Politics By ROBERT KIECKHEFER

Turn off the bubble machine

EVERYTIME you look up, there's another election in Illinois. Why, these days, the new one starts even before the last one is over.

This can't be good for the voters because they're bound to get confused, bored and apathetic. It can't be good for the candidates, either, because they spend as much time running for office as they do serving and because they have to go begging campaign contributions almost constantly.

But it might just be good as gold for the big givers.

Actually, there is always one campaign or another going on in this state because of the election timetable. The fact is, the state legislators and congressmen who took the oath of office this January will have to file nominating petitions for reelection this coming December. That's right — they have less than a year in office before they formally start running all over again.

Of course, the interim period is really quite a bit shorter than that. You can't mount a campaign without funding, so donors have to be rounded up well in advance. And when those nominating petitions are filed, they have to have signatures on them. To get that done, the organization has to be in place during the late summer or early fall.

And someone has to keep track of the finances, ethics statements, the campaign disclosure forms and all the other paperwork that modern "reform" has thrust on the public servant.

The fact is, anyone with a district that's less than totally safe probably has to keep a political organization functioning at all times.

But that's not the half of it.

Sprinkled in among the statewide legislative and congressional races are the local ones for mayor and school board — often the campaigns that mean the most to voters. A new consolidated election law has cut back the number of times voters trek to the polls. But in the busy years there's still a confusing welter.

The potential silliness of the situation was illustrated this year in Chicago, where two sets of circumstances combined to totally jumble things in the minds of voters, contributors and, some would say, even the candidates. First there was the election for governor. And, of course, Chicago became the focus of the recount effort that dragged that campaign on through November 2, through Thanksgiving, and through Christmas and New Year's.

Intertwined was the Chicago mayoral election. And even if there hadn't been a recount, the two races still would have been intertwined. Anyone who doesn't believe it can ask Adlai E. Stevenson III, who bit his povertystricken tongue during Mayor Jane M. Byrne's multimillion dollar September fundraiser.

Then while the outcome of the race between Stevenson and Gov. James R. Thompson was still in doubt, along came Harold Washington. And then along came Richard M. Daley. And finally, along came Mrs. Byrne. Three hats in the ring.

Now, politics has long been the No. 1 spectator sport in Chicago. Considering the sports teams, it has to be. But this was a little much even for fanatics. Why is the situation allowed to continue? There are several considerations.

Each political party has tried at one time or another to move the primary from March to some more reasonable date closer to the general election. But each time, politics got in the way. If those guys are trying to change the date, they must have some nefarious reason or see some advantage to themselves, the "reasoning" goes.

So the March primary dictates a December filing, which dictates a constant campaign.

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Then there's the phenomenal jumble of governmental units in Illinois. There are so many of them that Stevenson made a campaign issue of reforming the system. Not all of them put candidates on the ballot, but enough do that the process becomes cluttered.

The special interests are another consideration. If you look at it one way, they are hurt by the constant campaigning in the sense they are constantly being asked for money. But there's a flip side to that coin — at least for those which have money to give. That is this: If a candidate is constantly running, he's constantly aware of the need for money, the need to keep his good contributors happy and the need to consider all aspects of the situation before casting controversial votes. Without implying that all candidates pander to the special interests or offer their votes to the highest bidder, fundraising must be a consideration when campaigns are eternal.

A U.S. senator, running only every six years, has time to make up for transgressions committed early in his term. With less than a year between the oath of office and the next campaign, legislators and congressmen must watch every vote. That gives their donors an almost constant handle.

Can anything be done about the situation beyond consolidation? Recent history would indicate the odds aren't good. But with the Democrats firmly in charge of the legislature and with the governor's office now cozy with at least some Democratic factions, perhaps the situation has changed enough to permit another try.

A good first step would be moving the primary. A June primary would permit pushing back filing to March. A September primary could push filing back to June, or with a shorter period between filing and the primary, the filing date could be set after the June 30th deadline for the legislature's adjournment. That would mean a legislator could go through the whole first year of his term and the spring session of his second year without being involved in a campaign.

That would be a blessing to just about everybody — including the beleagured scribes who try to chronicle the eternal tales of Illinois politics.□

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