Illinois Speaks in East St. Louis: St. Louis fans and Democrats

Posted 10-12-2006 - rrstar.com

Published: October 12, 2006

Local News
Illinois Speaks in East St. Louis: St. Louis fans and Democrats
Continuing a theme, voters are troubled by the war in Iraq.

By Chuck Sweeny
ROCKFORD REGISTER STAR
Click here for more information about Chuck Sweeny

METRO EAST — That’s the common name for the Illinois side of metro St. Louis — a sprawling, diverse land stretching from Alton to Belleville and from East St. Louis to Shiloh. Politically, it trends Democratic.

Although people here are technically Illinoisans, they root for St. Louis sports teams and take part in St. Louis cultural and entertainment activities.

But no matter where people are in Metro East, and no matter if they’re conservative or liberal, the war in Iraq perplexes them. Take Sarah Messer, an 18-year-old accounting student at Southwestern Illinois College’s Belleville campus. She’s a social conservative who believes the U.S. should not have invaded Iraq, “but as long as we’re there we might as well do something to help.”

Related Media  Illinois Speaks: East St. Louis Related Content Click here to go to our Election 2006 site (10/13/06) Click here to read Chuck Sweeny and Jon Giffin's online journal (10/13/06) Click here to compare the candidates in this fall's election (10/13/06) Click here for election slideshows, photo galleries, audio and video (10/13/06) Click here to go to our Election 2006 site (10/12/06) Click here to read Chuck Sweeny and Jon Giffin's online journal (10/12/06) Click here to compare the candidates in this fall's election (10/12/06) Click here for election slideshows, photo galleries, audio and video (10/12/06)

Messer was on her way from class to the college’s train station to board a MetroLink train to Scott Air Force Base, where she lives. Messer’s dad is a master sergeant in the Air Force who may be sent to Iraq.

“If you join the military now, you’re going to have to go over there at some point. It’s taking a large toll, but they know what they’re getting into when they sign up for the military,” she said.

“I am pro-life. I don’t think it’s right to take a child’s life. Stem-cell research is mostly the same thing as abortion. To create a child and kill it solely for the purpose of using it for research is cruel,” she said.

Messer is keenly following the developing crisis in East Asia, where North Korea exploded a nuclear device over the weekend. If things heat up, her father could end up being sent there.

Online entrepreneur
At the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Center station in East St. Louis, pharmacist technician Preston Vanderven, 26, got off a train and walked to work at a local drugstore. He’s concerned about the price of gasoline — he wants it to go up.

The reason is simple.

Vanderven, of O’Fallon, Ill., is developing an online shopping business. When gas prices are high, people don’t drive as much and are more likely to buy online.

“My business on the side deals with micro-marketing, which is Internet marketing,” he said. Why waste time and gas going to Wal-Mart, Vanderven said: “Shop online and have it come to your house.”

“I’m almost totally capitalist,” he said. So Vanderven votes for a lot of Republicans. He hasn’t decided about this year’s governor’s race, saying he and a friend will talk over the issues first.

Internationally, he is skeptical that the U.S. can bring about peace in the Middle East.

“If there’s ever peace in the Middle East, that’s when the holy war breaks out,” he said.

‘Just an opportunist’
Kiva and Doug McEwen, lifelong Democrats from Carbondale, were visiting the St. Louis area and agreed to share some of their opinions about politics. He’s a retired professor at Southern Illinois University who is thinking of voting for Green Party governor candidate Rich Whitney as a protest. He’s not so much bothered by charges of corruption against Chicago-based Gov. Rod Blagojevich, or by the federal investigations into his administration, as he is about things not getting done.

“I think he’s just an opportunist. I don’t think he’s done a good job. A number of infrastructure projects have been delayed because there’s just no money. I object to overreliance on gambling; that’s another issue I don’t like,” Doug McEwen said.

Kiva McEwen said she’ll vote for Blagojevich because she’s a Democrat.

“With issues like abortion, stem-cell research, all of that, I think we’re going backwards and I’m afraid of what the conservative agenda will do for the future,” she said.

Internationally, Kiva McEwen said the U.S. should continue to stand by Israel.

“I think our relationship with Israel, continuing to support Israel as the only democratic country in the Middle East, is very important, and I guess to me that’s one of the main issues internationally,” she said.

Doug McEwen said the U.S. should not try a go-it-alone approach to dealing with the crisis over North Korea’s detonation of a nuclear device.

“There has to be cooperation with China, Japan, South Korea, because we are not prepared to go in there and solve it on our own. It probably would not be advisable anyway,” he said.

The McEwens are devoting their political efforts this year toward convincing the Carbondale City Council to pass a smoking ban.

No health insurance
Jerrind Howard of Granite City has more immediate health concerns: He can’t afford health insurance, and he said home heating costs are going up 40 percent in January.

“That’s ridiculous. We can’t afford to heat our homes,” he said.

Howard is 28 and a recent graduate of Belleville Barber College who cuts hair at Cosby’s Barber Shop in Belleville. He’s in good health, but if he becomes ill or is injured, he’s not covered by insurance. He looks west toward Missouri and sees an ominous trend.

“In Missouri, they cut all the health care, Medicaid and Medicare, and if they cut it in Missouri, I think it’s working its way to Illinois. Health insurance is so high, it’s just outrageous. Affordability is a big issue for me,” Howard said.

The television in Cosby’s was blaring out President Bush’s news conference, and the president complained about Democrats who want to “cut and run” from Iraq. But Howard the barber said the war isn’t ours to fight: “I think we should let (the Iraqis) fight their own war,” he said.

The biggest problem facing Metro East is too few jobs, “and there’s a lack of ways to motivate kids to go out and get jobs,” said Howard. Parents today are often too busy to make sure their kids are keeping up with their school work, he said.

Stephen Pruitt, a 28-year-old from East St. Louis who also is a barber at Cosby’s, also said the region needs more good-paying jobs. He and Howard both plan to vote for Blagojevich.

“I don’t have any complaints. I don’t know him personally, but the state is doing well. I like things that are going on. It looks like they’re trying to grow,” Pruitt said.

Reach Political Editor Chuck Sweeny at 815-987-1372 or csweeny@rrstar.com.

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