* Tribune…
State Sen. Bill Brady, the unsuccessful GOP candidate for governor two years ago, met with delegates Thursday morning after arriving from an anniversary celebration in New York with his wife, Nancy. The senator from Bloomington said a decision on making a third bid for the office would “probably” come in January.
Brady spent Wednesday night at the Tampa Bay Times Forum in a suite sponsored by the Republican Governors Association, which pumped millions of dollars in TV advertising into his losing bid against Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn in 2010. While there, Brady said he received some encouraging words from former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.
“Jeb Bush said it to me, he said, ‘You know, Bill, I don’t know if you’re going to run again. But I’ll tell you, strangely as it seems, I wouldn’t have won the second time if I didn’t lose the first,’” Brady recalled. “He said in big states like Illinois and Florida, people need to get to know you and if they don’t know you, when people attack you, it sticks. So it’s important that I continue to get to know people, if that’s what I want to do.”
* The Question: Should Sen. Bill Brady run a third time for governor in 2014? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
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- cermak_rd - Friday, Aug 31, 12 @ 1:23 pm:
Absolutely. He can perhaps, this time, try campaigning a bit in Cook County?
- East Sider - Friday, Aug 31, 12 @ 1:24 pm:
Hopefully he spares the party and decides against running for a third time. His campaign was a train wreck 2 years ago. I don’t know who was more to blame: Jerry Clarke for running a terrible campaign? Or Bill Brady for allowing Clarke to run a terrible campaign?
- OneMan - Friday, Aug 31, 12 @ 1:26 pm:
Nope, if you couldn’t beat Pat last time you are done.
You only get to hit on the girl at the bar for so long before you need to let another dude have a shot.
- J - Friday, Aug 31, 12 @ 1:27 pm:
Absolutely
Nothing would make me happier than having the governorship be a sure thing for Democrats.
- Ahoy! - Friday, Aug 31, 12 @ 1:29 pm:
No, he’s way too weak of a candidate to win state-wide. Quinn probably isn’t going to make it out of the primary and the Republicans need a strong candidate that has a chance. If you can’t beat Pat Quinn in a Republican wave, how are you going to beat a stronger candidate?
I think Illinois deserves at least two strong candidates for Governor and I hope both Quinn and Brady decide not to run again.
- just sayin' - Friday, Aug 31, 12 @ 1:29 pm:
Bill Brady should definitely run again.
Sincerely,
The Democrats
- Rich Miller - Friday, Aug 31, 12 @ 1:29 pm:
Harold Stassen was once considered a serious contender for the presidency, but eventually became known for being a “perennial candidate.” Brady might get that tag next time. Just sayin…
- Downstate weed chewing hick - Friday, Aug 31, 12 @ 1:31 pm:
Yes he should. That’s what the primary process is for. If his time has passed by the loss to Quinn, the primary voters (and donars) will let him know. Right now he’s ahead in the early polls and will certainly run a better campaign. And if Quinn is the opponent, all the gassing your dog claims in the world wont keep him out of the win column this time.
- Jake From Elwood - Friday, Aug 31, 12 @ 1:31 pm:
I would rather see Brady replace Pat Brady as State GOP chair. He could help reconstruct some of the bridges that PB has burned in his tenure.
- Anonymous - Friday, Aug 31, 12 @ 1:35 pm:
Any candidate who could not beat Quinn is unelectable.
- Amuzing Myself - Friday, Aug 31, 12 @ 1:39 pm:
In another state I might say no, but looking at the rest of the GOP “bench,” he has as good a shot as any, and he only missed last time by a couple votes a precinct running about as anti-union and downstate-centric campaign. Any improvement in policy and/or campaign management and he has as good a shot as anyone.
- Oswego Willy - Friday, Aug 31, 12 @ 1:43 pm:
The ONLY…ONLY … O N L Y …. reason I voted yes was that most of the blame on his loss was a staff loss, and the hoorible GOTV “supporting” Brady.
IF… IF …Brady runs again, and he assured himself an actual, real, GOTV mechanism to have on Election Day … then Yes
Otherwise … not so much.
- Cincinnatus - Friday, Aug 31, 12 @ 1:43 pm:
Right now, at this moment, Sen. Brady should NOT remove his name from the running. I believe that Sen. Brady learned quite a bit from his previous campaign, and not just in Campaign 101, but in the special needs and wants of the WHOLE of the state. He seems much more thoughtful now, and can I say mellow. I believe Bill is underrated.
