40 Comments - Anon - Tuesday, Nov 20, 07 @ 10:27 am: Last night’s Chicago TV news shows portrayed Blago’s new call for a special session as a dynamic call to action, instead of the stupid stunt that it really is. What are they thinking? - Levois - Tuesday, Nov 20, 07 @ 10:31 am: I wonder. I know Rush is a congressman and all, but being a committeeman isn’t exactly a powerful position anymore. Rush himself doesn’t seem to have done much as a committeeman even though it’s one way to have a base for yourself. Still it doesn’t seem to be as effective as perhaps it could’ve been. Maybe the news media was like, good riddance. - bored now - Tuesday, Nov 20, 07 @ 10:59 am: i think there’s a quite a few factors that led to rush’s decision not to file. he hasn’t had a real organization for awhile. he only put ~10 of his own people on the streets in the april 2007 election, and not all of those worked all day. didn’t mr. jenkins (the west side coordinator) basically retire after that election? he was having a hard time covering space, as well. i’d also bet that the ricky hendon-bob fioretti connection came into play. who was rush going to ally with? bedi? mertens? do you think either one of them would have been keen on such an alliance? finally, i think the spectre of fioretti willing to spend unlimited amounts of money to consolidate power in the 2nd had a lot to do with it. the rush people were gearing up for this race, they had met since the aldermanic runoff, but i’d bet that, at the end of the day, they didn’t see a realistic chance of bobby winning in the current environment. what was he (rush) going to run on? otoh, prospective committeemen like fioretti having been using all kinds of issues against their opponents (like taxes, etc). i just don’t think rush’s heart was in it… - Rich Miller - Tuesday, Nov 20, 07 @ 11:05 am: Good analysis, Bored Now, but it still doesn’t explain why nobody has covered this yet. - Captain America - Tuesday, Nov 20, 07 @ 11:06 am: I think the only people interested in Committeman races are poltical junkies like us, unless there’s some special angle like the Stone- Silverstein or Jackson-Beaver fights. Powerful committemen are a dying breed. So it’s not surprisng to me that the media ignored Rush’s retirement as Committeman - the general public could care less. - VanillaMan - Tuesday, Nov 20, 07 @ 11:09 am: I think we are reaching a point where our traditional news reporters are unable to do their jobs. It is much easier to ask trivial personal questions, a-la-The View, than it is to dig. We have watched news organizations repeatedly screw up, and I think we are seeing a tipping point in the near future where citizens no longer depend on traditional news as their primary source of information. As to political news coverage, I sense that news outlets depend more on political opposition presenting press releases and talking points than doing any real work. So, without a functioning GOP, they are only seeing one side of some political news stories. - Rich Miller - Tuesday, Nov 20, 07 @ 11:11 am: ===I think the only people interested in Committeman races are poltical junkies like us=== Except that one paper did cover Rush’s committeeman’s race, and erroneously reported that he was running. - VanillaMan - Tuesday, Nov 20, 07 @ 11:13 am: I have another thought. After years of reports concluding that news is biased, perhaps we are seeing reporters no longer willing to be subjected to this taunt and are no longer willing to dig and question political stories. Instead, they are just ignoring or merely mouthing what they have been given to report by politicians. - blagoman - Tuesday, Nov 20, 07 @ 11:19 am: Maybe Rush’s son’s problems will be taking up too much of his time. - Rich Miller - Tuesday, Nov 20, 07 @ 11:22 am: Also a good point, but still doesn’t explain why there have been no reports on this. The man is a congressman. He’s been a committeeman for years. His tenure at that latter post has been a failure as of late, considering he was on the wrong side of his own aldermanic election and backed a whole bunch of losers in other races. It’s a good story, but completely invisible. - bored now - Tuesday, Nov 20, 07 @ 11:24 am: rich, i can’t explain the media. they are often a mystery to me (in what they choose to cover and what they ignore). i know you’re looking for input, but you’d have more insight on that then i would… - siyotanka - Tuesday, Nov 20, 07 @ 11:26 am: Our Gov can still say with a straight face…I never signed a tax increase on the people…Hum? - Rich Miller - Tuesday, Nov 20, 07 @ 11:30 am: The thing about no coverage of his not signing the tax hike is a complete mystery to me. This is a man bites dog story because it’s so unusual. Blagojevich allowed some bills to become laws in his first year in office, but that was portrayed as an accident. The last time it happened was in the 1930s. Like I said, the lack of coverage is bizarre. - Jaded - Tuesday, Nov 20, 07 @ 11:49 am: As far as the dropped bill goes, I wonder if it is because many in the media really don’t get the process. Or maybe they believe that the citizenry, as a whole, doesn’t really care about the process, so they just don’t write about it. That is the only reason I can come up with. As far as Rush goes. I have no idea. You’d think that would have had at least been with a paragraph or two in the Sun Times and/or the Trib. - Reality Check - Tuesday, Nov 