* The NRCC has thrown Republican congressional candidate Joe Walsh right under the bus…
National Republican Party fundraisers aren’t putting much stock in Joe Walsh’s campaign to unseat incumbent Democratic U.S. Rep. Melissa Bean in the suburban 8th District, a spokesman said Thursday.
The races for the 10th District, 11th District and 14th District seats are the most competitive in the state, National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Tom Erickson said, and are getting the most attention from the party. […]
“We’re really focused on the seats where we see the clearest paths to victory,” Erickson said. “It’s no secret these are the most competitive (races).” […]
“In the primary, we had really liked Dirk Beveridge or Maria Rodriguez,” Erickson said, referring to two of the five candidates Walsh defeated Feb. 2. “Those are the two candidates who we thought really had the potential to make this a very competitive race.”
Bean’s seat is certainly a stretch for the GOP, but I thought she might be vulnerable to populist attacks that she’s been way too cozy with the financial services industry. She’s repeatedly back-stopped their attempts to kill off reform.
Still, I’ve never really seen the NRCC do that to a candidate before. It certainly looks like a not so subtle hint to get out of the race.
As you already know, the Daily Herald reported earlier this week about how Walsh’s condo was foreclosed upon and his subsequent eviction. Walsh’s over the top diatribe [fixed link] against the paper didn’t do himself many favors, either.
Bean must be feeling pretty secure these days…
While many other Democrats are rushing to dump campaign cash given by under-fire U.S. Rep. Charlie Rangel, Melissa Bean isn’t.
The Barrington Democrat says she won’t donate to charity the $28,000 she received between 2005 and 2007 from the New York congressman or from committees associated with him.
The money was given before Rangel was under investigation for ethics abuses, Bean spokesman Jonathan Lipman pointed out. Plus, he says, the money has already been spent.
* Meanwhile, GOP Congressman Peter Roskam is doing Internet advertising on behalf of a “tele-town hall.” The kicker is that he’s using taxpayer money to buy the ads. Check out a screen cap…
If you can’t read the fine print, it says: “Paid for by Official Funds Authorized by the House of Representatives.”
Strange that he would use taxpayer funds to advertise a meeting about “out of control spending.”
Even stranger, the ad in question was placed by Google on Talking Points Memo, a liberal website.
* Campaign roundup…
* New Lake Co. GOP leader may reflect growing conservative movement: A member of the conservative Republican Assembly of Lake County, Cook brings a different dynamic to the leadership, observers say. RALC Chairman Raymond True said Cook will be in better touch with the conservative members of the party.
* Stroger hires campaign worker as deputy chief of staff: Carla Oglesby replaces Pamela Munizzi, who recently retired. Oglesby, who was a managing partner of CGC Communications, will be paid $116,000 a year in her new post. “I was deeply impressed by Ms. Oglesby’s work on the political side in the run-up to the” Feb. 2 Democratic primary, Stroger said in a statement.
* Sneed: Sneed hears voter turnout for the recent governor’s primary was the lowest in Illinois history.
* Code Red: NRCC Launches Targeted Calls Against Bill Foster
* Toftoy gets term as Kendall GOP leader: When the dust cleared, it was Kenny the Coroner — Ken Toftoy, the Kendall County coroner — who bested Sawmill Dan — Dan Nicholson, owner of Sawmill Pizza and Ristorante in downtown Yorkville — for a two-year term as chairman of the Kendall County Republican Committee.
* Former politician now brokers real estate deals: Lee Daniels, who used to negotiate the state’s multibillion-dollar budget as the Republican leader in the Illinois House, now chases buyers for small commercial buildings in the suburbs.
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- Anonymous - Friday, Mar 5, 10 @ 9:21 am:
I can understand the whole Walsh thing, but don’t think that the foreclosure was THE issue. It was just the last nail. Beveridge had the best chance to pull this off. Way too many candidates during the Primary.
