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Esta página no está disponible en español. Chicago Sun-TimesNo Holds Barred In 4th District MudfestCastro-Gutierrez Matchup Interesting If Nothing ElseBy Mark Brown
March 5, 2002 Politics are more passionate in Chicago's Latino community, at least more openly so. The chants of competing groups helped remind me of that even before Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) and challenger Marty Castro faced off Monday evening at Roberto Clemente High School for the first and only debate of their Democratic primary campaign. "Pay your taxes! Pay your taxes!" shouted a group of Castro supporters gathered in the lobby outside the school's auditorium, drowning out my efforts to interview some area high school students who have been volunteering in the two campaigns. "Gutierrez! Gutierrez!" responded the congressman's backers, drawing out the name into four distinct syllables and drowning out the folks with the keen interest in some taxes that I'm pretty certain have already been paid. What followed was perhaps the most pointed political debate I have witnessed in many years, interrupted with hoots and hollers and hisses and catcalls and other generally impolite behavior that issued forth from a crowd of about 250 people--despite the stated intentions of the League of Women Voters to enforce a strict three strikes and you're out policy for audience etiquette. But you know what? It was still pretty informative, at least in defining the issues on which Gutierrez and Castro are campaigning. Sorting out the truth of their accusations, on the other hand, could take a week of fact-checking, and I only have a few more minutes until deadline. Gutierrez opened by portraying himself as "somebody who fights for his constituents no matter how tough the battle," and described Castro as a "newcomer to our community" who has run a "dishonest, disappointing campaign." Castro began with a reference to himself as the "proud son and grandson of Mexican immigrants," with a record of achievement "right here at home, not somewhere else." The subtext here is that Gutierrez has been attacking Castro for moving into the Fourth Congressional District to make the race after living mostly in the upscale Near North area, while Castro has been complaining that Gutierrez puts too much emphasis on political matters in Puerto Rico . Gutierrez, who is of Puerto Rican descent, believes Castro has been trying to exploit ethnic divisions between Mexicans and Puerto Ricans . Some other people have noticed the same thing. Strangely enough, the first audience question was about property taxes, which doesn't have much to do with the federal government but has figured into the congressional campaign because of some misadventures covered here previously involving Gutierrez and his homes in Chicago and Puerto Rico . Castro gave a strange answer about wanting to get poor people loans to help them pay their property taxes, then veered into a slam at Gutierrez for having "been fortunate not to pay his property taxes." Gutierrez then sounded a note he would repeat several times during the evening: "He's a lawyer. I've been a teacher, and maybe tonight we can enlighten him and teach him a little bit about the Fourth Congressional District." By Gutierrez's own calculation later, he was a teacher for three years and an employee of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services for four years. You be the judge. In response to a question about making schools safer, Castro said he was endorsed by the police unions. Gutierrez said he was endorsed by the teachers unions Castro said he would sponsor legislation to make sure the children of immigrants have equal access to education whether they are documented or undocumented. Gutierrez said he already has. Castro used a question about whether foreign nationals should be afforded the same civil rights as U.S. citizens as an opportunity to take a slam at Gutierrez for passing only one piece of legislation-- which named a new post office after Roberto Clemente. To show that this was a cheap shot, Gutierrez read portions of a column by the Sun- Times' Lynn Sweet explaining how no Democrats in the Illinois delegation are going to be able to get credit for passing legislation while Republicans control the House of Representatives. I really liked Roberto Clemente. Gutierrez went off on a riff about "no tax breaks for the rich" and promising to expand Section 8 housing programs in the district. Castro retorted that Gutierrez has "got all the slogans, but in the 10 years he's been there he hasn't shown any leadership on these issues." They actually seemed to agree on abortion. Both are pro-choice. They also are both against the death penalty, which is something you don't see in too many political campaigns. Gutierrez called it an "act of barbarism." When Gutierrez said he just voted in favor of a raise for military personnel, Castro jumped on him for voting against military pay raises in previous years. "Sure, now that we're fighting a war against terrorism, he's got religion," said Castro. Somewhere in there, Gutierrez said, "They have that commercial that says, 'Mikey will eat anything.' Marty will say anything. Gutierrez was definitive in saying that the federal government can't do anything to help keep Catholic schools open, citing the separation of church and state. Castro said he supports tax incentives to people who make charitable donations that would benefit those schools. That's when everything really started to deteriorate, with Castro jumping on Gutierrez for his protests against the U.S. bombing on Vieques , and Gutierrez claiming that Castro is anti-environment and anti-union because he once was a lawyer for Navistar. I'll spare you the details. I left before there was any shooting, except from the hip and the lip. Some people might have mistaken an earlier column I wrote on this race as me choosing up sides. By way of clarification, I'm a "devil you know vs. the devil you don't know" kind of guy. And nobody could deny that this is a devil of a race.
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