GOP gains traction in Jesse Jackson Jr.’s district
By SOPHIA TAREEN
The Associated Press
Monday, October 11, 2010; 7:35 PM
SOUTH HOLLAND, Ill. — Isaac Hayes, a conservative Republican challenging U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., is getting more attention lately – and not just because he shares a name with the soul legend known for the “Shaft” theme.
More revelations about Jackson’s links to the corruption case of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich and a relationship he had with a female “social acquaintance” have given Hayes an opening in the reliably Democratic and largely black district that Jackson won with nearly 90 percent of the vote two years ago.
Hayes suddenly is getting notice from national Republicans and is being mentioned often on black radio stations. While political experts see him as unlikely to score an upset in November, he could benefit from voter sentiment about Jackson’s troubles.
“There has to be a change,” Hayes said. “People are saying ‘enough is enough.'”
Emma Pouncy, a 66-year-old retiree in the 2nd Congressional District, which covers Chicago’s South Side and south suburbs, voted for Jackson over the years because of his work for a third area airport and because of his family’s civil rights legacy, namely his father the Rev. Jesse Jackson. But now she says she won’t vote at all, citing the Blagojevich corruption allegations and affair.
“He was dependable, everybody thought he was a nice guy,” she said. “But things change. We can only take so much.”
The AP reporter needs to be asked to buy the Brooklyn Bridge.
A new poll conducted in Illinois 2nd Congressional District finds that incumbent Democratic Congressman Jesse Jackson has a 47-point lead over his closest challenger, and 48 percent of the voters view him unfavorably.
According to the poll, conducted by Lake Research Partners, and paid for by Jackson’s reelection campaign, 58 percent of voters support Jackson, compared to 11 percent supporting Republican Isaac Hayes and 6 percent supporting Green Party candidate Anthony Williams. Twenty-five percent of the voters were undecided a month before the election.
According to the poll, 67 percent of the voters believe Jackson cares about people like them; 63 percent say he gets things done; 58 percent say he has worked hard to make the economy stronger in the district and 54 percent say he shares their values.
If I lived in the District, I’d vote Green for the record. However, this let’s write a story about how some crappy candidate has a chance against an incumbent who is in every reasonable mind going to crush the opponent is bad journalism. See also, too, Jonathan Pollack.
The 11% supporting Isaac Hayes think he’s the singer. Maybe the AP reporter is from out of town. And by out of town I mean Australia or Japan.