Three GOP candidates resigned to Gitmo move
Three statewide Republican candidates seemed resigned Thursday to accused terrorists moving into a western Illinois prison as they argued the state should get a big payday out of the controversial plan.
"I think we ought to consider it - at least be open to it," said lieutenant governor candidate and Springfield attorney Don Tracy after stressing he would prefer detainees stay put at Guantanamo Bay.
Tracy, along with Carbondale Mayor Brad Cole and Edwardsville lumber executive Jason Plummer, said it appears President Barack Obama will get his way in moving about 100 detainees from Gitmo to the nearly vacant, maximum-security Thomson Correction Center.
"If it already is a done deal, then we have to make sure we get its true worth," said Plummer.
The comments came as the three candidates were questioned by the Daily Herald editorial board Thursday. They stand in stark contrast to what some state and congressional Republicans have been saying about the move as they allege it will make Illinois a terrorist target.
Local officials in the tiny town of Thomson on the Mississippi River support the plan, which has become a critical component of Obama's efforts to shutter Gitmo. They want the hundreds of jobs that would come when the state-of-the-art Thomson facility is finally fully staffed. Under the plan, the federal government would also move hundreds of regular inmates to the prison.
Cole cited local support in his opinion.
"The local people want it. It is there ... There is nothing really to argue," Cole said in also pointing out terrorists are already held in prisons around the country. "The prison should be utilized ... Get what it is worth and move on."
The transfer of Gitmo detainees is far from a done deal. Obama has moved to purchase the prison, but transferring the detainees will require a vote in Congress and apparently approval from a panel of lawmakers in Illinois, who are set to meet before the end of the year.
Congressional Republicans have been railing against the proposal, drumming up images of terrorists flooding into Chicago and plotting to break their comrades free.
To be sure, all three lieutenant governor candidates raised security questions, but they steered clear of inflammatory language.
"I think they are tiptoeing on very thin ice," said Plummer.
The candidates focused instead on how much the state should get for the prison, which cost about $145 million to build earlier this decade. Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn, who strongly supports the plan along with U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, has said he expects to receive at least that amount from the Obama administration.
In other matters, Cole pledged to post his campaign contributions on his campaign Web site by the end of the year, weeks in advance of state-mandated reporting before the Feb. 2 primary. That prompted Plummer and Tracy to also pledge such disclosure.
The three are running in a six-person primary field. State Sen. Matt Murphy of Palatine and Hamilton pastor Randy White met with the editorial board earlier this week. Orland Park school board President Dennis Cook is scheduled to meet in the coming weeks.