Meet Ethan Hastert

by Josh Kalven on June 09, 2009 - 12:23pm

After officially announcing his plans to challenge Democratic Rep. Bill Foster in the 14th Congressional District yesterday, Republican Ethan Hastert -- son of former House Speaker Dennis Hastert -- has been making the media rounds today. You can listen to his appearance on WLS' Don Wade & Roma In the Morning at this link.

Here he is explaining his experience:

"I've been around the business a long time. I've been following these issues and the policy decisions that get made for a very long time. I worked in D.C. for a couple of years, but I've spent most of my life in the Fox Valley. So I've followed the process and I'm very well steeped in the issues."

An interesting nugget: Hastert spent those "couple of years" working as an aide to then-Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff Lewis "Scooter" Libby, later convicted on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice.

Comments

Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 07/27/2009 - 13:17

Denny Hastert was a terrible disappointment as a Republican. The investigative piece on his land dealings and then pushing for a highway project that increased the value of his land holdings seems criminal to me. Hastert was a terrible speaker and did little to advance Republican causes. I for one have seen enough of the self enriching politicians for a lifetime. He enter congress worth a few hundred thousand and leaves worth millions. That investigative piece really turned me off,

As a life long voter for all things Republican I can say no more Hastert's and no more Bush's. We need a new breed of politician.

Mike (not verified) on Mon, 08/31/2009 - 15:01

Anyone who refers to public service as "the business" isn't qualified to serve.

Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 08/31/2009 - 22:04

Well said Mike, I second.

John Moskal (not verified) on Fri, 09/04/2009 - 18:03

Despite being the son of Dennis Hastert, I expect that Ethan Hastert will put his own signature on his office. I hope he wins, and I am optimitistic that he will win since there are a lot of people out there not too happy about recent events in Illinois and nationally.

Gordon Nielsen (not verified) on Thu, 10/01/2009 - 11:10

Whatever happened to the average joe running for office? Why is every politician a lawyer or a scientist from an ivy league school worth millions? I want to run for congress, but it will be difficult since I am not rich or related to someone important. I own a sign business in the 14th district and have to deal with the same issues as my fellow blue collar workers. I want my opinion to matter. I know what it takes to make a dollar stretch, I know the difference between right and wrong. I am tired of always being walked on by the people who obviously don't know the first thing about what is best for my family. How many more generations are we going to put in debt? How many kids are going to work their way through college just to end up with no job and a school loan the size of a mortgage? When do we get to decide whats best for our kids? Lets work on making change possible without having a million dollar campaign fund. Let's stir things up a bit with congress and vote for the average man that has something to lose.

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