Clash of opposites in marquee Illinois race

Celebrity versus the numbers
If in fact the primary election turnout numbers reflected the general electorate, and there are 35 percent fewer Democratic voters than Republicans in this district, then Duckworth will have to exert powerful cross-over appeal.

Introducing herself to Dorry La Spisa, who was having breakfast Wednesday in the Rainbow Diner in Elmhurst with her teenaged daughter, Duckworth began with an advantage: she’s already famous.

La Spisa said, “I’ve seen pictures of her in the newspaper and on TV. I knew her face, I didn’t just look down” — meaning at her artificial legs. Then La Spisa asked a reporter, “Who’s she running against?” and got into a conversation with Duckworth which reflected the reality that some voters don’t distinguish between state and national elections.

“What happened to the state lottery money that was supposed to go to schools?” La Spisa asked Duckworth.

Showing the anti-incumbent mood that seems to be percolating this year, La Spisa complained to Duckworth about Gov. Rod Blagojevich, a Democrat, who La Spisa  accused of making misleading promises about universal kindergarten for the state’s children.

Then she and Duckworth discussed Iraq.

“I want to bring our people home; I want to do it responsibly; I don’t want to just leave tomorrow because it would turn into a pit of chaos,” Duckworth told her. “But on the other hand, I think the Iraqis have a responsibility to make decisions to stop killing each other.”

Duckworth said one of the bridesmaids at her wedding is now flying helicopters in Iraq. “I want her home,” Duckworth told La Spisa, who voiced sympathy for those who joined the National Guard without thinking they might be ordered to Iraq.

“As a member of the National Guard I was proud to go when my country called and said we needed to be there… I just don’t think the politicians are making as big a sacrifice as the people serving over there,” Duckworth said.

“Definitely not,” agreed La Spisa. When asked for whom she voted in 2004, La Spisa said, “Not Bush.”

From life experience to legislation
Duckworth has a knack for making vivid anecdotes — the events of her life — illustrate the policy points she wants to make.

She says civilians should get the high-quality medical care which she and other wounded soldiers have gotten.

“I think about what would have happened if I lost my legs in a car accident driving on (Interstate) 290 going to work one day. My husband and I would be bankrupt and I would be sitting in a wheelchair. I wouldn’t be up and walking. My artificial leg that I wear on my right-hand side is a brand-new state-of-the-art computerized knee that health insurance will not pay for, because it is considered a luxury.” She said the leg costs about $80,000.

So if elected to Congress, how would she get insurers to pay for such things?

She gave no direct answer, instead argued that billions of dollars could be saved through bulk purchasing of pharmaceuticals, which the Medicare law doesn’t allow.

“Those are the things that I think keep cost of our medicine high --  because we’ve allowed industries to dictate to us,” she said.

So does Duckworth favor government-imposed cost controls on medical and pharmaceutical companies? “I don’t know,” she replied. “My instinct is to say ‘no’ because I’m a firm believer in market forces, but I think there are things we can do to bring in cost savings such as bulk purchasing.”

A dividing issue
Hyde is famous for the Hyde amendment which forbids the Medicaid program for low-income people from paying for abortions for women who can’t afford them.

But Duckworth said she disagrees with Hyde. “I’m a firm supporter of privacy rights and that includes a woman’s right to choose. I don’t think we should penalize poor women for being poor and take away their right to choose.”

Roskam opposes abortion except when necessary to say the life of the mother.

As for the investigations of alleged manipulation of pre-war intelligence that Democratic leaders have promised if they gain a House majority, Duckworth said, “I’m less focused on whether or not the intelligence we got was accurate than I am on trying to bring my friends home.”

And how will she bring them home? “Continue to train up the Iraqi security forces,” she said. “What I sense from people in the Sixth District is they want us to finish well, they don’t want to have an arbitrary date,” Roskam said. “The cost of failure is too high.”

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