60 Comments - Bill Baar - Thursday, Mar 23, 06 @ 6:29 am: Agree on Bradly Agree on putting Social Conservatives as both Winners and Losers. What that means is there is an opportunity for them to have much greater influence in the State if they play the politics right. More on that on Illinoize soon. - Bill Baar - Thursday, Mar 23, 06 @ 6:30 am: Geez, Brady, not Bradly…was thinking B-Ball - old dem - Thursday, Mar 23, 06 @ 6:56 am: Rep. Jackson struck out, except for Rep David Miller. - Drew Hibbard - Thursday, Mar 23, 06 @ 7:18 am: That first map is actually wrong. Oberweis won Adams County, not Topinka. GOVERNOR Vote for 1 (WITH 80 OF 80 PRECINCTS COUNTED) JUDY BAAR TOPINKA. . 991 BILL BRADY . . 986 JIM OBERWEIS . . 1,303 RON GIDWITZ. . . 475 ANDY MARTIN. . . 32 Those results were found here. - Drew Hibbard - Thursday, Mar 23, 06 @ 7:23 am: My preceding comment was posted on the wrong entry. I guess that’s what you get for commenting when you first wake up. - the Patriot - Thursday, Mar 23, 06 @ 7:28 am: Brady is a winner, but oportunities will be few for state wide runs. Durbins Senate Seat will be hotly contested and I am sure the RNC would like to fund that race. For state races if Judy wins she will run again or Joe will surely want the shot. We all know the next Gov election is Lisa Madigan so anybody is going to have a tough time unless Blago wins and he gets indicted in office. The Blago critics were winners. A virtually unknown candidate spend no money downstate and took 30% of the vote from the sitting governor. The critics are alive and well knowing Judy will have most of the republicans and 30% of the democrats will vote for anybody but Rod. - Metro East Voter - Thursday, Mar 23, 06 @ 7:37 am: I disagree that Blago’s critics were “losers” in this primary. EE made one trip out of Cook County, and that was cut short so he could appear with Mell. Yet he still got 30%. Many people in our area lost jobs when trucking companies pulled up stakes and went to Missouri. Teachers and other union folks are upset about the pension fund raids…JBT has plenty of bullets for November… just no money yet. - Anonymous - Thursday, Mar 23, 06 @ 7:46 am: Biggest loser by far is M. Madigan. Lost treasurer race big, saw Blago win big, and saw Redpath go down in Springfield. - anon - Thursday, Mar 23, 06 @ 7:47 am: Dan Shomon is the biggest winner. He has now scored three consecutive victories with Barack Obama, Tom Weisner and now Alexi. Although Weisner was almost a sure thing, Barack and Alexi had almost no name recognition when Shomon plucked them out of obscurity. - anon - Thursday, Mar 23, 06 @ 7:51 am: David Axelrod is clearly the biggest loser. This machine hack got smoked by Stroger and embarrassed himself with his explosive remarks regarding voter fraud on behalf of the Stroger campaign. Things went almost as poorly in the Duckworth campaign where he, Rahm and other chicago democrats poured tons of money and resources into a race against a candidate with no resources and almost lost. If Daley gets indicted, Axelrod will be a nothing and a nobody. - DuPage Voice - Thursday, Mar 23, 06 @ 7:54 am: DuPage County Chairman Bob Schillerstrom, wanta be a State Wide Candidate some day, lost 3 County Board races and the Treasure position. - Anon - Thursday, Mar 23, 06 @ 8:32 am: I like Gidwitz. Great guy in person. And the reason he couldn’t connect with voters is because he got suckered in by a bunch of HIGHLY over-paid consultants who were HIGHLY inept at bringing his real persona to the people, creating a gidwitz brand and getting one solid message across. Poor Ron. I hope he will try again for another office, with more competent advisors next time. - Anon - Thursday, Mar 23, 06 @ 8:34 am: I agree. Michael Madigan was a big loser in this election cycle while Obama seems to have become a Democratic king-maker. Doesn’t bode well for Lisa in her run for governor in ‘10. - Wumpus - Thursday, Mar 23, 06 @ 8:45 am: Winners- IL GOP- Oberwies may have gotten the message not to run again. We will not have to hear about how great Rauschenberger is before he goes on to get creamed. I would have liked him to win an election. Hopefully, he will become a lobbyist, make some cheddar and come back with a shot at winning. Brady-he faired well enough, he also kept his sanity and stayed above the Fray Froehlich -Fought off some mudsling and half-truths/outright lies to dominate in his two races who were getting a lot of help from democrats…and Zahm. Showed that his organization is still strong. McSweeney- beat a woman with a famous name and money. In the 8th, a strong