“A place called Illinois”
Wednesday, Nov 13, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Sen. Kirk Dillard opined on the choice of Paul Vallas today…
“With all due respect to Governor Quinn and Paul, it is an all, really City Hall-centric choice. And I think that just outside of Chicago is a place called Illinois.”
* Sen. Dillard was in that “place called Illinois” last night. From his Twitter feed…
Not exactly a moderate, centrist group. From a comment posted here yesterday by the group’s president…
Good riddance to Mr. Metcalf. He might be better off looking for work alongside Gabby Giffords after his ill-considered missive.
* More from Dillard, this time on Bruce Rauner…
“I don’t believe Bruce is in align with most Republican values on a lot of things,” Dillard continued. “He’s money only - A RIMO as apposed to a RINO.”
- just saying - Wednesday, Nov 13, 13 @ 2:08 pm:
If Dillard tried to run any further to the lunatic fringe right, he would have to fit Jil Tracy for a burqa.
- RNUG - Wednesday, Nov 13, 13 @ 2:14 pm:
He was just addressing his target audience.
- Tom Joad - Wednesday, Nov 13, 13 @ 2:15 pm:
The pandering Dillard is doing is mind blowing. He has gone so far to the right that he will have a hard time veering back toward the middle if he is the nominee.
- Timmeh - Wednesday, Nov 13, 13 @ 2:15 pm:
Dillard is right about one thing. There’s 3 parties nowadays: Republicans, Democrats, and Corporations. RIMO fits Rauner well.
- Formerly Known As... - Wednesday, Nov 13, 13 @ 2:15 pm:
While I share the concern over Dillard’s bolt to the right, those are some catchy lines.
An all city-hall ticket? A RIMO?
Those messages are catchy enough and true enough to do some damage if he drives them home.
- Powell - Wednesday, Nov 13, 13 @ 2:17 pm:
that guy has gone full-bulworth
- Johnny Q. Suburban - Wednesday, Nov 13, 13 @ 2:17 pm:
At this point Dillard might be as toxic at the top of the ticket for downballot GOPers as Oberweis.
- Anonymous - Wednesday, Nov 13, 13 @ 2:18 pm:
Why? Because he’s talking about 2nd Amendment rights? They’re still in place, and IMHO “informed” voters, or those who believe they can learn more and therefore become even more informed, should press all the candidates to talk about such topics–especially those covered by our Constitution.
And be willing to suspend their beliefs for that few minutes to see whether they might learn something that might change their mind or trigger them to learn even more.
After that few minutes, you can always say “Reaffirmed.”
- Small Town Liberal - Wednesday, Nov 13, 13 @ 2:21 pm:
Ahhh, GSL, home to our favorite commenter John Boch: http://www.gunssavelife.com/?page_id=68#JB
Wonder what the good Senator thinks of this gem from yesterday?
https://capitolfax.com/2013/11/12/column-on-illinois-law-causes-heads-to-roll-at-gun-mag/#comment-11385529
- Rich Miller - Wednesday, Nov 13, 13 @ 2:24 pm:
Thanks, STL. I meant to post that earlier today and forgot when it came time.
- David Ormsby - Wednesday, Nov 13, 13 @ 2:24 pm:
Is that Tracy in the feathered, Colonial tricorn hat and tea bag-shaped earrings gazing at Dillard?
- Timmeh - Wednesday, Nov 13, 13 @ 2:25 pm:
“Just say no the the RIMO
He clouts and he spouts, you know
He’s Emanuel’s real pick, yo
Dillard is the real deal, fo sho”
- Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Nov 13, 13 @ 2:28 pm:
Geez!
Stop with the ‘RINO’ or ‘RIMO’.
Rauner is Rich Daley’s Payton Prep Clouting buddy and Rahm Emanuel’s Vacation Pal.
Leave it there!
Dopes.
Kinda snark;
Sen. Dillard, do you want to win?
- OneMan - Wednesday, Nov 13, 13 @ 2:29 pm:
That is some hat…
- DuPage Rep - Wednesday, Nov 13, 13 @ 2:31 pm:
-Is that Tracy in the feathered, Colonial tricorn hat and tea bag-shaped earrings gazing at Dillard?-
No that’s funny!
- Aldyth - Wednesday, Nov 13, 13 @ 2:36 pm:
Keep workin’ it, Dillard. You will become another object lesson in how not to get elected to statewide office in Illinois. Honestly, do these guys learn nothing from what goes on around them?
