By Kirk Mottram and Travis DeNeal

Daily Egyptian Political Reporters

Republican Senate candidate Peter Fitzgerald, now tied with his opponent Loleta Didrickson in a recent Chicago Sun-Times poll, is beginning to see the fruits of his labors. Attempts to paint Didrickson as too liberal for too long, seemingly have succeeded as Fitzgerald now enjoys a wealth of momentum in a race Didrickson’s press secretary has said Fitzgerald is destined to lose.

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Armed with a message almost wholly centered around tax reform, the Inverness state senator is spending millions of dollars of his personal fortune to pick at Didrickson’s voting record in the General Assembly. For months Fitzgerald has claimed his opponent’s tax record is comparable to that of Democratic incumbent Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun. To complement this, he has spent a considerable amount of time attacking her abortion and gun control stances. According to the Chicago Sun-Times poll, these positions have damaged her popularity among the majority of Republican voters who favor banning abortion and easing gun control laws.

Didrickson has had to re-package herself as a conservative for this election, says Fitzgerald’s press secretary Tim Bryers. She doesn’t represent the mainstream of the party and people are beginning to realize that.

The main difference between these two campaigns is that Fitzgerald offers a message that is salable to most people and Loleta doesn’t.

Fitzgerald’s attacks have put Didrickson on the defensive, a position he relishes. Consequently, considerable money has been spent by the Republican comptroller to respond to the accusations while her lead has evaporated.

With only two weeks until the primary, Fitzgerald now must convince those who have yet to make up their mind that his message of lower taxes and spending can win the day in November. If Fitzgerald is successful, he will face Moseley-Braun, who is running unopposed in the Democratic primary.

Bryers is confident a replay of the 1996 Senate primary, which featured a conservative Republican upending a moderate, is about to unfold. Strategically, the Fitzgerald camp will continue to hit Didrickson hard with attack ads aimed at exposing her tax record while running inspiration spots showing Fitzgerald’s commitment to family and fiscal responsibility. These commercials, coupled with a strong organizational push, will enable Fitzgerald to secure the nomination, Bryers argues.

We believe our message is resonating with voters now, Bryers said. We’re going to keep reaching out to the voters and we’re going to win this thing.

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The question remains, however, is the Sun-Times’ numbers accurate? Fitzgerald’s team contends they are. Didrickson’s camp is downplaying them, but continues to attack Fitzgerald’s tactics.

Didrickson, Illinois comptroller, is touting her changes she made in her current office as a model of how she would handle federal government spending issues.

As comptroller, she reduced her office’s payroll and expense budgets, citing a need to reduce governmental spending. Reduced federal spending along with IRS reform and tax reform are the vertices of her platform triangle.

Although her opponent Peter Fitzgerald has accused her of being liberal on fiscal issues, Didrickson maintains that she leans hard to the right.

My approach to government is a fiscally conservative one, based on smarter, smaller government and restrained government spending, she said.

Though she does not cite a specific number, she supports what she calls a flatter, simpler tax system. She opposes increases in income tax rates for individuals and businesses.

Didrickson’s IRS reform package includes reducing tax breaks, said Ed Marshall, her campaign manager.

Loleta Didrickson thinks tax breaks are an incentive for the IRS to audit citizens, he said. If you remove the tax breaks, then you no longer need the IRS.

Marshall also said Didrickson also proposes a reduced amount of taxing for individuals to take the place of tax breaks.

She wants to introduce legislation that would allow working-class families of four or more to not pay taxes on their first $30,000 of income, he said.

Didrickson also said her plan to change education would bring equal-opportunity education to all children. She supports school choice, the expansion of charter schools and scholarships for low-income and inner-city children.

In addition, Didrickson follows Republican trends on the issue of foreign affairs, calling for the U.S. to continue its active role foreign affairs. Part of her military use mindset is the creation of a national missile defense system.

Didrickson campaign worker Matt Johnson said his candidate is the more stable of the two Republican primary options.

Peter Fitzgerald has flip-flopped on a lot of issues, Johnson said, citing Fitzgerald’s position on crime and guns. For example, he voted for the carry and conceal bill, but voted against the bill to stiffen the penalty for drug offenders caught with guns.

Loleta Didrickson clearly has the interests of Illinois citizens and the party in mind.