20, 07 @ 11:56 am: Who do you want to cover this stuff? Re the Rush thing, real reporting about city politics - as opposed to writing about scandal among city politicians - is scant. (Same goes for Cook County, for that matter.) And regarding the gov’s assent to this particular tax increase, it’s not going to happen in either Chicago paper, where the story of state government reporting lately might as well be called The Incredible Shrinking Column Inches. Have you seen the tiny thumbnails the S-T has reduced its folks to? The only realistic venue for reporting this thing with the kind of setup needed to make it intelligible is one of the Gatehouse columns or Lee’s Sunday notebook. - Snidely Whiplash - Tuesday, Nov 20, 07 @ 12:03 pm: Not really. As far as Rush is concerned, they likely figure the significance of it would be lost on the average Joe. Same, I think, as far as the illegal tax increase is concerned: a bit of a patronizing attitude towards their readership. Then again, it could just be that those items were simply missed … what the heck do I know? - Rich Miller - Tuesday, Nov 20, 07 @ 12:11 pm: The tax hike isn’t illegal. It’s just an unusual method of allowing a bill to become law. - Skeeter - Tuesday, Nov 20, 07 @ 12:13 pm: Maybe because none of them are either on fire or involved in car crash. That’s the great thing about Chicago’s network news reports — you always know what is burning on the west side. Or where a car crash is. CBS in particular does a fine job covering auto accidents. Which is why I haven’t watched Chicago’s networks in a while. To get to why they didn’t cover this story (based on the assumption that might actually would cover a political story that does involve merely reporting polling numbers): Because the story is complex. It goes into who is working with who, which person backed winners and losers, where the money it, and other details. It just doesn’t fit with the typical report you see on Chicago’s television news, and you rarely see that sort of story in the Chicago Tribune. You can’t write the story in four paragraphs, or report it in 30 seconds. - MOON - Tuesday, Nov 20, 07 @ 12:47 pm: Blago didn’t sign the tax bill because he wants to be in a position in which he can claim he has not raised taxes.Yet, absent his veto of the bill, and not signing it, he has in fact raised taxes. Furthermore he did not want to anger Daley. In essence Blago wimped out. Now that Daley has his new tax, as I stated before,Blago is fair game for Daley. Just look at how Daley has let it be known how disappointed he is in the Gov. lack of leadership. As far as Daley is concerned “the gloves are off” in his dealings with Blago. - Anon - Tuesday, Nov 20, 07 @ 1:00 pm: Did anyone hear how the Gov completely blew off his committment to attend Ed Kelly’s event this past Sat for which he was the keynote speaker. No call No show! What a class act. - Greg - Tuesday, Nov 20, 07 @ 1:13 pm: Skeeter, You forgot to point out that the tax increase also wasn’t married to a suspicious police sergeant. - 32nd Ward - Tuesday, Nov 20, 07 @ 1:17 pm: How much has there been on the 32nd Ward? Granted Grab-a-ski isn’t a Congressman, but the end of an era for sure. If there was a ton, I missed it (and that’s not out of the question). - Rich Miller - Tuesday, Nov 20, 07 @ 1:19 pm: Gabinski’s “retirement” has been covered. - Anon - Tuesday, Nov 20, 07 @ 1:22 pm: Could it be fear of the gang retribution that may show up in their neighborhood? - downhereforyears - Tuesday, Nov 20, 07 @ 1:29 pm: If I was Ed Kelly I would have been pleased to not have him show up….Kelly was very popular in his day…while spoil it with Blago? - irishpirate - Tuesday, Nov 20, 07 @ 1:38 pm: Rush not running for committeeman is not an easy story to write in an “exciting” way. Gabinski not running can be portrayed as the end of the “Rostenkowski” era and yuppies defeat lunch buckets. It has a “hook”. Like most of us reporters like an easy story. What would be interesting would be a series of stories on the waning of black political power in this city. Rush didn’t run largely because of demographic changes. Like white ethnics before them the black working and middle class is leaving the city for the suburbs. For a short period of time there were 19 majority black wards. Now at best there are 18. Possibly 17 as Walter Burnett’s ward is changing rapidly. After the next census it may be difficult to draw 16 supermajority black wards. That will be a battle worth watching. It was fun watching Bill Lipinksi and Marty Russo go at it when they were placed in the same congressional district because of redistricting. Imagine that on a smaller scale in one or two wards. As for Rush he made the right decision not to run. If he ran and lost, which was overwhelmingly likely, it is a story. By not running few notice. Now the media not covering Blago’s tax hike…….that is wrong. - Common Sense in Illinois - Tuesday, Nov 20, 07 @ 1:45 pm: Why hasn’t the media covered it? I think on the part of Springfield press room denizens it was more a local Chicago story (both) and for Chicago reporters, I don’t think they know any better and weren’t watching. I often notice on the news feeds, even on this page, that very often unless somebody on the “mezz” writes a story, the headline given by the governor’s press office is what is used. Frankly, too bad Dick Kay is retired, he’d have been all over both stories. Since