State of Illinois Archives: on Principles & Values

Mark Curran: Curtailing individual religious freedoms, I find abhorrent

A: Simply stated, there is no such clause in the Constitution. When we read what the founders authored, we see that the First Amendment is more heavily weighted towards protecting the rights of those practicing religion that it is on prohibiting religion from the public sphere. Often, this imagined clause of separation of church and state is used to justify the curtailment of individual religious freedoms, which I find abhorrent. I believe that there should be no official established religion in America. Beyond this, I see no need to make any further distinctions.

Mark Curran: Bless us with four more years of Donald Trump

Tammy Duckworth: I answer the call when asked to serve my country

J.B. Pritzker: Ignored small problems become big problems

J.B. Pritzker: Who needs another rich guy running for office?

"With Bruce Rauner as Governor and Donald Trump as President, why do we need another rich guy running for office?"

My answer is that it's a matter of values. About a century ago, my great-grandfather Nicholas arrived in Chicago penniless. He worked hard--but he had help. A social service agency helped him find a place to live. A good public school helped him learn English. A state university allowed him to get a higher education degree. You can't pull yourself up by your bootstraps if you don't have any, and this state gave my great grandfather his bootstraps. It's what everyone in Illinois deserves, it's what I've been fighting for my whole life, and it's what I'll be fighting for every day as your next governor.

Daniel Biss: Took on the political machine & won with creative solutions

Daniel has taken on the machine and won, and now focuses on offering long-term, creative solutions and fighting for those whose voices are typically ignored.

Raja Krishnamoorthi: First Hindu-American & Indian-American in Congress

Krishnamoorthi won the seat vacated by Tammy Duckworth, who won Illinois' U.S. Senate seat.

Krishnamoorthi called it a "disheartening" campaign season. He says what unites people far outweighs what divides them and that everyone should work together. [Several Indian Americans have served in the U.S. House, including Dalip Singh Saund from 1957 to 1963 and current Rep. Ami Bera who was first elected in 2012. But neither was Hindu; Saund was a Sikh and Bera is a Christian. Kamala Harris was elected on the same day as the first Indian-American in the Senate, but she is also not Hindu].

Bruce Rauner: Moral duty to serve long-term interest of people of Illinois

All of us were elected to do a job; to deliver real results; to serve the people of Illinois to the best of our ability. The good Lord didn't make us Republicans or Democrats. He made us in His image to do His work, to help each other, to make the world a better place. We all have a moral duty to serve the long-term interests of the people of Illinois--to focus on the next generation, not the next election.

Together, we will do great things for the people of Illinois. We will once again make Illinois the greatest state in the greatest nation on earth.

Sharon Hansen: Judeo-Christian values established our government framework

Hansen: Strongly Disagree.

Question topic: Judeo-Christian values established a framework of morality which permitted our system of limited government.

Hansen: Strongly Agree

Question topic: Briefly describe your spiritual beliefs and values.

Hansen: I am a Christian and my faith is what has brought me to run for office. I believe we need honest people in our government and without these values, our country cannot prosper.

Jim Oberweis: Milk Dud: poured dairy fortune into 5 failed campaigns

Now Oberweis has launched his 2nd act in American politics by winning 2 straight elections. He took an open state Senate seat in the GOP outer suburbs of Chicago in 2012, and last week he claimed the nomination to try and stop Senator Dick Durbin. But virtually no one expects Oberweis to extend his winning streak come November. At best his caustic rhetorical approach and willingness to tap his own bank account could combine to make the fall campaign more expensive and uncomfortable for Durbin. And at worst, losing a sixth high-profile election could doom Oberweis to live with the ridicule that comes with the label "perennial candidate."

Pat Quinn: Say "no" to world of powerful feeding upon the powerless

Illinois is best served when we build and protect the middle class and when we open the door to those struggling to join it. By creating more jobs, making early childhood education a top priority, and building an economy that works for everyone--we can create a stronger economy than ever before and reform Illinois for the next generation. So I ask today for your partnership.