conservative beat another consevative. Reformers in Cook- The idiots voted for a guy who had a seriously debillatating stroke, my goodness. It is always darkest before the light. Meeks-he may be able to win in an indy bid for gov. Losers IL GOP-Judy won. It was basically a choice among Corrupt insider woman who may win, corrupt insider man, crazed, wannabe reformer who would have lost in a keyesian manner, and a seemingly upstanding guy who was probably too conservative for the city. Zahm-Churchill and Klimkowicz, got trounced Churchill-What were you thinking? SHould have run against Geo-Harris (again). Blago-beat a guy who hadn’t a clue - GOPJay - Thursday, Mar 23, 06 @ 8:47 am: Brady was definitely a winner! He handled himself like a true conservative, courteous, respectful of other Republicans, and ran a clean race. Illinois was also a winner, by saying goodbye, hopefully forever, to Oberweiss! - DOWNSTATE - Thursday, Mar 23, 06 @ 8:55 am: Not getting the nomination should not be the end for Brady.I would like him to stay out front to help and at the same time gain name recognition.If he does he will be back and he will win.This was not a lose for him just a set back. - Yellow Dog Democrat - Thursday, Mar 23, 06 @ 9:32 am: Winners: The Machine. While their grip may be slipping in the suburbs, regular Democrats proved that they can still get it done better than most anybody within the city limits. Their success is more dependant than ever on the support of organized labor, African Americans and Latinos (all of whom have earned a bigger seat at the Table), but The Machine proved that they can adapt and that the obits were premature. Losers: The Illinois Republican Party. Everybody knows that Topinka emerged with a fractured party, but what’s just as important is the raw numbers. Despite the fact that Democrats had a sleeper of a race at the top of the ticket, there were over 130,000 more Democratic ballots cast than GOP ballots, and they are still counting in Cook. If voter apathy lingers through the Fall, and only core partisans turn out, Democrats are poised to sweep statewide, no matter how many times Judy Baar Topinka says “pension” or “pay-to-play”. - No Fan - Thursday, Mar 23, 06 @ 9:33 am: Shoman plucked Obama from obscurity? That’s a laugh. He’s a mediocre strategist at best. Lucky is more like it. Biggest loser on the other hand was Gene Moore followed by Tony Peraica. - Yellow Dog Democrat - Thursday, Mar 23, 06 @ 9:47 am: To quote an old mentor of mine, “Some folks think the only way to get ahead is by climbing over the backs of their fallen comrades.” Note to Democrats who think the best way to advance their career is to badmouth other Democratic consultants: focus on your own resume, there’s plenty of business for everybody. The Other Winner: Clearly, Rod Blagojevich. As I suggested way back when, Eisendrath’s candidacy forced Blagojevich to be more disciplined and on message, helping his candidacy. According to SurveyUSA, support for Blagojevich is up 12 points among Democrats, 8 points among independents, and even 4 points among Republicans, from September. - VanillaMan - Thursday, Mar 23, 06 @ 9:57 am: Winners: Cook County Democratic Machine - lives on and proves it still can get the job done. ILGOP - Saved by Brady, nominated a candidate that appeals statewide for governor. Blagojevich - discovers a new campaign strategy; doing his job keeps him out of harsh media glare. Eisendrath - wins recognition for future Chicago mayoral run. Oberweis - proved that only he knew how the GOP primary was turning out. He was right, we were wrong. He will be back, (sigh!). Burkett - has set himself up as the leading ILGOP 2008 Senate candidate if Topinka wins. Losers: ILGOP - Future looks bleak for a party determined to cast the majority of its votes for conservatives. Primary shows that Oberweis would lose to Eisendrath. If Topinka loses, it will cease being a major poltical party. Blagojevich - must content with an experienced opponent with statewide appeal. He must come out of his Chicago office and become the main election issue. Black Chicago voters - proved they have more clout than ever when they vote together. However, Meeks/Jackson rift will widen as pols begin to fight over this voter base. Brady - Sweet, but failure to meet expectations doesn’t enhance his political power. Zinga - should have won, and barely did. ILGOP conservatives prove again that they distrust women candidates. Gidwitz - paid the most for the least. Completely misread ILGOP voters. He knew he could beat Blagojevich, but chose wrong route to do it. Could have beaten