Statewide roundup
Monday, Oct 20, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The Tribune has one of the more interesting profiles I’ve read this year of Gov. Pat Quinn…
The Tribune interviewed about two dozen current and former Quinn aides, lawmakers, union officials and policy advocates to get some insight into how Quinn governs. A picture emerged of a leader who can be an idealist but dabble in partisan political games, inclusive in seeking opinions but mistrusting of those outside his small inner circle.
He’s viewed as an awkward executive who sometimes struggles to make eye contact during meetings, opting instead to write in a tiny notebook he clutches close to his face. He prefers tattered notecards over a fancy planner. He can be a detail-oriented micromanager, but also more concerned with the public perception of an issue than the intricacies of actually getting something done. […]
The governor has hired a number of his brother’s former students who now serve in key positions, including campaign manager and deputy chief of staff, leading some insiders to refer to them as the “Fenwick mafia.” The title is reflective of the frustrations of some within the administration who say it can be hard to gain the governor’s trust if you are outside that circle or haven’t been a longtime friend. A key player in the small group is brother Tom Quinn, a lawyer at Schiff Hardin and fellow Fenwick alum relied upon for political advice. […]
Quinn is also known for taking his time to make a decision. Views differ on whether that’s a strength or a weakness.
Go read the whole thing.
* The Tribune’s profile of Bruce Rauner was also well-written…
He vows to “prosecute” corruption if elected governor (he would have no legal authority to do so), pledges to jump-start major policy initiatives through executive orders (a power significantly limited by the Illinois Constitution) and complains of voter fraud he calls “massive” (few documented cases have come to light).
At one GOP forum, he spoke of “friends” telling him how elections were so rigged by Democrats that “there’s still about one-third of the precincts in Chicago where the bosses just talk over what they want the turnout to be, what they want the margin to be. Then they just do that.”
Such notions may resonate with GOP audiences ripe for Chicago bashing, but they also play to an archaic stereotype rendered all but impossible in today’s era of electronic voting.
For all his blunt talk and broad assertions, Rauner’s campaign sometimes seems a study in mixed messages and contradictory images.
Again, go read the whole thing.
* In other news, Lynn Sweet has a story about turnout…
* In Illinois, Democrats are running a coordinated GOTV drive led by Durbin, Quinn and Democratic Party of Illinois Chairman Michael Madigan, speaker of the Illinois House. The Republican Illinois GOTV operation is led and heavily bankrolled by the Rauner campaign. […]
* Democrats are also getting a heavy turnout assist from Democratic-allied unions bankrolling a drive to approve a ballot question about raising the minimum wage in Illinois. That’s a turnout tool. The “Raise Illinois” Coalition plans to knock on 300,000 doors emphasizing early voting starting on Saturday.
* Why the emphasis on early voting? Campaigns go to a lot of trouble to identify their likely voters, and they want to bank them early in order to not be at the mercy of variables, such as weather. Also, campaign workers keep track of early voters, so once the ballot is cast, they don’t have to waste any more effort on that person.
* From Illinois Review…
A group urging voters to support the three percent tax hike on Illinois millionaires received a $250,000 boost from a national teachers union Monday morning.
The National Education Association handed over to “Fairness for Working Families” - a group formed in late August to advocate “passage of the advisory constitutional amendment for a 3% millionaire surcharge dedicated to public education - the only funding the group has received thus far.
* And Carol Marin traveled to Putnam County…
The people of Downstate Putnam County don’t mince words about politics. Or about Chicago politicians running for governor.
Take Alma Toedter, who at 76 has been a Republican committeewoman for 35 years and is the GOP chairwoman in these parts.
“I think (voters) are so fed up with the one we have now (Pat Quinn), and then the other one, (Bruce Rauner) he sounds like he’s got so much money he doesn’t know what to do with it all,” she tells me. “So I don’t know how this is going to go. I really don’t.”
Mrs. Toedter and I are sitting in the basement of her spacious home where hundreds of bowling trophies adorn the walls — she is a champion bowler — alongside countless pictures of the diminutive grandmother with presidents Reagan, Bush I, Clinton and Bush II.
* Other stuff…
* U R G E N T ! Read this story about candidates’ desperate email fundraising
* Move over, Bruce. $1,825,000 for Marsy’s Law PAC to back crime victims
- a drop in - Monday, Oct 20, 14 @ 3:06 pm:
Quinn’s face is all over my intertubes asking me to vote early. So I did. Now leave me alone.
- Ron Burgundy - Monday, Oct 20, 14 @ 3:14 pm:
An aside from the Quinn bio piece regarding a comment he made yesterday: Quinn: “I’ll be 102 when I pay off my kids’ college loans.”
His kids are now 31 and 29. A, it won’t take him another 37 years to pay them off, and B, shouldn’t the kids be paying for themselves at that age?
