Identity crisis

Published on 6/26/02 Daily Egyptian (SIUC)

I'm having a bit of an identity crisis of late. I know who I am; it's other people who seem to be having trouble with my name. And it's my children's fault.

Once upon a time I was David Osborne, or some variation thereof. In the military, I was often called by my rank and name, and occasionally just by rank. No problem. Both were mine; they were me.

I've been known by a few nicknames over the years, usually derivatives of my last name. Still, not a problem; they were still representative of me alone.

It's been since the children arrived that things have gone screwy. At Carbondale Middle School, I'm known as Shelly's Dad. I am Matt's Dad to his teachers and principal. To the coaches, ball players and other parents at the Superblock, I'm either Matt's Dad or Shelly's Dad, depending on whether I am watching baseball or softball. Even my own doctor - I was his first patient out of this household - knows me as Matt's Dad. He read my column for weeks last semester before he realized "Matt's Dad" wrote it. My byline didn't register with him; he recognized my mug.

I'm not me anymore; I'm someone whose identity has been relegated to a possessive noun-phrase that identifies someone else, and me as irrevocably linked to that person. I'm not even sure the "Dad" is capitalized.

It could be worse; they're pretty good kids.

I would guess Jim Ryan is having some of the same fits. Now presumably, at least his doctor isn't confusing him with the current governor of Illinois, but his opponent, Rod Blagojevich, would have the rest of us think George and Jim are both irrevocably linked. For his part, Ryan (Jim, that is) is trying to confuse us as to who Blagojevich is. Since his name is rather unique, there's no other person to confuse him with, so it's a matter of what he stands for that Ryan is mucking with.

Neither gubernatorial candidate has said much about what they are for or against, just what their opponent is for or against. It was amazing how fast they started the mudslinging. The chads had barely settled from the primaries before these two went at it like it was Saturday night mud wrestling at some dingy edge-of-town bar.

Illinois politics at its finest. It's not how much mud you throw, it's how much sticks to you. In the meantime, we're the losers. We know the candidates names, and we have some vague idea of what they might do, but no concrete idea of how they plan to make this a better state, fix the budget, boost the state's economy or anything else. Neither one is really talking much other than to tell us how bad the other guy is.

I went to Project Vote Smart, and neither candidate had filled out a National Political Awareness Test (NPAT.) The NPAT would at least give us an idea on where they say they stand on issues ranging from abortion to gun control, to budget and spending issues. Ryan has no NPAT; Blagojevich has an old NPAT. I don't think that old NPAT fully squares with who Blagojevich would have us believe he is.

It's past time for both candidates to drop the muck, wash off their grubby little hands and start a real dialog with the voters. Instead of telling us how bad Illinois will be under the other guy, they need to tell us what they plan to do to make things better for all of us.

They need to tell us who they are, not who they aren't.

Note: Blagojevich's NPAT can be found at http://www.vote-smart.org