Election - Gubernatorial candidates: Liberal, Liberal, Very Liberal?

Liberal, Liberal, Very Liberal?
By Eric Krol
Copyright by The Daily Herald
September 10, 2006


"Green Party candidate Rich Whitney of Carbondale holds the most liberal
position of the governor candidates on gay rights. He‚s the only one who
thinks that gay and lesbian couples should be allowed to marry."

You also be interested in knowing that Dan Rodriguez-Schlorff, the Green
Party's candidate for Illinois Treasurer in 2006, is the first openly gay
candidate to run for a statewide office in Illinois.

Tim W. Tacker
Whitney for Governor, Communication Director
whitneyforgov.org
PO Box 3803
Carbondale, IL 62902
Campaign Phone: (618) 528-VOTE


Abortion, gay rights debates leave conservatives out

Blagojevich, Topinka share same general philosophies>

Depending on where you fit on the political spectrum, the proverbial glass is either nearly full or just about empty when it comes to the issues of abortion and gay rights in this fall’s governor’s race.

For liberals, Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich and Republican challenger Judy Baar Topinka share the same general philosophies on the two hot-button topics.

For conservatives, the pickings are kind of slim. Both Blagojevich and Topinka support abortion rights and oppose a state constitutional ban on gay marriage.

“Some (conservative) voters may come to the conclusion that Topinka is a little better because she supports parental notification (of teenage abortions),” said Paul Caprio, director of Family PAC, a Chicago-based family values group. “Other voters who have a more demanding standard, they may say, ‘No, I’m not voting in that race.’æ”

Given their similarities on the big-picture questions, it’s really a matter of the nitty-gritty details that separate Blagojevich and Topinka on abortion and gay rights.

On abortion, the key difference is, as Caprio mentioned, parental notification of teenage abortions.

Blagojevich opposes the measure, but Topinka supports it. “Today, a child in Illinois cannot be given an aspirin at school without parental approval, but we would allow that same child to go to a stranger and have an invasive medical procedure without her family even being informed,” Topinka said in response to a Daily Herald candidate questionnaire.

Illinois lawmakers passed such a law in 1995, but it never went into effect because the state Supreme Court did not put into place rules to allow for a judge to bypass the parents’ consent in favor of a guardian in cases of incest or abuse. Topinka’s lieutenant governor running mate, DuPage County State’s Attorney Joe Birkett, is leading a petition drive to pressure the state’s high court to write those rules.

The two also disagree on taxpayer-funded abortions for poor women on Medicaid, with Blagojevich supporting the practice and Topinka opposing except for cases where the mother’s health and safety are at risk.

Blagojevich issued an emergency rule requiring pharmacists to dispense the so-called “morning-after” pill without “lecture, hassle or delay,” the governor pointed out on his questionnaire. Topinka said she would have brought in pharmacists to try to work out “reasonable guidelines” to account for pharmacists’ moral objections to the emergency contraception.

Blagojevich’s action may have alienated some pharmacists, but it won him plaudits among abortion rights activists.

“Outside of the state of Illinois, he is known as one of the most pro-choice governors and has done more to protect women’s reproductive health than just about anyone,” said Terry Cosgrove, president of Chicago-based Personal PAC, which, like Planned Parenthood, has endorsed Blagojevich.

When asked whether Topinka’s support for abortion rights gains her any points with his group, Cosgrove cites her support of parental notification laws, which Personal PAC opposes. “She’s trying to have it both ways and it isn’t going to fly,” he said.

Indeed, on abortion, Topinka seems to have put herself in a tricky political position because neither liberals nor conservatives like where she stands. But Topinka argues it’s part of the reason she’ll be able to attract moderate suburban women voters, calling her views on abortion “common sense.”

Blagojevich and Topinka both support embryonic stem cell research, with Blagojevich tucking $15 million for research into the state budget the last two years despite lawmakers’ objections. “I believe that stem cell research is a largely untapped medical resource that may lead to cures for painful diseases, ranging from cancer to Parkinson’s disease,” Blagojevich said.

Topinka criticized Blagojevich’s end-run around lawmakers as “deceptive” and said she’d only support taxpayer money for such research if the budget crisis is solved.

On gay rights, both candidates oppose gay marriage but support civil unions. Blagojevich signed into law a measure to add sexual orientation to the list of categories protected from discrimination in jobs and housing, a plan Topinka supported. Both also said they would have voted “no” if the statewide advisory referendum to ban gay marriage via constitutional amendment had stayed on the Nov. 7 ballot.

Green Party candidate Rich Whitney of Carbondale holds the most liberal position of the governor candidates on gay rights. He’s the only one who thinks that gay and lesbian couples should be allowed to marry.

“The fact is there is nothing sacred about what the government calls ‘marriage,’æ” Whitney wrote in his questionnaire. “What the state called ‘marriage’ is primarily based on contract law.”

Whitney also lines up with Blagojevich on abortion issues.