The Schilling family circa 2010 | Image: Politico
EAST MOLINE, IL – From Rockford to as far as one can get away from Chicago and still be in northwestern Illinois, 17th Congressional District voters will be making a choice Tuesday between a Chicago machine-backed Democrat incumbent and a local East Moline small businessman, fighting to get his seat back for Republicans.
Bobby Schilling, who was elected in the 2010 Tea Party Congressional sweep and unseated in 2012 after the 17th district was redrawn to favor Democrats even more, is doggedly working to get his supporters to the polls Tuesday.
He's finishing up a brutal challenge of Democrat incumbent Cheri Bustos, who was elected in 2012 with the backing of Chicago Democrats, including Mayor Rahm Emanuel. She's flown around with Barack Obama and has Nancy Pelosi's anxious support.
While closing polls are showing Schilling’s slightly behind Bustos, he’s all the more determined. It’s not the first time he’s defied predictions. In 2010, Schilling beat Democrat incumbent Phil Hare by ten points.
The Republican candidate’s closing arguments have come down to this: Voters in the 17th District have the choice between an authentic person who has significant results for his term in Congress, versus a calculated, cynical politician whose specialty is using her masters degree in communications and 17 years of working in PR to fool voters.
The Rockford Register-Star said they were impressed with Schilling’s hard work over the past two years learning the new part of the 17th District, which now includes half of Rockford. They appreciated his emphasis on bringing jobs to the area and his “contagious” excitement about the possibilities with the Rockford airport. The Register-Star endorsed him over the incumbent.
The Galesburg Register Mail found Schilling authentic and open with his positions on key issues. The editorial board was frustrated with Bustos, who declined to give specifics on Common Core, ISIS or the Ebola crisis. The Register Mail endorsed him as well.
As did the Chicago Tribune. Two years ago, during a Chicago Tribune editorial interview, Bustos promised she would refuse a controversial ten percent pay congressional pay hike. Bustos took the money anyway, despite her comments in the interview, and then defended herself by saying she made that comment outside her district. In 2014, Bustos chose not to visit with the Tribune board, and they chose to endorse Schilling.
Schilling, the father of ten children, is married to an active and supportive wife, Christie. The Schillings are outspoken proponents of life from the beginning to end, and they’ve taught their children to care for the helpless. Schilling often tells the story of why he entered politics. He was compelled to do so, he says, when one of his daughters came to him crying after Barack Obama was elected president in 2008. She asked her dad, “Who’s going to take care of the babies?”
The couple’s commitment to life earned Schilling the endorsement of pro-life PAC Susan B. Anthony’s List, while Bustos is heavily backed by the pro-abortion Emily’s List.
Schilling spoke with Illinois Review this summer, in between a press conference and handshaking at an event on a town that lies on the Wisconsin border. That day, Schilling was boasting the passage of congressional legislation that would allow veterans to seek medical care closer to home if available – legislation he proposed while serving in Congress his first term.
While Barack Obama is president, he’ll never sign for the repeal of ObamaCare, Schilling says, so the candidate has other ideas on how to correct the problems ObamaCare created, while working to gut the bad things out of the program.
Specifically, Schilling believes doctors should be able to write off as a tax deduction any charitable care they may give outside of the hospitals where they are on staff. He would also work to allow insurance companies to compete across stateliness, and incentivize the use of health care savings accounts.
“There’s nothing affordable about the Affordable Health Care Act. It’s put the federal government between the patient and the doctor, and that’s not what we need in the United States. We need that doctor-patient relationship to continue through, and that’s what we’re going to work for.”
Those types of ideas fit Schilling’s overall conservative political philosophy of smaller government, individual rights, free markets and traditional values – a contrast to Cheri Bustos’ 85 percent agreement with the Democrats’ government cure-all philosophy.
Schilling said he is campaigning to go back to Congress because he believes there are a lot of people in the 17th CD that are still seeking the American Dream.
“They don’t believe in big government coming in and taking care of everything every day. If you want to play by the rules and start a business and you work hard, you should be able to be successful and the government should not hold you down and keep you from doing that,” he said.
“I’m the last Schilling that resides in the great state of Illinois, the land of Lincoln, the land of Ronald Reagan, and I’m not leaving. I’ve told people that I want my kids and my grandkids to have the opportunities right here in Illinois.”
Schilling’s fought to get national attention to his race, but the vast majority of the fundraising and support has fallen on his campaign, with a minimal amount of help from D.C. Major GOP organizations like the National Republican Congressional Committee have focused on Illinois’ 13th – protecting Rodney Davis - and helping Bob Dold regain his 10th Congressional seat.
The Schilling-Bustos race will be another race to watch Tuesday night.