- VanillaMan - Friday, Mar 5, 10 @ 9:24 am:
At what point is someone going to start questioning the primary process which produces Plummers, Walshs, Bradys, Cohens, Blagojevichs, and other political clowns?
These people were nominated, and endorsed! At what point does the Republicans and Democrats think they can continually fail Illinoians with their candidates, yet expect Illinoians to support them?
The damage these losers do to the Parties needs to be addressed by the party leadership, because we are at a point already where being nominated by either of these two clown colleges doesn’t mean a hill of beans to voters.
Do a runoff. Do something! This kind of stupidity cannot continue. Government cannot gain credibility without credible elected officials.
After Ryan and Blagojevich, Burris and Cohen, and now Brady and Plummer, someone has to start throwing a few hard objects at the political parties who are stupid enough to have a nomination system that produces them.
- wordslinger - Friday, Mar 5, 10 @ 9:28 am:
The Roskam ad is interesting. Is the Internet version of Congressional franking?
- Brennan - Friday, Mar 5, 10 @ 9:28 am:
=Walsh’s over the top diatribe against the paper didn’t do himself many favors, either.=
What “over the top diatribe against the paper”? I’m not seeing anything in your links that show Walsh going after the Daily Herald.
- Rich Miller - Friday, Mar 5, 10 @ 9:31 am:
Brennan, the link is now fixed. Thanks.
- You Go Boy - Friday, Mar 5, 10 @ 9:31 am:
Re “Low Turnout”. Leave it to politico’s to blame low turnout on the voters. Speaking for myself, and maybe others, primary voting currently is immaterial. I WILL vote in the general and it will be against every incumbent. You can say that is idiotic, blah, blah. But tell me. I truly don’t believe it could get worse.
“Experience” equals re-election, which means to hell with everything/body else…how do I keep this thing going. THROW THE BUMS OUT needs to be a reality, not just a slogan.
- Anonymous - Friday, Mar 5, 10 @ 9:34 am:
V-Man, I think alot of this lately has to do with actually finding good candidates in the first place. IMHO, aside from the “promise” of a fairly secure job for at least a term for those who need the income, I can’t understand why anyone would want to run anymore unless they’re REALLY into serving the public and truly understand what that means. Campaigns are just getting dirtier and dirtier.
- Brennan - Friday, Mar 5, 10 @ 9:37 am:
Rich: Thanks. Now I see what you mean. Yikes.
- shore - Friday, Mar 5, 10 @ 9:43 am:
teletownhalls have been done at the federal level since 2005. This is not a new concept. Advertising for them is weird because you use federal taxdollars to find a list and then random people just get called. This is bizzarre.
- OneMan - Friday, Mar 5, 10 @ 9:45 am:
Foster did phone town-halls to talk about health care…
- Brennan - Friday, Mar 5, 10 @ 9:50 am:
I don’t know how those funds from the House work for Roskam, but Talking Points Memo uses Google Adsense that even draws in ads for Congressman John Carter, Mike Pence and Freedom Works.
It’s likely just a case of an adword usage like “politics” or some generic term like that.
- Anonymous - Friday, Mar 5, 10 @ 9:55 am:
===
This is not a new concept.
===
When you first introduce them into a specific area, they can be considered a “new concept” within that context and they need to be “socialized” within that context. While I think “tele-townhalls” are helpful, I personally hope that they’ll be used to get out to more people in “outlying” areas v. as a replacement for traditional town hall meetings.
- Brennan - Friday, Mar 5, 10 @ 9:56 am:
Roskam has held these events before. He has a form you can fill out if you want to include your number of the automated dialing list.
http://roskam.house.gov/Contact/tth.htm
It appears these funds are available to all members and they all fancy up the dissemination of telling constituents with their own colorful language.
- jaded voter - Friday, Mar 5, 10 @ 9:58 am:
V-man,
Brady doesn’t belong on your list. He may be more conservative than you like but he is decent guy with civic motivations.
