More McHenry County Blog

Inside is a puzzle picture on the Capitol (with the flag flying the left, not the typical way one envisions seeing it.). McSweeney is being interviewed by reporters (or people posing as reporters) against a large office window with trees in the background.

The front panel’s headline, “What makes the man and defines this leader…” is continued: “…Makes David McSweeney the clear choice for Congress.”

The reasons:

A conservative Republican with the shared tried-and-true values of President Ronald Reagan
A husband and father with strong ties to our community
A leader in the business world who put a 17-year career on the back burner to focus on moving our district forward.
A question: How many people identify themselves as part of “the district?” I know candidates and legislators do, but I doubt anyone else does, except maybe the press.

Onto the inside: On the left side of the 8½ by 11 inch centerfold is a photo of the new and the previous McSweeney. Before his extreme makeover, McSweeney was much heavier and the heavier McSweeney is shown in a photo with President Reagan, while the new, thinner McSweeney appears in a portrait above a note saying that he has “walked door-to-door through our neighborhoods…and have learned firsthand about your concerns…I am a husband…father…businessman…a proud American.”

Park Ridge-born, McSweeney’s touts his education--economics degree and MBA from Duke University.

Above the photo posing with President Reagan, the Barrington Hills candidate explains he began by volunteering for the candidate in 1980, “interned with the Reagan-Bush 1984 campaign, served as Palatine Township Trustee, and has supported numerous Republican candidates as a Precinct Captain in Palatine, Barrington, and Schaumburg Townships.”

McSweeney moved from Palatine Township after running unsuccessfully against Congressman Phil Crane in 1998. When the incumbent Republican and Democrat congressmen and women were allowed to draw their own district lines during re-districting, Crane put the line so that McSweeney and Melissa Bean did not live in the district. McSweeney moved into the district. Bean did not.

The right-hand side of the centerfold shows a wedding picture with his bride Margaret, whom he married in 1991. Living in New York City early in their marriage, they “tutored at risk students in Harlem. Margatet now serves on the Board of Directors of WINGS,” a homeless women’s and children’s shelter, much like Home of the Sparrow.

The couple has two daughters, Katie, 10, and Melissa, 12. We see McSweeney helping with their homework while their mother works in the kitchen.

Next item in the biography is that McSweeney “spent years building a successful career as an investment banker.” He was a managing director, but the piece does not say for whom.

A puzzle piece of the American flag is to the right of a paragraph entitled, “David McSweeney is a patriotic American.” He mentions his support of “President Bush in the War on Terror…believes our government’s primary responsibility is to protect our nation and its citizens…focuses on toughening security at our borders to reduce illegal immigration, increasing our intelligence capabilities to root out terrorists, and never forgetting the commitment and sacrifice of our nation’s military men and women and their families.”

The bottom like from McSweeney’s viewpoint:
David McSweeney is a straight-talker, an experienced leader, and an honest man who stands by his principles.

The back panel where the constituent’s address appears has understated endorsements from Mike Ditka (“Da Coach,” in case you are confused) and former U.S. Senator Peter Fitzgerald.