Metro East Sun

Republican activist Mike Babcock traces much of the state’s ongoing struggles with COVID-19 back to what he sees as Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s lack of leadership.

“With the way he’s doing things, businesses simply don’t have their best chance of surviving this pandemic,” Babcock told the Metro East Sun. “Under his guidance, there’s just too much unpredictability. Restaurants don’t know how to order food, salon shop owners don’t know when they’ll be allowed to do their jobs, all because you never know what the governor might be thinking of doing.”

Citing rising coronavirus infection rates, Pritzker recently warned that he could soon move to reimpose stricter reopening standards as at least 11 counties are now at “warning levels” for the spread of the virus. Cass, Gallatin, Jackson, Jo Daviess, Johnson, Perry, Randolph, Saline, Sangamon, St. Clair and White counties have all been identified as potential hotspots.

Numbers aside, Babcock, who formerly ran for the state House in the 112th District, views the governor’s actions as more overkill.

“Another shutdown just means a longer struggle for this economy,” he said. “If we’re going to continue to destroy our own economy, businesses are going to simply deduce there’s no need to be in Illinois. The governor simply doesn’t get it. Maybe it has to do with the sheltered life he’s lived.”

Babcock fumes small business owners have been forced to absorb the biggest blows of all, including being forced to shut down for months at a time.  

“Being a small business, you typically have a loan that has to be repaid and anyone that has a small business has employees that have to be paid,” he said. “The idea of having to shut down your business for any length of time simply makes that burden that much more to carry. The fact is we have to reopen and give businesses the latitude to operate as they see fit and in a way they can make money.”