his retirement political news coverage in northeast Illinois has, I think, been spotty at best. - plutocrat03 - Tuesday, Nov 20, 07 @ 1:53 pm: Explaining why the media concentrates on one story over another has been a mystery to me. I would live to sit in an the meetings where decisions of what to print and not print are not made. I would expect to be educated. I do see the big shinny ball syndrome at play , where anything flashy, trashy or bloody gets pushed at full tilt. Unfortunately matters of substance take more than 10 column inches to print and often require the writer to understand and convey things outside their area of expertise. It may be that the news directors felt there was little value in pointing out that a pol who is doing poorly is doing a bit less well. I do find it curious that the tax was allowed to become law without a peep. To me the story is why it is not important to the media. I believe the governor is happy that there is no coverage. - Cassandra - Tuesday, Nov 20, 07 @ 1:57 pm: I suppose political/investigative reporting is expensive and many media outlets may not be willing or able to put up the cash to support many reporters in this area. - phocion - Tuesday, Nov 20, 07 @ 2:11 pm: African-American political machinations seldom get covered by the mainstream media. Add to that what other posters say - committeeman importance not widely understood, media would rather do non-stop Peterson watch, and the fact that Rush didn’t actually lose the election - all adds up to non-coverage. What the media loses, in this story, is the element of a rising independent star named Bob Fioretti. Bob is an evolving story, and one to watch. Maybe its just as well for him that he’s flying in under the radar. - Wumpus - Tuesday, Nov 20, 07 @ 2:13 pm: Rich, there are women missing! Why do you hate women? That is why no one covered the Rush Story or Blago’s do nothign tax hike, Mrs Peterson has disappeared! - Not much Rush, but Sneed had this item 11/6 - Tuesday, Nov 20, 07 @ 2:44 pm: Rush ‘em . . . Scoopsville: Rep. Bobby Rush tells Sneed he will not be running for Democratic committeeman in the 2nd Ward, where newly elected Ald. Bob Fioretti is seeking the spot, because . . . he is going to become president of the 6th Ward Regular Democratic Organization where Ald. Freddrenna Lyle reigns. - Bismarck Hotel - Tuesday, Nov 20, 07 @ 3:01 pm: Two points; 1. Sneed’s item is the most interesting but she should have gone a step further. Reason for Rush planting a flag in the 6th Ward-one word; Redistricting 2. Chicago News Media doesn’t have the breadth and history in their newsrooms anymore to look at the inside baseball stories- the reporting done about candidate filing in October was sub par, perfunctory and riddle with errors. I would submit that the editors and news directors are so fluid these days without perspective and history that they don’t encourage reporters to take a closer look at the “stories” behind the story. - Elmhurst 1 - Tuesday, Nov 20, 07 @ 3:24 pm: Just for clarification, what is the exact role of a Democratic Role Committemen? - Little Debbie - Tuesday, Nov 20, 07 @ 4:15 pm: While we’re talking about important things the media doesn’t cover can we add Speaker Madigan’s refusal to incorporate minority participation in a gaming bill? All the news reported about last week’s leaders meeting was Madigan early departure because of Hendon’s supposed ’shouting.’ What they didn’t report is that he was ’shouting’ because Madigan has refused to support minority inclusion or set asides for disadvantaged communites in any deal. The importance of this issue can’t be underestimated to the African American/Latino community. Unless special consideration is taken, those communities could have a lot to lose from new casinos. The purpose of a gaming expansion is to provide funding for worthy causes and without set asides, I imagine those communities will be contributing more to casino profits than getting out of the deal. To prove the point a bunch of advocacy groups held a press conference about the issue this morning and no mainstream media showed up. The press corp needs to wake up and realize that this is important and that for some reason the Speaker has a big problem with it… - Rich Miller - Tuesday, Nov 20, 07 @ 4:19 pm: ===What they didn’t report is that he was ’shouting’ because Madigan has refused to support minority inclusion or set asides for disadvantaged communites in any deal.==== Almost all did report it, but it’s not correct. - A naughty moose - Tuesday, Nov 20, 07 @ 4:30 pm: a bunch of advocacy groups Such as who, specifically? - Little Debbie - Tuesday, Nov 20, 07 @ 4:36 pm: If it’s not true that could be even worse than opposition to minority set asides. That means Madigan won’t commit to set asides because he knows it will delay and impede progress. The Senate passed a capital bill, Cross’ members are dying for infrastructure projects yet nothing has gotten out of the House. If MJM wanted to get done, it would have already. Let me know if I’m off base but that seems like the only other option. - Yellow Dog Democrat - Tuesday, Nov 20, 07 @ 5:10 pm: Happy Thanksgiving to all!!! - Snidely Whiplash - Tuesday, Nov 20, 07 @ 10:22 pm: Ah, he just let the veto period lapse & let it go into effect without his signature. Thanks for the clarification. The man has no cajones whatsoever. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.