There's nothing like a Democrat scorned, The Hound always says. Take Lake County Democratic Party boss, state Sen. Terry Link of Waukegan. He's still in a snit over Sheriff Mark Curran jumping to the Republican Party.
So Link now has a candidate to fight fire with fire. He's tapped Waukegan criminal attorney Douglas Roberts to take on Curran, who once was a Waukegan criminal attorney and a Democrat. Says Link in today's Lake County News-Sun about Roberts' candidacy: "He's a real Democrat."
Like there's a litmus test for this in Lake County? A lot of Republicans running at the County Board level are actually Democrats in disguise, knowing they probably couldn't get elected in certain districts unless being a Republican. And, Curran, according to newsroom geezers, isn't the only Democrat who's jumped to the GOP side in past years.
Looks like Democrats' memories are as long as an elephant's. And, what happened to actual law enforcement types seeking the sheriff's job instead of lawyers? Maybe it's tough to make a living as a lawyer in a recession, eh?
Stay tuned. Candidate filing for countywide and state offices begins Monday in Waukegan and Springfield. The primaries are in February 2010 and the general election in November, which is when the real fun begins.
Old Terry has a little memory problem, or else he neglected to mention good old Larry TenPas' change to Dem. Of course, Larry always liked to play the spoiler and pretend to be a Republican to keep actual, serious competition from the GOB at election time. When he wanted to get a nice little 'promotion' he converted to the Dem party. Of course, maybe Link considers that to be like religious conversions, and not subject to his wraith.
THE HOUND SEZ: Waukegan Ald. Larry TenPas a Democrat? Makes sense, he lost his sense of fiscal responsibility when he switched parties. Just look at the financial mess the city of Waukegan is in.