- LakeviewJ - Wednesday, Nov 13, 13 @ 2:36 pm:
https://twitter.com/tkacich/statuses/400621152143306752
@tkacich
In 20-minute speech (so far) to Rantoul area Repubs, Kirk Dillard has mentioned “Jim Edgar” 13 times. #twill
7:48 AM - 13 Nov 2013
- Ahoy! - Wednesday, Nov 13, 13 @ 2:37 pm:
I’ve never seen someone try to loose an election so fast as Dillard. Is Sarah Palin his new campaign manager?
- OneMan - Wednesday, Nov 13, 13 @ 2:37 pm:
Bet he didn’t mention Jim Edgar as much to the GSL folks…
- for the record - Wednesday, Nov 13, 13 @ 2:40 pm:
A Republican supporting the Second Amendment, and reminding Democrats that there are 10 million Illinoisans living outside of Chicago.
Seems rather mainstream GOP thinking to me…..
- Anonymous - Wednesday, Nov 13, 13 @ 2:41 pm:
==That is some hat…==
Wait a Minute, man.
- RNUG - Wednesday, Nov 13, 13 @ 2:41 pm:
Seriously, according to at least one thesis, Illinois is made up of three different cultural nations and if you want to win in central / southern Illinois, you will need to appeal to the Greater Appalachian cultural values …of which GSL is pretty much in the mainstream.
Here’s the article. It’s on gun violence but the author states their 11 nation idea extends to a lot of issues. I see it as a possible explanation for a lot of the differences in Illinois geographic cultures.
http://www.tufts.edu/alumni/magazine/fall2013/features/up-in-arms.html
- Mason born - Wednesday, Nov 13, 13 @ 2:42 pm:
I actually think the City Hall ticket has some legs south of I-80. One of the things that confused me on the Vallas pick is he doesn’t do much outside of Chicago and collar counties. I freely admit that neither does any of the R LG candidates. However there are not a lot of wins for southern IL for Quinn to point to. It is almost like his whole goal is to increase cook county vote and hope for those who are straight party voters outside the collar counties. But what do i know it worked for him last time.
As for the RIMO comment the bones are right Rauner is pretty much a giant wallet but trying to make it cute just makes it stupid.
- Anonymous - Wednesday, Nov 13, 13 @ 2:47 pm:
=Seems rather mainstream GOP thinking to me….. =
Imagine that. He obviously knows a bit about our Constitution and geography.
Didn’t realize, though, that those were solely Republican traits. You learn something new every day I suppose.
(snark, of course)
- Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Nov 13, 13 @ 2:51 pm:
===As for the RIMO comment the bones are right Rauner is pretty much a giant wallet but trying to make it cute just makes it stupid.===
Absolutely.
RIMO or RINO usually gets people to tune out. Mention Ruch Daley and Rahm Emanuel, then you are cookin’ with gas.
Dillard just can’t help himself win. This is a self-destruction in real-time view for us all. Sad to watch.
- Nearly Normal - Wednesday, Nov 13, 13 @ 2:55 pm:
Dillard is too dressed up in the photo. Where’s his plaid shirt? Sheesh, I just hate it when the upstate folks come down in their white shirts to tell us what we should think and do!
Make that a well-worn plaid shirt–no off the rack Carhatt’s please!!
- Jaded - Wednesday, Nov 13, 13 @ 2:57 pm:
Dillard is running in a GOP primary that still has Bill Brady leading the pack. You expect him to move to the left? This may not prove to be a winning strategy, but at least it is a strategy. At a minimum, maybe he will pull enough votes from Brady to let Rutherford sneak up and win the thing.
- wordslinger - Wednesday, Nov 13, 13 @ 3:00 pm:
Just inside Chicago is where Dillard works for a living and spends a lot of time raising campaign funds.
Apparently, he didn’t learn from Jim Edgar that there are a number of GOP votes in the city if you’re willing to work for them. It was a key feature of Edgar’s remarkable electoral success.
- Rich Miller - Wednesday, Nov 13, 13 @ 3:01 pm:
===You expect him to move to the left? ===
Not at all.
- Anonymous - Wednesday, Nov 13, 13 @ 3:04 pm:
=Make that a well-worn plaid shirt–no off the rack Carhatt’s please!! =
I hope you’re getting the really BIG consulting dollars for your advice, Nearly. If you keep it up, you might even get recruited by RIMO’s team.
- Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Nov 13, 13 @ 3:09 pm:
=== ===You expect him to move to the left? ===
Not at all. ===
I know what expect.
Dear Sen. Dillard,
Find the 2003 Kirk Dillard and talk with him.
