The top three Democratic U.S. Senate candidates faced off twice last week.
The first debate wasn’t televised, so the live audience was quite small. The second debate was televised, so the audience was bigger.
However, these debates don’t attract even a smidgen of the audience of presidential debates, when half the country often tunes in.
The object here is to generate video clips for TV ads and social media promotion and to manage conventional news coverage, which can then be used in ads. Like it or not, that’s where most people will be exposed to the debates.
Effectively conveying those messages requires money and creativity. U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., has so far raised and spent the most money. And while he has a substantial lead in the polls, it’s unclear yet if his wide support is paper-thin, meaning he could be taken out with some strong attacks.
Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton really took it to her two opponents during Monday’s debate, which was sponsored by the Chicago Sun-Times, WBEZ and the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics.
Krishnamoorthi especially seemed caught off guard at Stratton’s aggressiveness, including on his refusal to completely abolish ICE.
Stratton repeatedly dissed the other two candidates for taking corporate PAC money, forcing them to explain their positions.
Voters don’t generally do nuance, so when you’re explaining in campaigns, you’re not winning.
Both pointed in response to Stratton’s backing by a “dark money” super PAC. She didn’t explain, but that committee will actually be reporting its contributors.
Stratton has lately taken Krishnamoorthi to task on a host of issues, including his rather meaningless vote for an antisemitism resolution that, in passing, congratulated immigration enforcement. But she forced him to explain it.
After Krishnamoorthi and U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly, D-Ill., struggled long and hard with a question on whether they agreed with Trump on anything, Stratton said, “I’m not going to the United States Senate to find something to agree with Donald Trump on.”
When asked if they backed him, both Krishnamoorthi and Kelly said they hadn’t made up their minds about reelecting Chuck Schumer as the Democrats’ Senate leader. Stratton said: “No.”
Polls have shown for months that Democratic voters hold their party’s congressional wing in low esteem. This ain’t rocket science.
But by Thursday’s ABC7 debate, the putative front-runner seemed to have regained some of his bearings.
Krishnamoorthi tried to turn the tables on the ICE question, accurately saying that his position of wanting to “abolish Trump’s ICE” is identical to Gov. JB Pritzker’s. The governor is popular enough with his party members to help blunt the ICE attack at a time when polls show strong Democratic support for abolishing the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.
“I’d be curious if my colleagues agree with this position,” Krishnamoorthi said, gesturing at Stratton, who did not explain herself.
But Krishnamoorthi then upped the ante: “Rick Pearson asked Lt. Gov. Stratton if she were to abolish ICE, where should the duties be transferred? She said, ‘CBP.’ I think that would be a grave mistake. CBP is who employs Greg Bovino. CBP is who actually shot and killed Alex Pretti.”
I would assume that if Stratton’s numbers start to move up or she directly attacks Krishnamoorthi on ICE, her unwise U.S. Customs and Border Protection comment will come back to haunt her.
Meanwhile, when asked about the Senate confirmation process, Stratton said she will not vote for any nominations made by Trump. Kelly made the same pledge.
Krishnamoorthi, instead, focused only on the appointment of federal judges in Illinois and gave a very D.C.-centric answer involving independent review panels and “blue slips.”
As we saw with ICE, he can learn, but Raja just exudes “congressman.” Kelly has the same affliction, although it’s less pronounced. It’s almost like a nearly incurable disease, and Dem voters at least say they’re looking for something more authentic these days,
Authenticity, however, can be stretched. When asked by ABC7’s Craig Wall, “What specific actions would you take in the Senate to help working families struggling with affordability?” Stratton said she and her spouse “have to sit down and we have to budget every single week.”
“We have to think through, what are we bringing in? What’s going to go out?” Stratton said.
My associate Isabel Miller decided to check the numbers, and Stratton and her spouse make a combined $283,000 a year.
The Stratton campaign was not amused by this observation. “What’s the salary cap for being allowed to budget for weekly expenses?” OK, good point. And it is possible that she may not have a job in a year. But still.
Rich Miller also publishes Capitol Fax, a daily political newsletter, and CapitolFax.com.