PAUL GORDON

The announcement from U.S. Senator Dick Durbin that he will not seek another term is troublesome, in my opinion. Not because this man, now 80 years old, should keep running, but because of the uncertainty of what — or who — comes next.

Durbin, the second-ranked Democrat in the Senate, has been a solid advocate for his state, his constituents, and for the country as a whole. Illinoisans have long known they could count on him to stand up for us when necessary and to strike fair deals when beneficial.

Since 2016, Durbin has been a good proponent for Democrats in taking on oppressive Republican leaders, including the current regime rushing toward autocracy. In fact, it’s his thoughts about that regime that almost caused him to stay around Washington, D.C., another term.

“The madder I got about what Trump is doing to this country and to the Constitution, the more I wanted to serve and not step aside,” Durbin told Capitol News Illinois soon after announcing his decision.

That announcement, a year and a half before the 2026 election, means we will be seeing a lot of Democrats, many already in political leadership positions in Illinois, float trial balloons to see how they might fare with voters. In fact, Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton of Chicago has already said she will seek the seat.

If she wins that would mean both Illinois senators would be from Chicagoland. U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth, also a Democrat, is from Hoffman Estates, a Chicago ’burb. I would worry that the interests of Downstate would not get enough attention.

On the Republican side it will be interesting to see the mix of candidates who try to turn the seat red after decades in the blue column. It is becoming increasingly apparent that simply trying to grab Donald Trump’s coattails may not be enough; in fact, the way recent polls are going about his approval ratings, it could be detrimental.

One name we’ve heard from the GOP side has been our own U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood. A Trumper if there ever was one, we would not be well served if he was elected to the Senate. And how would he campaign? He won’t even have a town hall meeting that he knows would bring tough questions about Trump/Musk policies.

LaHood would quickly find out that running a statewide campaign would be much different than running in a Congressional district carefully drawn to lean Republican. That’s why he hasn’t had serious Democratic opposition in years.

Illinois Democrats cannot be complacent or lazy about the Durbin seat, even though it has been held by a Democrat for decades. Republicans would love to flip it. Don’t let that happen.

Consumers confident?

In my days as business editor of the Peoria Journal Star, I paid careful attention to the Index of Consumer Sentiment issued monthly by the University of Michigan. That index is based on surveys with householders and asks several questions to gauge whether they are confident about their finances, business conditions and, perhaps most important, buying conditions.

The index is closely watched by economists because it can indicate that consumers will curb spending in fear of employment issues affecting their income; thus, they need to save instead of spend. That can lead to recession.

I still check the Index. Old habits die hard, I guess. And the most recent Index of Consumer Sentiment is kinda scary. It had a score of 50.8, its second lowest in more than 70 years. And indicators show it is likely to continue to decline because consumers are increasingly pessimistic about their personal finances and inflation.

Economists say they are alarmed and fear recession. But they aren’t surprised given the volatility of the Trump tariffs and resulting woes on Wall Street.

The Index of Consumer Sentiment report for May will be out soon. I’ll be watching for it.

About those protests …

I was unable to participate in any of the 50501 protests but I liked what I saw and read. Still, I couldn’t help but wonder how many of the hundreds of thousands of protesters didn’t bother to vote last November.

I have always believed there is little reason to not vote in a presidential election. Even my 92-year-old mother took the time to do a mail-in ballot. Those who are indifferent about the election on Election Day don’t have much room to complain later.