36 Comments - Anonymous - Monday, Apr 24, 06 @ 2:22 pm: That it’s unfair that my vote won’t count because no one ran as a precint committeeman where I live. That’s doesn’t seem right. I don’t even know who mine used to be. They aren’t usually a big race here - you just check the box next to who is running. You don’t even miss it when there is no name where you vote. This is all interpretation and everyone who reads the law on this has a different idea about who votes and such. Can’t we get the real answer somewhere? - anon - Monday, Apr 24, 06 @ 2:27 pm: When the Democratic Party put in the system of central committeemen and women did the first time the member of the opposite sex than the sitting memmber was elected by the elected precinct committeepeople. One could see Hare,Sullivan,and Boland as serious candidates. The rest of the field is nice people and should not be considered. The Democrats should get their act together and the Rock Island side show between Johnny G and DonJ needs to end or the mark of ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ will win. - bardo - Monday, Apr 24, 06 @ 2:46 pm: Anon 2:22 Time to step up and run for committeeman… - annie - Monday, Apr 24, 06 @ 9:23 pm: Saw Phil hare tonite in Decatur. He is a real old time Humphrey Democrat. No glitz,just old fashion Democratic Party values he is Lane Evans and liberal Poshard rolled up in one. One wonders why Senator Sullivan is running in the 17th district that does or does not he live in? Why is former State Rep. and Gov. Assistant Julie Curry so active in Sullivan’s macon County campaign? She does not live in Macon County no more or the 17th district. She forced her choice for replacement as State Representative Bob Flider down the throats of both Democrats and labor. Now, she does not want Evans to pick his successor who will have to run office first before serving unlike Flider. Flider was appointed after just voting Democrat once in Macon County in 2002. One hopes that Johnston and John G will get over their problems and lets get behind Phil Hare and keep the seat. - Downdem in downstate - Monday, Apr 24, 06 @ 9:39 pm: During the late Senator Vince Demuzio’s tenure as State party Chair he attempted to address the unacceptably high rates of vacancy in precinct committeemen posts in downstate. He believed the high vacancy rates were standing in the way of effectively organizing downstate for local, legislative and state-wide democratic candidates. Of course, his precinct project was promptly eliminated shortly after the Chicago takeover of the party. Unfortunately, no one from downstate, including the Chair of the County Chair’s Association, attempted to revive the recruitment and training program. It is ironic that when the Speaker of the House needed a downstate grassroots campaign to help elect Paul Mangieri, the downstate political infrastructure was in shambles. Even more ironic is that the pathetically high vacancy rate in Rock Island County (arguably one of the most democratic counties in downstate) and the low vacancy rate in the late Senator’s home county of Macoupin could doom the Rock Island candidate. - political wind - Monday, Apr 24, 06 @ 10:09 pm: Conventional wisdom remains that the three candidates in the Quad Cities will divide the vote, opening the way for Senator John Sullivan from the southern portion of the district. Rep. Mike Boland remains viable because he has spent the last ten years politicking the congressional district. Phil Hare is viable because he is picking up the majority of endorsements, particularly Lane Evans. RI Mark Mark Schweibert is impressing lots of folks, but may not have traction with the rank and file (he’d be a great general election candidate). So unless one of the three Rock Island County candidates gets out of the race, it looks like Congressman-elect Sullivan at this point. - political wind - Monday, Apr 24, 06 @ 10:34 pm: Have also heard that 17th CD state central committeeman conducted a district wide poll about 2 weeks ago that put RI Mayor Mark Schweibert in the lead at about 14%. John Sullivan was close behind at 13%, followed by Mike Boland around 8%, and then a bunch of potential candidates like Mangieri, Jacobs, Scholz and McNeil came in between 3-5%. I’m trying to get the results from Mr. Johnston or, Rich, maybe you could? - anonymous - Monday, Apr 24, 06 @ 10:42 pm: “political wind” makes a good point about the new poll showing Mark Schwiebert in the lead. Schwiebert also took first place in a Quad Cities online poll that finished about a week ago. In that poll, the Rock Island mayor received more than 525 votes, second place was Porter McNeil with around 450, followed by Mike Jacobs, Mike Boland, John Sullivan and Paul Mangieri in that order. What do folks hear about Schwiebert out there? Is he campaigning hard? Adams County said that if Sullivan weren’t in the race they’d throw all their support to him. - political wind - Monday, Apr 24, 06 @ 10:53 pm: To anyone in Macon County: tell us how the vote will go? Ditto for Macoupin and Fulton Counties. Those two, plus Rock