Blagojevich if he ran against him in the Democratic primary. Whoever ran his campaign must be held accountable for so glaring a failure. Rauschenburger - Lost his sheen when he teamed with Gidwitz, lost even more when he came in a distant second to Burkett. Budgetary knowledge doesn’t mean one knows how to count votes. He’s lucky to have his job. - DOWNSTATE - Thursday, Mar 23, 06 @ 10:01 am: YYD have you looked at the super low turn out this time.There is nothing for either party to crow about.A lot of republicans would not vote for fear of reprisals come back and talk to us in November when it is a real election with secret ballot.As far as E.E. the majority of people had no idea who this guy was.Wheter you agree or not the governors numbers are not good way to low for a setting offical giving away evrything that isn’t tied down. - SenorAnon. - Thursday, Mar 23, 06 @ 10:07 am: anon 7:51, your entry shows a stunning lack of insight. First, the “machine hack” label is positively moronic, given Stroger was not simply the machine candidate, but an old machine lion. Claypool was a little-known member of a little-paid-attention-to board and was an underdog from the get go. And he pulled in within a few points of Stroger - the candidate with huge organizational support. Given that - and the events of the final week of the campaign that no one on either side could have predicted - that Claypool stayed in it is remarkable in itself. Further, I watched the coverage. Axelrod never suggested fraud by Stroger’s camp. Not once. As to Duckworth - first, she won. Second, she did a moderate cable buy - hardly placing the onus of her campaign on the TV guy. You may know some of the names, and some of the clients - but obviously, you know little else. - SenorAnon. - Thursday, Mar 23, 06 @ 10:13 am: “Wheter you agree or not the governors numbers are not good way to low for a setting offical…” Hey Downstate (and other geniuses), Jack Roeser got 25% against St. Jim in 1994. You can keep grasping at straws, but nothing will change the fact that 70% is a decisive win. Period. - steve schnorf - Thursday, Mar 23, 06 @ 10:22 am: It appears Family Taxpayer Network remains a loser. I don’t agree that an opponent getting 30% shows weakness for the Governor. There’s 25-30% for an opponent most of the time in Illinois, regardless of party. Remember, Roeser and Bear each got around 30% in R primaries against Edgar. It’s meaningless. But I do agree that the Governor looks better when he governs more and campaigns less. - grand old partisan - Thursday, Mar 23, 06 @ 10:23 am: YDD - “Despite the fact that Democrats had a sleeper of a race at the top of the ticket, there were over 130,000 more Democratic ballots cast than GOP ballots, and they are still counting in Cook” - oh, yeah…..Cook County….where there was a hotly contested, high profile race on the Dem ballot. Stupid facts! Always getting in the way, right old boy? I agree that Brady comes out a winner, but to what end? However vulnerable Durbin may be personally will be overshadowed by the Presidential race at the top of the ticket in ’08. If Judy pulls it off, he’ll have to wait at 8 years….at which point he may have to compete with statewide officeholders like Birkett and Radogno. But, you never know in politics, so it’s good that his bridges are still well intact. I also agree that Rod’s fortunes are split. Yes, it was embarrassing that he lost 30% to EE (most Dem incumbents like Rush, Emanuel, etc. were in the 85-95% against their primary challengers). But it is true that it could be a wake-up call to him, much as McCain’s defeat of W in NH in 2002 helped him take the race more seriously and sharpen his edge. That being said, it’s only fair to admit that Oberweis’s better-than-expected showing is equally as embarrassing to Judy. Sure, there are some legitimate excuses – Cook Republicans pulling Dem ballots to vote for Claypool, the snowstorms in Springfield – but I’ll be honest, I was disheartened to see her not take at least 40%. But I think she will have an easier time bringing the party back together than many people think. Especially if Rod keeps rolling out the best hits of ultra-liberalism for the next 8 months. Business fill fall in behind her in a way they didn’t for Jim Ryan, which will help her close the fundraising gap. I think this may be the most evenly matched race – as far as raw political abilities of the contenders – since ’90. Unfortunately, Blago is no Hartigan when it comes to intelligence and ability to effectively govern. Another big winner was McSweeny, who took the race with a larger margin than