Doug Truax: The Great Experiment known as America shines brightly

Ninety-five years after we celebrated the end of the "War to End All Wars," sadly there were more wars to come. The one constant for almost a century since then has been the generations of brave men and women who have sacrificed greatly to preserve our freedoms and allow the Great Experiment known as America to shine even more brightly.

On this day and all others let us never forget those men and women who put their lives on the line for us. We owe them our great gratitude and commitment to work extra hard to preserve our union so their efforts cannot ever be said to be made in vain.

We owe it to our veterans to continue our tradition of peace through strength and to never let our guard down at home or abroad. Thank you again, warriors.

Richard Durbin: Bipartisan dialogue instead of gridlock

DURBIN: No, I never have and I have been through some pretty rough periods of time. I can recall the ascendancy of Newt Gingrich and what it meant to us. It was a very frustrating and emotional upheaval in Washington, but what we have here is a steady diet. I don't want to point fingers, but I will. The House Republican approach to this is we're either going to do it exclusively with Republicans or we just won't do it at all. Only when they're pushed to the absolute extreme will they allow a bipartisan vote. We're trying to establish a new standard in the Senate, a bipartisan dialogue that might lead to a solution. If the House would embrace the same basic concept, I am certain, certain the president would sit down and work in good faith to get us through this.

Steven Sauerberg: Put $1.3M of his own money into campaign

Sauerberg has lacked the money to mount a traditional campaign. When statewide races can cost $10 million or $15 million, he has raised only $1.8 million, according to the latest records -- and $1.3 million of that was Sauerberg’s own money.

Alan Keyes: Great principles at stake: marriage & innocent life

Barack Obama: Seek common ground, not a moral crusade

Alan Keyes: Jesus Christ would not vote for Obama

A: I actually think that statement is a self-evident truth that Christ could not vote for Barack Obama. Obama voted against the Born Alive Infant Protection Act. He has cast a vote three times to allow a practice to go on that allows infant babies, fully born and with no dispute over their humanity or anything else, to be set aside like garbage to die. The simple question I have to ask myself as a person of Christian conscience, is ‘would Christ do that?’ We know He wouldn’t because Christ put special emphasis on the children and spent some of his harshest language about people that would harm children.

Barack Obama has said he is in line 100 percent with the agenda for gay rights, he said he would vote to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act which is aimed at making sure that gay marriage is forced upon all the states in this union. Those views are also inconsistent with the Christian conscience.

Alan Keyes: Family and home important, but Obama needs opponent

First, I have a clear and serious objection, in principle, to the notion that people of national reputation have the right to

Alan Keyes: Family and home important, but Obama needs opponent

First, I have a clear and serious objection, in principle, to the notion that people of national reputation have the right to go around this country, cherry-picking the states as platforms for their ambition.

My father was in the army. The whole idea of home and roots and heritage was very important to me, and I made the determination that I wanted my children to have a sense of that [instead of traveling often].

But it just seemed wrong that somebody with Obama’s record should kind of waltz into the United States Senate unopposed.

Alan Keyes: Obama is likable but his liberalism needs opposition

And then I looked at his record. I found somebody who has never seen a spending bill he couldn’t find some excuse for, and has never seen a tax increase he didn’t like. We find somebody who would rather that our children were educated

Alan Keyes: Obama is likable but his liberalism needs opposition

And then I looked at his record. I found somebody who has never seen a spending bill he couldn’t find some excuse for, and has never seen a tax increase he didn’t like. We find somebody who would rather that our children were educated in schools controlled by impersonal bureaucracy than in schools under the influence and control of the parents who love them. I found someone who appears to believe that even when a criminal has entered into the sacred precinct of your home with intentions you couldn’t possibly fathom, you don’t have the right to defend your life & the lives of the people in your family! By the time I got through those parts of his record, I was absolutely convinced that SOMEBODY had to run against Barack Obama!