15th District race a rematch of 2004

November 2, 2006

When it comes to electing their representative in Congress, Livingston County voters will have the same choice on Election Day 2006 they had in 2004.

U.S. Rep. Tim Johnson, an Urbana-based Republican, is going for his fourth two-year term in the House of Representatives, and is being opposed by Dr. David Gill, the Clinton emergency room physician who gained 40 percent of the vote in his 2004 race against the incumbent.

Gill has expressed different views from Johnson on two big issues - the war in Iraq and federal health-care policy. In 2004, he noted in a telephone interview Tuesday, he faced "a very steep learning curve," having begun his campaign in January 2003 against a Republican incumbent in a 22-county, GOP-leaning district that includes most of Livingston County. And his stand on Iraq - opposing U.S. military intervention - cost him at the ballot box that election, Gill said.

"I think now the vast majority of the public in the 15th District has come to view that as foolishness," he said of the Bush administration's decision to intervene in Iraq, and Johnson's support of administration policy.

Gill says that Iraqis must have "complete sovereignty" and "complete control over the future of their oil reserves." Until then, "remaining U.S. forces should adopt the least provocative posture, consistent with self-defense," he says on his campaign Web site, gill2006.com.

Johnson, also briefly interviewed by telephone Tuesday afternoon, said that he hoped, and expected, "that we won't be discussing this two years from now."

The congressman said the American people expect the administration "to articulate and implement an exit strategy, a plan for phased withdrawal from Iraq." A timetable with specific dates is unrealistic, Johnson said, but the administration should have a plan "that calls for implementation that would eliminate our presence there or greatly reduce it in the very near future."

Johnson said the U.S. involvement has been partly successful, because it has eliminated "a brutal dictator," struck "at the very root of terror in a world where we have to deal with terror as a constant reality," has restored democratic institutions and has led to "a reliable ally for the future."

As the non-incumbent, Gill has criticized Johnson in particular and Congress in general during his campaigns. He said in the interview that as a U.S. representative he would "put some integrity and common sense back into our government, to take our government back as an American people."

"It seems to me," he said of the last several decades, "we've lost our government to career politicians, and I'm an ordinary citizen who intends to represent ordinary citizens." That applies on a bipartisan basis, he said.

Gill notes the percentage of Johnson's campaign contributions that come from political action committees, or PACs, versus his receiving 95 percent of his contributions "from ordinary individuals whom I intend to represent in Washington."

"If you'd like someone that will represent your interests and not those of Pfizer or Exxon-Mobil or AT&T, for that matter, then I'd be your guy."

Johnson said his voting record and political philosophy "more clearly and accurately" represent the views of the people in the 15th District than do Gill's positions. It's a diverse district, and "to adequately represent an area like this one" requires a combination of qualities, Johnson said. He contrasted his four years' experience at the local level, 24 years in the Illinois House and his six years in Congress with Gill's never having held elective office. U.S. representative is not "an entry-level job," suggested Johnson, noting the previous legislative experience of his two predecessors, Tom Ewing and Ed Madigan.

Johnson, whose campaign Web site is timjohnsonforcongress.com, was asked what it's like being a congressman in 2006, given the low approval ratings for Congress and in light of the recent scandal over House pages.

"Frankly, in a citizen role, I share some of the concerns about the direction of the country," he replied. And he said there has not been "even the remotest hint of impropriety or scandal in terms of my service.

"All I can do," Johnson added, "is take care of my own house."

He said he has sponsored two pages, one female and one male, "both of whom served honorably and had an enormously good experience, and my conduct with any page, my own or otherwise, is one that would comport with what a parent would want and would expect."

Gill said that PAC money has led to a Congress that passed a Medicare-related bill "that does such a disservice to senior citizens and to taxpayers of all ages" and approved an energy bill that provides "billions" of dollars to oil interests.

"We still don't have an energy policy for the 21st century in this country," and costs for health care and education are rising, he said.

He criticized Johnson, the only Illinois representative on the House Agriculture Committee, for missing more than one-third of that panel's hearings over the last six years. He said he'd show up more, if he were "fortunate enough to be on that committee."

Gill also questioned the emphasis Johnson has placed on constituent service during his tenure, although he said that's important and that if elected he and his staff would do that "at least at the level he does." Gill said that over the last four years he has driven 90,000 miles, and what he hears from older voters is that "They wish that he (Johnson) would put more energy into having their grandkids home from Iraq than in sending anniversary cards to them or finding their lost Social Security check."

Gill said he actively reaches out to everybody, is an independent-minded Democrat who accepts no money from the national party, and is a "strong" supporter of the Second Amendment. If elected, he would work with Republicans and independents, he said.

Johnson, who only recently has begun airing commercials, said that "after a while, your campaign is almost indistinguishable from your service," and doing "a responsible and responsive job" means less campaigning is needed. He said he and many other members of the House are "trying to do the right thing, trying to conduct themselves honorably." He said that he, like Ewing, tries to conduct himself in "an honorable way in the off-season" so that extensive campaigning in the fall of even-numbered years isn't needed.

Johnson said the day-to-day parts of his job, like addressing community needs and helping people with matters like disability or veteran's claims, are important, though not well-publicized. He said the work oh his office staff and their outreach to residents of the district was "very good" and "an important part of the job" of a representative's office.