Reform and Renewal - Canary blasts the guv
Wednesday, Feb 21, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller
Cindi Canary was an outspoken proponent of Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s reform ideas early in his first term. She has since come to realize that Blagojevich is all talk, little action (I hate to say I told her so, but…).
Canary, who runs the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform, penned a column for Crain’s the other day which was headlined “As other governors tackle corruption, what is ours doing?” As Canary details, he’s not doing much. This is how her column ends, but go read the whole thing…
Instead of asking government contractors for campaign contributions, Gov. Blagojevich could spend his time persuading legislators to vote for the comprehensive package of reforms he proposed more than a year ago.
Like Gov. Spitzer, Gov. Blagojevich could voluntarily live by the limits he has suggested: $2,000 per individual, $5,000 from political action committees and zero from corporations or labor unions.
Gov. Spitzer understands why action like this is important. “We are not going to play by the same old rules, because they are corrosive,” he has said.
Becoming a corruption-buster like Gov. Spitzer may be too much to expect from Gov. Blagojevich. But he should be able to follow Mr. Spitzer’s lead and stop playing by the same old rules of campaign finance in Illinois.
Hat tip: David at Illinoize.
Meanwhile, if you want to see how much gubernatorial candidates from 15 “key” states spent per vote, Governing Magazine’s blog has the list.
IL Topinka $6.80
IL Blagojevich $15.10
And…
* Unsurprisingly, Michigan’s free-spending Republican nominee, Dick DeVos, spent the most at almost $26 per vote. But if I’d been looking at primaries too, California’s Steve Westly would have far surpassed him at $40.6 per vote. Both lost.
* Maryland was the most expensive state, with Republican Bob Ehrlich ($21.7 per vote) and Democrat Martin O’Malley ($15.9) both spending freely. Other top spenders included Nevada’s Jim Gibbons ($20.4) and Massachusetts’ Kerry Healey ($16.0).
* In contrast, Minnesota was the land of frugal candidates. Even though Governor Tim Pawlenty decided to decline public funding so he could break the state spending cap, he did so rather sheepishly, spending only $3.9 million or $3.8 per vote. His Democratic opponent, Mike Hatch, went even lower at $2.7 per vote.
- Cassandra - Wednesday, Feb 21, 07 @ 9:03 am:
Cindi Canary’s change of views is long overdue.
So long overdue that I wonder where the board of directors of her organization has been (if it has a board of directors).
- VanillaMan - Wednesday, Feb 21, 07 @ 9:03 am:
After Ryan, we all thought that we would see the new governor do what new governors do after they are elected as reformers. It was crazy to imagine anyone elected as a reformer to do what this governor has and hasn’t done. So Canary is far from being the only one shocked and disgusted by Blagojevich - we all are, except for unethical partisans.
Then he bilks millions for his reelection instead of governing. He not only failed to reform the system he promised to reform, his actions took the unethical route as he mouthed more reform promises. Remember his “testicular virility” presser? He was promising campaign reform back then and being laughed at for his insincerity, hence his even more laughable comment.
While Canary points out what Spitzer and Rell has done since becoming governor, she fails to mention how quickly they did these things. Spitzer took office last month - reform followed. Rell took office two years ago - reform followed. Even if Blagojevich would do something now, he still wouldn’t deserve credit; he has been in office FIVE years! Zip! Nada!
It is incredible that the Illinois Democratic Party nominated Blagojevich after his open contempt towards his own campaign pledges, umpteen Federal investigations and behavior during his reelection. When Rod goes down, there needs to be a lot of apologizing and explaining from the Illinois Democratic Party regarding their credibility to select appropriate candidates. With Blagojevich, they sold their souls and should pay a heavy price for doing so.
- Archpundit - Wednesday, Feb 21, 07 @ 9:31 am:
===r Ryan, we all thought that we would see the new governor do what new governors do after they are elected as reformers. It was crazy to imagine anyone elected as a reformer to do what this governor has and hasn’t done.
Oh, I seem to remember Rich warning us in 2002 we’d be seeing this–perhaps no one expected the degree of the problem. In my ‘endorsement’ in 2002 I was concerned about it as well, though I had no idea how bad it would be.
