* Conservative GOP gubernatorial candidate Dan Proft has received yet another endorsement from a Republican township organization…
Last night the Southern Will County Republican Organization (SWCRO) which comprises six rural townships in Will County endorsed conservative Republican candidate Dan Proft for Governor. ]…]
“By endorsing my candidacy, the Southern Will County GOP joined the Republican organizations of Schaumburg Township, New Trier Township and Niles Township in voting for policy revolution.
The Plainfield Township Republican Party has endorsed rival conservative GOP gubernatorial candidate Adam Andrzejewski.
It’s becoming obvious that several suburban township organizations have moved far to the Right - at least at the endorsement sessions. New Trier’s GOP organization endorsed Bob Dold over Rep. Elizabeth Coulson and other candidates in the 10th Congressional District. In the past, that would’ve probably been a lock for Coulson. Elk Grove Township also went with Dold, and nobody got enough support in Northfield Township for it to make an endorsement.
Coulson, however, is meeting with the national GOP chairman today…
Looking for a sign that the conservative ascendancy in the New York special election may be making other moderate Republican candidates across the country antsy?
State Rep. Beth Coulson, one of the most moderate Republican candidates running for Congress, will be meeting with Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele [today] in Illinois to discuss her campaign – and the need for Republicans to have a big-tent party so it can compete in Democratic-minded districts.
Notably, she telegraphed her scheduled meeting with Steele and Republican party leaders in Illinois in a press release. It’s fairly uncommon for a candidate to announce a meeting with party officials, especially when it’s closed to the press.
It’s only uncommon when it hurts the candidate. More…
From Coulson: She “will join Illinois’ House Minority Leader Tom Cross and Senate Minority Leader Chris Radogno, as well as Illinois Republican Chairman Pat Brady in the meeting with the chairman to talk about the upcoming midterm elections in Illinois and how to keep the 10th Congressional District in Republican hands.”
The GOP leaders believe that Coulson is the best shot at holding onto that seat. But she has to get through the primary first. Coulson, for her part, is trying hard to move right…
Coulson campaign spokesman Joe Woodward said that she’s against President’s Obama’s stimulus, cap-and-trade energy legislation and would have voted against the health care bill that narrowly passed through the House.
* Meanwhile, Sen. Bill Brady said he would be open to the idea of leasing the Illinois Tollway and also slammed Mayor Daley’s lease of the Skyway…
Brady said he believes a good model for selling the tollway would be what Indiana Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels did in leasing that state’s 157-mile I-90 tollway for $3.8 billion.
The 75-year lease allowed the company to almost immediately double tolls for cash payers while raising rates subsequently at least 2 percent a year. Drivers using an electronic payment system, like Illinois’ I-PASS, have been granted a break on the hikes until 2016.
So, he’s apparently writing off some of the suburban vote.
* Back to Gitmo we go. Congressman Peter Roskam is upset that Democratic US Senate candidate Alexi Giannouolias received some sort of briefing by National Security Council staff on moving the Gitmo prisoners to Thomson. From a press release…
“Given Mr. Giannoulias’ disclosure that he received a NSC briefing on possibly moving Guantanamo to Illinois, I urge the Obama Administration to eschew the increasingly political nature of this situation. Moving terrorists to Illinois will have tremendous security and economic implications, and now this situation has been tainted by the appearance of political favoritism given that a Democrat U.S. Senate candidate received a NSC briefing while elected Members of Congress have not. The people of Illinois will be best served by a process that forgoes the behind-closed-doors political approach and instead provides for open and transparent consideration.”
Giannoulias’ campaign says they believe the NSC staffer who did the briefing was the same person who briefed officials at Thomson earlier that day. Doesn’t seem to be a big deal.
The Giannoulias campaign also has a new list of endorsements…
State Senator Edward Maloney
State Senator John Sullivan
State Representative Deborah Graham
State Representative John D’Amico
Alderman Carrie Austin
Alderman Lona Lane
Alderman Bernard Stone
Alderman Joann Thompson
Alderman Howard Brookins Jr.
City of Chicago Treasurer Stephanie Neely
Peoria County Democratic Chairman Billy Halstead
Marion County Democratic Chairman Zach Roeckeman
Lawrence County Chairman Joe Weger
Des Plaines Mayor Martin Moylan
Maine Township Regular Democratic Organization
Maine Township Democratic Committeeman Laura Murphy
Associated Firefighters of Illinois
* Related…
* Hispanic Leaders Endorse Quinn
* Peraica involved in 3 signature challenges: Cook County Commissioner Tony Peraica challenges signatures in two races and is challenged in one.
