Political angles for prison plan

SPRINGFIELD – Political organizations are churning out news releases. Hesitant candidates gradually are taking positions. Politicians are trying to steer the debate their way.

Even candidates on the same side of the issue can end up using sharply different language.

Gov. Pat Quinn focuses largely on the jobs that would accompany housing the Guantanamo Bay detainees in an Illinois prison. His chief rival in the Democratic primary, Comptroller Dan Hynes, bases his tentative support on the idea that Illinois should do its part to help President Obama move prisoners out of U.S. military detention center in Cuba.

Republican Senate candidate Mark Kirk has attacked the idea fiercely, warning of terrorists in our neighborhoods and making Illinois “ground zero” for terrorist activities. Democrats accuse him of using irresponsible scare tactics lifted from the Bush-Cheney administration.

Quinn announced Sunday that the Obama administration was looking into buying a prison in Thomson to house terrorism suspects who are now being held in Guantanamo Bay. The revelation brought a national controversy to Illinois and put other politicians on the spot: Did they support transferring these suspects to Illinois?

Political insiders of all stripes agree the issue shouldn’t be decided by what’s most popular with voters. The question, they insist, is what’s best for Illinois and for the country.

But they acknowledge the answer to that question carries major political consequences.

The conventional wisdom is that housing terrorism suspects in Illinois will be unpopular. So the candidates who support it could pay a steep price unless they can offer voters a convincing argument. Candidates on the other side stand to benefit politically unless they stumble.