Island, are the Big Three in the 17th CD. And is it true that Senator Durbin and his staff are quietly helping Sullivan? - T Snopes - Monday, Apr 24, 06 @ 11:35 pm: Macon County has a strong tradition for supporting candidates who support Labor. That’s why Phil Hare has a great shot. A lot depends on where Labor throws its support, if at all. Sen. John Sullivan and Rep. Mike Boland both have excellent labor records as well. Amy Stockwell is revered and well-liked. Rep. Bob Flider has been one of the best and most active reps this area has ever seen. Though some had encouraged him to seek the 17th seat, he has stayed out of the fray. As the picture becomes clearer, Macon County will likely go with Sullivan or Hare, and Stockwell may be in the best position to broker the deal. - political wind - Monday, Apr 24, 06 @ 11:58 pm: For Boland or Hare to win, Macon County will have to dish out a decent number of votes for either of them. I see both of them coming out of Rock Island County with a vote total something like this: Hare 45%, Boland 25%, Scwhiebert 15%, 15% to the others. I also wonder how much support Mike Boland’s friend in the Illinois House, Mike Smith, is giving to him in Fulton. Can someone check on that as well? thanks. - Phil Crenshaw - Tuesday, Apr 25, 06 @ 6:29 am: There should have been a forum in Macon County. Don J., why you dissin’ us like this? Phil Hare did pretty well last night. He comes across as authentic. A previous poster referred to Sen. Sullivan as “from the southern part of the district”–in fact, he isn’t from the district at all. He’s from Ray LaHood’s district, where his future intentions should be focused. Granted, part of his senate district overlaps the 17th, but ’round these parts folks don’t care for charismatic flash-in-the-pans maneuvering like that. Amy Stockwell is interesting. She has a good policy mind. On the other hand, she started out as a reformer and has since, strangely, made common cause with people who tried to sabotage her. She may come out of this having positioned herself well, then again, she may be being too cute for her own good. Schwiebert gets nothing in Macon County. It’ll be a battle there between Hare and Sullivan, with Hare edging it out. - anon - Tuesday, Apr 25, 06 @ 7:51 am: It’s time for the dark horse candidate. Two names keep appearing and they are not even trying - Porter McNeil and Paul Mangieri. I think either could unite the entire district and Mangieri may have an edge based on him residing in the center of the district (if the district has a center) - the Underground - Tuesday, Apr 25, 06 @ 8:47 am: Anon 2:22 Then you should have run for committeemen and become part of the process not complain because you are left out. in general, When attending the Canton forum were impressed with both Sullivan and Schweibert. Both have a very good track record of winning election and seem more in line with the demographics of teh entire district when it comes to issues. Hare did not want to talk about electabilty because he has never been elected. He spoke only of national issues which seemed much to far to the left for the district as a whole. We need a candidate that is in line with the distrct on issues and electable. Redistricting may not be as nice to us as it was this last time around. This has been a targeted district for a long time. Why do we want to pick someone that would continue that trend. - Not my district - Tuesday, Apr 25, 06 @ 9:38 am: since there are so many names out there and everyone seems to think it is between hare and sullivan why don’t they do a run off. Allow everyone on the first ballot and only the top two vote getters on the second ballot. Then everyone’s voices will get heard. - Anon - Tuesday, Apr 25, 06 @ 9:43 am: Dear “the Underground”– Your position is not unreasonable, but let me ask this: Lane Evans was elected 12 times. Several folk claimed he was too liberal for the district, and granted, many times it was a targeted seat. But he was elected 12 times, all the while dealing with the claim that he was too liberal for this district. I’d make two points. First, “conventional wisdom” could be wrong about the nature of the district. Could be that there’s a strain of prairie populism that resonates in the district, that upsets traditional assumptions about which demographic means what successful issue profile for a candidate. The second point is, I think, more valid. Democrats are waking up to the fact that when a voter chooses a candidate, the voter is choosing more than an issue profile. Now, I think John Sullivan is a decent guy with a future. But he comes across as a young charismatic guy in too much of a hurry, willing to change where he lives in order to get to Congress. Why doesn’t he focus on the district where he now resides? Phil Hare comes across as an authentic guy. He’s clearly not a guy angling for higher office. He’s devoted himself to the people of that district for over 20 years. He comes across as someone who is going to go to bat for regular families, who’ll keep labor’s interests in the forefront. Whatever you say