Jim Oberweis: Durbin “Doesn’t Want People To Know Where He Stands on the Issues” [AUDIO]

State Senator Jim Oberweis had quite the weekend in his big to unseat incumbent U.S. Senator Dick Durbin. A Chicago Sun-Times/We Ask America poll showed that Oberweis had pulled to within 7 points of Durbin, while an internal Oberweis poll released this morning had it a 6-point race.

Meanwhile, Oberweis picked up the endorsement Sunday of prominent Chicago pastor Bishop Larry Trotter, who heads the Sweet Holy Spirit Church on the city's south side. The Sun-Times reports:

[Trotter] said he’s switching his support from Durbin to Oberweis after seeing meager economic development in African-American neighborhoods; a lack of a south suburban trauma center and a perceived “lack of access” to Durbin.

“When you pastor 8,000 people, I think you ought to get a return phone call,” Trotter said at a news conference in his church office Sunday afternoon.

It's the second big endorsement Oberweis has picked up in Chicago's African-American community, following the backing of the Rev. Corey Brooks Sr. of the New Beginnings Church in Chicago. What was Durbin's condescending response to the high-profile endorsements?

Durbin spokesman Ron Holmes told the Chicago Sun-Times, “It’s quite baffling that any leader in the black community would choose to endorse such an extreme Tea Party candidate.”

In our interview with Jim Oberweis, we also asked why Durbin would only agree to one televised debate leading up to the November election:

It's quite clear that he doesn't want to talk about the issues, that he doesn't want people to know where he stands on the issues. That's more arrogance. I believe the voters of Illinois have a right to hear where he stands and compare that to where I stand on the issues and then be able to make an intelligent choice. We like to complain that voters frequently aren't knowledgeable about where a candidate stands on issues. Well...here's chance to give voters a chance to learn about those positions and Dick Durbin's fighting against that.

Here's our full conversation with Jim Oberweis about the state of the race for U.S. Senate: