Circling back on guns, gay marriage
Wednesday, Oct 29, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* When I first posted this ad, it was still just a YouTube video, but some of you thought it was one of the better ads of the season. Well, the Gun Violence Prevention IE PAC (G-PAC) says it raised $200,000 to get the spot on the air in Chicago. That ain’t much, particularly since the airwaves are absolutely packed right now with campaign commercials. But it might be striking enough to stand out…
* Meanwhile, from Equality Illinois…
After the Illinois House failed to pass the marriage bill in May 2013, Equality Illinois announced its Fight Back for Marriage campaign, making the commitment to spend $500,000 by the November 2014 election in the face of threats from marriage opponents to defeat the bill and oust the legislators who supported it.
By the end of the 2014 election cycle, the organization will have spent over $610,000, including:
Over $150,000 in direct contributions to candidates by the Equality Illinois Political Action Committee, the political arm of Equality Illinois,
Nearly $100,000 in a sophisticated information campaign to educate the electorate, and
An unprecedented targeted get-out-the-vote effort, with more than 400 Equality Illinois PAC volunteers making more than 60,000 persuasion, identification, or turn-out phone calls in support of Gov. Pat Quinn and other LGBT-supportive candidates
Discuss.
- Snucka - Wednesday, Oct 29, 14 @ 2:28 pm:
This is no less than a fight for the soul of our great state. I’m hopeful that the voters will prove that our soul is not for sale to Bruce Rauner or any other billionaire.
- DuPage Mama - Wednesday, Oct 29, 14 @ 2:28 pm:
Great GPAC gun violence ad. Everyone should donate as much as they can to get it on the air non-stop through election day!
- Lowly Informed - Wednesday, Oct 29, 14 @ 2:34 pm:
BrUCe RuNneR is tHe RESponsiBle PeRSOn fOR CloOMBINe!!1!!1!!11!
- OneMan - Wednesday, Oct 29, 14 @ 2:38 pm:
Snucka…
Well unless I am mistaken a Democratic governor and a democratic legislature has failed to pass this, how is electing Quinn to a second term going to change that?
Sincerely you don’t need a single Republican vote in Springfield to do this do you think the opinions of democrats south of I-80 is going to change on November 5th?
- phocion - Wednesday, Oct 29, 14 @ 2:40 pm:
That GPAC ad is at odds with the 150 ad that claims only Chad Grimm supports the 2nd Amendment. Kind of like the 150 ad that claims only Grimm is pro-life is at odds with the Personal PAC ads that claim Rauner is pro-life.
- Rich Miller - Wednesday, Oct 29, 14 @ 2:41 pm:
phocion, true, but for the most part, the ads are running in different regions.
- phocion - Wednesday, Oct 29, 14 @ 2:45 pm:
Thanks, Rich. I forgot this is an election and ads don’t have to accurate reflect a candidate’s actual position.
- Under Further Review - Wednesday, Oct 29, 14 @ 2:57 pm:
Chad Grimm’s friends have hit my mailbox with another giant postcard for the third time in three days. According to “Liberty for Illinois” Rauner is opposed to gun ownership rights.
- AlabamaShake - Wednesday, Oct 29, 14 @ 3:08 pm:
** I forgot this is an election and ads don’t have to accurate reflect a candidate’s actual position.**
We might be a little more sympathetic to your whining if Rauner actually took one (rather than none, or multiple) position on these issues.
- Anonymous - Wednesday, Oct 29, 14 @ 3:13 pm:
Under further Review, what part of the state do you live in?
Rich, have you seen rither of the more recent pro-Grimm pieces?
- chicago guy - Wednesday, Oct 29, 14 @ 3:22 pm:
Lowly informed: Your name sure fits you. Capital, small case or whatever.
- Under Further Review - Wednesday, Oct 29, 14 @ 3:47 pm:
Cook County
- Archiesmom - Wednesday, Oct 29, 14 @ 3:53 pm:
I saw the GPAC ad at 8:30 this morning on one of the major network shows. Had a lot of impact. As it were.
- BarbaricYalp - Wednesday, Oct 29, 14 @ 3:56 pm:
Phocion, Goldilocks boxed himself into this corner. Have little sympathy for him at this point.
- Under Further Review - Wednesday, Oct 29, 14 @ 4:07 pm:
Personal PAC is exceedingly dishonest: Any candidate that fails to answer their questionnaire in its entirety is automatically labeled as “anti-choice.” Their candidate ratings are often quite distorted.