- Under Further Review - Monday, Oct 20, 14 @ 3:20 pm:
Sometimes, I think this election will turn upon the undecided voters casting ballots against the incumbent due to “Quinn fatigue.” Face, it he has been on the political scene for forty plus years or so. His standard biography usually omits any mention of the time when he served as an elected official in Cook County government (Board of Appeals). There were a few years when he was out of elected office, but he always seemed to be campaigning for something. I do not know too many people who like Rauner, but with Quinn it seems to be a case of “enough already.”
- The Way I See It - Monday, Oct 20, 14 @ 3:25 pm:
The Anyone but Quinn vote is Quinn’s biggest competition. Rauner hasn’t made a good case that he’d be a good guv or that he even knows what he is talking about, but he may not have to.
- Oswego Willy - Monday, Oct 20, 14 @ 3:25 pm:
===* Why the emphasis on early voting? Campaigns go to a lot of trouble to identify their likely voters, and they want to bank them early in order to not be at the mercy of variables, such as weather. Also, campaign workers keep track of early voters, so once the ballot is cast, they don’t have to waste any more effort on that person.===
If it’s a turnout election, Rauner’s Crew won’t have a 20 point cushion, and the Unions have had time to do their work.
Beyond critical, the truly ID’d “pluses” are voted, not assumed “pluses”, and not having uncontrolled or unknown voters overrun your known voters.
- Wordslinger - Monday, Oct 20, 14 @ 3:26 pm:
Both Trib profiles are well done.
Not many surprises with Quinn, although I wasnt aware of the extent of the Fenwick Mafia.
With the Rauner piece, you sure can’t say that Secter and Pearson are in the tank for Rauner (maybe the edit board should have it read to them). He comes off as a political dilettante, but maybe that’s just me. I’ve thought that for some time.
- Responsa - Monday, Oct 20, 14 @ 3:46 pm:
The Trib profiles of Rauner and Quinn are both interesting and compelling because they included some insightful details on their backgrounds and seemed to capture something of their real personalities both on and off the political stage. The pieces give voters something to chew on. To create the articles the Trib interviewed people who have actual knowledge and insight on how both guys think and have operated individually and as part of a team. This is more useful to voters than tweets about a sweaty debate performance, or a gotcha mis-statement, or an angry outburst at a colleague Yes, it costs money and requires competent journalists to produce this kind of product. But if papers did more of this type of reporting and printed less “opinion” pieces by local and national columnists with obvious agendas, they’d have more respect and interest from those of us who want newspapers to survive in the 21st century.
- Mighty M. Mouse - Monday, Oct 20, 14 @ 3:47 pm:
===* Move over, Bruce. $1,825,000 for Marsy’s Law PAC to back crime victims===
Do they intend to spend $1,825,000 during the next 2 weeks? That sounds like a lot over just 2 weeks.
- Belle - Monday, Oct 20, 14 @ 4:01 pm:
Many people seem to agree with Ms Toedter which is a very sad reason to vote for someone. Of course, I’ve heard the opposite also.
- walker - Monday, Oct 20, 14 @ 4:02 pm:
Way better than the Sun-Times’ “read between the lines” analysis of Rauner.
Pretty well aware of the Gov’s personal style, but also didn’t know the Fenwick angle was as strong as portrayed.
- Ginhouse Tommy - Monday, Oct 20, 14 @ 5:17 pm:
Like I said in an earlier post, Pat Quinn is the Homer Simpson of Ill politics. Likeable, but he is clueless. It also seems like he made a big mistake by surrounding himself with equally clueless yes men instead of people with more political savvy and experience. He also seems to be out of touch if this article is to be believed. Too bad, really. He inherited a real mess and had no clue and neither did his staff. It remains to be seen if he will get another 4 years. We will know in 2 weeks.
- Ginhouse Tommy - Monday, Oct 20, 14 @ 7:42 pm:
Upon further thought, it appears that both of the candidates have a warped sense of reality. Bruce Rauner is making promises that he can’t or has no intention of keeping and clearly doesn’t know what he is talking about and Pat Quinn doesn’t know if he’s on foot or on horseback. What a choice. I’m sorry to say but either way we lose and I think that is being charitable.
- AlabamaShake - Monday, Oct 20, 14 @ 9:32 pm:
**Do they intend to spend $1,825,000 during the next 2 weeks? That sounds like a lot over just 2 weeks.**
It costs about $1M a week to up on network TV in Cook County.
- Undercover - Monday, Oct 20, 14 @ 11:46 pm:
“Such notions may resonate with GOP audiences ripe for Chicago bashing, but they also play to an archaic stereotype rendered all but impossible in today’s era of electronic voting.”
Really? Hack journalism at it’s worst. So eager to “prove” their hypotheses that they miss the real stories.