Scott Harper is running against 6 term incumbent Judy Biggert in the 13th district of Illinois, and he is one of our ActBlue candidates because we think he has a good chance at winning. One of his campaign staffers reached out to thank the Balloon Juice community for the support, and I asked if we might be able to do a Q&A with Scott so we all could learn more about him, and they said they would be thrilled. What we’re going to do today is a brief bio and why he is running, and then I would like all of you to submit comments in the section. I’ll do my best to pick out some good questions out of the pool, forward them to Scott, and he’ll provide answers in a couple of days. I asked for a brief bio and why he decided to enter the race, and here it is:
Scott grew up in Naperville, the largest city in the Illinois 13th district. He went to Wheaton College and then got a MA in finance from the University of Chicago. He got his start in manufacturing and was later a small business owner of a Chicago-based IT media and marketing firm (Closer Look) that grew from two to forty employees. After leaving Closer Look, he returned to school and received a Master’s degree from the University of Oxford. He is currently an adjunct professor of ethics, leadership, and comparative religion at North Central College in Naperville, where he lives with his wife Cheryl. He has two daughters, Brianna and Natasha, and a stepson, Max.
This is Scott’s second run for Congress against 6-term incumbent Judy Biggert.
Why Scott’s running: “Because I was frustrated that the person representing our district wasn’t talking honestly about our problems and how to solve them. We have millions of Americans out of work, a massive and rising debt, and a deteriorating situation in Afghanistan. I’ve never been the kind of person who complains about things without doing something about them, and I felt like my opponent was fighting and concentrating far more on the needs of special interests than on the people in our district.”
Put your questions in the comments, and if you are so inclined, hit the tip jar for our 2010 ActBlue candidates off to the right there.
Punchy
Within this um, no shit hocodanode article, this stat shocked me:
An unnamed nobody beats President Snowe by 34 pts? I knew the teatards were influential in Maine, but not like this. Dayum.
WereBear
What do you feel are the proper steps to take to get America back to work?
General Stuck
Are you a republican? If the answer is NO, That is all I need to know these days.
John Cole
@Punchy: Seriously, you have to go OT in the first comment?
General Stuck
@John Cole:
Punchy, like always, dances to the beat of his own drum. Or maybe bongo.
eric
@General Stuck: your rabid defense of John demonstrates that john is a bigot and this site is run by teh jewz.
General Stuck
@eric:
I wasn’t defending Cole, I was defending Punchy. People who go against the grain impress me. but mostly, I was just being goofy.
eric
@General Stuck: I know. I was obliquely referencing the Rick Sanchez story to OT yet again. ;)
Bill Murray
Having gone to Wheaton, explain your views on evolutionary theory, climate change, same-sex marriage, and the role of the US government in funding scientific research.
Punchy
@John Cole: I waited like 5 mins to hit “submit”, figgy’d I’d be about #6 or so (being that yo blawg is so bizay), but apparently posts about Naperville pols are less interesting. Being a fellow Chicago suburbanite, I can understand why.
arguingwithsignposts
@Bill Murray:
Seconded, with addition of role of Muslims and Islamic faith in U.S. public life.
Also, please explain your take on President Obama’s performance over the past two years, especially with regards to financial issues and civil liberties.
Punchy
BTW — Isn’t Wheaton pretty much Ground Naught for Wingnut Theory(TM)?
Martin
Leaving Afghanistan aside, how you do you see the government addressing the employment and debt situations, both short and long term? These are typically viewed as either/or problems, so how do we do both?
What legislative changes would you propose to change not just the partisanship in action that is seen in Congress, but also the partisanship in speech that we see in the media and public arena?
Just Some Fuckhead
Mr. Harper, are you a firebagger or do you harbor any secret firebagging tendencies?
arguingwithsignposts
@Punchy:
No, that would be Liberty U. and Regent U. I’m sure they think Wheaton are a bunch of DFH’s.
db
What would be your first major legislative priority? What problems would you anticipate in achieving that goal?
kdaug
Mr. Harper, given the axiom that “amateurs talk strategy, experts talk logistics”, and that Pakistan has now shut down our main overland supply route into Afghanistan (due to NATO forces killing three of their soldiers in Pakistan), and that they have also just attacked a fuel supply convoy heading in-theater, what would you recommend as re: the Afghan war?
mantis
@Bill Murray:
Hold on there, Bill. Wheaton is one of the few (if not the only) evangelical colleges that does not reject evolutionary theory (though they used to). They have hosted IPCC co-chair John Houghton, which no climate science denialist school would do. In any case, Harper got his degree from WC in History & Economic Development.
And if you look at his campaign website, you’ll find that he is pro-choice, pro-marriage equality, and believes that climate change is a serious issue that must be addressed. I can’t find anything about science-funding, but my guess is he supports it. Plus, he supports a public option in health care (or just an expansion of Medicare for all), opposes DADT, and supports stronger laws to protect women from harassment and domestic abuse.
I live in the next district over, and I’m happy to finally have a candidate nearby for whom I can volunteer (my Rep, Danny Davis, is pretty untouchable from the right, and there haven’t been too many worthwhile Democratic challengers, though I’d like to find one). My parents live there, and I’ve been working hard to convince them (they’re pretty conservative, but not crazy-conservative).
Mark S.
What is your view on extending the Bush tax cuts? Would you extend all of them, extend them up to $200,000 (the President’s plan), or let them all expire?
Punchy
@arguingwithsignposts: Nope, they’re full on wingtards. They make this list, which is alphabetized, so they’re last, but I think they’re in the top 3 most conservative in the nation….
Mark S.
@Punchy:
It must not have rubbed off on him much. His website says he’s in favor of gay marriage abortions in the military.
arguingwithsignposts
@Punchy:
Not even close. Bob Jones and Patrick Henry, plus Liberty and Regent, Oral Roberts, not to mention John MacArthur’s Master’s College fundevangelical outfit in Cali.
They might not even make the top 10.
ETA: don’t know why James Madison is on that list. It’s a public university.
Bender
He’s going to lose by 25-30%, so don’t work too hard on those questions.
TooManyJens
Do you think there is a problem with the interests of the wealthiest 10% being overrepresented in our country’s political agenda? If so, what structural changes to you propose to make our system more democratic?
MikeJ
University of Chicago huh? I’d like to hear what he has to say about the Republican line on “failed Keynesian stimulus.” Does he think the stimulus was too big, too small, or just right? Does he believe that government spending like we had in the thirties and into WWII can help pull the economy up?
Let’s have a seminar on salt v fresh water.
Luthe
What do you think should happen to Social Security? Are you in favor of raising the retirement age and/or lowering benefits?
Would you vote to reduce defense spending in order to lower the deficit?
ACS
Yeah, Wheaton isn’t THAT bad. Had a friend who went there in the early 2000s. I was in town and visited him, and just for the hell of it I sat in on a few classes. It’s definitely a conservative religious school, so it has that agenda, but it’s not really of the creepy authoritarian anti-intellectual variety. Not some place I’d personally want to go to school, but it’s definitely not fair to lump it in with Regent, Bob Jones, et al.