I also believe that a few months from now, Bill will sit with his family and reflect on whether or not he wants to try again. He knows what he’s up against, and knows what it takes. I wouldn’t be surprised if he chooses to not run again, which is what I believe he’ll do. However, Governor ain’t the only state-wide office.
- Rich Miller - Friday, Aug 31, 12 @ 1:46 pm:
===most of the blame on his loss was a staff loss===
It wasn’t staff. It was his positions on abortion and “right to work” what done him in.
- pleeezzzz - Friday, Aug 31, 12 @ 1:47 pm:
Seriously I can’t handle this anymore - this guy was very very lucky to win the primary and ran a horrible general campaign. Believe me this guy cannot run this State - sure he can be “Governor” but no way in hell can he Govern this State! Nice guy fun to drink and BS with but can we please have a solid person elected Governor.
- Flatlander - Friday, Aug 31, 12 @ 1:48 pm:
I would rather see Dillard. Had DuPage not screwed things up, he would be Governor now.
- Draznnl - Friday, Aug 31, 12 @ 1:50 pm:
If Pat Quinn could beat him, any Dem can. So, please run Bill.
- Yellow Dog Democrat - Friday, Aug 31, 12 @ 1:50 pm:
I voted Yes, simply because anyone who can’t beat the 25% Brady is likely to get doesn’t stand a chance in the General Election.
- Just the Facts - Friday, Aug 31, 12 @ 1:52 pm:
Absolutely not. Last time he was incapable of obtaining sufficient support in the collar counties and in suburban Cook to be elected. It isn’t a downstate/Chicago and burbs thing so much as it is a factor of his views being too conservative to win on a state-wide basis. Granted, last time he didn’t do a very good job of campaigning north of I-80, but even if he did a better job this time - in my estimation he wouldn’t be able to pick up enough votes to win.
A more moderate candidate such as Dillard would have a better chance of obtaining support from the many folks that the current Governor has alienated.
- Zoble21 - Friday, Aug 31, 12 @ 1:55 pm:
No Way, too much baggage with his personal business and his voting record. Step aside and the GOP can take back the Gov. Seat
- Jorge - Friday, Aug 31, 12 @ 2:01 pm:
Brady is in a completely different mold than Bush. Comparing Bill to Jeb is comparing apples to oranges. Bill just isn’t centrist enough to get the needed independant and potential Democratic cross the aisle voters needed to win in Illinois.
- Anonymous - Friday, Aug 31, 12 @ 2:01 pm:
No. He’s had two cracks and doesn’t want to become Jim Oberweis!!!
He has persona/businessl financial problems according to Pantagraph stories that will not help his reputation as a businessman. He got lucky in the last primary when McKenna spent a kazillion dollars against Dillard and he was the only downstater.
- Oswego Willy - Friday, Aug 31, 12 @ 2:03 pm:
===It wasn’t staff. It was his positions on abortion and “right to work” what done him in.===
Rich, I know we don’t see eye to eye on this, bith with your pesky facts of numbers with women and so on … I give you that .. but I know the visablility of the Quinn Crews in cook and the Collars were HUGE versus no yardsigns for cripes sake for Brady and a lack of any field ops running Repubs on Election Day.
If the turnout was 80% or higher, then it would be hard to find the votes, but it wasn’t and his staff was ill-prepared to get “found” Brady Pluses to the polls. You can’t tell me they squeezed every single vote out there … Lot was left out there, and there was no chasing.
Do I think Brady can win again? Nope. But Brady deserves a shot if he can build the the field ops to try … otherswise, if its just Brady running to run, then Bill can walk away.
But he deserves a staff that will do all they can on Election Day, and Bill didn’t have that.
Thanks, Rich!
I love this site … love this banter.
And have a nice Holiday Weekend. Enjoy some down time.
- Bluefish - Friday, Aug 31, 12 @ 2:06 pm:
No. Republicans who have won the governorship in the past few decades have had the ability to appeal to enough moderates in the suburbs to win. Brady lacks that appeal.
- VanillaMan - Friday, Aug 31, 12 @ 2:09 pm:
Anyone losing to Pat Quinn in a landslide election year favoring the Republicans, a year when Joe Walsh beat Melissa Bean, should stay as far away from any future statewide campaigns as humanly possible.
- walkinfool - Friday, Aug 31, 12 @ 2:18 pm:
Yes. Brady should run. The Dems will need all the help they can get.
- John Galt - Friday, Aug 31, 12 @ 2:19 pm:
No. As Jeb Bush said….the 1st time vs. the 2nd. In Brady’s case, it’s the 2nd time vs. the 3rd. Not to mention that in 2010 the field was very favorable to him–lots of moderates & DuPage was split every which way. In 2014 that won’t be the case–if anything, downstate will be even more split and DuPage more united.
