Our non-candidate candidates

Mike Lawrence writes on Lloyd Karmeier and Gordon Maag. He says they

have been obligated to wear the Lady of Justice's blindfold. Now the two southern Illinois jurists, competing in what is likely the hottest race ever for a state Supreme Court seat, are donning muzzles.

Welcome to an Alice-in-Wonderland world where judicial aspirants are essentially compelled to campaign without acting like candidates. They must contend without contentiousness, discuss issues without committing, build campaign treasuries supposedly without knowing the identities of major benefactors and carry Republican or Democratic banners without waving them...

Nevertheless, there is too much at stake in their 5th Judicial District face-off for the candidates to monopolize the messages. Because the district includes Madison County, widely considered a haven for those filing personal-injury lawsuits and a hellhole for their targets, combatants in the tort reform war are choosing favorites and preparing for combat. The outcome will either embolden Maag-backing lawyers depicting themselves as warriors for victims' rights or energize Karmeier-boosting business leaders blaming the Supreme Court for knocking down laws that discourage frivolous lawsuits and unreasonable damage awards. Moreover, a Republican victory would give the GOP another spot on the Democratic-dominated tribunal, which occasionally referees highly partisan fights.

Republican Karmeier, a circuit court judge, must ponder every public utterance; so must Democrat Maag, an appellate court justice. But business groups and health-care providers won't hesitate to tag Maag as an ally of greedy attorneys who have been chasing doctors out of southern Illinois, and trial lawyers won't blush at labeling Karmeier a tool of big, bad business.

Here's a rating of the two of them by the Illinois State Bar Association.