A SWITCH IN TINE:

Oberweis launches campaign on tax-cut, growth platform (THOMAS ROESER, June 4, 2005, Chicago Sun-Times)

Jim Oberweis, the conservatives' sentimental favorite for governor, has begun his campaign for the GOP nomination by pledging to cut income taxes and grow the economy on the supply-side model pioneered by Ronald Reagan. [...]

Oberweis trades on a grudge conservatives have with the Illinois GOP establishment. He has run twice for the U.S. Senate and lost, once talking about illegal immigration in language that brought charges that he is anti-Hispanic -- which he denies. Although he placed second in the 2004 Senate race, Oberweis was denied the nomination after front-runner Jack Ryan was forced to withdraw -- the word being that the White House disapproved of Oberweis' immigration stance.

But his political career resembles that of Wisconsin's William Proxmire. A Democrat, Proxmire ran for governor unsuccessfully in 1952, 1954 and 1956 in what then was a solidly Republican state. He never became governor, but won a special election in 1957 to succeed the late Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy. Once in office, Proxmire so endeared himself to voters with a blend of progressive and conservative themes that he handily won re-election, slowly turning the state Democratic.

Oberweis believes that in Democrat-controlled Illinois, his beliefs must be stated unceasingly. In essence, he told me, he intends to lead a three-pronged electoral revolution.

Note that nativism isn't one of the three.

Posted by Orrin Judd at June 4, 2005 10:09 AM