think about his views, you know who he is–and that, don’t forget, has been the secret of W’s success. Now there is room in the Democratic party for differences on a range of issues. But it pains me to see us willing to elect people whose issue profiles highly resemble that of the other party, simply because they’ll vote with us when it’s time to caucus and choose leadership. - the Underground - Tuesday, Apr 25, 06 @ 10:31 am: With all due respect to Lane, he would only garner 37% of the vote in this area of the district. Why? Lane was a known commodity. What is Phil Hare? We predict that Hare would be lucky to get 30% in this area of the district based on his stance on certain issues. Why should we as Democrats put a candidate on the ballot that does not carry the views that best represent our district as a whole. We would be setting ourselves up to lose this seat in a year that we need to hold the ones we allready have an pick up quite a few to regain the house. - annie - Tuesday, Apr 25, 06 @ 1:55 pm: Stockwell will be lucky if she had any support in Macon County. She still has notask for the support of Macon County in her bid. She was appointed by the Executive Committee as Auditor. She was on th committee and put the fix in. Durbin has dumped ten thousands of dollars into her two campaigns. She wanted to run first against Senator Frank Watson, next it was taking on Rep. Flider in the primary, and now she wants to be in Congress. For a person who never wants to answer a question as auditor in a public meeting. the only role one can see for her is trying to stop another candidate to pay back some iou’s. Hare,Boland, and Sullivan are good candidates. Does Sulivan live in the district now? It is time for the Democrats to stop playing games in Rock Island and get a candidate to beat the ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ. - ron - Tuesday, Apr 25, 06 @ 2:30 pm: ZZZZZZZZZZZinga! republicans and zinga have to be sitting back and amused at this potential fiasco. sen watson has got to be thinking about who runs for sullivans seat, if he gets the pick. republican pick up in state senate. the democrats are always saying how screwed up the republican party is when it comes to picking replacements. do you remember the comments by pundits and democrats about jack ryans replacement process. demcrats are just lucky this seat isn’t close to chicago and the press would be having a field day. - Anon - Tuesday, Apr 25, 06 @ 2:40 pm: Actually, I think Hare comes across as an angry person. I have attended both forums and in both he did not listen to the other speakers and seemed to almost snare when he spoke. I think voters don’t respond well to angry. As for Sullivan, he lives less than 5 miles outside of the district and his business is in the district. I think people are simply looking for anything to dish Sullivan. I am impresses with both Schweibert and Stockwell. They are pleasant and seem to have an understanding with the issues. For whatever reason, they don’t seem to be catching on in the race. Boland is Boland. Not a bad candidate but I don’t think the media has that much respect for him. It will come down to Hare and Sullivan. - 17th District Dem - Tuesday, Apr 25, 06 @ 3:37 pm: Sullivan is in the lead in the field. I hear he is even gaining support in Rock Island especially if there is a secret or mail-in ballot. I was at the forum in Canton on Saturday. Sullivan and Schweibert did the best. Boland was not bad. Stockwell came across as very bright but very boring. I agree Hare acted angry and like the job was owed to him. Schweibert may be too “lawyerish” for the 17th. There could not be a better fit for the district than Sullivan. He can more than overcome the residency problem with his attributes. As for Macoupin County, my understanding is that they are leaning toward Sullivan. Fulton County most assuredly will go for Sullivan — he represents half of the county. Mike Smith may sit next to Boland but he is also close to Sullivan. My guess is he will lead his committeeman to Sullivan which shouldn’t be hard to do. Adams County is solidly behind Sullivan. My money — and vote — is on Sullivan! - Observer-2-all - Tuesday, Apr 25, 06 @ 3:51 pm: I am heading to Vegas - I hear that the odds are… Sullivan 5:2 Schweibert 9:2 Hare 5:1 Boland 16:1 Stockwell 32:1 I believe that 5:2 on Sullivan is money! - Observer-2-all - Tuesday, Apr 25, 06 @ 4:02 pm: Follow-up…November odds, Sullivan - 2:1 Zinga - 16:1 Over/ Under - Sullivan by 16% - anon - Tuesday, Apr 25, 06 @ 5:45 pm: John Sullivan is a Republican. Look at his position on the issues folks. He is a Republican. Where are our Democratic values. If Sullivan is our candidate, then he will vote to end a women’s right to choose. He will oppose the diginity of monogomous unions between two caring individuals. If you want a Republican running against a Republican then by all means support Sullivan. Democrats loose - Bush and Rove have won - and the Republican stragety is working. - Anon - Tuesday, Apr 25, 06 @ 6:04 pm: anon, You are falling for the Republican trick of divide