Political party people - Chicago Republicans

I signed on as the 50th Ward coordinator for Republican Dennis Block in the Mayoral general election and used the same campaign strategy as I had for Pucinski, but with the benefit of more volunteers. Those who had sat out the primary were now eager to join an Independent campaign.

On Election Day, I found myself short of poll watcher credentials and just needed one more. So, I popped into the 50th Ward Republican office, hoping they’d know who I was (they weren’t involved in the campaign) and would give me one credential. I was sure they could spare it.

There were 87 precincts in the 50th ward and less than a dozen Republican precinct captains. I knew from working with them in the past that they really couldn’t do much for a candidate. That’s probably why the Block campaign dealt with me rather than with the GOP ward organization.

Yale Brownstein, the Republican Ward Committeeman, was sitting at his desk when I arrived, and a number of his precinct captains were perched on chairs and on the window ledges in his office. They might have been holding a mid-day meeting of some sort, but it looked to me like they were just hanging out.

I told them who I was and what I was doing. I reminded them of the Republican candidates I had supported in the past, hoping somebody in the room might remember me from the Sperling campaign. Only after demanding to see my driver’s license did the Committeeman grudgingly give me one Republican poll watcher credential. 

“You should be working the east end,” he snarled, referring to the part of the ward where a few Republican voters actually resided.

“No,” I told him. “We’ll get more crossovers on the west end.” Block was Jewish and I expected to win the support of Jewish, Democratic voters in the western half of the ward who had cast votes for Pucinski in the primary.

I thanked him for his time and left. As I approached the door, one of the precinct captains ran after me.

“We really appreciate what you’re doing,” he said. “It’s a big help.”

 I carried my precinct for Block, even though hardly any Republicans lived there. And although I lost the ward, it was the candidate’s fourth best, ranking only behind his own and the two most Independent ones in the city.

But I once again had to deal with political party people who didn’t trust outsiders.