The Heroic and the Notorious: U.S. Senators from Illinois

20. A Leader among Democrats

220 20 ★ A Leader among Democrats Richard Joseph Durbin (1997–) Much like the descendants of a dynasty, those Democrats from Illinois who followed in the “Paul H. Douglas seat” in the U.S. Senate have carried the indelible philosophical imprint of a politi­ cal family. After Douglas, there was Senator Paul Simon, an open admirer of Douglas. Richard Durbin, who served briefly in Doug­ las’s office and considers Paul Simon his mentor, was the third to fill those shoes. Taken together these three liberal Democrats extend from 1948 to the present in the Senate, except for the three terms served by Republican Charles Percy. In 1984, Simon gained a measure of “family” revenge by defeating Percy, who had gained senatorial office by beating Douglas. Under the political microscope, Douglas, Simon, and Durbin share many approaches to public policy. On social issues, they fall clearly in the liberal segment. Fiscally, and on a myriad of other issues, they take independent courses that do not always jibe with views of the Democratic Party. Durbin, the “third generation” of this ideological family, has distinctive characteristics. He is a native of southern Illinois, born 221 RICHARD JOSEPH DURBIN ★ on November 21, 1944, in East St. Louis. The other two came to Illinois from different states as young men. Durbin attended Catholic schools in East St. Louis, received a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University, and was graduated from the Georgetown Law School. Neither Douglas nor Simon was Catholic, nor a law­ yer. Douglas was a professor of economics, and Simon, who did not graduate from college, was a journalist and writer. Out of law school, Durbin joined Lieutenant Governor Simon’s staff in Springfield. From 1972 to 1978, he was a state Senate staff member on the Democratic side, and from 1978 to 1982, he was on the faculty at the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine. He ran for office twice and lost during those years. Durbin won election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1982 from the Twentieth District, which included Springfield. He upset longtime Republican representative Paul Findley. A turning point for Durbin was Findley’s outspoken support of Arab interests in the Mideast. Jewish contributors provided large amounts of cash for Durbin’s campaign. By 1994, his constituents of central Illinois had reelected Durbin six times. However, the changing nature of the constituency caused him some problems. In 1994, he won over a weak Republican can­ didate with only 55 percent of the vote. Durbin jumped at the chance to run for the Senate in 1996, after Paul Simon decided not to run again, and he received Simon’s wholehearted endorsement. He won the general election over trial lawyer and abortion opponent Al Salvi with 56 percent of the vote. During his congressional career, Durbin has established himself as a Democratic partisan. He gravitated quickly to leadership po­ sitions in both the House and Senate and is considered one of the party’s strongest advocates in public discourse. In the House, he rose to chairmanship of the Agriculture and Rural Development Subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee. In the Senate, soon after election, he was named an assistant floor leader for ma­ jority leader Tom Daschle. Later he ascended to the number two Democratic leadership position in the Senate. One measure of Durbin’s strong standing among Democrats in the Senate was his appointment by leadership to a seat on the pow­ erful and influential Appropriations Committee in 1998. Durbin was the first Illinois senator in twenty­five years to serve on the Appropriations Committee. 222 ★ A LEADER AMONG DEMOCRATS While Durbin has assiduously followed the liberal party line on antipoverty programs and social measures, he has set an indepen­ dent course on other issues. In the House, he became known as a fierce opponent of tobacco interests. He led the fight for legislation banning smoking on most domestic commercial airplane flights. Durbin was fourteen years old when his chain­smoking father died of lung cancer, and he has continued his antitobacco fight in the Senate. His strong stand for gun control has been controversial in some parts of the state. Durbin’s favorite social issues in the Senate include food safety, health care initiatives, more spending for secondary education, and proposals for protecting the environment. One of the tough­ est issues for him has been abortion. A Catholic, he has struggled with the subject, and...