expected and quickly gained the support of his closest and most bitter rival – if only Judy could have been so lucky this week! - Yellow Dog Democrat - Thursday, Mar 23, 06 @ 10:30 am: DOWNSTATE — Have looked at the numbers, and Democratic and GOP turnout were supressed equally in downstate Illinois, by the weather. The voter turnout numbers track consistently with SurveyUSA, which shows that 40%+ of voters consistently identify themselves as Democrats, while 25-28% of voters identify themselves as Republicans. In order to win, Topinka must: 1)bring conservatives on board, and either 2)win over independent voters AND get them to turn out in the fall, or 3)Win over significant Democrats. I just don’t see #3 happening, because there are too many partisan hot-button issues on which Topinka is wrong for Democrats, like guns, abortion, and health care. I don’t see #1 happening because Topinka is so entrenched with George Ryan, her own office scandals, and her support for civil unions. And #2 is a longshot, because Rod is the one with all of the money, and he’ll easily be able to define her on issues like health care, education, child care that swing voters care about, while ethics will be a wash and nobody but state employees and the Chicago Tribune care about pension funding. Downstate, I agree the Governor would much rather have higher numbers, but for the last six months, they’ve been heading in the right direction. You’re right, he wasn’t really running against Eisendrath, he was running against his own record. I think one thing that Democrats and Republicans can agree upon is Rod’s worst enemy is Rod, not Judy, and he appears to be up to that challenge and on the right course. Oh yeah, shout out to Team Judy from Karl Rove — we’re in the middle of the fight for our lives to hold onto Congress — the checks from Jack Abramov are not coming. - paddyrollingstone - Thursday, Mar 23, 06 @ 11:02 am: I agree that Obama came out looking good with Alexi’s win but it certainly wasn’t the Ali-Frazier heavyweight fight with Madigan that some on this board believe. Alexi had 2 million to spend, was from Chicago and ran some tv ads with Obama and Jesse, Jr. The downstater is a terrible campaigner and got into the race originally when it was thought that he would be running against Topinka. Now, if Obama can deliver the general for Alexi, that will be something. By the way, I was not too impressed with Alexi’s Obama ad. Didn’t Obama say something like “Alexi is one of the most impressive people he knows?” And Jesse, Jr. looked very serious in the ad. Very. - DOWNSTATE - Thursday, Mar 23, 06 @ 11:51 am: Sorry YYD but I have to stay with the numbers and my county was 14% and the county next to me was 9% so that tells me that there could be big surprises ahead.To bad people like us couldn’t inject some of this political savvy we have into all those people that did not vote.On the national scene you guys have Reed that is shooting the Democrats in the foot as weak as Bush is and the Dems are losing their butt. - Bradys the Guy - Thursday, Mar 23, 06 @ 11:57 am: Gosh, where is Rich Leahy (Reagan Democrat) with a sniffy comment condemning all this praise for Brady? With the Obie campaign over, the checks must be stopped…. - ZC - Thursday, Mar 23, 06 @ 12:36 pm: I’m not sure how much credit to give to “the Machine” on Tuesday - at least for Stroger’s victory. One thing that I don’t think has been discussed on any of these threads so far is the role that downballot competition played in the Stroger-Claypool matchup. It seems that the number of other competitive matchups on Tuesday were HEAVILY based in Stoger-land, which had to have an impact on turnout. 6th legislative district, Golar-Smith. 8th, Giles-Ford. 24th, Chavez-Hernandez. 12th Senate, Sandoval-Garza. Berwyn and Cicero Democrat committeemen. Lipinski may never have been in danger in the 3rd House district, but that was one race where even the also-rans had passionate supporters who wanted to make their symbolic point at the polls. Any others I missed? There were a few competitive races in Claypool Country, but it seems way less to me. Someone should do an analysis and figure out how much of Stroger’s vote came from areas that were seeing other truly competitive races. The North Siders may have preferred Claypool, but local get-out-the-vote operations generally function better if at least a few of their own necks are on the line, too. I’m not sure how much credit “the Machine” can claim for this - people naturally gravitate to the polls when there’s more contests that spark their interests. I don’t think that