SINCLAIR: If it’s billionaire vs. billionaire, I’m sitting election out
If next year’s election comes down to Bruce Rauner versus J.B. Pritzker, I’m not voting. I have not missed voting in 35 years, but I will not cast a vote for either man.
Why? I blame everybody. I blame the newspapers for reporting on the candidates’ wealth and declaring it news. How about giving equal coverage to the candidates running who don’t have silver spoons in their mouths?
I blame Springfield for allowing our campaigns to be financed with ridiculous sums of money. Billionaires give unlimited funds to their own campaigns, and precious dollars are thrown away every four years, even as state agencies that are broke fight to stay alive. How do you look a welfare recipient in the eye and tell them a TV commercial is more important than putting food on their table?
I blame the parties and the unions who have already endorsed Pritzker for one reason only: his money. It’s no secret that money leads, integrity follows.
And I blame the voters for not caring enough to research the candidates and decide on their own who gets their vote. We have already lost. If Rauner wins again, it’s four more years of gridlock. If Pritzker wins, it’s four more years of the Mike Madigan show. We are not a democracy if we allow the fate of 12.6 million people to be decided by a wealthy and influential few.
Scot Sinclair
Third Lake
