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The South Loop has become a magnet for a seasonal form of panhandler: The political petition purveyor. Signature solicitors. Average-Joe-autograph hunters.

Yes, it’s the silly season and scores of candidates (me included) and their helpers (some scruffier than others) are besieging the streets of the South Loop, begging voters to sign for their chosen state, county or federal office seekers--from judge to county board president to commissioner of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, not to mention candidates for the state house, congress and governor. Some of the candidates are green, idealistic and fresh-faced. Some are incumbents with all kinds of baggage.

Democrats (and yes, a few Republicans, too) are begging and beseeching, humbling themselves to the degree necessary, desperate to fill those petitions with enough signatures to land them (or their friend, colleague or employer) not only a place on the ballot--but also enough names of qualified voters in excess of the minimum needed to fend off their opponents’ legal challenges.

The South Loop is good because it has transportation hubs, such as on Roosevelt between State and Wabash--where the Green, Orange and Red Lines fan out, and a number of bus routes (ie, 29, 62, 146) go in every direction. People are waiting, captive, often with nothing better to do than sign--although so many talk on phones, talk to others, text, read email or listen to music that it’s harder and harder to interrupt.

Neighborhood candidates stand--increasingly, as autumn sets in, trying to maintain a groomed look in damp or cold conditions--along with many carpetbaggers. They glare at each other; or smile weakly in the direction of the other; or make a truce by signing each other’s petitions. (As long they aren’t vying for the same office.)

Some are in the for-profit business of filling nominating petitions for candidates. They say the going rate is $1 per name. Sometimes they ask for signatures for several candidates at once. Others want to file in multiple races for the same job (like judge) and later choose which race they will stay in, and ask people to sign multiple times for the same person. Some have several non-competing candidates running for the same office on the same petition. And it gets confusing as to who exactly one is signing for.

“It doesn’t mean you’re for them,” you hear the petition-fillers say, after they are asked by the voter for information on the candidate’s stands on the issues. “They aren’t officially running yet. It just means you are giving them a CHANCE to run!”

Again, the South Loop has ideal conditions for petition pursuits. It has a farmer’s market on Saturdays, Bears games on Sundays and the biggest citizen attraction of them all--The Marathon. Not to mention nearby parades, workers coming and going to and from the Loop, and shoppers at Jewel, Dominicks and Whole Foods. There is a steady stream of bodies in order to keep those clipboards and ballpoints in someone’s hands at all times.

Citizens of all natures are being asked if they are registered voters. Most say yes, because they think the petition getters are trying to get them to register--and they’re trying to move on. Or they say no, because they don’t want to stop and sign or otherwise be bothered by (they think) some fundraiser of some kind. For some, the sad fact is that they don’t know how to write or spell. They avert their eyes and turn you down, and you have to learn never to take it personally--even though you feel like a panhandler and a pest.

But the surprising thing is that the vast majority of people do stop and sign, knowing that they are in a neighborhood that affords them the chance to participate in the deepest grass roots of democracy.

Each and every registered voter who signs a petition (hopefully with accurate information) makes the candidate one signature closer to attaining public office. Barack did it, Quinn did it, Paul Simon had to do it in his time. And yes, Blago did it. Every person who’s ever run for office has had to do it. Or hired someone to do it for them. (Or got patronage workers to help.) It’s a rite of passage for every politician. And it’s the basis of our entire political system. And the South Loop is where it’s at for another week or so.

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