many North Siders were stirred to get James McGing onto the bench. Of course, if the Machine in part _planned_ this - if it arranged to target more competition in the areas it figured Stroger needed turnout in - then my hat is truly off in admiration. - ChicagoCynic - Thursday, Mar 23, 06 @ 12:42 pm: Biggest Loser: Langdon Neal and David Orr who knew there would be problems but completely failed at the one serious responsibility they have - conducting a fair, efficient election with a secret ballot. The new poster ballots create more opportunity for fraud and voter intimidation than anything I’ve seen in Cook County in 20 years. Other big loser is the Cook county taxpayers who will be saddled with four more years of the most corrupt and bloated bureaucracy in the country. When taxes go up and up and service continues to deteriorate, the voters of Cook will have nobody to blame but themselves (Yes, I’m still a bit pissed that we lost to a guy who has about as much likelihood of serving out his new term as George Bush has of getting the Nobel Peace Prize). - the wonderboy - Thursday, Mar 23, 06 @ 12:56 pm: Vanilla- What expectations did Brady fail to meet? Just a few weeks ago the talk on most of the blogs said he wasn’t even in double digits. I would say that he exceeded the expectatations. - Willis - Thursday, Mar 23, 06 @ 1:27 pm: Winners: Stoger - God Bless him! Sheriff Sheahan - Saw his Chief of Staff Tom Dart blow away the competition. Plus had 2 of his own lawyers elected judge. Also earlier in the week successfully confinced a liberal federal judge to recuse himself from a case because of personal emnity against the office. Karen Yarborough - 70% of the vote against real competition. Losers: Frank Avila: Hang them up! Can’t win and spends a ton of money. Davis Orr: Whose running against him? Jesse Jackson Jr: Better put the mayoral plan on hold - 3rd Ward - Thursday, Mar 23, 06 @ 1:34 pm: Barack Obama and Dan Shomon put their names on the line for a 29 year old candidate that nobody ever heard of, and won. They are big winners in the primary now lets see if they can drag Blago over the finish line in Nov. - Niles Township - Thursday, Mar 23, 06 @ 1:40 pm: The biggest loser is without question the citizens of Cook County. They voted to let someone else (Dem Commiteemen) decide who the president of the county board should be. Cook County has a bigger annual budget and more population than many states. Stroger is not coming back. I hope he gets better and can have a semblance of a life, but there is no way he can take the active lifestyle of the county prez. He barely hobbled around these last 4 years. Ask any doctor not on the county payroll, and they’ll tell you the same. So instead of voting for Claypool, who I admit is not enitrely perfect, the voters punted, and now will let the powers that be decide. How utterly disgraceful, and undemocratic. I am voting for Peraica, and feel compelled to start a Democrats for Peraica organization. Oh, and the next time your neighbors complain about corrupt politics, ask if they voted in this election. - JL Pettimore - Thursday, Mar 23, 06 @ 1:48 pm: To Niles Township (1:40 p.m.) You don’t have to work that hard to create a “Democrats for Peraica” seeing that Tony was a democrat as recently as six years ago. Start with Mike Manzo, his political “brain”, who happens to live in Oak Brook at his in-laws house since he was turfed out of Melrose Park. Gene Moore for County Board Prez! - Reddbyrd - Thursday, Mar 23, 06 @ 1:52 pm: Let’s face it Conservatives and Republican are still the party of losers. they manage to serve up a group of candidates that could mean a complete DEM Sweep and larger majorities in the House and Senate Obama looks great with the help of other people’s money. Meanwhile Go Braves! - Carl Nyberg - Thursday, Mar 23, 06 @ 1:52 pm: Speaking of the Obama endorsement factor… The AP article didn’t mention his endorsement of Duckworth. Did Duckworth need Obama’s endorsement to put her over the top? - Carl Nyberg - Thursday, Mar 23, 06 @ 1:55 pm: Gene Moore for county board prez? Are you talking about the same Gene Moore that just got whooped for Democratic Committeeman of Proviso Township? I’m thinking Darlena Williams Burnett started running the Recorder’s office on Wednesday. “Gene, you can spend as much time as you want at the Esparza vs. Moore trial. In fact, you don’t have to come back after it’s done. We’ll send your paycheck.” - ZC - Thursday, Mar 23, 06 @ 2:23 pm: YDD for Dog Catcher, Please cool it. Part of what’s good about a blog thread is we attack each other’s _ideas_, each