Story by Kevin Woodard
Republican Gubernatorial Candidates appeared on stage last night in Washington, Illinois at a Governor Candidate Forum sponsored by the Tazewell County, Illinois Republican Party.
On the stage at Five Points Washington, in addition to a podium for the moderator, were numerous American Flags with three tables in front of them and two stools at each table for a total of six. Six candidates were invited to the forum originally and five quickly responded yes. When the event had to be rescheduled the six were re-invited and again five quickly responded yes.
Last night’s activities had barely started when an audience member yelled out, “Where’s Richard?” Richard Irvin, the sixth candidate, the one not in attendance, had replied that he had a scheduling conflict. The empty stool was evident all night testifying by its very existence to Irvin’s absence.
Darren Bailey wasted no time. In his opening statement he said, “Someone stays in his basement rather than come to this stage and face me.”
At one point Paul Schimpf moved the stool away from the table making it even more obvious. Schimpf jokingly said, “I needed more elbow room.”
The last question of the night was the candidate’s choice. Candidates could use their time to talk about anything they wanted to talk about. Bailey walked with purpose across the stage, picked up the stool, showed it to the audience and forcefully stated, “I want to talk about this!”
He went on to say, “At no time in Illinois Republican history have we allowed a candidate who lies. We have to stand up and realize what is at stake. We watched cheating at a straw poll. This nonsense has to stop.”
Even then Bailey wasn’t finished. In his closing remarks he added, “The man who is not here is attacking me because I am leading. And he knows it.”
Also participating in the forum were Jesse Sullivan, Gary Rabine and Max Soloman. All five candidates in attendance represented themselves well. Each spoke eloquently while answering the moderators questions and all were respectful with one another Any of the five would represent Illinois Republicans well in the general election. But on Monday night, on the stage at Five Points in Washington, Darren Bailey, with the help of a stool, stole the show.
