From today’s Sun-Times:
The bumper beat: Fans of former state Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka, who lost a bid to unseat Gov. Blago, tells Sneed they are going to produce bumper stickers stating: “Don’t blame me. I voted for Topinka.”
Those of us who advocated for “none of the above” during the 2006 campaign for governor are still very proud of Judy Baar Topinka’s miserable showing. She received less than 40% of the general election vote and won fewer votes than Alan Keyes had two years earlier. Just repeating those facts is enjoyable.
Had Topinka won, the Illinois Republican Party would be worse off than it is today – and thanks to Chairman Andy McKenna and the Republican State Central Committee’s leadership since then, that is really saying something.
She was pro-abortion, pro-radical “gay rights,” pro-gambling expansion, pro-tax increase, and that’s just the start. Here is a summary contrasting the Democrat and the “Republican” candidates from one of our posts during that period:
- Like Blagojevich, Topinka is pro-abortion.
- Like Blagojevich, Topinka opposes President Bush and the Republican Platform on the need to constitutionally protect traditional marriage.
- Like Blagojevich, Topinka supports special rights for homosexuals.
- Like Blagojevich, Topinka says “no one should be discriminated against” but can’t explain why this should not be taken as an endorsement of gay marriage (many gay couples obviously view inability to marry as discrimination).
- Like Blagojevich, Topinka thinks the “morning after pill” should be available without a prescription.
- Like Blagojevich, Topinka supports government funding of embryonic stem cell research.
- Like Blagojevich, Topinka has her own entry each year in Chicago’s Gay Pride Parade.
- Like Blagojevich, Topinka agrees that illegal immigrants should be able to obtain a driver’s license.
- Like Blagojevich, Topinka takes campaign money from contractors doing business with her state office.
- Like Blagojevich, Topinka helps Democrats more than Republicans.
- Unlike Blagojevich, Topinka has no internal Inspector General even looking for corruption in her state office.
- Unlike Blagojevich, no evidence that Topinka has even attempted to implement a “blind” hiring system to end political influence on state jobs.
- Unlike Blagojevich, Topinka won’t promise not to raise taxes.
- Unlike Blagojevich, Topinka wants to increase the number of state workers.
- Unlike Blagojevich, Topinka helped undermine a U.S. Senator for picking a corruption fighting U.S. Attorney.
- Unlike Blagojevich, Topinka has an excellent relationship with Democrat Chicago Ward Boss Dick Mell.
- Unlike Blagojevich, Topinka has demonstrated an obsession with the private life of others – as in the case of Jack Ryan.
- Unlike Blagojevich, Topinka has worked to remove delegate candidates supporting her Party’s Presidential nominee from the ballot.
- Unlike Blagojevich, Topinka has attempted to tell activists of her own Party to “cease and desist” calling themselves “Republican.”
- Unlike Blagojevich, Topinka destroys the Republican Party from the inside.