and conquer. US Senate Minority Leader Reid is a Pro-life, the US Senate candidate in PA is pro-life and even has the support of Hillary Clinton and many other pro-choice Democrats. I did not know that these social issues divided Republican and Democrats. If so, then a lot of Democrats are Republican. Democrats lose a lot of votes because of these social issues yet they are rarely discussed in the House or Senate. Sullivan’s record is true and true Democrat. I would suggest you look at his record and you will see Sullivan supports working families, fights against big coroporations, supports k-12 education, supports access to higher education, supports organized labor, supports minimum wage, etc. etc. etc. Rove uses these wedge issues to scare people. Don’t fall for the trap. - Anon, - Tuesday, Apr 25, 06 @ 7:59 pm: Don’t forget about Macoupin County in Southern Illinois. They hold the second largest vote cast if this goes thru and very few vacant precint committeemen. Its not all about Rock Island. The Southern half will have a say in who becomes the next Congressman. - anon - Tuesday, Apr 25, 06 @ 9:17 pm: Anon Back Simply answer the question. I don’t care about other representatives or senators. Does Sullivan support a women’s right to chose. No he does not. Does Sullivan support Roe vs. Wade as it now stands. No he does not. Your answer attempts to divert the answer to these questions, but Sullivan conservative, conservative position remains - he is opposed to a women’s right to choose. Common ladies where are you on this. - political wind - Tuesday, Apr 25, 06 @ 10:27 pm: You know, I understand the southern half’s view about wanting to have a say in who should be our next nominee. I’m from Rock Island County, and I would like to see someone hail from our county and that’s natural. But I’ll support whomever is our nominee because, in the end, it’s not about county but about party and values and ideals and I’ll take any of our Democratic candidates over Ms. Zinga. So can we agree to cut this BS about “Rock Island wants to have all the say.” Every county wants to have a say, and every county will have a say. Quit picking on little ole’ Rock Island County, ok? - anon - Wednesday, Apr 26, 06 @ 6:48 am: anon 9:17 We are all glad to see that the Evans employee’s are concerned about keeping their jobs. You guys troll aroud from blog to blog pumpimg for Hare and trying to damage anyone that looks to like a threat to your constant lunch break. Two weeks ago it was Boland, now its Sullivan. Shame on you guys and gals. - Dave - Wednesday, Apr 26, 06 @ 8:33 am: I am anti Boland to the core and do not work for Congressman Evans. - political wind - Wednesday, Apr 26, 06 @ 10:37 pm: Sullivan, Hare, Boland and Schwiebert all were in Rock Island County tonight for the annual 17th District spaghetti dinner. Word on the street up here is that Hare has about 70% of the precinct committeemen/women leaning strongly or committed to him, but he’s not taking that for granted and continues to work hard with coffees throughout the 17th CD. John Sullivan is smart to spend some time in the Quad Cities, though, the metropolitan area he’s been a stranger to thus far. Hey, does anyone know if Mike Boland’s House seat mate (Rep. Mike Smith) will be endorsing Boland and delivering lots of votes to Boland in the congressional race? - Anonymous - Thursday, Apr 27, 06 @ 6:16 am: Hare seems to be doing somewhat well in Macon County, even though some folk working in Springfield tried to push Sullivan–it seems they’re backing off from that now. Hare has some labor support and a few local officials backing him. - Anonymous - Thursday, Apr 27, 06 @ 7:23 am: I am interetsed, does anyone think that Zinga has a chance against any of them? Especially Democrats, does she have any credibility with Reagan-Democrats/ Independents, or is she DOA based on 2004? Are we choosing our next Congressman in this effort, or are we choosing the candidate? - anon - Thursday, Apr 27, 06 @ 7:47 am: The above comment is fiction “Word on the street up here is that Hare has about 70% of the precinct committeemen/women leaning strongly or committed to him”. My “street” shows Sullivan with a strong lead. Or do you mean that Angry Phil will lose 30% of RI vote. Down District is with Sullivan with some inroads in Rock Island. - yougotta be kidding me - Thursday, Apr 27, 06 @ 10:03 am: Zinga, DOA against all except Hare. He may have a difficult time with those in the middle who (1) never knew of Lane’s strong-lberal leaning (and they will be able to tie Hare to those leanings, and (2) nobody likes crony-ism. The staunch Dem’s will overlook it (what choice do they have), but those in the middle will be offended. - Farmer Joe - Thursday, Apr 27, 06 @ 3:51 pm: Boland should just drop out of this congressional mess. He had a close state rep election last time and shouldn’t be so willing to hand it over to the republicans this time. A lot of people in my area are not happy with his indecision about where he is going to land on the ballot. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.