In attempt to jumpstart his candidacy for U.S. Senate, multi-millionaire Peter Fitzgerald railed against his opponent’s country club Republican attitude on taxes Friday in Carbondale, later admitting he himself belonged to a prestigious country club in Chicago.

Fitzgerald’s self-financed campaign has been called into question in the race. He has spent over $2 million of his own money to fund television advertising in 1997 alone, and polls reflect a perception that voters feel Fitzgerald is buying an election.

The Fitzgerald camp argues that self financing is a legitimate act in political campaigns because it cuts the ties between the candidate and the special interests. Press Secretary Tim Bryers said that just as Didrickson is beholden to the state Republican leadership pulling her strings, Fitzgerald is beholden only to himself and the taxpayer.

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Fitzgerald is the true independent, Bryers said. He isn’t indebted to anyone.

During his campaign stop in Carbondale Friday, Fitzgerald spoke to reporters about what he sees as the primary issue of the campaign tax reform. Instead of outlining any specific proposals, however, he repeatedly attacked his opponent Loleta Didrickson, calling her a liberal Republican who is just like Carol Mosely-Braun (the incumbent Democratic senator) on taxes and spending.

When asked if Braun’s pro-progressive tax stance in fact dramatically differs from Didrickson’s pro-flat tax platform, Fitzgerald responded, Sure those are different, every Republican supports a flatter, fairer tax but, she’s been all over the board on that. Loleta has nothing in her record to demonstrate that she has ever had a commitment to lower taxes.

Fitzgerald lashed out at Didrickson further, contending the state comptroller from Flossmoor voted for 95 tax increases during her stint in the General Assembly almost exactly the same number as her colleague Braun had supported.

Incidentally, the Didrickson camp is not balking under the charges. Ed Marshall, press secretary for Didrickson, wasted no time in criticizing Fitzgerald’s tactics, calling them desperate attempts to distinguish himself in a race he is destined to lose.

There’s not a penny’s worth of truth to what Peter Fitzgerald says, Marshall said. He’s down in the polls. He’s spent $3 million on television advertising and to no avail. He’s desperate. And he’s trying to jumpstart his campaign by distorting Loleta Didrickson’s record.

Marshall also hammered Fitzgerald for his vagueness on tax issues and the gross amount of money the Inverness senator has pumped into his campaign.

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I would challenge Peter Fitzgerald to step up to the plate and say what he actually stands for on tax reform, he said. Voters reject the notion that a Senate seat can be bought.

Despite Fitzgerald’s attacks on Didrickson, both candidates have called for a one rate flat tax to replace the current progressive income tax system, which they say is unfair and cumbersome. However, neither candidate has detailed any specific structural reforms, including a specific rate. In fact, Didrickson has said she refuses to do so.

You can’t corner me into doing that, she said at a campaign stop in Carbondale. Instead, Didrickson would like to see a national debate on the issue followed by intense analysis in Congress.

With both proposals obscured in rhetoric, it is difficult for either candidate to emerge as the visionary tax reformer. But, to this point many voters have sided with Didrickson, as evidenced by her early lead in the polls.

Fitzgerald says he can secure the Republican nomination and beat Braun in November by clearly drawing the battle lines on tax reform and forcing Democrats and liberal Republicans such as Didrickson to go on the defensive.

We intend to go on the offensive and to make the Democrats account for the havoc they’re wreaking on families in this country, he said. If our party nominates someone who’s more liberal than Carol Moseley-Braun on taxes than I think we will lose to Carol Moseley-Braun in the November general election.

Apart from tax reform, Fitzgerald would push for the elimination of certain federal agencies including the National Endowment of the Arts and the Commerce Department. He also would use any projected budget surplus for debt retirement and tax relief, each initiative given an equal amount of money.

To repair Medicare, the Inverness senator would model the program on the health insurance plan for federal government employees, which gives each worker a certain amount of money to buy a private health insurance policy.

Fitzgerald would stabilize Social Security by taking the endangered program off budget and investing trust fund surpluses in higher yield securities. He opposes the privatization of the program and would boost minimum age requirements to accommodate the influx of retirees.

This is a sacred trust and we need to protect it, he said.