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mojosmomOberweis proposed game of chance to challenge Topinka
By Carlos Sadovi and Liam Ford
Tribune staff reporters
Published March 18, 2006, 8:50 PM CST
At the end of a political campaign it's not uncommon for a candidate to grasp at straws, but Jim Oberweis literally proposed drawing straws to decide who should stay in the race for the Republican nomination for governor, two of his rivals said Saturday.
. . . [unrelated stuff about Blago]
As the GOP candidates for governor fanned out across the state on the final weekend of the campaign, contenders Bill Brady and Ron Gidwitz said Oberweis early last week proposed a game of chance to decide which of the three should stay in the race with front-runner Judy Baar Topinka. Brady and Gidwitz said the odds were heavily stacked in Oberweis' favor.
"He wanted 10 straws and Brady and I each would have one straw," Gidwitz said Saturday, before the Elmhurst St. Patrick's Day Parade. He said Oberweis wanted 10 straws "because he's the leader and because neither one of us is, in his mind, in contention."
Gidwitz, a Chicago businessman, called the request "absurd" but said Oberweis was "totally serious" about it. Brady, a state senator from Bloomington and, like Oberweis, a conservative, said he received a similar request to draw straws.
"He said, `If God wanted you to be the candidate, it wouldn't matter how many straws you have,'." Brady recalled Oberweis saying. "I said, `Jim, I'm not interested.' It's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. The people of Illinois need to decide who the nominee should be, not straws."
Oberweis said that he called Brady and Gidwitz and asked them to "pull out and support me" but refused to confirm the details. He said he was "stunned" Brady would discuss a private conversation.
"I've told you five times I had a private conversation," he told a reporter. "I don't intend to discuss it."
Separately, Brady and Topinka said it was the second time that Oberweis has proposed a drawing to determine the GOP contenders. Topinka said that at a December meeting at state Republican headquarters in Chicago, Oberweis suggested each contender draw the name of a statewide office out of a hat and run for the post.
"It leaves me stunned," Topinka said, calling Oberweis's latest request "bizarre." "Would you really want someone who does stuff like that to be the governor?" she asked.
By Carlos Sadovi and Liam Ford
Tribune staff reporters
Published March 18, 2006, 8:50 PM CST
At the end of a political campaign it's not uncommon for a candidate to grasp at straws, but Jim Oberweis literally proposed drawing straws to decide who should stay in the race for the Republican nomination for governor, two of his rivals said Saturday.
. . . [unrelated stuff about Blago]
As the GOP candidates for governor fanned out across the state on the final weekend of the campaign, contenders Bill Brady and Ron Gidwitz said Oberweis early last week proposed a game of chance to decide which of the three should stay in the race with front-runner Judy Baar Topinka. Brady and Gidwitz said the odds were heavily stacked in Oberweis' favor.
"He wanted 10 straws and Brady and I each would have one straw," Gidwitz said Saturday, before the Elmhurst St. Patrick's Day Parade. He said Oberweis wanted 10 straws "because he's the leader and because neither one of us is, in his mind, in contention."
Gidwitz, a Chicago businessman, called the request "absurd" but said Oberweis was "totally serious" about it. Brady, a state senator from Bloomington and, like Oberweis, a conservative, said he received a similar request to draw straws.
"He said, `If God wanted you to be the candidate, it wouldn't matter how many straws you have,'." Brady recalled Oberweis saying. "I said, `Jim, I'm not interested.' It's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. The people of Illinois need to decide who the nominee should be, not straws."
Oberweis said that he called Brady and Gidwitz and asked them to "pull out and support me" but refused to confirm the details. He said he was "stunned" Brady would discuss a private conversation.
"I've told you five times I had a private conversation," he told a reporter. "I don't intend to discuss it."
Separately, Brady and Topinka said it was the second time that Oberweis has proposed a drawing to determine the GOP contenders. Topinka said that at a December meeting at state Republican headquarters in Chicago, Oberweis suggested each contender draw the name of a statewide office out of a hat and run for the post.
"It leaves me stunned," Topinka said, calling Oberweis's latest request "bizarre." "Would you really want someone who does stuff like that to be the governor?" she asked.
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no subject
Date: 2006-03-20 08:15 pm (UTC)He secretly has a beverage fetish.
no subject
Date: 2006-03-20 08:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-20 08:23 pm (UTC)Wow! That's bizarre
Date: 2006-03-20 08:23 pm (UTC)And people say politifcs in California are carzy?
Date: 2006-03-20 08:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-20 08:49 pm (UTC)Kinky for Governor. How hard can it be? ;-)