There are many reasons we get poor quality candidates, but the main reason is MONEY. Big money distorts the entire electoral process. If you look at your list of names Ryan, Blago, Plummer,and SLC all had truly massive money advantages. Money buys advertising which “SELLS” the candidate through pure repetition. TV ads is how most voters learn about major candidates.
Plummer spent $1.5 mil, SLC spent $2mil, G Ryan had millions in the primary and outspent Glenn Poshard $15mil to $2mil to eek out a close general race. Blago had tons of cash raised and Vallas had peanuts.
There are other problems like a poor/lazy press and uninterested/uninformed voters, but Big MONEY is the single biggest problem in electoral politics.
- jaded voter - Friday, Mar 5, 10 @ 10:14 am:
And the main reason candidates have big money is because they are rich self funders like Plummer, SLC, Andy McKenna, Oberwise or big donors “invest” in them looking for their “payback” when they gain office—–George Ryan, Blago…and many others.
Having money doesn’t necessarily make a candidate bad, but money should not be the decisive factor it so often is.
Also new comers and Reformers who aren’t going by the “pay to play rules” always have difficulty raising money. Big money insiders don’t want change and won’t fund reformers, and raising money $25 a time from mom& pop average citizens doesn’t go very far. On top of that the press often dismisses those who aren’t raising big cash out of hand as ‘not viable’ and denies them the coverage that could make them viable.
- Team Sleep - Friday, Mar 5, 10 @ 10:17 am:
The NRCC has been vastly outraised by the DCCC even after Scott Brown’s win. What does that mean? The NRCC will certainly pick its battles very carefully this summer and fall - especially in a state like Illinois, where the 10th, 11th & 14th Districts are truly “in play”. Adam Kinzinger is a “Young Gun” and Randall Hultgren is a hard-charging state legislator going against an incumbent who was elected in a bad Republican year and was elected in somewhat of the same vain (e.g. coattails) as President Obama. Both candidates are viable and optimal when considering the NRCC standard. Joe Walsh does not fit what the NRCC wants. He has a lot of baggage with his foreclosure, and he certainly cannot afford to self-finance and probably will not prove to be a good fundraiser. And if his own fundraising lags - which I predict will happen - the NRCC will not make an effor to match Mr. Walsh’s campaign dollars.
- Imeanreally - Friday, Mar 5, 10 @ 10:35 am:
Jaded voter, you must be talking about a Brady I’ve never met. You do mean Bill Brady, right? Cause I’ve met that guy multiple times and he’s nothing like you describe. The Brady I know is not very bright, driven by ego more than service, hasn’t done much as a legislator, and treats the “little people” like they exist to serve him.
- fedup dem - Friday, Mar 5, 10 @ 10:57 am:
Regarding the hiring of Ms. Oglesby by Toddler as Deputy Chief of Staff, it would seem to be more accurate to list her salary on a monthly basis ($9,667 a month), since in nine months she will almost certainly be looking for a new job when Stroger leaves office.
- jaded voter - Friday, Mar 5, 10 @ 11:20 am:
Really mean,
I’ve met lots of elected officials and candidates. I’ve met Brady [numerous times] and Blago personally. Brady IS a decent guy. Brady can hold his own in a debate or on the stump and think on his feet.
The “not very bright” is nonsense. [Garbage narrative: Blago ‘the reformer’, Alexi G. the ‘young up & comer’, G. Bush ‘restoring dignity to the White House’] That “not very bright” fits Mayor Daley or George Bush, Denny Hastert or Alexi G [and unfortunately many others], but not Brady.
Blago is creepy and clownish. Oberwise was the best example of pure ego and arrogance.
I’m guessing you just don’t like Brady because he is conservative. That’s fine, but don’t unfairly bash him.
- Anonymous - Friday, Mar 5, 10 @ 11:47 am:
===
Money buys advertising which “SELLS” the candidate through pure repetition. TV ads is how most voters learn about major candidates.
===
I disagree to a certain extent–and I’ll admit my “disagreement” is based more on hope than pure facts.
