Last time I checked, large and small were antonyms, and independent Republican was not quite equivalent to radical right-wing supporter. However, thanks to Bob Dold, I am learning new things every day.

A few days ago, Bob Dold was named one of the new Young Guns by the NRCC – just a little more party spotlight. In order to get this title , Dold had to meet certain fundraising and media relations criteria.
Fundraising especially was no problem for Dold. As the self-proclaimed Tenth District candidate for small business, Dold has definitely been making friends with business interests. However, his new friends are mostly corporate backers. Local moguls, such as John Canning, Patrick Ryan, Andrew McKenna Sr., and William Osborn, all donated to Dold in the primary. So did Alan Lacy, the CEO of Sears. So, a handful of leaders of corporate America trying to buy off election: not the best display of democracy. However, things could be worse. We could have a candidate who claims to support small businesses, while actually running his campaign in a way which commits him to corporate interests for twenty-four months of his hypothetical two –year term. Wait, that sounds familiar. However, these moguls do live in-district, so the voices of more than five district 10 residents would be heard in Congress, were Dold elected.

Aiming to keep Kirk’s open seat Republican, Dold has also been fumbling with the adjective independent, which he likes to put in front of his party affiliation as often as possible. I always though ‘independent’ meant thinking outside of party lines, in order to adjust to the desires of constituents and stay away from overly-radical party demagogues. However, to Dold, it looks like Independent has taken a whole new meaning: supporting irrational radicalism. According to Dold, the “Tea Party has] a great voice out there”, because it is “talking about liberty and the Constitution. ” Further he claims that he appreciates the Tea Party’s work, because, like them he also ‘likes liberty and the Constitution’.

If anything stands against independent thinking, it’s the repetitive, senseless chants of angry mobs filled with a lot of emotion but no constructive solutions. .Even Dold admits that “the Tea Party is just angry.” I thought the 10th district was too educated and rational to be associated with racism, intolerance, and blind hatred. I though voters in the northern suburbs would like politicians to go a little deeper then ‘liberty is good, I like liberty.’ I thought our district was smart enough to differentiate between small business and corporate interests. However, Dold does not seem to agree. In November, we will prove him wrong.