Cutting and Pasting the Illinois Senate Candidates

I received a message from Senator Dick Durbin. It was a surprise.

Anyone who has e-mailed a senator or a representative gets the impression that these old guys are hiding under their desks frightened that they will get snagged in one of these "internets" and exiled to an electronic wilderness.

You would think that these politicians would hire some savvy intern to cut and paste a "thank you" letter. We'd all feel better about ourselves.

Durbin's question was on the oil spill. I had sent it early on in the crisis. He told me that the well was capped a month ago. He was determined that BP would pay for all the damages. It was very polite and very late.

I would hope that the candidates that are coming before us would be accessible and utilizing technology to communicate with us.

So, I visited our two senatorial candidates to discover what we could expect.

Mark Kirk's website wants you to sign-up and donate. There is a huge menu on the right that leads off with "contribute".

I clicked on "fact check". We have a couple of pages about Alexi Giannoulias being a reprehensible individual He played basketball in GREECE! Kirk answers all charges that Giannoulias has tossed at him.

Ah, there it is "issues" on a light blue tool bar on the top of the page. It doesn't seem that he wants you to go here.

Agriculture. He is for Illinois farmers.

Ethics and Reform. He is against corrupt politicians. He wants to set a new course. He starts by re-stating his bio achievements.

Fiscal Responsibility. He was against the Pelosi stimulus and successfully removed a plan to re-sod the National Mall for $200 million. He wants to restore fiscal responsibility.

Getting Illinois Working Again. He is for this. He wants to take us in a new direction, preferably up. He wants something different. He wants to lower taxes and modernize our airports and railroads, invest in alternative industry and support small business.

Health Care. He wants to protect us from the government. Maintain Medicare and Social Security. Cheaper insurance. Cut waste, fraud and abuse.

National Security. He seems to reiterate the statements he was challenged on concerning his service. He wants more border patrol officers, more TSA agents, more fences. He wants to stop Iran's nuclear program and no new taxes.

Veterans? He wants to honor them. He wants to expand their opportunities. To his credit he acknowledges that are homeless veterans that need our help.

And he wants no new taxes!

Giannoulias' website seems a little cleaner. The first thing you see is that he is a fighter. Then he has vision. He has a plan to create jobs. The ever present "contribute" comes next.

Up top, a little more visible than Kirk's site is the "issues" tab.

Alexi has sixteen issues to pick from. He is a busy boy. Let's do the ones that Kirk thinks is important.

Agriculture. Giannoulias calls this "rural issues" He is for farmers too. His essay is a little rhapsodic, speaking of the heartland being the backbone. Since Giannoulias supports the arts he may have the creative writers on his staff.

Ethics. No ethics for Giannoulias. He doesn't want to bring up Blagojevich or his family business. He wants to "reform Washington" with his new transparent, ethical operation in Washington.

Fiscal Responsibility. Economy is the title here. He is going to fight for small business and cut taxes. He has six subheadings of "future works". He is going to restore fiscal sanity too.

Getting Illinois Working. He is going to support Illinois workers, get us good jobs and end unfair trade agreements. It seems that he is particularly upset with China.

Health Care. He wants to build on the health care bill. He is in favor of a non-profit option.

National Security. Foreign policy? He is for more troops in Afghanistan. Immigration? He wants more troops on the borders.

Other headings he addresses are: arts and culture, balancing work and family, education, climate change, LGBT equality, urban agenda and women's issues.

He is for veterans too.

The only e-mails that they want from me are the one that includes my contribution.The post office must've lost that e-mail too.