Jack Ryan had money, and three commercials–I believe–that money helped hit the right areas. But I believe, very strongly (having been there most of the time) that Jack won primarily for two reasons: 1) he had an OK story–not the greatest, but pretty good; and 2) he campaigned EXTREMELY well. Those two things defined him for the Voters. Not the commercials.
Repetition might work to varying degrees and probably can BECOME even more effective in future, but I’ll ask again: just because one can, should one?
Imagine what the process would be like if we ALLOWED it to be driven solely by money: candidates wouldn’t have to make personal appearances, and viewers would only have to stay at home and watch commercials all day.
- Anonymous - Friday, Mar 5, 10 @ 11:51 am:
===
On top of that the press often dismisses those who aren’t raising big cash out of hand as ‘not viable’ and denies them the coverage that could make them viable.
===
OK; feel free to chime on this one, guys. The press usually denies a candidate coverage because they don’t know how to grab their attention.
Does money help hire good consultants? Yes. Look at proft, though. He didn’t have alot money, but he managed to get alot of press coverage.
- The REAL Anonymous fka Anonymous - Friday, Mar 5, 10 @ 12:06 pm:
Sorry. 11:47 and 11:51 were obviously from me.
- The REAL Anonymous fka Anonymous - Friday, Mar 5, 10 @ 12:07 pm:
lol As were some of the others. Lost my handle somehow.
- jaded voter - Friday, Mar 5, 10 @ 12:31 pm:
Anon,
Dan Proft is a PR media guy. That is his industry, he knows it and has connections and is pretty talented at PR [whether you like or agree with his perspective–I don’t]. He is the exception that proves the rule. The press/media make judgments about candidate viability that are not supposed to be theirs to make. The press should be neutral observers not playing the role of Kingmakers.
The press often eliminate low funded candidates from their coverage which is why we always have the same type of characters every election cycle.
Funding does not equal popular support. Blago was the best fundraiser IL has ever seen.
- Lt. Guv - Friday, Mar 5, 10 @ 12:34 pm:
I love that the Roskam ad looks like an attack piece connecting him to out of control spending.
- jaded voter - Friday, Mar 5, 10 @ 12:38 pm:
Anon,
===Imagine what the process would look like if we allowed it to be soley driven by money===
We are already there!!!
Just insert “overwhelmingly” instead of “solely” and you have just described today’s electoral politics.
It looks like SLC, Jason Plummer, George Ryan, Blago, G. Bush…..etc….
- The REAL Anonymous fka Anonymous - Friday, Mar 5, 10 @ 12:55 pm:
jaded, the point that I was trying to make is that money alone did not “make” Jack Ryan. Many of the candidates in that race had money or access to it.
- jaded voter - Friday, Mar 5, 10 @ 1:36 pm:
Real anon,
Jack Ryan, “Back Jack” or Jack Ryan, sex w/ wife scandal.
Either way, the point is you can have the greatest candidate ever, if you don’t have decent money it won’t matter. In today’s political context, you are not in the game.
If you have a huge money advantage and you don’t implode on the campaign trail, you are most likely to win no matter how lacking or shallow a candidate you may be.
Money advantage is not an absolute predictor of electoral victory just the most consistent, especially if the funding imbalance is substantial.
- Vote Quimby! - Friday, Mar 5, 10 @ 1:43 pm:
Next up for Roskam: an MMA event so everyone can “Join the Fight Against Violence.”
- imeanreally - Friday, Mar 5, 10 @ 5:44 pm:
Jaded voter, I have no doubt that I know Brady sufficiently to make the assessment. I’m a conservative who has worked across the state for conservative candidates. I will not vote for Brady as he is all that I said earlier and so much more…
Think of me whatever you want, but stick to the information available. I submit to you the repeated errors in recent days. Some of us have witnessed Brady make those same mistakes for years.
Attacking me for being something I’m not won’t change the fact that Brady is a terrible candidate.