagojevich said in the statement.
“This will be a reminder of exactly who it is I plan to fight for as governor,” Blagojevich said. “I am eager to continue to have direct contact and an ongoing dialogue with the people of this state, around this state–in their own hometowns.”
The train is to leave from Chicago’s Union Station about 9:45 a.m. Jan. 11 and is expected to stop in Joliet, Dwight and Bloomington before arriving in Springfield in the early evening. The admission-free,, family-oriented barbecue is to be held Jan. 12, with the inauguration and formal ball scheduled for Jan. 13.
Describing the logistics of the railroad trip, a Blagojevich spokesman said that the train will consist of three cars carrying only the Blagojevich entourage, and it will run between regular Amtrak routes and other commercial rail traffic. The Blagojevich transition team hired the Chicago-based public relations firm Jasculca/Terman and Associates to organize the trip.
The biggest obstacle, Blagojevich spokesman Billy Weinberg acknowledged, could be keeping the train on time. It must stay ahead of other rail traffic, and Blagojevich often frustrates his handlers by pressing the flesh well beyond the time allotted.
More Top Picks Epilator
Each stop is scheduled to last about an hour. Rallies are to be held in Joliet and Bloomington. In Dwight, Blagojevich is to greet residents along Main Street.
“I don’t think there will be a train beating down on us from behind, at least we hope not,” Weinberg said. “But knowing Rod, that is a possibility.”
The whistle-stop tour has been a fixture for Democrats at least since President Harry Truman’s famous 1948 “Give ’em hell, Harry” election campaign, in which he crisscrossed the country by rail while decrying the “do-nothing 80th Congress.” In 1996 President Bill Clinton made a whistle-stop train tour on his way to his nomination at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
The Blagojevich rail adventure is part of inaugural festivities expected to cost about $1.5 million. All events are being funded privately by Blagojevich, who has been soliciting donations from law firms, businesses, unions and others.
Telephone giant SBC Illinois has given $100,000, while the Service Employees International Union–long a Blagojevich contributor–has donated $25,000, Weinberg said. AT&T Corp., Boeing Co., Walgreen Co., Aon Corp. and Sears, Roebuck and Co. each contributed between $10,000 and $25,000 to the festivities, Weinberg said.
It is uncertain whether Blagojevich will release a full list of inaugural donors–he is not required by law to do so–but “we hope to err on the side of openness,” Weinberg said.
Some good-government advocates, noting that campaign contributions are a public record, have called for a list to be made public so people can see who might be trying to curry favor with the state’s chief executive.