Needed: ‘Third voice’ in political coverage

March 24, 2006
By Billy Dennis

Kudos to Molly Parker for her post-election follow-up on the Edwin Eisendrath very strong showing against Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

Eisendrath did almost no campaigning in Central Illinois and had no resources for a decent media campaign. Yet he captured 30 percent of the vote to Blago’s 70 percent, and actually won in Champaign, Cumberland, Edgar, Effingham and Wayne counties.

Obviously, there’s some dissatisfaction with Blago, ’cause Edwin didn’t earn those votes on his own merits.

I liked this quote:

“If I were Blagojevich, I would be extremely worried given the fact that he ran against someone who gave no alternative other than he wasn’t Blagojevich,” said Paul Green, a political science professor at Roosevelt University in Chicago.

“It was certainly an anti-Blagojevich vote, not a pro-Eisendrath vote,” he said. “I would guess (Eisendrath) could walk down Main Street without a bodyguard in Peoria, and I’m sure he could walk into Big Al’s and not get recognized.”

The article is well-researched, with plenty of comments from politicians. But it is this quote from the political science professor I find interesting.

Objectivity is sometimes described as “getting both sides.” Well, some stories require more perspective than you can get from two opposing sides in a controversy. Sometimes it requires a “third side,” and quoting academics sometimes provides a objective and hopefully learned point of view.

The Journal Star doesn’t do nearly enough of this kind of coverage of Illinois politicsfor my taste. More than seven months remain between now and the general election, plenty of time for reporters assigned to the political beat to cultivate sources and contacts in the parties and the campaigns.

This website uses IntenseDebate comments, but they are not currently loaded because either your browser doesn't support JavaScript, or they didn't load fast enough.

Comments are closed.