Then find the 1993 Kirk Dillard and talk to him.
Finally, go find a “quiet table” and sit with Govs Edgar and Thompson and talk to THEM. No staff. No consultants.
Listen. Take the “heat” and listen.
Learn. Learn from some hopefully tough-love discussion.
Move on from this Theatre of the Absurd.
Your Pal,
Oswego Willy
- Jaded - Wednesday, Nov 13, 13 @ 3:09 pm:
How many 4 candidate primaries did Jim Edgar run in? I don’t remember any, but my memory isn’t what it used to be.
- Powell - Wednesday, Nov 13, 13 @ 3:14 pm:
in response to Kacich’s tweet. What was the line?
- A guy... - Wednesday, Nov 13, 13 @ 3:23 pm:
Listen carefully to the sound of the “Good Bye” tour as it limps into a town near you. Not clever. Not cute. Not impactful. Not winning. And by now, Not in first, second or third place. It’s getting tough to watch.
- Jaded - Wednesday, Nov 13, 13 @ 3:32 pm:
OW, that is all really good advice, if he wins the primary, but none of that helps him win a primary.
I don’t know all of what Kirk Dillard knows, but I know some of what he knows. He knows Brady is leading in everyone’s polls. He knows that he lost to Brady by less that 200 votes 4 years ago. He knows that was the first time in anyones recent memory a hardcore conservative won a GOP primary for Governor. He knows he doesn’t have the resources to compete with the Rauner or Rutherford messages in February and March. He knows that if he does get out of a primary he is way more concerned with what IEA and IFT think of him than what the gay and lesbian or anti gun crowd think of him. He also knows he is not a darling in the pro-life community, so he is trying to get his conservative “street cred” somewhere else.
So, I really don’t have a problem with what he is doing. He is trying to win a primary. Will this be a winning strategy, only time will tell, but if he does win then Thompson and Edgar might actually be able to help him win a general.
- Anonymous - Wednesday, Nov 13, 13 @ 3:36 pm:
=Not clever. Not cute. Not impactful. Not winning.=
Sorry. Are you referring to the knowledge of the Constitution/geography, the fashionista “image consulting,” or Nearly’s getting picked up by RIMO’s team?
- Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Nov 13, 13 @ 3:49 pm:
- Jaded -,
You lose by 193 votes, it’s not an ideology loss, it was a Field Operation loss.
Dillard’s mistake is to think ideology would have won the day, and not 12 or so solid Precinct Captains.
Overreaction is ruling the day now in Dillard 2014.
A good organization, solid candidate, and follow through on the GOTV wins in a 4 way race. Kirk Dillard seems to have forgotten that. I have not.
Even reading your thoughtful Post, I stand by my Post.
Every. Word.
I have no clue which of the 4 will win, I know all 4 CAN win, and Dillard is off the reservation, and Dillard has no map to get back on, and that is the ” shame” of this all, a 193 vote notwithstanding.
With respect, - Jaded -
- Bill White - Wednesday, Nov 13, 13 @ 3:53 pm:
RNUG at 2:41 PM provides essential context for this discussion. Here is the map associated with the link RNUG posted.
http://www.tufts.edu/alumni/magazine/fall2013/images/features/upinarms-map-large.jpg
What we have are people simply talking past one another because the cultural frames of reference are so very different.
- Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Nov 13, 13 @ 3:57 pm:
- Bill White -,
My context is whoever gets the most votes wins.
Being 3 different people, equals one loser.
Just saying.
- Bill White - Wednesday, Nov 13, 13 @ 4:05 pm:
Oswego Willy, I agree with you
=== Whoever gets the most votes wins ===
But I suspect you are a “Yankee” Republican (no offense intended, wordslinger said as much yesterday) and therefore the “Appalachian” world view is alien to you. To use the frames from the Tufts paper RNUG linked to.
FWIW, using the frames from Albion’s Seed (a precursor to Colin Woodard’s book) I am a cultural “Quaker”) and therefore I have little sympathy for the demographic Dillard is appealing to, however, he is appealing to a cohesive and easily identified cultural group.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albion%27s_Seed
- Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Nov 13, 13 @ 4:17 pm:
All good, - Bill White -.
My prism is that of Dillard 2010, and the failure of Dillard 2014 in the context of looking at the 3 and being the “Conservative” for all 3 regions.
Rich, I recall(?) also had a Post awhile back, specific to the migration, with Massachusetts and Virginia(?) framing Illinois.