* Gubernatorial candidates weigh in on education in Illinois
* Exposed to a Tea: But your screamfest Saturday at Oak Lawn Community High School exposed you as nothing more than a small but vocal gang of disgruntled white suburbanites who are ticked off at … well, appear to be ticked off at just about everything.
* It’s Official: Dunkin to Face Schroeder in February Primary Election: The Chicago Board of Elections rejected a challenge to the candidacy of David Schroeder for the State House of Representatives today. This clears the way for Schroeder to appear on the ballot facing incumbent Ken Dunkin, the first time Dunkin will face a Democratic challenger since he was elected in 2002.
LIVE session coverage...
- OdysseusVL - Friday, Nov 20, 09 @ 2:02 pm:
Great to see that Dave Schroeder defeated Dunkin’s ballot challenge. Dunkin’s people actually challenged Schroeder’s own signature, so it was pretty clear that the challenge was not going anywhere. I know Schroeder’s campaign pretty well. He’s got a strong team behind him, and Dunkin really walked into it by calling the Blago proceedings a witch hunt. This is going to be a very interesting race.
- Carl Nyberg - Friday, Nov 20, 09 @ 2:09 pm:
The GOP just abandoned Dede Scozzafava in a general election. This move carried a risk the Republicans would lose the seat. The activists and ultimately the Republican Party decided it was more important to send a message than to win a House seat.
Beth Coulson is going to Washington to ask the same people that turned on Scozzafava in a general election to stand by Coulson in a primary.
Has the Republican Party expressed regret over what it did to Scozzafava?
Does Coulson bring something to the table that Scozzafava didn’t? E.g., is she fabulously wealthy or related to Ronald Reagan or something?
If the national Republicans back Coulson in the primary won’t this be an admission the party was wrong to dump Scozzafava? When was the last time the GOP admitted they were wrong about anything?
If Michael Steele backs Coulson, will he take heat from Limbaugh and Glenn Beck attack him for backing a pro-abortion, pro-union, pro-gay, anti-gun WOMAN? Does Steele have the fortitude to whether attacks by Limbaugh and Beck to have a slightly better chance at winning IL-10?
Coulson is the past. Coulson will serve as the pinata and the other Republicans running in Illinois will prove their conservative credentials by whacking her. He who beats the liberal FEMALE from the North Shore hardest gets elected.
- wordslinger - Friday, Nov 20, 09 @ 2:10 pm:
In the suburbs, you’re supposed to say you favor making the tollways into freeways — whether you mean it or not.
- shore - Friday, Nov 20, 09 @ 2:25 pm:
The party leadership doesn’t seem to get it, mr. brady not a good way to start a new day. When the most liberal republican organizations in the state-our neck of the woods are going against establishment republicans, it’s because we’re angry the party doesn’t stand for anything and is more interested in politics than policy. Too many hasterts not enough fitzgeralds.
Proft is the LAST person you’d expect to win an endorsement in new trier, I mean the very very very last, but won because he gets the vibe right now which is that the republican rank and file is tired of our leadership feeding us garbage. 8 years we’ve been in the wildnerness and where are the new ideas?
Cross should have been forced to step down when his name showed up on the clout list. Apparently Kendall Country Republicans aren’t much different than chicago democrats.
- phocion - Friday, Nov 20, 09 @ 2:26 pm:
Dunkin’s goons filed an objection to his challenger’s own signature? Now that kind of nonsense should be subject to a hefty fine.
- shore - Friday, Nov 20, 09 @ 2:35 pm:
If we had actual reporters other than Mr.Rich Miller that went out and did a david broder where they talked to republicans and tried to make half the effort they did last year to cover the obama obsession to understand what’s on gop voters minds right now what they’d see is a party base that feels betrayed by the hastert/bush years and wants actual fresh leadership embodying our conservative and republican principles. Coulson doesn’t provide that, dillard and brady-career pols, don’t provide that.
By getting behind these folks the party leadership is trying to thwart a recovery process by picking favorites. winning an election by default and having no new ideas and screwing up again and starting all over as coulson/dillard/brady would have us do is worse than losing, and finding a stronger better party to move forward with.
- Louis G. Atsaves - Friday, Nov 20, 09 @ 2:35 pm:
Were the other Illinois U.S. Senate candidates briefed on that issue in the same way Giannoulias was?
Why was he so special and the others not?
Was Andy Martin briefed? David Hoffman? Hughes? Arrington?
