Chicago's Candidates Mingle With Metra Commuters

In the weeks before the election, candidates both important and minor spend time at the Metra commuter rail stations hoping to meet, shake hands with, and charm people heading to work downtown. I've met numerous candidates for office, both important and minor.

Often, the campaigning at the train station involves passing out brochures and signs at the train stop. Other times, candidates are looking for signatures so that they can get on the ballot.

Some political candidates are memorable in a bad way: the bored looking park-district board candidate, the judicial candidate who supplied free coffee for everyone, and the guy who blocked commuters from boarding the waiting train so he could spend a few more seconds with them. Lucky for them, I can't remember their names.

But occasionally a candidate for office will stand out so well I remember meeting them, and their name, months or even years later. These are some of my favorite train-station political encounters.

Barack Obama
It was early 2004, and I was waiting for my train at the Elmhurst Metra station. This tall, gangly, soft-spoken guy was standing in the corner shaking hands and chatting with people. He was dressed business-casual like an ordinary commuter, in pants and a sweater.

It turned out this guy was Barack Obama, a Democratic candidate in the primary for the Illinois senate seat. I thought "Wow, what's this guy doing here? This is Republican territory." I admired Barack Obama's guts for showing up at a train station in a small Republican suburb.

I asked Barack Obama why he wanted to be a senator. I don't remember what he said, but I do remember how charismatic he was.

Tammy Duckworth
Seated in a wheelchair and without her prosthesis, Tammy Duckworth was holding court at the Elmhurst Metra station. It was 2006, and she was running for Peter Roskam's seat in the House of Representatives. A charismatic presence at the Elmhurst Metra station, she enthusiastically chatted with passers by.

Mostly, Tammy Duckworth told her life-story: graduate student at Northern Illinois University, Iraq war veteran, and disabled in the war.

When I asked why she wanted to be a representative to the US Congress, Tammy Duckworth said, without hesitation, that she wanted to improve life for veterans in the United States and advocate for them. Tammy Duckworth lost the election to Roskam but did better than I'd expected, considering that Elmhurst, and DuPage County, are traditional Republican territory.

Given Tammy Duckworth's answer at the Metra station, I was pleased when Obama appointed her as Assistant Secretary for Public and Intergovernmental Affairs in the United States Department of Veterans Affairs. It was obvious at the Metra station that she was focused on veterans' well-being.

Bill Brady
I met Bill Brady, a tall formally-dressed and well-groomed man in a suit, at Chicago's Olgilvie Transportation Center downtown. He was standing in the middle of the northern concourse, shaking hands with anyone who was willing a few days before the 2010 Republican gubernatorial primary.

I asked Bill Brady my standard question that week for Metra station candidates: "So, do you ride the train much? What do you think needs to be done to improve Metra?"

"I've never ridden the train," he answered. Bill Brady added that he really didn't know all that much about public transportation and Metra. I thought to myself, "Why are you here?"

I was severely disappointed when Bill Brady won the Republican primary. "Great," I thought. "Here's hoping he doesn't win the general election." Alas, as of August, Bill Brady holds a modest lead over Pat Quinn. That can't be good news for public transit.

Kirk Dillard
Republican candidate for governor Kirk Dillard charmed me so much at the Elmhurst Metra station that he almost made me sorry I was a Democrat and couldn't vote for him. Standing out in the cold in a coat, tie, and sweater, he was enthusiastically shaking hands and trying to flag down passers-by. His staff helped by pointing him out to people coming up the stairs.

"What do you think of Metra?" I asked Kirk Dillard.

"You know," he said. "I commuted to downtown on Metra from Hinsdale for many years. I liked riding the train. And I think it's important to make sure that public transit is maintained and well-funded." This in the midst of the then-recent talks about CTA budget cuts. He almost made me sorry I was voting in the other primary.