Riopell: A little could mean a lot to Libertarian Party
Brian Lambrecht thinks it's a little silly when campaigns that are spending millions of dollars on advertising claim to be running "grass-roots" races.
Consider his task: The leader of the DuPage Libertarians and the party's statewide field organizer is trying, among other things, to get a meager 5 percent of Illinois voters to pick Chad Grimm for governor.
Success means the party would have the same, easier access to the ballot as Democrats and Republicans for the next four years. The fight to avoid getting kicked off this time sucked up much of the party's money. The party has a full statewide slate of candidates.
"It made us broke," Lambrecht said.
Grimm, a Lake Zurich High School graduate who now lives in Peoria, was at an Elgin-area neighborhood meeting Monday and at Jacobs High School in Algonquin Tuesday talking to government classes - not exactly huge campaign rallies.
Is Lambrecht worried many of those high schoolers can't even vote?
"We're not just looking to get votes, we're looking to change minds," Lambrecht said.
At a time when Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn and Republican businessman Bruce Rauner are pushing for every possible vote in an intense race, the possibility for Grimm to play spoiler is clear. Some suggest Libertarians' small-government principles mean Grimm would pull votes from Rauner.
Lambrecht points out the party has favored marriage equality for a long time, an issue Quinn has touted in the campaign.
Among the challenges for Lambrecht and the Libertarians: people who argue a vote for a candidate who won't win is a waste, especially when the two major-party candidates are trying to distinguish themselves as clearly different from each other. And long-term success of a third party is tough.
Illinois' Green Party in 2006 won the ballot access Libertarians crave when candidate for governor Rich Whitney won more than 10 percent of the vote statewide. In 2010, Whitney won less than 3 percent of the vote. The Greens lost the status they needed to get on the ballot more easily, and this year, the party's slate was kicked off after challenges.
<h3 class="leadin">A different question</h3>
Voters will be asked a number of questions on the ballot aside from picking candidates, and some of the advisory questions have been cast as attempts to bring Democrats out to vote.
Advocate Jennifer Bishop-Jenkins is trying to tell voters that a constitutional amendment to give crime victims additional rights isn't one of them.
"It stands alone," she said.
The Northfield woman's sister, Nancy Bishop Langert, and brother-in-law, Richard Langert, were killed in 1990, and Bishop-Jenkins wasn't allowed to give a statement at a sentencing hearing because the sentence was already set.
"That was very hurtful." she said.
The proposed amendment gives victims some greater powers when it comes to getting their rights - such being notified about court proceedings or a convicted offender's status - enforced.
The plan enjoyed wide support among lawmakers with a couple of exceptions.
State Rep. Elaine Nekritz, a Northbrook Democrat, voted against it.
She says state law and the constitution already have a "well-established balance" between victims' rights and rights the state needs to afford the defendants it prosecutes.
<h3 class="leadin">Colbert Report</h3>
U.S. Rep. Tammy Duckworth, a Hoffman Estates Democrat, appeared on the "Colbert Report" this week in the show's regular segment about congressional districts across the country.
Stephen Colbert in his comedy persona asked Duckworth about health care, gays in the military and immigration.
The segment was taped months ago, and the interview took 90 minutes before being cut down to a few minutes.
Colbert noted the 8th Congressional District is home to two Ikea stores.
"They were only going to build one Ikea, but after they finished the first one, they had enough parts left over to build a second," he said.
Duckworth is running against Republican Larry Kaifesh of Carpentersville in the November election.
<h3 class="leadin">Tall and different</h3>
The candidates for Illinois treasurer have taken to TV with competing ads.
The tall Democratic state Sen. Mike Frerichs of Champaign says in his spot he's "standing tall on little things can make a big difference." His message is set against images of him, for example, rescuing a kitten from a tree for some children who can't reach it.
Republican state Rep. Tom Cross of Oswego says in his ad "I've never been afraid to break from my party to get results." He adds that he is pro-choice and has supported same-sex marriage and stem-cell research.
<h3 class="leadin">Lost history</h3>
A fire last week at the Pennsylvania site where United Airlines Flight 93 crashed on 9/11 destroyed an American flag that flew over the U.S. Capitol on that day.
The flag had been presented this year for the memorial there by former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert, the Plano Republican.
"If it wasn't for the actions of those heroes, that plane probably would have crashed into the Capitol of the United States," Hastert told a Pennsylvania newspaper.