Guest Opinion: Echoes of Chuck McIlhinney in criticism of Mehmet Oz
It was the early part of 1989 when I moved from Harrisburg to New Hope, and was relatively new to politics. At that time, people still relied on the newspaper for their news and I recall repeatedly reading in The Doylestown Intelligencer about the reasons that Chuck McIlhinney was not a suitable candidate for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.
I learned a lot from those early days; the naysayers were using the argument that McIlhinney wasn’t suitable because of the powerful position his mother held in the county as vice chairwoman of the Bucks County Republican Party. Hmm, I thought, “What’s that all about?” The son wasn’t qualified for a seat in the state House because his mother had been successful in the same Party? Well, I called the now-retired state senator and made an appointment to meet with him. I came away from that meeting wanting to support Charles T. McIlhinney Jr. He was a worthy candidate and I took pleasure in working on several of his future campaigns.
Now looking ahead, we are seeing a newcomer to the arena facing the same silly reasons that he shouldn’t be considered for a seat in the U.S. Senate. Yes, it’s the TV personality and renowned cardiothoracic surgeon, Dr. Mehmet Oz.
And it doesn’t seem to matter that Oprah Winfrey introduced Dr. Oz to the television audience because he was an interesting and successful personality. His opponent argues that he shouldn’t be considered a worthy candidate ‘because he’s an outsider…he’s not one of us.’
What does that mean? It’s true that his arms aren’t full of tattoos and he doesn’t present himself as a candidate who comes across as a hometown boy. But if you take the time to Google these two candidates you’ll be impressed with Dr. Oz’s resumé.
He is a worthy candidate if you aren’t a voter who just goes along to get along.
Eugenio M. Albano lived in Bucks County for 20 years. He now lives in Harrisburg.
This article originally appeared on The Intelligencer: Guest Opinion: Echoes of Chuck McIlhinney in criticism of Mehmet Oz
