Many Democrats complain about Greens spoiling Gore in 2000. How do they feel about a Democrat spoiling another Democrat? A Democrat in CD6 is planning to run as an independent turning it into a 3 way race.
Democrats in Illinois have the power to enact Instant Runoff Voting to end the "spoiler" problem; so far they haven't even introduced the legislation.
This is too bad because there is a Democrat Governor and the legislature is controlled by Democrats.
Now the Greens have entered the Governor's race. How many races before progressive Democrats work to end the "spoiler" problem.
Independent could be Bean's foil, or spoiler
By Jonathan E. Kaplan
Bill Scheurer, an anti-war, pro-union, anti-abortion independent candidate, has the potential either to spoil or boost Illinois Rep. Melissa Bean's chances for reelection in November.
Scheurer lost to Bean in the 2004 Democratic primary but is benefiting from labor unions' anger with Bean for siding with Republicans on a host of economic issues, including tort reform and trade. Bean's vote for the Central America Free Trade Agreement was the last straw with labor unions and good-government advocacy groups that vowed to defeat a group of 15 Democrats who crossed the aisle.
The Machinists and Teamsters unions have invested $10,000 in Scheurer's long-shot bid; the money accounts for half of what he has in his campaign coffers. In the fourth quarter of 2005, only the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and a local affiliate of the International Union of Operation Engineers donated to Bean's campaign, according to politicalmoneyline.com.
"We would be willing to accept the temporary consequences of losing in the short term. Of course, there is no better spoiling than winning," Scheurer said when asked if he was comfortable with the prospect that his candidacy could throw the seat into Republican hands.
"We in some sense refer to Melissa Bean as a spoiler," he added. "She can't win no matter what because she's alienated her base that put her there."
Moreover, the Teamsters have endorsed Robert Churchill, who is vying for the Republican nomination against Kathy Salvi and David McSweeney. Salvi is married to former Illinois GOP Senate candidate and trial lawyer Al Salvi, who practices law with Peter Roskam, the GOP candidate for Congress in Illinois's 6th District. McSweeney is a wealthy businessman closely allied with Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.).
Republicans view Bean's win in 2004 as a fluke, and they are thrilled at the prospect that Scheurer might earn a spot on the ballot. Bean won by 9,000 votes, or four percentage points, defeating Rep. Phil Crane (R-Ill.), who ran a lackluster campaign.
"Bean smote the hand that fed her in the 2004 election, and without Big Labor in her corner she'll have a further shrunken coalition in an overwhelmingly Republican district," said Jonathan Collegio, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC).
Not surprisingly, Democrats say it is a sign of weakness among Republicans that they are hyping Scheurer's candidacy. "What does that demonstrate? Do they have such a weak bench of their own candidates that they would really waste their time promoting someone who is not their own candidate?" a Democratic political operative said.
Although Bean has fallen out of favor with labor unions -- only $152,000 of the $1.4 million she has raised comes from labor -- she is well-organized and confident. So far, the campaign has not acknowledged Scheurer, and her allies dismiss him as a political opportunist because he has refused to rule out the possibility that he might run as a Democrat in 2008.
Bean's allies noted that Scheurer had changed his views on abortion since running as a Democrat in favor of abortion rights in 2004. Scheurer says that is true.
"As a Democrat, I was pro-choice as a matter of law and pro-life as a matter of conscience," he said. "In the spring and summer, I began to consider more deeply the rights of the unborn child."
Indicating Bean and her allies might try to portray Scheurer, Salvi or McSweeney as extremists, Democrats also said that running against an anti-abortion candidate in a district where economic issues trump social concerns could help Bean further solidify her position as a centrist Democrat.
"An extremist on either side won't be bad because it will reinforce that she represents the moderate views of the district," the political operative said.
A Chicago-based Democratic political consultant who is not involved in the race said, "Voters in the 8th Congressional District are very comfortable with Melissa. This issue with the more liberal interest groups that have a problem with her has not filtered down to real voters. She's been voting her district, which is never a bad thing."