Oberweis says he's ready for next round
ELGIN -- After his defeat in the March special election, Jim Oberweis said he was going to make strategic changes to his campaign. Now he thinks he knows what those changes should be, and says he likes his chances in November.
(Michael Smart/Staff Photographer)
"The opportunity is there," Oberweis said during a visit to The Courier News. "If we can explain to voters where we are on the issues ... I believe I'll win. I do believe my views represent the majority of views in the 14th District. But we didn't do a very good job of communicating our views."
Oberweis said he doesn't want this fall's campaign to turn ugly and negative as it did after the Feb. 5 primary, with he and Foster -- and the national Republican and Democratic parties -- slinging attacks back and forth.
"It became well-known that my opponent was going to portray me as a George Bush clone," Oberweis said. "I didn't think there was any way they could possibly do that. I was wrong."
Oberweis argued he's gone against several of the Bush Administration's policies.
However, he felt compelled to fire back at what he called aggressive attack ads run by the Foster campaign and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, "some of them just out-and-out, blatant lies," Oberweis said.
Oberweis said Foster's campaign did a better job getting voters to the polls, though Democrats often used scare tactics. Oberweis added that he understands whey voters became fed up with the multiple daily robo-calls and mailers they received, many of which were from the National Republican Congressional Committee and not Oberweis' staff.
In the end, Oberweis said, his strong business mind and traditional Republican values will win over voters. Despite past unsuccessful bids for United States Senate and Illinois governor, sometimes it takes more than one try to get something right, he said.
"I'm an entrepreneur," Oberweis said. "I've started six companies. Not everything I've done has been a success."