other’s _arguments_, not each other personally. If you think what YDD is posting here is incorrect, then explain why. Otherwise, cut the personal stuff. - Anon - Thursday, Mar 23, 06 @ 2:28 pm: Dan Shoman is quite an impressive fellow. People in the Democratic party did everything they could to stop A.G.’s campaign. If only for helping keep Giannoulias on the ballot, Shoman ought to receive some kudos. That said, the credit for the victory should go to Alexi’s campaign staff. - Formerimportantperson - Thursday, Mar 23, 06 @ 3:08 pm: Anon, I agree Shoman has a great track record, but lets face it, this campaign was won with money. Had Mangieri had the funds to have as many tv commercials as AG this would have went the other way. And as for his staff, I had a chance to meet some of them at a few events, immature, unprofessional, and actually changed my mind to vote for Mangieri. Hopefully they will bring in some professionals so that we won’t have a republican treasurer after November, or at least have different people with AG when in public. - Spend It All - Thursday, Mar 23, 06 @ 3:42 pm: Biggest Losers — anyone associated with Gidwitz. From his greedy consultants to a staff peppered with mediocre hacks and retreads, Gidwitz didn’t get his money’s worth. - Wumpus - Thursday, Mar 23, 06 @ 3:47 pm: The biggest loser is Peracia. The fact that the legions turned out and supported a man who, honestly folks, may not make it to election day and will definitley not be as sharp tells a lot. - Anonymous - Thursday, Mar 23, 06 @ 3:48 pm: The real losers are the voters of Illinois who will now only have 2 unethical, pay-to-play liberals to choose from in November. - Yellow Dog Democrat - Thursday, Mar 23, 06 @ 4:37 pm: GOP & Downstate - There were roughly 500,000 Democratic ballots cast in Cook County this year. In 2002, there were 791,605 Dem ballots in Cook. The County Board President’s race seems high-profile and important to insiders, but regular voters don’t know what the Cook County Board even does, let alone the differences between the two candidates. That’s why you can’t argue that race brought people out, any more than a countywide race in any county really brings people out. - ExileOnMainStreet - Thursday, Mar 23, 06 @ 5:15 pm: Brady wins. He’s in a good position for 08 or 10. Judy loses. Got less than 40% of the vote. Obei remains a loser. And Dan Shomon knows his stuff. Add newcomer Sen. Debbie Halvorson in 96 to his list of wins. Go Dan go! - Veritas - Thursday, Mar 23, 06 @ 5:21 pm: I agree with an earlier poster. Brady upped his name ID, but the shelf life is limitted and his opportunities to capitalize on it are few. Any candidate who takes on Durbin in 2008 will need money; Brady is not good at fund raising. - John Ruberry - Thursday, Mar 23, 06 @ 5:41 pm: Losers: Blagojevich: Did you know he last a few downstate counties? Oberweis: Pulled out all stops to shore up his questionable conservative credentials. Still lost. Cook County Residents: Four more years of government by patronage. Rahm Emanuel: POed a lot of people in the suburbs in the 6th campaign. Winners: Topinka: Took a lot of hits, still won. Bill Brady: Conservatives in Illinois will line up behind him…or Joe Birkett…A win for him in November opens up a lot of opportunities. Obama: Long coat tails - Minion - Thursday, Mar 23, 06 @ 6:10 pm: Shomon with a candidate with less cash gets no place. Claypool is a winner. The fact that he was able to make it that close is very impressive. You had Hynes, Madigan, Lipinski, Banks, Natarus going all out for Stroger and he still only wins by 20,000 votes. What organizations besides Schulter did Claypool have? And 47 is definitely not in the elite ward organization category mentioned earlier. Don’t try and spin it as a big loss for Claypool. He did very well. - Yellow Dog Democrat - Thursday, Mar 23, 06 @ 6:15 pm: John - I agree that Birkett deserves credit for making a comeback of sorts. I just wonder how long it will last. Do you think the Speaker has forgotten all of the things Birkett said about Lisa Madigan four years ago? Do you think that the Chicago Tribune has forgotten Birkett’s indefensible defense of the Nicarico case our llinois’ death penalty system? I think Birkett was an asset to Topinka in the GOP Primary and locked in DuPage, but Birkett is probably a liability in the Fall. However, I won’t miss Steve Rauschenberger one bit. - Anon - Thursday, Mar 23, 06 @ 6:55 pm: - Formerimportantperson - There is no way around the fact that the money greased the wheels for Alexi. That said, I did see a flurry of “grassroot” activity for