Friday, December 02, 2005

Cegelis Treading Out Onto Thin Ice Over Disabilities

Although rumors of Army Major Tammy Duckworth's candidacy for the Congressional seat being vacated by Henry Hyde have been circulating for some time, those rumors only recently have become published, giving us our first glimpse of how Christine Cegelis's campaign will deal with this life-threatening insurgency.

Duckworth's life story presents a Herculeanean challenge for Cegelis, who clearly feels she must go on the offensive to discredit Duckworth. But in politics, it's always tough for a female candidate to attack her opponent without casting herself as...."unpleasant." Even trickier when the person you are attacking is a decorated war hero. And when that person was injured in combat and lost limbs as a result? Next to impossible.

Enter this week's stories. First, Sun-Times regular contributor Dick Simpson assaults Duckworth as a candidate who's only qualification for office is her disability. Simpson assumes, I'm guessing incorrectly, that Duckworth has no positions on abortion, the economy, education, or especially foreign policy and Iraq. The problem for the Cegelis campaign is that they are likely to find themselves with more heat they can handle if they try to make this a central issue of the campaign -- defining people with disabilities solely by their disabilities raises the anger of the disability community. They've proved to be well-organized in the past, and the last thing Cegelis needs is an angry protest by wheelchaired folks, peppered with veterans, in front of her office demanding an apology.

Cegelis's attacks also constantly remind voters that Duckworth is a decorated war hero who made great sacrifice for her country, a tribute to her character, even among those who oppose the war.

Then in today's Sun-Times, Lynn Sweet, an early champion of Cegelis, lays out Cegelis' next line of attack: Duckworth doesn't live in the district. Unfortunately, this line only creates more problems for Cegelis and her campaign team. First, as Sweet indicates, in raising the residency issue, Cegelis undermines the candidacy of her neighbor and supposed role model, Cong. Melissa Bean. Bean, like Duckworth, lives just outside her Congressional District, and it creates a major credibility gap for Cegelis to liken herself to Bean in one breath and attack Duckworth's residency in the next.

Secondly, and most importantly, although Duckworth appears willing to relocate to the district, it appears the reason she can't is because of her disability. According to Sweet:

After she was wounded, Duckworth's friends remodeled her home in Hoffman Estates to make it handicapped accessible, and as a practical matter, it would be difficult for her to move at this time. Emanuel's considerable fund-raising ability will be used to market Duckworth and diminish her residency as an issue.
You can bet that part of that fund-raising ability will be used to create "shame on you" ads from veterans' and disability rights' groups shredding Cegelis for attacking an injured hero.

So, the question is: Can Cegelis win, can she do it without attacking Duckworth, and if she is going to attack Duckworth, how should she do it?

8 comments:

grand old partisan 4:08 PM  

Good questions Yellow Dog. I must say I don’t envy Cegelis or her campaign staff. But a few things:

Has Cegelis or her campaign made actually statements yet in response to Duckworth, because I don’t think an article by Dick Simpson or Lynn Sweet can be characterized as one of “Cegelis’s attacks.” Perhaps I am missing something here.

But, to your question, perhaps Cegelis can find some way to reword Simpson’s point in way that is more respectful to Duckworth’s status as a wounded veteran. Because, ultimately, he has a valid point. And, no, he is not assuming that “Duckworth has no positions on abortion, the economy, education, or especially foreign policy and Iraq.” But there is a differnce between having positions on a variety of issues and being qualified to hold office and vote on bills relating to those issues, isn’t there?

Or, Cegelis can run a Dan Rutherford style campaign – just ignore your opponent and run on your own record, positions, and ideas. She just better hope that Duckworth doesn’t challenge her to a debate. Cause then she’ll be between a rock and a hard place.

Yellow Dog Democrat 4:09 PM  

I should add that it appears from the news coverage that not only Rahm Emanuel, but also Dick Durbin, Barack Obama and Pat Quinn are supporting Duckworth's candidacy. Their support undermines many of Cegelis's "conservative shill" attacks.

Yellow Dog Democrat 5:22 PM  

Good points GOP, so let me try to respond.

First, I can't speak for Simpson, but his comments echo what Cegelis's campaign has been whispering for weeks.

He clearly states that when he looks at Duckworth, he sees nothing but a photo-op:

"He cynically believes that people will vote for her just because she is a wounded veteran of the Iraq War. She has no political platform and no indigenous campaign organization."

Frankly, with Durbin, Obama, Quinn and Emanuel behind her, Duckworth has plenty of "indigenous" campaign organization. They are atleast as indigenous as Cegelis's volunteers, and more so than the busloads of lakefront volunteers that put Bean over the top in 2004.

As for Lynn Sweet, her chuminess with Cegelis's campaign is well-known, beginning with a fluff piece written some months ago. Ironically, that column pointed out that if Cegelis' campaign were to be viable, she would have to raise money, something she has failed to do.

Don't get me wrong, I understand Cegelis's frustration, and I empathize. It is tough to win a campaign running as an outsider. Most outsiders do it by building coalitions with insiders, raising alot of money, or building a superior grassroots organization. If you're as lucky as Barack Obama, you do all three.

Cegelis is doing none of those things, and cannot hope to win. At this point, she seems intent to play the role of the spoiler, something she accused her earlier opponent Peter O'Malley of. O'Malley had the sense to step aside, that's exactly what Cegelis should do.

Cal Skinner 8:25 PM  

So, who's district does Duckworth live in?

Melissa Bean's?

Anonymous,  2:44 PM  

Duckworth lives in Bean's district. Her home is in Hoffman Estates, but pretty far north, near Palatine. She has spent the HUGE majority of the last year in Washington D.C. because of treatment for her injuries.

Bill Baar 9:12 AM  

I think this is the dilemma Democrats will implode themselves with. A party taken over by the anti-war moveon.org crowd desperately seeking war heros without a whole lot of concern about what the hero's positions on issues. That's how they got stuck with Kerry and lost the election.

Anonymous,  8:07 AM  

it is, of course, no surprise that ydd's analysis is comprised mainly of wishful thinking. why would cegelis base her campaign on duckworth's disabilities? and it isn't the residency of duckworth that is relevant here, but that of rahm emanuel! why should *he* choose who is the democratic nominee from the 6th?

that's what voters will decide in march: whether they want a home-grown candidate from their neighborhood or one imposed upon them by the chicago bosses. there's no need to attack duckworth when there's this huge elephant in the room with you!

Anonymous,  10:33 AM  

Let the whining stop and the debates begin! If Cegelis is truly the best candidate let her demonstrate it in friendly debates with Scott and Duckworth. I still believe Scott is stronger on the issues and the one best able to enlarge the base.

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