By Dave Dahl/Illinois Radio Network
SPRINGFIELD – It could be called “The Republican Who Dared to Be Bipartisan.”
As it stands, Ray LaHood’s new book is called “Seeking Bipartisanship.” The Peorian, former Congressman, and former U.S. Transportation Secretary, spoke about it Tuesday at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and took questions afterward.
One man, identifying himself as an immigrant, said he was frustrated nobody is calling out the presidential candidates who are lying and committing other transgressions. After the session, LaHood said, “The voters almost always get it right. I’m sure they’ll get it right this time.” He predicted Hillary Clinton would be the Democratic nominee but says he has “no idea” whom she would face.
LaHood – who went so far as to say Democrat Dick Durbin, Illinois’ senior U.S. Senator, is someone he admires – decried “about forty House members that ran under the Tea Party umbrella – anti-government, vote No on everything. It’s the crowd that shut the government down last year. They’re not for solving problems, and they’re not for making progress.”
That sounds a little like LaHood’s son Darin, who took a right-wing tack in his successful campaign for the congressional district once represented by the elder LaHood.
The proud dad brushed off that notion.
“Darin had a Tea Party opponent [Mike Flynn, the Breitbart editor who moved back to Quincy from out of state] that was trying to beat him out of the job!”
