Big guns pulled out for last minute stumping

Posted on October 11, 2018

U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Taylorville) (foreground) stands with Lt. Gov. Evelyn Sanguinetti and Decatur statehouse candidate Dan Caulkins at a news conference in Decatur to denounce Democratic gubernatorial candidate JB Pritzker Thursday (PHOTO:Dave Dahl)

By Dave Dahl

SPRINGFIELD– A high-profile visit at a high-dollar luncheon comes in the closing weeks of a Downstate Congressional race. Just don’t tell three-term incumbent U.S Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Taylorville) it’s a desperate move.

“I certainly wouldn’t say anybody’s desperate to have the Vice President of the United States come; it’s a great opportunity,” Davis tells WJBC News. “When you have people who are funding my opponent’s campaign, like Barbra Streisand and the Hollywood elites,and people in California, San Francisco, Massachusetts, we’ve got to be able to raise funds to get our message out, and the Vice President is the one who wanted to come help us do that.”

Davis’ Democratic opponent, Betsy Dirksen Londrigan, reports a $1,000 contribution from Streisand.

Pence headlines a country club luncheon Friday afternoon in Springfield.

Blogs

Labor Day – Expanding voting rights for all

By Mike Matejka Because of COVID, there is no Labor Day Parade this year. It’s always a great event for our everyday workers to march proudly down the street and enjoys the festive crowd. If there had been a parade, this year’s Labor Day theme was to be “150 years of struggle: your right to vote.” …

Is federal mobilization the answer?

By Mike Matejka As President Donald Trump threatens to send federal marshals into Chicago, over the objections of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, recall another Illinois Governor who protested the incursion of armed federal personnel into the city. Those federal troops, rather than calming, escalated the situation, leading to deaths and violence. Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay…

In these troubled times, to my fellow white Americans

By Mike Matejka Our nation is at a unique watershed in human relations. African-Americans have been killed too many times in the past before George Floyd, but the response to this man’s death is international and all-encompassing. I was a grade-schooler during the Civil Rights 1960s. I watched Birmingham demonstrators hosed and the Selma – Montgomery…

Workers’ Memorial Day – Remember those whose job took their life

Looking around our community, when we say employer, most will respond to State Farm, Country, or Illinois State University. We too often forget those who are building our roads, serving our food, or our public employees. COVID-19 has made us more aware of the risk. Going to work every day for some people means…