Campaigning: two Americas in Peoria

PEORIA -- Two afternoons, two precinct walks, two Americas. Right here in Peoria County.

As a volunteer campaigner for Democrat Colleen Callahan, I grabbed a clipboard and a map and set out to go door to door this week, to speak with voters and pass out campaign literature.

Experts say it’s a time-tested method of campaigning, and takes mostly time, not money. People you meet will tell their friends, and the buzz about the candidate spreads, they claim.

It’s also something of a slog, trudging door to door, never knowing what the knock will bring: dogs, toddlers who can‘t be convinced to find a parent, someone sick or facing troubles that have no easy solution.

Then around 5 p.m., death by West Nile virus becomes a possibility. The mosquitoes come out. Hint: wear long pants and long sleeves.

I saw two Americans as I walked the precincts for Callahan.

The first America was a middle class street in a small town, Kickapoo. There, people were busy preparing family dinners, managing children, manicuring backyards. Everyone was friendly and took the literature.

Half expressed favorable comments about Callahan, an encouraging percentage. Some know Callahan personally, and like her. She lives near Kickapoo on a farm.

One-third were undecided. A few said they have not been paying much attention to the race for Congress from the 18th District, but now they are interested.

The lawns were green, the SUVs and pickup trucks were parked neatly in the driveways outside the two-car garages packed with lawn and other gear.

My fellow precinct walker and I met a couple of people facing serious illnesses, including a woman so weak from radiation treatment she could not rise from her chair to come to the open door. She invited us in so we could hand her the literature. We wished her well.

The second walk, a few days later, took place in inner city Peoria, a racially mixed neighborhood on the south side, with small houses, close together, some in perfect condition with flowers and well tended lawns, some boarded up, some in-between.

We walked in Peoria County Board member Bonnie Hester’s neighborhood, with Callahan joining Hester to knock on doors, while other volunteers spread out on other streets.

Callahan with Hester and Hester's grandson preparing to walk the precinct.

Children and teenagers were outside on this lovely afternoon. People were at home. For some the election was news. They took the information, promised to study it, vowed to vote.

Some had heard of Callahan, others knew of her opponent, Republican Aaron Schock, now a member of the Illinois House for the 92nd District.

Schock has bragged about his support in Peoria’s black community but we didn’t see it. When we mentioned his name, many snarled and promised to vote for Callahan.

Here the hard luck stories involved not illness but financial crisis.

At one house, an 82-year-old woman on oxygen sat on her porch, while her son, visiting her, told us that Schock had not responded to his urgent plea to help his mom get her natural gas service turned back on.

Ameren/CILCO shut it off last spring, he said. His mom owes $2,700 to the utility company and doesn’t have the money to pay. She must boil water on the electric stove to take a bath, he said. Nights are getting colder.

He said agencies that supply heating money to the poor claim their funds have been allocated.

This woman faces a future in a nursing home, at Medicaid’s expense, unless something can be done. That’s a terrible situation both for taxpayers and the woman, who can live at home with a little help.

We took her name and reported back to Hester, who promised to follow up and try to find some help for her.

Another woman, younger, wearing the uniform of a hotel where she is a housekeeper, told how animal control officers had come into her yard and taken her dog to the pound. It will cost her, a minimum wage worker, hundreds of dollars to get the dog back, she said. She’s had the pet for years, and claims he was not running loose when he was taken.

She can take off work and go to court and try to fight the fine. Good luck on that one.

This is a familiar story, the war against the poor by various government agencies, using petty offenses to fine them and keep them in poverty.

We urged her to call her city council representatives to complain. She was not aware of their names and had not even thought of calling.

Our walk was not all sad stories. We also stimulated discussion. Teenagers hanging out on front steps took the Callahan literature and began discussing the issues. Some 17-year-olds expressed frustration that they cannot yet vote.

For many people, I suspect, the national financial crisis, the war, the daily struggles everyone now faces with health or finances has produced a teachable moment. People now realize that politics matters, that it determines what happens when they get sick, run out of money, or even when an aggressive officer seizes their dog.

Will they vote? That remains to be seen. We explained how early voting has made the voting process easier now, and people were eager to hear that.

-- Elaine Hopkins