- Shore - Friday, Aug 31, 12 @ 2:23 pm:
No.
1. He’s not Jeb Bush. Bush at least pretends to have ideas, and something of a vision like the speech he gave last night. Brady has neither.
2. As I said earlier, you can’t assess the support for brady until early next year when the results of the gerrymandering come into play. There will be a lot of upset republicans.
3. Brady had every advantage known to mankind last time and came up short.
4. I’m not sure why the RGA would be happy to see him, that was a bill buckner 1986 game 6 type campaign for him and them.
- Hawkeye - Friday, Aug 31, 12 @ 2:24 pm:
No no a thousand times no. An ultra conservative cannot win a statewide election in IL. For pity’s sake learn from the last cycle and nominate a person with substance this time. Bush may have said that to Brady, but what else would he say? Don’t mistake a casual polite comment for hard core support. Especially from someone from out of state with no clue about Illinois politics. Let me be clear…DO NOT RUN AGAIN.
- House of Pain - Friday, Aug 31, 12 @ 2:26 pm:
He’s gonna have to think long and hard. He won the primary by less than 200 votes. It may be next to impossible to hold his base together to win another primary.
- OurMagician - Friday, Aug 31, 12 @ 2:32 pm:
No way, his appeal about business success was sketchy last time, more sketchy now after a foreclosure being filed. Had no mandate to run last time, was a benefit of a 7 man race and lost to a guy who almost any Republican could have beaten with a competent campaign.
- dupage dan - Friday, Aug 31, 12 @ 2:37 pm:
Shore, Brady had as much of a vision as any other GOP primary candidate had the last go around. That vision was “it’s the GOP year - vote for me!” As you know, folks in this state have to have a good reason not to vote for the yellow dog. They just ain’t seen one yet.
- Jeff Park Mom - Friday, Aug 31, 12 @ 2:40 pm:
I voted no. I’m a Democrat who has grown to despise Pat Quinn. If Quinn makes it through the primary I want a Republican candidate I can support. Brady’s positions on abortion and right to work mean I can’t support him, even against the treacherous Quinn.
- J - Friday, Aug 31, 12 @ 2:45 pm:
This clearly wasn’t just bad staff work. I mean he did put his name on a bill to gas puppies while running for governor.
You can’t fix that kind of stupid.
- Anonymous - Friday, Aug 31, 12 @ 2:50 pm:
He’s to the right of Todd Akin on abortion. He won’t win a statewide bid in Illinois.
- zatoichi - Friday, Aug 31, 12 @ 2:58 pm:
It’s his money and time. So run, but what accomplishments does he bring to the table that will get him votes beside people know his name, he thinks the current Gov is not very good, and maybe it’s the Republican’s turn for the Gov spot?
- Anonymous - Friday, Aug 31, 12 @ 3:06 pm:
===”in big states like Illinois and Florida, people need to get to know you ….”===
Jim, we know you-or more so your views. Please sit the next one out. But if you do run, team up with Jim Oberweis.
- Earnest - Friday, Aug 31, 12 @ 3:24 pm:
I voted no. If he couldn’t win in the last election’s nationwide Republican landslide, it’s not going to happen in the next election.
- wordslinger - Friday, Aug 31, 12 @ 3:26 pm:
Why not? He came awfully close last time.
His margin Downstate was huge. His 29% in Cook County was awful, unbelievable and seemingly impossible.
Believe me, I live and work in Cook. This ain’t Marin County, by a long shot.
There are more GOP votes left off the board in the city and suburban Cook than in half the legendary counties Downstate.
But before you crown the Great DuPage hope consider Quinn’s totals in the Collars:
DuPage: 39%
Lake: 42%
Will: 41%
Kane: 38%
Kendall: 35%
You better get a lot stronger in Cook, if you’re giving up that much ground in the Collars.
The state GOP has some wood to chop. I’m sure they’re on it. They should check out some winning totals from the past to find out where the votes are. Hint: it’s where the people are.
- Jade Rabbit - Friday, Aug 31, 12 @ 3:33 pm:
” for a change -to- GOP leadership”
” they have -debates with 8 candidates that are all- a bunch”
Sorry, proof-reading is not my strongest skill.
- Oswego Willy - Friday, Aug 31, 12 @ 3:36 pm:
With ya wordslinger….
Which is why my blame is mostly on Staff and under half on Brady.
No field ops, means no contacts, no contacts, means no votes …
You lose by less than a vote per precinct with NO field ops … imagine what you could build with field ops ..
