From The Chicago Sun-Times:

Big guns behind Birkett

October 31, 2002

BY LYNN SWEET WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF

The issue of gun control is being played out the most in Illinois in the down-to-the-wire race for attorney general between Republican Joe Birkett and Democrat Lisa Madigan. It's a factor to a lesser degree in the contest for governor with Democrat Rod Blagojevich and the GOP's Jim Ryan. Birkett is running with the backing of the major anti-gun control groups.

Gun control is a complicated issue in Illinois, often cutting across party lines. It's far different than in 1998 when Gov. Ryan, then the GOP nominee, blistered Democrat Glenn Poshard for his anti-gun control record.

To put it simply--and in general--voters in northern Illinois favor restrictions on gun ownership, while the opposite is true in Downstate. Blagojevich's overall lackluster record in Congress has a strong exception in his work on gun control. He was one of the first in the nation to propose to close the gun show loopholes, and his legislative cause was taken up by the Clinton White House. But that won't help sell Blagojevich in southern Illinois.

Illinois' biggest congressional race is in a Downstate district where two incumbents, Democrat David Phelps and Republican John Shimkus, are fighting for their political survival. Both are running as solid pro-gun candidates, and each has an "A'' rating from the National Rifle Association's Political Victory Fund.

In the last weeks of the 2002 campaign, a Virginia group that opposes gun control, the Law Enforcement Alliance of America, has injected itself into races in Illinois, Mississippi, Maryland, Kansas, Nevada and Texas. It's pumped a lot of money into Illinois, but there's no way for the public to know this because it seeks to avoid disclosure laws by running "public education'' campaigns that are thinly disguised political ads. No one has a clue where the LEAA gets its money from.

Madigan's campaign--and all the candidates do this--monitors television ad buys. In the first two weeks of October the LEAA, according to Madigan's tracking, spent $1.3 million for spots in media markets covering Chicago, Peoria, Rockford, Champaign-Springfield, the Quad Cities, St. Louis and Paducah, with the last two out-of-state markets watched in central and southern Illinois.

The LEAA ads do not mention guns, but tout Birkett's experience as a prosecutor, slam Madigan's resume, and take a hit at her father, House Speaker Michael J. Madigan, whose fund-raising made Madigan a viable candidate. The significance of the LEAA buy cannot be overlooked because Madigan, as of Wednesday, has collected $4.7 million to Birkett's $2.1 million. The LEAA bankroll helps Birkett try to catch up to Madigan's media blitz. Birkett said his campaign has nothing to do with the LEAA, and he opposes it on one of its issues, the right to carry a concealed weapon.

The LEAA, however, seems to have more than an anti-gun control agenda. It is taking sides in attorney general and judicial races and not in the elections that may have the most influence on gun policy, such as contests for governor and state legislatures. According to an article in Sunday's Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, Miss., the LEAA is the biggest contributor in a race for Mississippi Supreme Court justice. Wednesday's Wall Street Journal pegged the LEAA spending on the high court race in Mississippi at $500,000.

The spending is designed to aid the candidate favored by business groups. The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence calls the LEAA a front for the NRA, because the NRA provided "seed money'' when the group was founded in 1991. But the LEAA also may be a front for conservative business interests who do want tort reform--and trial lawyers are major backers of both Madigans.

The NRA's political committee marked Blagojevich with a "F'' and gives Madigan a "D'' rating while handing Jim Ryan a "B+'' and Birkett an "A.'' The Illinois State Rifle Association Political Victory Fund is sitting out the governor's race but endorses Birkett. The ISRA did a mailing for Birkett last September, spending $3,557 on his behalf.

If you are undecided about whom to vote for in the attorney general's race, when it comes to gun issues, Tuesday's election offers a clear choice. Madigan is not the one running with the support of the ISRA and the NRA.

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