Voters, though, might have reason to question either candidate’s long-term commitment to them. Seals still lives a couple of blocks outside the district — he says he can’t afford to move into the 10th. Footlik just recently returned to the area, renting a home in Buffalo Grove.
You’d think Dold and gang might be familiar with the history of the father of modern conservatism:
His support for free trade with Ireland and his advocacy of Catholic emancipation were unpopular with his constituents and caused him to lose his seat in 1780. For the remainder of his parliamentary career, Burke sat for Malton, another pocket borough controlled by Rockingham.
The point not being that Dan is the reincarnation of Edmund Burke, but that living a few blocks away from a District or even renting a house there isn’t much of an issue–it certainly isn’t for Melissa Bean who still doesn’t live in IL-8 and yet the Trib doesn’t bring it up.
When it’s Alan Keyes, that’s a bit different, but given the highly gerrymandered districts in Illinois, it’s hard to make a compelling case that a few blocks matters and neither the Bean nor the Duckworth races offer much evidence that voters care about residency as much as they do about whether a person actually represents them.
But how about a guy who won’t return calls on the war for over a month? Which matters more? A few blocks or a war?