All of this, all, is not list on me. The disappointment of the Dillard speaks of on past tense in his stump speech, is really becoming just a shadow of who Kirk Dillard was, and the new Kirk Dillard will never be again.
Much respect, - Bill White -.
- Bill White - Wednesday, Nov 13, 13 @ 4:20 pm:
OW, I share your disappointment with Dillard.
However, I am not persuaded that “going Sarah Palin” necessarily reduces his odds of coming in first, in March. Which is scarcely a compliment for the 2014 IL GOP.
- Jaded - Wednesday, Nov 13, 13 @ 4:32 pm:
All good OW. If I got offended by people who thought I was wrong, I’d have gone postal by now. It is kinda funny though, I talk to some of the people involved in his campaign in 2010 and they make fun of the “idiots” (their word not mine) running his campaign now. Then I talk to some of the folks involved in his campaign now, and they say if they had done some of this four years ago, he would be governor today. You may be correct in that all he needed is 12 really good precinct captains. Unfortunatlely precinct captains are for sale just like everyone else these days, so he probably doesn’t have the resources to add 12 or so good precinct captains.
- Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Nov 13, 13 @ 4:32 pm:
All 4 can get across the finish line in March, but who can we get over the finish line in November, if they get framed like Brady did in 2010, or get Oberweis saddled to their Center-Pivot attempts come April.
If Dillard loses by GOTV again, that will be a harder pill to swallow, especially selling the Dillard 2010 out for this Dillard and that legacy lost.
- Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Nov 13, 13 @ 4:45 pm:
- Jaded -,
I can sympathize. As long as we are civil, I know I can be wrong far many more times than I can be right.
Funny thing about “Senior Campaign Staffs” when one replaces another for the same Principle;
Both agree, the other is/was wrong and they are/were right. Part and parcel of the business of campaigns, and you know what, that is what makes this goofy world even more fun to watch from the outside.
Said it months ago, still say it;
The best campaign that can honestly identify their true “Pluses” and have the mechanism to vote those actual “Pluses” at the highest rate, in a 4-way race… Wins.
Dopey, right?
Dillard, 2010. Everyone forgets until it happens to them.
Here endeth the lesson.
All good - Jaded -, much respect.
- Jaded - Wednesday, Nov 13, 13 @ 4:45 pm:
And when I say “Unfortunatlely precinct captains are for sale just like everyone else these days” that is not to suggest that precinct captains have not always been for sale!
- Jaded - Wednesday, Nov 13, 13 @ 4:49 pm:
Oh and another thing, Kirk Dillard’s shadow is currently way bigger than the Kirk Dillard that was!
- Michelle Flaherty - Wednesday, Nov 13, 13 @ 7:53 pm:
Having gone with the “fade away” strategy four years ago, Dillard appears to have adopted the “it’s better to burn out” approach to this election.
- Just The Way It Is One - Wednesday, Nov 13, 13 @ 7:56 pm:
All in all, really not a bad commentary by Sen. Dillard about the PQ/PV Dem’s Ticket…there is a LOT for arguably altogether “left-OUT/OFF the Dem. Ticket” MILLions of Illinois citizens/voters “just outside of Chicago”–and BEYOND, from Rockton to Cairo, to grump/be upset about while claiming they are being ignored once again…and that’s an AWful lot of “Land of Lincoln” Real Estate to have overlooked/arguably brushed aside…like him or not, Kirk may REALly have a point there!!
- sangamon - Wednesday, Nov 13, 13 @ 10:01 pm:
He does have a point. The vallas pick is an indication that Quinn has given up on downstate, which is probably smart. No lg choice is going to make people forget that a family member lost their state job or has their pension being attacked thanks to Quinn. His only hope is increasing his margin of victory in the suburbs. So how will that work if republicans nominate Rutherford?
- John - Thursday, Nov 21, 13 @ 4:14 pm:
Don’t worry about GSL, they are irrelevant anyway. Much talk, but no action. They pretend to be a civil rights organization, and adopted a resolution opposing “may issue” concealed carry bills, because it’s discriminatory, based on Jim Crow and all that. Standing with their brothers in Cook County like Otis McDonald.
But when Phelps carry bill had Duty to Inform as an arrestable offense, GSL refused to oppose it, and President for Life John Boch deleted all reference of DTI at their website. DTI won’t be an issue for the good old boy baby boomers at GSL, if they just close their eyes real hard and pretend that all cops are their friends. Because they are the good guys!
I would be surprised if Dillard could get a word out edgewise anyway with Boch talking over him and interrupting at least half a dozen times.