A Closer Look at 'Career Politicians'

The campaign literature distributed by Carol Sente and her campaign accuses Representative Sidney Mathias, in what appears to be disparaging fashion, of being a career politician. Yet at the same time Ms. Sente’s resumé includes four years as a member of the Vernon Hills Park district, an elective position, and another three years as a State Representative. It is significant to note that Ms. Sente’s start in Springfield came as the result of an appointment by a group of Democratic committeemen to an unexpired term.

The dictionary defines “career” as “a person’s progress or general course of action through life or through a phase of life, as in some profession or undertaking.” The definition does not include any duration. Ignoring for a moment that by definition one can infer that Ms. Sente is also a career politician, somehow by Ms. Sente’s definition Representative Mathias’ 30 years of public service is something other than laudable.

In a wonderful twist of irony the very first line on the Sente website is, “Carol Sente believes that the highest calling is service to others.” Perhaps Ms. Sente should take a cue from former President Clinton who, during his speech at the 2012 Democratic National convention, stated “it takes some brass to attack a guy for doing what you did.”

Joel Finfer

Buffalo Grove