Hopefuls trade jabs during radio debate

Bill Foster twice criticized Jim Oberweis for misrepresenting Foster's view on health care and other issues.

Oberweis said Foster took out of context his statement about supporting President Bush and said Foster's solution to the mortgage crisis left him "totally confused."

Overall, the two congressional candidates played nice, but there were more than enough fireworks in their first faceoff of the campaign to make it interesting. Their appearance on WBBM-780 AM's "At Issue" airs at 9:30 a.m. and 9:30 p.m. Sunday and also can be heard on the station's Web site, www.wbbm780.com.

"You get yourself in trouble for misrepresenting the facts," Foster told Oberweis, interrupting the Sugar Grove dairy magnate to clarify his position on health-care reform. Foster, a Geneva scientist and businessman, said he doesn't support a single-payer government-led system but rather a public-private hybrid.

"Jim gives no solution to people who are not healthy and wealthy," Foster said. "I believe government should be involved in a basic safety net."

Earlier in the 30-minute debate, Oberweis accused Foster of misrepresentation for taking one of his quotes out of context. "I've supported the president on almost everything," Oberweis is quoted as saying during his 2004 U.S. Senate campaign.

Oberweis said that before railing against Bush's proposal on illegal immigration.

"With all due respect, Bill, those statements border on absurd," Oberweis told Foster.

The pair is scheduled to meet again Tuesday on WTTW Channel 11's "Chicago Tonight" and Wednesday at a forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters in Elgin. The special election to fulfill the remaining months of former House Speaker Dennis Hastert's term is in two weeks.

These kids want my job:

Reporters questioning Sen. John McCain on his way to an Oberweis fundraiser Wednesday were more interested in McCain's presidential campaign than his support for a local congressional candidate. But the media professionals, myself included, were decidedly upstaged by two cub reporters who asked the final questions.

Michael Geheren, a seventh- grader at Marlowe Middle School in Huntley writing for Scholastic News, wanted to know McCain's stance on gun control in light of last week's shooting at Northern Illinois University. McCain said he supports mandatory jail sentences for gun crimes but added that he supports the Second Amendment.

A reporter for Kaneland High School's Kaneland Krier student newspaper asked how McCain plans to attract young voters who are drawn to Democrat Barack Obama.

"I would ask all Americans, especially young Americans, to serve a cause greater than their self interest and there's nothing nobler," McCain said. "I've been able to motivate young people all across this country, I'm very proud to say."

I've got to hand it to these cub reporters. Maybe one day they'll be filling these column inches.