Oh yes, it is old news that the leader of Personal Pac, Terry Cosgrove, was appointed to a salaried state commission post by Quinn after the 2010 election.
- Wordslinger - Wednesday, Oct 29, 14 @ 4:07 pm:
I got another Grimm ovesized card mailer today. Cute baby with blanket, headline something like Grimm is only 100 percent pro-life candidate.
Flip side is something about Chicago liberal Bruce Rauner.
Assuming its a GOP primary list.
- Rich Miller - Wednesday, Oct 29, 14 @ 4:10 pm:
===Any candidate that fails to answer their questionnaire in its entirety is automatically labeled as “anti-choice.”===
Yep, and they tell every candidate that right up front. Ignore a multi-million dollar behemoth at your own peril.
- Under Further Review - Wednesday, Oct 29, 14 @ 4:10 pm:
Personal Pac parody with Terry Cosgrove:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BmdnsTeZSg
- Under Further Review - Wednesday, Oct 29, 14 @ 4:17 pm:
@Wordslinger:
The postcard with the baby crawling out from under a blanket is the second mailing. You may receive a third piece tomorrow.
- Wordslinger - Wednesday, Oct 29, 14 @ 4:20 pm:
I think the hay’s in the barn as far as TV spots go. Not sure if anything new but closers is worth it.
- Mama - Wednesday, Oct 29, 14 @ 5:00 pm:
I thought the gay marriage bill passed over a year ago? NRA will make sure gun control will never happen.
- Amalia - Wednesday, Oct 29, 14 @ 5:14 pm:
GPac ad is good, but a bit late to the party.
- Amalia - Wednesday, Oct 29, 14 @ 5:19 pm:
I have not analyzed the makeup of the Personal Pac board and fundraiser committee in a long time, but it’s very well known that the group was started in large part by a very wealthy Republican woman from the North Shore. she worked quite closely with Cosgrove. It’s just that the Republican Party has, in large part, swiftly moved to the hard right, where the anti choice, anti birth control crowd lives. Terry is very good at his job. refuse his invite to detail your positions at your peril.
- Under Further Review - Wednesday, Oct 29, 14 @ 5:27 pm:
@Amalia:
Terry Cosgrove targets suburban Republican legislators who favor choice in addition to those who are pro-life. The entire Republican party is not pro-life. There is a broad spectrum of opinions. Cosgrove is an absolutist and extremists.
Interestingly, Cosgrove is also active in the gay rights movement which has used various privacy and reproductive rights court opinions to advance an entirely different agenda.
- Rich Miller - Wednesday, Oct 29, 14 @ 5:30 pm:
===Cosgrove targets suburban Republican legislators who favor choice===
I dunno about that. He’s pushed a whole lot of Republican pro-choicers, though - to the point where some Democrats tried to organize a contributor boycott not so long ago. Didn’t work.
Don’t like it, go start your own pro-life PAC, raise millions, send out your own questionnaires and then win a ton of races. It ain’t easy, though.
- Amalia - Wednesday, Oct 29, 14 @ 5:42 pm:
@Under Further Review, do you remember Rosemary Mulligan, a Republican? Cause she stayed in for a long time because of women’s reproductive rights. Terry has worked for many Republicans. Maybe THEY are abandoning positions in favor of reproductive rights. Terry is where he’s always been….pro choice.
- Amalia - Wednesday, Oct 29, 14 @ 5:45 pm:
wait, I just re read the last part of your comment, Upon Further Review. Interesting that Cosgrove is active in the gay rights movement blah, blah, blah. so what?!? Terry is gay. and a man. and a pro choice leader. and successful!
- Under Further Review - Wednesday, Oct 29, 14 @ 5:49 pm:
I was objecting to the categorical characterization of all Republicans as being pro-life or anti-choice. That simply is not so: James R. Thompson, Jim Edgar, Corrine Wood, Margaret Parcells, Elizabeth Coulson and the list goes on.
Cosgrove has targeted some GOP legislators who favor abortion subject to certain limits or exceptions.
My objection is that Cosgrove’s appointment to a salaried state position smacks of Quinn’s usual willingness to engage in unethical behavior when it is beneficial to him. He talks a real good game of reform, but does not put it into practice whenever push comes to shove.
