Within the last week the Chicago Tribune formally endorsed Bruce Rauner as its choice for governor in the upcoming election this November.
For a brief moment in time, the staff of The Xavierite entertained formally endorsing a candidate for governor, but then we considered a few things.
The first thing that we considered is that most of the student body at Saint Xavier University is probably not going to take political advice from its student newspaper over some other news source.
The second being that some staff members did not feel that they could adequately relay their feelings on politics given their lack of interest in the two candidates who are currently running.
The third is that most of us did not feel entirely comfortable endorsing either Republican businessman Rauner or incumbent Governor Pat Quinn. To many of us, this seemed like a battle where every outcoe would be a loss for Illinois.
Rauner may be a smart businessman – having recorded $60.1 million in earnings in 2013 according to the Chicago Tribune article “Rauner made $60.1 million last year, tax returns show” by Rick Pearson.
However, some of us were thrown by Rauner’s claim that he would remove Quinn’s income tax hike when he took office, but then said that he may have to keep it for a while but would remove it before he left office (this according to an ABC news report made by Charles Thomas on Oct. 13).
That seems to be back-tracking and a dodge for making progress on the bill.
Our staff, however, looked no more favorably on Quinn.
Some of us had seen the ad, paid for by Rauner, in which Quinn claims to be the “jobs governor.”
However, Illinois unemployment still ranks above the national average. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Illinois’s current unemployment rate sits at 6.8% compared to the national average of 6.2%. Compare that to neighboring states Indiana and Wisconsin, with unemployment rates at 5.9% and 5.8% respectively, 6.8% is much less impressive.
While neither the candidate nor the incumbent has us scrambling to reach the polls in November, their television and radio ads repulse us even further.
The political atmosphere created by attack ads makes going to the polls distasteful.
Who wants to vote for someone who for months has been personally attacking his opponent rather than actually discussing the issues that are important to our state? Not us.
We are not going to try to tell you readers who to vote for or even assume that you would listen to us if we gave you political advice.
But what we are going to tell you is that we are over this current election and that we could not tell you whom to vote for even if we wanted to.
The election to a few has even become white noise. No one is really saying anything. It is all just noise with no real message other than petty squabling.
So, on this year’s election Tuesday , when you step into the polling booth just know that you should try to pick between the lesser of two evils – whomever that may be for you.
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Here at The Xavierite we try to represent the thoughts and opinions of the study body and Saint Xavier community within our Viewpoints section.
If you feel that ther is a story that should have been covered and was not of if you have criticisms or concerns about our coverage, the best way to voice your opinion directly is through a Letter to the Editor.
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We are always searching for feedback. All thoughts and opinions are greatly appreciated.
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The Xavierite Staff
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