Roger Keats really does like Toni Preckwinkle. Honest.
The Republican nominee for Cook County Board President says she’s a nice lady who would be a better choice than Todd Stroger.
But, he says, “She’s part of ‘the club.’” Preckwinkle may tout her independence, Keats says, but she’s bankrolled by unions and will be supported by the state’s top Democrats come November. Keats, a former state senator himself, says that balances out her claims of independence.
Keats, a Wilmette resident who raised $18,624 in 2009 and $2,400 so far 2010, is a fundraising David to Preckwinkle’s Goliath (though he expects his deep-pocketed friends to come through for him).
Much of Preckwinkle’s money and support comes from unions that employ 24,000 people in Cook County. That, he says, is the stone in his slingshot.
“How, if she should win, how does she get anything she wants done, if she’s beholden to" unions and party regulars? he asks. “How does a member of the club do what needs to be done? That’s what the issue is.”
Keats, who vows to rollback the sales tax hike on Day One and wants to eliminate unqualified patronage workers immediately, ran a low-key campaign, besting Chicago policeman John Garrido.
But now that the primary is over, he’s going to take a few days off to rest his ailing back. Then he says it’s time to paint Preckwinkle as a tool of the Democratic Machine.
“The theme of the campaign is ‘changing which member of the club is running the board doesn’t change that the club is running the board,’” he says.
But even though Keats reiterates his bipartisan record and his experience in rooting out corruption, it might not be enough, political analysts say. In fact, that Preckwinkle is not Todd Stroger might just be enough for her to win.
“For a lot of people in Cook County, based on their vote total on Tuesday, not being Todd Stroger was good enough,” says political consultant Thom Serafin.
“I would say the election is basically over,” says longtime political observer Russ Stewart. “Keats is a very personable man, (but) the point is against (Terrence) O’Brien or Stroger or (Dorothy) Brown, he could have generated some support among blacks. That’s not going to happen with Preckwinkle.”
Serafin says Republican and independent voters that might flock to Keats amid dissatisfaction with Democrats won’t have the numbers to push Keats over the edge. And Keats, who served in Springfield for 16 years before taking a two-decade break from politics, will have to reestablish himself.
“He’s going to have to separate himself from that history and connect himself to the future,” Serafin says. “He’s really go to be a 2020 candidate for today.”
Another factor that will likely play in not just the Cook County race, but the gubernatorial and Congressional races, is the Blagojevich factor. The former governor, re-indicted on 24 counts of corruption yesterday, has pledged to put the spotlight on the party that abandoned him.
“When you think of the 2010 election for Democrats, you’re going to be thinking Rod Blagojevich for much of the campaign,” Serafin says. “It’s the backdrop in the election. …It’s going to have an impact on everyone.”
Keats is almost giddy talking about how Blagojevich could affect the race.
“You know how bitter that guy is? He’s going to start talking and he’s going to open up,” he says.
What he’ll have to say about Preckwinkle and “the club” is anyone’s guess. But Keats will be listening carefully.