- Rich Miller - Wednesday, Oct 29, 14 @ 5:58 pm:
===has targeted some GOP legislators who favor abortion subject to certain limits or exceptions. ===
You’re looking at this all cockeyed. Love him, hate him, whatever. He’s an absolutist. So if he has a viable candidate who would be with him 100 percent, he’s gonna go after the opponent who is with him only a fraction of that time. It is what it is, and there’s still a 1st Amendment.
- Anonymous - Wednesday, Oct 29, 14 @ 6:06 pm:
Part of Terry Cosgrove’s success is that he’ll spend money to help incumbents even if they have a 100% pro-choice challenger. He won’t attack that opponent, but he’ll get out a positive mailer for the incumbent and they really appreciate that
- Amalia - Wednesday, Oct 29, 14 @ 6:13 pm:
Thompson, Edgar, Wood, Parcells, Coulson….are you joking? they are no longer in office. the game is current. for example, the Republican Lt. Gov. Candidate Sanguinetti wants to criminalize abortion. Lt. Gov. Wood was pro choice. my oh my how the Republican Party has changed.
- Amalia - Wednesday, Oct 29, 14 @ 6:21 pm:
This is Personal PAC and the woman I remembered, the Republican, Marcie Love. This is how Personal PAC started.
http://personalpac.org/about/leadership/marcena-love
some relevant text….
Marcena W. Love is the Founder of Personal PAC.
Love, a life-long Republican, comes from a long line of political activists. Her mother was a founder of Republican Women in Pittsburgh, and her great grandmother was a suffragette, who worked to persuade the Daughters of the American Revolution to support a woman’s right to vote.
would that the Republican Party were still so open.
- Under Further Review - Wednesday, Oct 29, 14 @ 6:30 pm:
I know who Marcy Love is. She used to attend functions in New Trier Township. She had little or no respect for people who did not support her positions 110%.
Susan B. Anthony was a leading suffragette and she was staunchly pro-life. Imagine that.
- Precinct Captain - Wednesday, Oct 29, 14 @ 6:41 pm:
Keep believing ahistorical nonsense UFR
http://womensenews.org/story/abortion/061006/susan-b-anthonys-abortion-position-spurs-scuffle#.VFF6mvnF-So
- Under Further Review - Wednesday, Oct 29, 14 @ 6:42 pm:
“It is what it is, and there’s still a 1st Amendment.”
I agree wholeheartedly which is why people need to accept that there will be political disagreements and not everyone will hold the same positions.
I am fine with that, but I will debate and defend my positions. Cosgrove is fairly extreme and has been called out by Eric Zorn for his methods. Zorn is not a right of center type of guy.
The presence of Sanguinetti on the ticket does not indicate that Rauner is pro-life or that Roe v. Wade is going to be reversed on November 4th.
- Under Further Review - Wednesday, Oct 29, 14 @ 6:44 pm:
@Precinct Captain:
I have a graduate degree in American history, but thanks for playing.
- Amalia - Wednesday, Oct 29, 14 @ 6:48 pm:
what Precinct Captain said and linked.
- Amalia - Wednesday, Oct 29, 14 @ 6:51 pm:
“The presence of Sanguinetti on the ticket does not indicate that Rauner is pro-life or that Roe v. Wade is going to be reversed on November 4th.” but it could mean that a Evelyn Sanguinetti, who believes that abortion should be criminalized, could become governor should Rauner go down for any reason.
and the governor of the state is involved in all sorts of regulatory issues and signs what the legislature presents. Quinn and Vallas would be a sure duo of Reproductive Freedom for Illinois. Rauner and Sanguinetti, not at all.
- Under Further Review - Wednesday, Oct 29, 14 @ 7:16 pm:
That’s quite a stretch.
I do not think that the current Illinois gubernatorial election is going to overturn a host of court decisions.
It is a non-issue, but if you have to scare up some votes this late in the game I guess you do what you have to do.
- Del Clinkton - Thursday, Oct 30, 14 @ 7:00 am:
Welcome to the exciting world of Citizens United, where corporations have 1st Amendment Right and Religion!
Lets pass this law, where the candidate has to say they support the message from the outside Oligarch Millionaire group that pays for it.
For instance, so you say that as a conservative candidate that you are “pro-life” (which is actually Anti-Freedom and Anthema to Normal Republicans). At the beginning of the ad a candidate might say: “I’m Bruce Delphort Rauner and I support this position”. Then at least we’d know where Delphort stands on the issue.