Unexpected lessons we can learn from election coverage
From time to time, I like to channel the late great Sydney J. Harris and pursue a theme of things one learns while focusing on something else.
In every day’s newspaper, just reading various stories will teach you all kinds of things about chemistry or biology or economics or literature or any number of subjects you wouldn’t have expected to come across when you delved into the news. With primary Election Day only a few days away, let’s change up the protocol slightly and focus only on things you might learn unexpectedly while reading about election campaigns.
It is hardly surprising anymore to see how many hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars it takes to pursue, say, even a $174,000-a-year job in Congress, and it has been demonstrated many times that he or she who has the most in the bank has the best chance at the ballot box. Still, given those realities, it is fascinating to reflect on the vast discrepancies that can appear within a given campaign.
Our Russell Lissau’s periodic reports on candidate funding do an excellent job of tracing the money in campaigns, and often reflect informative discrepancies. You can’t avoid certain conclusions about the strength of the human spirit — or the power of faint hope — when you see comparisons like that which Lissau showed involving 14 candidates for the Democratic nomination for the 9th Congressional District. First, it says something about us - I’m not sure what, but something - when you have 14 candidates, all of whom will vow they will win, but many of whom must know they haven’t the faintest prayer. Why would they spend any money at all on such an adventure? Faith in themselves? In the system? Simple vain dreams?
Consider, too, that the fundraising leaders in the race - Kat Abughazaleh, Daniel Biss and Laura Fine - have all raised millions, while one candidate who did not attract that kind of money - economist Jeff Cohen - still found himself with $518,176 available for the last weeks of the campaign — 96% of it which came from himself. I leave it to you to draw conclusions about what we learn about people or the system when an economist is willing to post half a million dollars of his own money against rivals who have spent far more. And, before you get too cynical, be sure to bring competitors Bethany Johnson, of Evanston, and Justin Ford, of Chicago, into the equation. She had $2,238 in her account; he had a full $341.
I could fill this entire column with such financial comparisons at nearly every stage of campaigning from county seats to state and federal campaigns. The biggest takeaway of all of them, for me, is that our system not only accommodates quixotic warriors but it attracts them as well. The main goal of our political coverage is to help you see what candidates think and what they want to do, but if you examine those stories, you’ll find that often even the poor idealists with a few thousand bucks on the line have a lot to offer. They just don’t have the opportunities others have to show it to you.
And money isn’t the only window through which politics teaches us things about hope and the resilience of the human spirit. Another is pure persistence. In the 14th Congressional District, Republican James Marter is back for another bid for a House seat after five previous failures. Similarly, in the 5th Congressional District Republican Tommy Hanson is hoping for a chance to face off against Mike Quigley, who has beaten him five times before. Republican Robert W. Fioretti was assured of a chance to face Democrat Kwame Raoul for attorney general this fall when two primary challengers dropped out or were removed, but his November bid will follow failed attempts at the ballot box for state Senate, Chicago mayor, Cook County Board president and Cook County state’s attorney.
My space window is closing fast, so I can’t go into great detail, but take a look in various races at the vast array of backgrounds that attract people to politics. Sure, there are plenty of candidates who move through the ranks from one government role to another or strive to jump from an administrative government post to elected office, but outside of that, the people seeking elected office include, but are not limited to, business owners, lawyers, architects, scientists, plumbers, carpenters, teachers, consultants, techies, media personalities, stay-at-home moms, stay-at-home dads, doctors, nurses and, yes, economists.
That broad range of experiences is, for me, one of the most inspiring features of the American political system.
The most important goal of election coverage, of course, is to help you understand the candidates and what they stand for. But as you follow the stories, you may be surprised at how much you are learning about our system and human nature itself.
• Jim Slusher, jslusher@dailyherald.com, is managing editor for opinion at the Daily Herald. Follow him on Facebook at www.facebook.com/jim.slusher1 and on X at @JimSlusher. His book “To Nudge The World” has been named a Book of the Year by the Chicago Writers Association and is available at eckhartzpress.com.