Time to Sheathe the Broadsword

Tom Roeser is holding a plebiscite on his blog on whether GOP Gubernatorial Candidate Jim Oberweis is helping or hurting himself with his continued public attacks on opponent Judy Topinka.

As I wrote last week I consider Oberweis to be the frontrunner at this stage. But I was at the Cook County Republican Convention and heard the speeches. I cringed when Oberweis took out after Topinka with her sitting just a few feet behind him. At the afterparty I had a lot of interesting conversations, but two stand out. The first was with a moderate friend who told me he had been gravitating towards Oberweis. His rationale was that he believed Topinka would, indeed, be a terrible candidate at the top of the ticket and would prove a drag on the party. After Oberweis speech, he determined to support Gidwitz. "He probably won't win, But I'm not going to give my vote to either of the candidates who seem hell-bent on waging war on half the party," my friend said. The second conversation was with a conservative friend who had decided last week to vote for Oberweis. The speech changed his mind. He's going to go with Brady.

There is a penchant among both right and left-wing purists for unrelenting and distasteful public attacks. In fact, in some circles you can be ideologically purer than the pope, but if you aren't given to frequent ill-tempered malice towards others, you are considered suspect. Besides being a formula for defeat, this is downright bizarre and, I think, immoral.

Though I almost invariably express my views boldly I am not under the illusion that I am always right. Moreover, there are few people, whether I agree or disagree with them, from whom I don't learn something when I listen. There are precious few people who, however misguided, actually intend to do what is wrong. To constantly attack others motivation as well as their ideas is to deny them their humanity and make a mere caricature of them. To do that ultimately robs each of us of our humanity, as well. The truth is we are all flawed, a stumbling lot with feet of clay. The best we can accomplish is to stumble forward. To behave in a well-mannered fashion, even while vigorously engaging the debate, is to recognize our shared humanity and act in solidarity with each other.

Abraham Lincoln was once admonished by Secretary of War Edwin Stanton that he had to learn to destroy his enemies. "Why Stanton," Lincoln replied, "if I make my enemy into my friend haven't I destroyed an enemy?"

In modern times no conservative was better at vanquishing left-wing ideas than Ronald Reagan. And no man was better-mannered.

It makes me wonder why, when our most effective and unwavering champions responded with courtesy and charity even when under malicious assault themselves, anyone would think the way to win converts to the cause would be to hack away at opponents with a broadsword.

It is especially puzzling to me in the case of Oberweis. While he often campaigns as the angry white male, few people are as committed to the party's welfare as he is. In his previous primary losses, he was the first man out front supporting the victor, both with his money and his words. When the late-entry down-ballot candidates for statewide office desperately needed help in getting petition signatures this year, Oberweis put his organization to work to help get the job done for them. One of the more interesting things about this whole business is that, if Oberweis wins the governor's office, most observers will expect him to behave like an ill-tempered scold. I think they will be surprised to discover that, when he isn't in the midst of campaigning, he is a magnanimous man with a big heart.

Oberweis need not make a single change in his stand on any of the issues. If he puts away his broadsword and behaves like the man I have known him to be when campaign season is over I think he is unstoppable in this primary. If he does not, he cannot win and Topinka is the most likely nominee.