If Brady is just putting in a name up there to see what happens, Bill stay away … but if his staff find votes, than why not?
Run ‘em all … let’s play “The Feud”, find a winner, and then we all …ALL … back the winner.
- TJ - Friday, Aug 31, 12 @ 3:39 pm:
If Brady couldn’t beat a candidate as weak as Quinn in a very heavy Republican year, what chance does he really have at any other time?
So, as a Democrat, yes! He should run.
- Cincinnatus - Friday, Aug 31, 12 @ 3:41 pm:
“There are more GOP votes left off the board in the city and suburban Cook than in half the legendary counties Downstate.”
From your lips to God’s ear.
- soccermom - Friday, Aug 31, 12 @ 3:41 pm:
Geez. Brady skipped part of the Convention to go vacation in New York with his wife? And then we wonder why he keeps losing elections?
Elections tend to go to the person who wants it the most. And Brady’s never going to be that guy.
- Caretaker - Friday, Aug 31, 12 @ 3:43 pm:
Run on what, exactly? Some issue he did not have in 2010?
- I'm Just Saying - Friday, Aug 31, 12 @ 3:44 pm:
I would agree with the above commenter, please run again, I’d like to see a Dem in the Mansion until 2018
- Bonsaso - Friday, Aug 31, 12 @ 3:52 pm:
No. Two strikes you are out…
My pick, if I voted GOP, would be Rutherford.
- Caretaker - Friday, Aug 31, 12 @ 3:54 pm:
Soccermom, you are kidding, right? If I were married to Nancy Brady, and had a choice between a romantic anniversary trip to New York with her, or a couple of more days at a GOP Convention with 3000 Republican delegates, and it took me longer than one nanosecond to choose New York, I would need more “commitment” - the rubber room kind.
- Boone Logan Square - Friday, Aug 31, 12 @ 3:55 pm:
What’s interesting is that the split of the suburban candidates’ vote in the 2010 primary allowed Brady to squeak by. Brady competing with several downstate candidates in 2014 could let a suburban candidate squeak by.
Which might make the Republican nominee more electable, assuming that suburbanite plays better in Cook, Lake, and DuPage. In that case, a third Bill Brady run would be a good thing for the state GOP.
- dirt diver - Friday, Aug 31, 12 @ 4:05 pm:
The problem with Bill Brady is that the more people get to know him, the more they will be willing to vote against him. I’d compare him to Paul Ryan, he’s good a using buzzwords to put on the illusion that he knows what he’s talking about, but lacks the substance to back it up.
Just ask some contractors that have done business with him on what their opinion is of him.
I don’t know what I would do if 2014 is Quinn v. Brady part 2 (move I guess). That would be like proposed Ohio State v. Michigan rematch for the 2006-07 BCS champtionship that never happened (Thank God), as Florida proved that neither Ohio St. or Michigan would have been the rightful champion.
- soccermom - Friday, Aug 31, 12 @ 4:06 pm:
Caretaker — I’m not saying he made the wrong call, on a personal level. But he missed an opportunity to rub elbows with lots of future donors.
And here’s the thing — I believe they’re going to be having New York this weekend as well. (At least I hope so, as I’m heading there tomorrow morning.) So if your top priority is making a strong play in ‘14, you should be in Tampa for the convention, and save the romance for later.
- Conservative Veteran - Friday, Aug 31, 12 @ 4:09 pm:
In Jan.-March 2006, I walked seven precincts for Sen. Brady. He shouldn’t run because he’d lose, again. Many IL Republicans ran, statewide, at least twice, and the majority of those candidates lost all of their statewide races. This happened to Jim Oberweis, Al Salvi, Steve Rauschenberger, Joe Birkett, Bill Brady, and Andy Martin. I hope that Sen. Brady will finish his next term and retire from politics.
- Lakeview - Friday, Aug 31, 12 @ 4:10 pm:
I voted no, because it’s clear he can’t win and it would be nice for the health of this state for the Republicans to have a good candidate for once.
But as someone who mostly voted Democratic, I could make a case for Bill Brady running in 2014, 2018. and 2022.
- Midstate Indy - Friday, Aug 31, 12 @ 4:13 pm:
No, he should have taken the opportunity to go to Congress during the remap, that would have given him distance on statewide issues and a fresh start when it came to run for Gov. I don’t see the electability this time around as I personally feel he really is getting close to the Oberweis label.
- Cheryl44 - Friday, Aug 31, 12 @ 5:19 pm:
YES! Him and Oberweiss. They’re so entertaining.