- John Bambenek - Friday, Nov 20, 09 @ 2:41 pm:
Scozzafava was abandoned? Really? Scozzafava was a candidate shoved down the throats of the rank-and-file GOP and they weren’t having it. The party jumped ship when she become unviable and proved it was the right decision when she endorsed the Democrat and brought him the victory. After all, “It’s better to lose an election than lose power.”
Candidates need to earn their support from the voters (including primary voters), it’s not the voters job to choke down whatever loser the party shoves in their face.
The failure to understand that is why the GOP loses elections.
- 10th District Elephant - Friday, Nov 20, 09 @ 3:07 pm:
The state party and Steele staff were very P.O’d that Coulson spun her attendence at a meeting as some sort of endorsement. The question is, why would Coulson want the RNC endorsement? She wouldn’t even endorse Bush or McCain.
- VanillaMan - Friday, Nov 20, 09 @ 3:10 pm:
“Given Mr. Giannoulias’ disclosure that he received a NSC briefing on possibly moving Guantanamo to Illinois, I urge the Obama Administration to eschew the increasingly political nature of this situation. Moving terrorists to Illinois will have tremendous security and economic implications, and now this situation has been tainted by the appearance of political favoritism given that a Democrat U.S. Senate candidate received a NSC briefing while elected Members of Congress have not. The people of Illinois will be best served by a process that forgoes the behind-closed-doors political approach and instead provides for open and transparent consideration.”
Indeed. And if Obama was able to get his first choice, Lisa Madigan would have briefed instead of Giannoulais.
This also explains why Giannoulais wasn’t dancing around gushing over the plan alongside Quinn and Durbin, doesn’t it?
He knew it was too politically risky to embrace before hearing what a majority of voters would say.
Regardless, Roskam is right. Giving Giannoulais a briefing threw the State Treasurer into a political situation he shouldn’t have been forced into. Unless you believe Giannoulais was pushing for this crazy idea before the announcement - which is unlikely.
This isn’t fair for Giannoulais, as well to Illinois Congresspeople. Sloppy!
- Pat Collins - Friday, Nov 20, 09 @ 3:39 pm:
tea party
That column is about as demeaning and sophmoric as any columnist I have ever read. I really expected that to be a letter to the editor.
I would hope a major paper’s columnist would not rate the whole based on the actions of one. But of course, that standard applies both ways….
- Pat Collins - Friday, Nov 20, 09 @ 3:42 pm:
Scozzafava was a candidate shoved down the throats of the rank-and-file GOP
Not often mentioned is that her hubby is a union official, and it was union turn-out that made the difference.
- T.J. - Friday, Nov 20, 09 @ 3:42 pm:
Scozzafava did not have a single Republican position. She was not a Moderate or representative of any Moderate. Comparisons to Beth Coulson and Mark Kirk are absurd.
- Abe Froman - Friday, Nov 20, 09 @ 3:45 pm:
It is outrageous that the National Security Council is briefing ANY political candidate on detaineee policy at any clearance level. It IS a big deal. It is nothing more than further politicization of everything this administration does.
Kirk gets info as a member of Congress on foreign and defense policy matters. That’s his job, and, yes, it gives him valuable expertise that is important for a Senator.
Alexi has inside information about state finances that isn’t available to every mope running for state office. It makes him more knowlegable on state fiscal matters.
THAT’S WHY EXPERIENCE MATTERS.
But if the Bush NSC had given a private briefing on terrorism issues to Peter Roskam to help him beat Duckworth back in 2006 the screams would have been deafening.
- Skeptical Cynic - Friday, Nov 20, 09 @ 3:45 pm:
So Beth Coulson is not Dede Scozzafava? What is she if she takes SEIU/Acorn money & endorsements and has Blago and Obama on her direct mail.
- OdysseusVL - Friday, Nov 20, 09 @ 3:50 pm:
“Skeptical Cynic - Friday, Nov 20, 09 @ 3:45 pm:
So Beth Coulson is not Dede Scozzafava? What is she if she takes SEIU/Acorn money & endorsements and has Blago and Obama on her direct mail.”
That would just make her 2008 Mark Kirk.
- Anonymous - Friday, Nov 20, 09 @ 4:08 pm:
Dan Proft as the GOP nominee will ensure Pat Quinn will get a full term as governor. Bring it on GOP.
- Team Sleep - Friday, Nov 20, 09 @ 4:17 pm:
I hope Rep. Coulson keeps her rhetoric similar to what she used today. Toe the party line ever so slightly, please. Mark Kirk can stand to learn from her demeanor and prose.