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Green Party's Whitney gets attention of voters

by Dan Kalnes — last modified 2007-02-05 23:07

Posted on 10-18-2006- DailySouthtown.com

Green Party's Whitney gets attention of voters
(http://www.dailysouthtown.com/news/kadner/101140,1PKD1-18.article)

October 18, 2006

Edna Racine of Midlothian wants to know about Rich Whitney.

"Could you possibly let your readers know who this man is?" Racine wrote in an e-mail.

Whitney is the Green Party's candidate for governor.

I have received more than a dozen e-mails or phone calls from readers similar to Racine's.

These folks are completely turned off by the political campaigns of Gov. Rod Blagojevich, the Democrat, and his Republican challenger, state Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka.

One recent poll showed Whitney with 9 percent of the vote in November's election, a surprisingly high number for a third-party candidate.

More surprising still, his support seems evenly divided between voters who identified themselves as Republicans and Democrats.

When Whitney stopped by the Daily Southtown offices for an editorial board interview, he explained that he arrived by taking an Amtrak train from southern Illinois to downtown Chicago and the elevated train from downtown to 95th Street.

At that train station, he was picked up by his campaign manager, George Ochsenfeld, a resident of Monee best known in these parts as the president of STAND (Shut This Airport Nightmare Down), an organization opposed to the creation of a south suburban airport near Peotone.

Whitney, 51, opposes suburban sprawl.

He's against road widening projects that, he said, increase traffic congestion and pollution.

And he's definitely opposed to the creation of a third airport in the south suburbs.

He believes the state should invest in high-speed rail systems, which create jobs while reducing pollution.

A magna cum laude graduate of Southern Illinois University School of Law, Whitney is an attorney in a law firm that specializes in civil rights and labor law.

Whitney supports a state income tax increase to fund the public schools, balance the state's budget and reduce the tax burden on property owners.

In accepting the Green Party's nomination for governor, Whitney said:

"The right wing talks about 'tax and spend liberals.' Well, let me tell you there are politicians far worse than that. Such as 'borrow, steal and waste pseudo-conservatives,' like our current president. Or 'borrow, steal and waste pseudo-liberals' like our current governor, who has refused to implement necessary tax reforms, instead choosing to balance the budget by delving into dedicated state funds, cutting necessary programs and burdening future generations with more interest on more bonds."

Whitney refuses to take any campaign contributions from large corporations.

His top priority, according to his Green Party acceptance speech, would be to keep the Illinois National Guard "at home, out of Iraq."

"As governor, I will be the commander in chief of the Illinois State Militia or National Guard," he said. "I realize that Illinois law states that it is the governor's duty to give up our guardsmen and women to the federal government whenever the president orders them into active military duty.

"However, federal law does allow governors to veto a federal mobilization of guardsmen under certain circumstances, and I believe that there is a higher duty that supersedes the duty imposed by state law.

"If elected, I will veto any further mobilization of our troops for duty in Iraq, on the grounds that the war in Iraq is plainly illegal and immoral."

Whitney is also an ardent supporter of the right to keep and bear arms.

Although he is not a gun owner himself, Whitney fears legislation to restrict gun ownership is a violation of Americans' civil liberties.

Whitney is an active supporter of the American Civil Liberties Union.

As the Green Party candidate, Whitney is also an advocate of environmentally friendly energy sources.

He wants state tax incentives to support the development and installation of "solar, wind, geothermal and biomass energy production."

Such an investment, Whitney said, could generate thousands of new jobs and attract cutting-edge environmental industries to Illinois.

Is Whitney some sort of kook?

That's one of the most often asked questions I hear from curious voters.

Although some of his political views may not be mainstream, he seemed to be an intelligent guy.

He has obviously given considerable thought to the issues he discussed.

People disgusted by the Blagojevich and Topinka campaigns should give him a hard look.

Clarification: A late change in Tuesday's column resulted in the deletion of a first reference to R.J. Zeder, village manager for Orland Park.

Several readers called wonder why I didn't identify Zeder, who was mentioned several times.

I apologize for any confusion this may have caused.

Phil Kadner may be reached at pkadner@dailysouthtown.com or (708) 633-6787

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Green Party's Whitney gets attention of voters