Race becomes an issue during campaign for Obama’s old Illinois Senate seat

In an interview with The Hill, Rush also said the black community in Illinois is worried that Sen. Roland Burris’s (D-Ill.) retirement will leave the chamber without an African-American member.

{mosads}“When Roland retires, then there is the possibility again we will turn back to an all-white Senate. There’s something wrong with that.

“In America in 2010, no African-Americans in the U.S. Senate — that is something that needs to be addressed,” Rush said. “It’s a stain on the flag of democracy.”

Rush supports the only black candidate running for Obama’s old Senate seat, former Chicago Urban League President Cheryle Robinson Jackson (D).

Her two main rivals for the Democratic nomination, Illinois state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias (D) and former Chicago Inspector General David Hoffman, are white.

Jackson’s supporters, including Rush and Rep. Danny Davis (D-Ill.), have said that the seat doesn’t belong to an African-American. But they believe race will be a factor in the primary.

Davis said, “I think [Jackson is] going to pick up lots of support … I think symbolism will go a long way. Just as I think people are thinking of the symbolism of Barack Obama, there are many African-American females who are going back to the symbolism even of a Carol Moseley Braun, and the fact that Carol, an African-American female, was the senator even before Barack. … I think that African-American females recognize the importance of having women in public office, and here they are getting two for one.”

Some political observers say the symbolism of an office previously held by the first black president resonates with some voters.

“I think among African-American voters in Illinois, particularly older African-American voters who are really attuned to history, I think they would like to see this remain in African-American hands,” said Laura Washington, a professor at DePaul University and a columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times.

“But in order to get them fired up and get them to care enough to show up at the polls you’ve got to talk about race, and that’s when you get into trouble,” Washington added. After a turbulent year in Illinois politics, trouble is not what the Democrats need.

White House officials have expressed concern about holding Obama’s former seat after they failed to recruit Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan (D) to run.

“She would have walked into the seat,” Obama adviser David Axelrod recently told The New York Times. Moreover, Axelrod said, Rep. Mark Kirk (Ill.), the likely GOP nominee, will be able to exploit the downfall of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) in the general election.

“The Blago saga will hang heavy over our politics, and that’s what Kirk’s banking on,” he said.

A Chicago Tribune poll released this week showed Giannoulias had the support of 31 percent of Democratic primary voters, while Jackson had 17 percent and Hoffman had 9 percent support. Thirty-five percent of Democratic voters said they were undecided.

Rush, who defeated Obama easily in a 2000 House primary, said Jackson’s candidacy hasn’t gotten more widespread attention because of her race. “I’ve lived through the Harold Washington election,” he said, referring to the former Democratic congressman who became mayor of Chicago. “The white-dominated media tend to be dismissive of African-American candidates early on. They dismissed Carol Moseley Braun when she ran.”

Washington disagreed with Rush. “I don’t think that it’s about race,” she said. “I think that she [Jackson] just hasn’t been able to get her story out in front of enough people.”

In 1992, Carol Moseley Braun, then a little-known Cook County recorder of deeds, was the only woman and only African-American in a three-way race for the Democratic nomination. Braun subsequently won the primary with 38 percent of the vote.

Rush said that getting Jackson elected “is going to be the No. 1 target and goal for the African-American community.” In the Tribune poll, Jackson led Giannoulias 45-13 among black voters.

{mosads}Rush added that he would be “afraid” if Giannoulias went on to face Kirk in the general. “The messenger has to stand before the message. And if the messenger is weak, then the message is weak,” he said.

“I know Mark. I know him quite well. Mark is going to be a very shrewd politician, a disciplined politician, and he’s going to have a laser-like message,” he said. “I’m afraid.”

The Giannoulias campaign said that Jackson won’t hold a monopoly on African-American support. It noted the state treasurer has the backing of assistant state Senate Majority Leader James Clayborne Jr. and several other prominent Illinois African-American politicians. Giannoulias is also backed by Democratic Reps. Bill Foster, Luis Gutierrez, Phil Hare, Mike Quigley and Jan Schakowsky.

“Alexi Giannoulias agrees with his good friend Danny Davis that this seat isn’t about race. It’s about who can bring people together to move this country forward,” said Tom Bowen, Giannoulias’s campaign manager.

About Rush’s remarks, Bowen added, “Five of Congressman Rush’s colleagues, over 100 Illinois elected officials, the workingmen and -women of AFL-CIO, Planned Parenthood and the Sierra Club all believe, as Alexi Giannoulias does, that the message of putting people back to work and moving our country forward from the failed economic policies of Mark Kirk and George Bush will win the day.”

While Jackson has the support of Rush and Davis, she does not have the endorsement of Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.).

Jackson, along with fellow Democratic Reps. Daniel Lipinski, Melissa Bean, Debbie Halvorson and Jerry Costello, has not endorsed a Senate candidate. Illinois’s senators have stayed neutral, too, although Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) traveled with Giannoulias last February to the Mediterranean and has said nice things about the front-runner.

Hoffman’s campaign said it plans to “compete vigorously” for the support of the African-American voters. “He doesn’t come new to that community,” said Michael Powell, Hoffman’s campaign manager.

“I think there’s clearly a great deal of pride in the African-American community that Barack Obama was their senator and is now their president,” Powell added. “But I don’t think that Barack Obama’s political standing transfers automatically to Cheryle Jackson. She will have to prove herself, just as any candidate has to in this election.”

One of the ways Jackson will have to do that is by putting up strong numbers in this quarter’s fundraising reports. Last quarter, she trailed Giannoulias, who reported he had $2.4 million in the bank, and Hoffman, who raised just under $1 million — supplemented with $500,000 of his own money. Jackson, meanwhile, reported pulling in $355,000 in the quarter that ended Sept. 30.

Rush is convinced that Jackson will be “adequately financed.” Jackson is getting some fundraising help from EMILY’s List, but observers note that the “seed money” provided by the group isn’t enough to buy ad time on network television in Chicago.

Still, the group, which is known for backing female candidates who support abortion rights, likes Jackson’s chances.

“I think Cheryle Jackson is a fabulous candidate, and in a three-way race, with the other two candidates going after each other, I think she’s got a real chance to run a positive campaign and win this race,” said Jonathan Parker, political director at EMILY’s List.