Note to Dan Seals: Residency is a Serious Issue
Why doesn’t Democrat 10th District Congressional candidate Dan Seals think that living in the district which he wants to represent is a serious issue? According to a story in the Chicago Sun- Times, Seals said he couldn’t move into the district because he’s “not a millionaire.” When presented with evidence that there are a number of houses on the market located in the 10th Congressional District that sell for under $400,000, Seals dodged the residency issue, explaining that people wanted to focus on “serious issues.”
I can’t think of a more serious issue than the identity of the person who seeks who represent you in Congress. Dan Seals emerged three years ago in Wilmette fresh out of Washington, D.C. and the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago, without a lick of government experience, either locally or downstate, ready to be anointed as the Congressman from the North Shore. Local Democrats were happy to find a tall, affable Democrat with good social skills seeking their vote, even if he had not bothered to move into the district, or prepare himself for the job by of serving downstate or locally. They gave him a pass and never asked why he didn’t bother filing to run for office to represent the people of the district into which he had recently moved. In one of the best Democrat years on record, Seals garnered a good showing, but lost. Taking only a couple of months to catch his breath, he again started running for the same office, which should make his campaign , by the time the primaries roll around, one of the longest on record.
For those who think residency doesn’t matter, I would offer as evidence of Wilmette President, Chris Canning, a lifelong Wilmette resident, who has improved all aspects of government in the Village of Wilmette. There is only so much you can learn about a district by attending coffees in area homes of the politically active. In order to capably represent a district, to really care about an area and its people, you must have greater ties to bind you than a mortgage and a tax bill.
I can’t think of a more serious issue than the identity of the person who seeks who represent you in Congress. Dan Seals emerged three years ago in Wilmette fresh out of Washington, D.C. and the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago, without a lick of government experience, either locally or downstate, ready to be anointed as the Congressman from the North Shore. Local Democrats were happy to find a tall, affable Democrat with good social skills seeking their vote, even if he had not bothered to move into the district, or prepare himself for the job by of serving downstate or locally. They gave him a pass and never asked why he didn’t bother filing to run for office to represent the people of the district into which he had recently moved. In one of the best Democrat years on record, Seals garnered a good showing, but lost. Taking only a couple of months to catch his breath, he again started running for the same office, which should make his campaign , by the time the primaries roll around, one of the longest on record.
For those who think residency doesn’t matter, I would offer as evidence of Wilmette President, Chris Canning, a lifelong Wilmette resident, who has improved all aspects of government in the Village of Wilmette. There is only so much you can learn about a district by attending coffees in area homes of the politically active. In order to capably represent a district, to really care about an area and its people, you must have greater ties to bind you than a mortgage and a tax bill.
posted by Publia at 8:14 AM
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