Beacon Blog

Ask one of the guys who ran for Mayor of Aurora about how polls reflect what the voting populace is really thinking...

Also ask Blair Hull about the effectiveness of tossing a lot of your own money into a primary.

REPLY FROM MIKE CETERA:

Hey OneMan, thanks for posting. And, yes, feel free to exhale. I'm happy to give some pub to a blog that doesn't rely on ripping off copyrighted material and ridiculous spin to make its point. So, to everyone out there, check out One Man's Thoughts.

I also read some of the comments over at Capitol Fax about this issue, and I guess I just don't get it. What's the point of taking a poll if it doesn't "reflect what the voting populace is really thinking?" In other words, why would candidates waste their money if polls aren't accurate?

And, for every Blair Hull, there's a Peter Fitzgerald. Didn't he spend more than $6 million of his own money to beat State Comptroller Loleta Didrickson in the 1998 Republican U.S. Senate primary?

Your right about Fitzgerald but he also at least held elective office and had a bit of base to start from.

The problem is if he tosses a million dollars at the primary and Linda runs he is going to have to spend some of that money to bring her down a notch. That may help him win the primary but also cost him some votes in Aurora if he makes it to the second round.

Also it seems that locally political success is more about relationships than anything else at some level. It will be interesting to see how a million dollars helps with that.

Regardless it should be fun to watch.

Hi Mike,

First off thanks for covering this race - and I appreciate the notice you gave me a few days ago. I really do believe the 14th District Congressional race may be one of the most exciting races in the area.

I think it's really misleading to portray Bill Foster as discussed above - he's a long-time district resident (moving into the Fox Valley area in 1984 and raising a family; working at Fermi Lab for 22 years; and seeing his son graduate from Batavia High School and his daughter graduate from Aurora's Illinois Math and Science Academy). His roots are substantial. Having met him and talked with him for a good hour plus, I can say he comes across as very down to earth, informed and serious about running for office.

What's been Bill's method of operation his adult life? He finds what he wants to do, he does the work necessary and he is successful and committed in what he does. The examples:

- In 1975, 19 year-old Bill and his brother borrowed $500 from their parents and created in their basement Electronic Theatre Controls, a theater lighting manufacturing company with a current market share of more than 50% in the U.S. - and one that has 500 good-paying mid-western jobs. Bill could have sat on his laurels with the company - he didn't.

- Bill went to Harvard and graduated with a PhD in Physics in 1984. He then moved to the Fox Valley area to work at Fermi Lab - designing equipment, managing multi-million dollar construction and research projects and participating in cutting-edge physics experiments and discoveries. Bill could have retired after 22 years as a very accomplished scientist - he didn't.

- Bill was concerned about the direction the country was taking under George Bush and hearkened back to his family political roots. Bill's father was both a scientist and a civil rights lawyer who helped write the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964. Bill's mother worked for Illinois Senator Paul H. Douglas and, among other accomplishments, helped Illinois police officers get college degrees and helped college students become police officers. Bill went to a Democratic congressional candidate gathering to see the candidates and, after some research on them, decided to volunteer for Iraqi War Veteran Patrick Murphy's campaign in 2006. Bill worked a number of campaign positions, came up with an innovative way of maximizing campaign voter contact, and despite being in a historically Republican district - Democrat Murphy won. Bill then worked for Murphy as an aide in Washington, learning the nuts and bolts of legislation and helping write some.

Then Bill came home and commissioned the poll you mention above to see if he could win in his home congressional district and help address some of the important challenges this country faces - challenges that have been neglected. The results were pretty positive for a Democrat - people are looking for a new direction and wants action on getting out of the Iraq War, on making health care more accessible and affordable and on restoring fiscal responsibility among other issues. Bill has found what he wants to do - and he has begun the work necessary to do it - working on a congressional campaign and with a congressman, commissioning the poll, assembling a quality campaign and devoting his own money to the race. It won't be an easy race - but I wouldn't bet against Bill. If past is prologue, Bill is successful in what he does.