The problem in the primary is we couldn’t get a good candidate to run. Many of us tried. The problem was that by using his talents to raise such a large warchest, those who could have put up a big fight, avoided it. At the same time, Democrats renominated an AG who has gone after him only to pull back on a few issues due to requests from Fitzgerald’s office.
- Team Sleep - Wednesday, Feb 21, 07 @ 10:16 am:
Cindy Canary is a blow-hard who likes to see her name in the paper. She makes statements that polysci majors at a community college could make and they would sound just as interesting or smart.
When people learned of Blago’s background, I’m somewhat surprised that no one thought differently of him. I was willing to give him a chance until the overtime session of 2004 made him and his office look like ding-a-lings. Add that to the fact that he has continually been on the spot for federal investigations and pay-to-play politics and you have yourself one disappointment of a governor. Regardless, of course, of what Bill says.
- Squideshi - Wednesday, Feb 21, 07 @ 10:17 am:
I note that they ommitted Rich Whitney, the Green Party’s candidate for Governor. He earned more than 10% of the vote and spent far less per vote than either of the other two candidates in the race. There are three legally established, major parties in Illinois; and it would be nice if that were recognized.
- Dooley Dudright - Wednesday, Feb 21, 07 @ 10:22 am:
IL Topinka $6.80
IL Blagojevich $15.10
Not like anyone necessarily cares, but: Whitney spent less than thirteen cents per vote.
(Per the ISBE website: $46,656 spent by Whitney for Governor divided by 361,336 votes received equals 12.9+ cents per vote.)
In other words, Blago outspent JBT by over 2-1, JBT outspent Whitney 52-1 and Blago outspent Whitney 116-1.
So what’s my point?
Tsunamis of money win elections. No surprise there.
But you have to hand it to the Greens for causing a ripple with virtually no money at all.
- RoseyB - Wednesday, Feb 21, 07 @ 10:45 am:
Wasn’t a lot of Blago’s money spent helping other candidates - like getting out the vote for Stroger? Activities may have been in the name of the Governor but were really intended to ensure votes for local candidates.
- Objective Dem - Wednesday, Feb 21, 07 @ 1:16 pm:
I agree that reform is needed. I am cautious because so many ideas have been tried at the national level and none of them seem to work.
One option related to funding is to require TV and radio to provide free time to candidates. I like this better than giving money to candidates and the public owns the airwaves so we aren’t “taking” property.
A related issue is I hate to see more regulations on ethic issues. The standard response in the city and state has been to put more regulations in place. This is fueled by reporters and advocates who want to solve the problem but have don’t have to live by the rules they put into place. Too often the layering of rules make it next to impossible to do the job right. Or they become silly waste of time like the state ethics exam.
I want to turn the tables and ask the people who are complaining the loudest to live by the same rules. So that means Cindy and her non-profit should set a limit the amount of contributions they receive from donors. It means that the Tribune reporters and their spouses will have to disclose an economic interest statement. You get the picture.
- Reddbyrd - Wednesday, Feb 21, 07 @ 5:12 pm:
Wow…all day and a whopping nine comments
Looks like folks don’t give two hoots about spending per vote.
And for those who failed to open the link, if you did you will see there are other who spent more than GRod.
Anybody filed a report on Cindy’s Cash Dash?
- Bill - Wednesday, Feb 21, 07 @ 5:19 pm:
Team Sleep,
Fortunately, the electorate was a bit more perceptive and a better judge of character than you are. I believe it was Rod by 10 wasn’t it? And quit picking on Cindy. There is nothing wrong with community college poli sci majors.
- Tony Rezko's mustache - Wednesday, Feb 21, 07 @ 9:42 pm:
Speaking of canaries,anyone heard from my alter ego lately?
- Squideshi - Thursday, Feb 22, 07 @ 7:42 am:
“But you have to hand it to the Greens for causing a ripple with virtually no money at all.”
Like Whitney said during the campaign, “I think people will appreciate a Governor who knows how to do more with less.” At 12.9 cents per vote, do the math–how much more money would have been needed in order to win the election?