Daily Southtown: The Green Party Could Use a Little Channeling from Mr. T

Article in the Daily Southtown by Kristen McQueary on August 3, 2006

The Green Party Could Use a Little Channeling from Mr. T
By Kristen McQueary
Daily Southtown
August 3, 2006

If you've ever mulled running for office, you'll need gobs of money, about 200 volunteers, a small aircraft, an attractive spouse, two crisp suits, a Lincoln Town Car with a driver, a little Botox — and a really good elections attorney.

Take the Green Party, for example.

You might think a nationally recognized third party could punch some dents in a state like Illinois, in a race like the governor's office, where neither mainstream nominee — Republican Judy Baar Topinka nor Democrat Rod Blagojevich — is popular with voters right now.

Combined, more Republicans picked someone other than Topinka during the March primary (she took 38 percent of the vote while 62 percent chose her opponents). About 41 percent of Democrats voted against Blagojevich by choosing little-known Edwin Eisendrath.

Voters are hungry for an alternative.

Yet the Green Party remains trapped in the quicksand both parties sprinkle at democracy's doorstep. Borrowing a quote from the brusque muscleman Mr. T, we should pity the fool who runs for office.

Green Party gubernatorial candidate Rich Whitney, of Carbondale, an attorney, collected more than 39,000 signatures to get on the Illinois ballot. He needed 25,000, per Illinois law. Blagojevich and Topinka were required to collect less than half that amount.

Think about that for a second: Between your job, Little League and "Desperate Housewives" reruns, could you get half the residents of Orland Park or Tinley Park to sign your paperwork, making certain they're all registered voters? How much free time do you have?

Not only did Whitney file more than the required number of signatures, the Green Party spent the last month defending them.

Naturally, Blagojevich wants to keep the Greens as far from the November ballot as possible. Alaska, perhaps. He needs those liberal North Shore, college-town types to stick with him in order to beat Topinka.

So two Democratic Party workers filed objections to Whitney's paperwork: Kevin Williams, former Country Club Hills alderman, and Raython Bailey, of Homewood.

They are the names behind the objection. The muscle is their legal team, which includes Democratic Party lawyer Michael Kasper and Joel Griswald of Bell, Boyd & Lloyd. The attorneys are working on a voluntary, "in-kind" basis for the Blagojevich campaign, according to Blagojevich spokeswoman Sheila Nix.

"We want to make sure (the Green Party) has valid signatures," Nix said. "They're trying to get on the ballot. We want to make sure they follow all the rules."

Blagojevich's lawyers, for example, challenged the signatures of Whitney himself, his wife and his family members to make sure they were "genuine."

It's all part of the game. Like Mr. T always said, "Don't gimme no back talk, sucka."

The Greens believe they proved their case. After being challenged by the Democrats line-by-line through 4,000 pages, the Green Party said Wednesday it has 27,000 valid signatures remaining — 2,000 more than required.

Will Illinois voters have a Green choice in November? It's ultimately up to the Illinois State Board of Elections, which is comprised of eight members. Guess who appointed them? Yep. Blagojevich.

They are: Democrats Jesse Smart, DuQuoin politico Wanda Rednour, Patrick Brady, John Keith, and Republicans William McGuffage, Albert Porter, Bryan Schneider and Robert Walters.

No date has been set for the board to rule on the Green's petitions, but Sept. 1 is the date the ballot gets certified. Board members meet Aug. 31.

Even if Whitney gets on the ballot this year, he must win at least 5 percent of the vote in November to blaze an easier path in 2010. Five percent of the vote qualifies the party for a lower signatory requirement and allows other Greens to run locally, according to their well-versed attorney, Andrew Spiegel.

Green Party infrastructure got the party this far. Now they just need money, the car, the airplane, the suits — possibly the Botox — and a little pep talk from Mr. T.

Kristen McQueary covers government and politics for the Daily Southtown. Her column appears on Thursday and Sunday. She can be reached at (708) 633-5972 or kmcqueary@dailysouthtown.com.