Blowing in the wind - profile of Illinois governor James R. Thompson

National Review, Nov 24, 1989 by John R. Coyne, Jr.

Thompson's anointed Republican successor is Jim Edgar, the Illinois Secretary of State, who, although pro-choice in Phyllis Schlafly's home state, otherwise gets passing grades from conservatives for consistency and firmness. His Democratic opponent is Attorney General Neill Hartigan, who it is said takes his marching orders from Speaker Mike Madigan.

So far, both candidates have talked a lot about new faces and new ideas for a new century. But the fact is that neither face is particularly fresh, both men having been immersed in regular Illinois politics since the early 1970s.

Neither candidate likes taxes, but neither will specifically criticize the most recent hikes, and neither likes drugs--or, presumably, takes them. So far, the only non-blue-sky action has been on the abortion issue. Edgar has won no friends on the Right for his pro-choice position, and many right-to-lifers would go to war for a candidate like, say, Donald Rumsfeld. But Edgar apparently has the nomination locked up, and he is given grudging credit for being consistent and forthright in his position.

Not so Hartigan, who tends to certain Hamlet-like fits and starts. After the requisite soul-searching plus a bit more, he came up with a modified pro-choice position of his own. However, pro-choicers thought he'd searched too long and found his position suspiciously gooey, while right-to-lifers were angered by what they saw as inconsistency with his past performance in federal courtrooms. And now Hartigan is involved as Attorney General in a well-publicized and protracted abortion-clinic case before the U.S. Supreme Court, the resolution of which will please neither side. In the meantime, Hartigan seems in the odd position of carrying on a divisive public debate with himself.

At the moment, Hartigan's best hope may be Senator Paul Simon, who will be heading up the 1990 Democratic ticket in the state. According to the polls Simon's coattails are much longer today than they were a year ago, when it was felt that his premature run for the Presidency was personally and politically insulting to Jesse Jackson. But Jackson's move to D.C. and the perceived cronyism implicit in his initial stance on school reform have badly undercut his claim to favorite-son status as a serious presidential candidate.

Nor does Simon's announced Republican opponent, Representative Lynn Martin, appear up to the task of unseating him, even though the Republican National Committee has sent in Roger Ailes and Robert Teeter to try to lead a desperation charge. Early on, Representative Martin shot herself in the foot by referring to downstate voters as "rednecks," thereby allowing Simon, a downstate intellectual, to woo the redneck vote with justifiable indignation. (Miss Martin's campaign is nicely captured by a cartoon in Crain's Chicago Business which shows her bending over a baby carriage. The caption is "Lynn Martin on the Campaign Trail." Candidate Martin is saying: "My, what an ugly baby.")

But Thompson is not expected to involve himself significantly in any of the 1990 contests. Rumors still swirl around him, as they did from his first day in office, when an aide observed that the only next step was the White House, and many in the media agreed. A few here believe that he may yet be offered the Vice Presidency in a second Bush run. Others believe he is in line to succeed Richard Thornburgh, who once gave us Richard S. Schweiker and is now reportedly similarly confused at Justice. Other high federal appointments are also mentioned, among them the Supreme Court. But the smart money says that he'll take one of those offers from Chicago law firms eager to use his name, and spend some time making money.