Debra Pickett

It's the day before the primary election, and Meeks, who is running unopposed for the Democratic Party nomination for the Senate seat he currently holds as an independent, seems to have all the time in the world. His fancy cell phone, with the wireless earpiece, has been switched to "silent" and stashed away. The coterie of aides and staff members that often surrounds him is nowhere to be seen.

But this low-key arrival belies Meeks' current state of mind. He is not focused on his slam-dunk chances of re-election.

He is thinking, in fact, about entering a completely different electoral contest, one that could change the face of Illinois politics for years to come.

Meeks, 49, the powerfully connected pastor of the South Side's 20,000-member Salem Baptist Church, is planning to run for governor.

He's ready to start circulating petitions that will put his name on the ballot as an independent candidate.

"On March 28, I can start putting petitions on the street," Meeks says. "And, so far, I've had nothing to deter me from putting petitions on the street on March 28."

State election law makes Tuesday the first day when third-party candidates such as Meeks can begin circulating nominating petitions for the fall election. He needs a minimum of 25,000 signatures by June 26 and must run with an entire slate of candidates for lieutenant governor, attorney general, comptroller and treasurer.

Theme: 'At the moral center'

Saying that Gov. Blagojevich and the state's Democratic-controlled House and Senate are "morally wrong" for having failed to deliver school funding changes and other reforms important to the African-American community, Meeks says he views his candidacy as a way to bring the black vote, often taken for granted by Democrats, into focus as an important "swing" constituency.

"Not one time has the governor called together African-American leaders and said, 'What do you need?' " Meeks says, and adds that, unless this happens soon, he will go forward with his gubernatorial bid.

Meeks can hedge his bets until the "point of no return" on June 26, when he would surrender his Senate seat in order to be placed on the November ballot as an independent candidate for governor.

From then on, he says, he would launch a statewide campaign with a "moral center" theme.

"You'll have Judy Baar Topinka, who believes in abortion and gay rights . . . and Rod Blagojevich, who believes in abortion and gay rights," says Meeks, who opposes both. "Theologically, politically, for the white conservative voter, I'm their guy. I have their philosophy."

Meeks, who grew up in Englewood and was president of the Harper High School class of 1974, says his understanding of Illinois politics has changed enormously -- "it's night and day" -- since he defeated Democrat William Shaw in 2002 in the state's 15th senatorial district.

"Power concedes nothing without a demand," he says, quoting Frederick Douglass. "And the African-American constituency, we have not placed a demand on the Democratic Party."

Meeks cites the $40 million World Shooting Complex in downstate Sparta as an example of a project that received state funds because its supporters are perceived to be swing voters.

"Three hundred million dollars went to Republican pet projects to get their support on the budget," he says, after offering a blessing over our meals. "Nine million dollars went to a meth clinic in Southern Illinois. But we've got crack, cocaine and heroin on the North and West Sides. Where are those clinics?"

Does he really want to be gov?

If lawmakers in the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus, which Meeks chairs, could band together and similarly hold out on supporting the state budget until their initiatives were funded, Meeks says, spending priorities would look radically different.

I ask if he thinks this could actually happen.

He nods enthusiastically and says, between bites of Miller's famous baby-back ribs, "I hope to be the No. 1 cat that's making it happen."

So, is all this talk about a gubernatorial run just so much posturing for power in upcoming budget negotiations? I ask Meeks if he really wants to be governor.

"I want all people in the state of Illinois to be equally represented," he says.

When I point out that this is not exactly an answer to a basic yes-or-no question, he responds by repeating it.

I ask if he's really prepared for the possibility of being a spoiler in the November election, drawing enough votes away from Gov. Blagojevich to propel Judy Baar Topinka to victory.

"If the Democratic Party chooses to ignore its base," he says, "that's not me."

Meeks says he likes Blagojevich, whom he has hosted at Salem Baptist many times, and considers him a personal friend.

"It's not this administration only," Meeks says, describing the way he believes African-American voters have been taken for granted, "It's a national strategy. The blacks are put in the win column. So my new question is why shouldn't African-Americans nationwide become a swing vote? Why not put ourselves in that position?"

There is, Meeks says, a viable place for African-Americans, "at the moral center" of the American electorate.