Alexi within the Greek community and among “reform”-type Democrats. I would not overlook that small but important activity next the big dollars. As for your deprecation of his staff, most of whom I met, I would prefer to describe them as a perfect mirror of the candidate – if they seem a little green they are full of youthful energy and dedicated to high ideals. Yes, quite a bit like A.G. himself. I am confident they will roll all the way to Springfield. That will be a lot easier if everybody on the Dem side kisses and makes up – like they should. - Dundee - Thursday, Mar 23, 06 @ 7:17 pm: Wumpus, don’t forget the people of Carol Stream. They lost also with Pam Fenner not being elected. It looks like the Kane County Conservative Coalition/Illinois Center Right Coaliotion lost big time. - Cosgrove - Thursday, Mar 23, 06 @ 9:26 pm: Loser? Churchill. Winner? Reproductive Rights. - Anonymous - Thursday, Mar 23, 06 @ 9:36 pm: Let me get this one straight – Birkett is in trouble because the Tribune and Mikey Madigan don’t like him? I thought the Tribune and Mikey Madigan proved to be the big losers in the primary. The Tribune endorsed Gidwitz and all of Madigan’s people got trounced. So explain the logic again?????? I think Birkett is a huge plus for Topinka. The Tribune endorsement is already Topinka’s. Mikey Madigan is probably happy that Birkett is running for something other than AG. - Jon Zahm - Thursday, Mar 23, 06 @ 10:44 pm: Hey Wumpus, You are clueless. This is the 2nd board you have tried to discredit me on. You list two losses without mentioning 3 wins- Ramey, Fortner and Williams (Kane Sheriff). Who are you? Jon Zahm - The Prez - Friday, Mar 24, 06 @ 1:02 am: Minion - I agree. Team Stroger had the backing of Mayor Daley, John Daley, Gov Blago, SEIU, Madigan, Sheahan, Hynes, Lipinski, Banks & Natarus. A 20,000 vote victory (in which there was possible tom-foolery going-on) is not a mandate for the status quo to continue. In fact, the Machine should view this as a wake-up call to streamline county operations much the way Mayor Daley has with the City. In a county where, in the last 5 yrs both residents & businesses have been leaving at a faster clip than any other county in the country, CC office holders must right the ship. Kudos to Forrest & Company for having the balls to challenge the Machine and for running a classy campaign. Lastly, best wishes and continued prayers go out to President Stroger & family for a speedy recovery. - Beowulf - Friday, Mar 24, 06 @ 7:00 am: The winners were the candidates like Oberweis and Gidwitz who lost and can now go back to having normal lives. The losers were Judy, Blago, Birkett,etc, who must now continue to go out and keep shaking hands and kissing babies. The real hard part for the winners (who are actually the losers)is coming up in November. Then they are compelled to make good on all of their promises to us and show us what they are really capable of and what their “real abilities” are. It is a bit like the dog that is chasing the car. Once he has caught it, what does he do then? Then the work and daily grind begins. The “Glory” fades away and it is simply a job which you are compelled to go to each day while the clock ticks away the minutes left in your life. That is the true reality of the situation. To the winners-”Be afraid. Be very afraid for what you wish for may actually come true!” To the losers-”You achieved instant name recognition within the state of Illinois and you tasted fame and celebrity status. Now you no longer have to pay the price for catching the car that you were chasing. Be very happy.” That is the true reality of the situation. - Luv that Brady - Friday, Mar 24, 06 @ 1:28 pm: Winners - Brady - He’s now known (somewhat) statewide for running. I hope he actually sits out 08 and waits to run in 10 for governor. While I love this man, I think he won’t have a chance against a very well funded Durbin. Only if Durbin screws up royally (not about to happen although would love it if it did), he’s going back to Washington if he chooses. If he doesn’t run, then Brady’s the man. Judy and Joe. Even though the mud was slung from Oberweis and Gidwitz, they still hung on for victory. Joe got a huge victory. Loosers: Oberweis. You know the reasons, don’t need to repeat. Rauchy. Even with the support of our popular local state senator, he lost. Brady - because he didn’t win. The sexiest guy in the campaign didn’t win. Blows cuteness theory out the window, lol. - Anonymous - Saturday, Mar 25, 06 @ 2:07 pm: Winners: Politicians Losers: Public Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.