* Daily Kos has the latest polling in Super Tuesday states for Democrats. Obama appears to be gaining almost everywhere. But Lynn Sweet has a memo from Obama campaign manager David Plouffe which attempts to lower expectations.
* Larry takes Illinois NOW to task for not telling the truth about those “Present” votes here and here. A bit of bad language, so beware.
* This is an interesting look, if self-promotional, about SMS advertising, the latest trend in political campaigning…
Limbo today releases a report showing how voters’ attitudes and behaviors are influenced through mobile advertising. In January 2008, Limbo ran SMS advertising campaigns for leading Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, delivering over one million SMS impressions across the two campaigns. The results suggest that SMS advertising provides a powerful tool for candidates to change consumer attitudes and voting behavior.
* I can’t find it online yet, but Greg Hinz at Crain’s takes a look ahead in case Obama wins or is named to the ticket and wins as VP…
African-Americans are this governor’s most loyal, solid base. U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Chicago, probably is the best-positioned black official to fill a Senate vacancy, and he’s been campaigning around the country for Barack. But Mr. Jackson and Illinois Senate Majority Leader Emil Jones Jr. are not best buds, and right now the guv really needs Emil.
U.S. Rep. Schakowsky, from Evanston, has maintained good relations with this governor and, like him, is a liberal populist. “If Barack were president,” she allows, “I’d be very interested in that Senate seat.” Moving her across the rotunda would make U.S. Rep. Rahm Emanuel the unquestioned big cheese in the city’s House delegation.
Three statewide Democrats also likely would be considered: Attorney General Lisa Madigan, Comptroller Dan Hynes and Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias. But the first ain’t gonna happen, given Mr. Blagojevich’s war with her father, House Speaker Michael Madigan. Mr. Hynes isn’t much more popular with Rod’s team. Mr. Giannoulias is awfully young at age 31, but he’s campaigning really hard for something lately and is an Obama protégé (and basketball buddy).
The selection also could be someone from left field, like Downstate Blagojevich loyalist Jay Hoffman, the guv’s man in the state House.
Or how about way, way, way left field: Rod Blagojevich. You laugh, but no law would prevent him from appointing himself. Mr. Seniors-ride-free has pulled wackier stunts.
In ominous news for taxpayers, the fiscal difficulty continues to worsen at pension funds that cover Chicago and other government workers in the metropolitan area.
The area’s 10 big government pension funds now face $18.7 billion in unfunded liabilities, according to a report released Monday morning by the Civic Federation, a watchdog group. The deficit is more than five times the figure of just a decade ago, and about six times the size of the city’s annual operating budget.
“It’s been anticlimactic,” sighed a top House Democratic operative last week when asked about some of the Chicago-area primary races.
For months, House Speaker Michael Madigan’s operation was expecting an onslaught from Gov. Rod Blagojevich and his allies against a handful of their Chicago incumbents. Madigan advised his incumbents to take leaves of absence from their day jobs, walk precincts like never before and raise and spend money like their lives depended on it. The speaker placed staff all over the city and parts of the suburbs, and ran the full program for his people.
At least two Democratic challengers have told others in recent days that they felt abandoned by the governor. They were recruited into the race with grandiose promises of money and staff and ended up holding an empty bag.
* Also, a note to the national media: I’m pretty busy right now with all the primary races tomorrow and I have zero time for your inane questions about endless rehash stories on various tangential minutiae. Please, stop calling me. Do your own research. Thanks.
Let’s hear about any direct mail or robocalls you received over the weekend, or any new TV or radio ads you saw or heard. Try to describe them all as fully as possible. Thanks.
* You gotta wonder sometimes about the brain power of those in politics today.
Take for instance, this goofy mailer by “Concerned People of the 3rd Ward.” Click the pics for larger images of this hit piece on Alderman Pat Dowell, who is running against Rep. Ken Dunkin for Democratic committeeman…
* On the second page, there’s a reference to a website…
* Now go take a look at the “blog.” It’s called “les.be.pat” and contains smears about Dowell being a lesbian, including this “reader poll”…
* Normally, these anonymous mailers are diffcult to trace. There is no “Concerned People of the 3rd Ward” committee registered with the State Board of Elections and Blogger allows anonymous blog hosting. Also, the street address apparently doesn’t exist.
But, in this case, somebody really goofed. Here is the bulk permit number for the Dowell hit piece…
* And here’s a recent mailer by Rep. Ken Dunkin…
* Now, let’s zoom in on Dunkin’s bulk permit number, shall we?
* Hey, whaddyaknow. It’s the same number as the Dowell piece. Who would ever have guessed?
He’s known as “Padunk” for a reason.
…Adding… You’d probably be acting well within reason to go to that aforementioned blog and click on the “Flag Blog” button at the very top of the page, which lets Google know that it’s a despicable piece of trash.
The survey found Obama, a first-term Illinois senator from Chicago, with the support of 55 percent of likely Democratic primary voters. Clinton, a two-term New York senator born in Chicago and raised in suburban Park Ridge, had 24 percent.
On the Republican side, McCain, a veteran Arizona senator, had the backing of 43 percent of likely GOP primary voters in the state, compared with 20 percent for former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, 15 percent for former Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas and 4 percent for Rep. Ron Paul of Texas.
“I think there’s a small base of Republicans that are focusing on this presidential contest and the more independent-minded are not going to be voting in the Republican Party with favorite-son Barack Obama on the Democratic ballot,” said state Sen. Dan Rutherford (R-Chenoa), the Illinois chairman of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney’s campaign. “I think you’ll be finding a low Republican turnout.” […]
“I’m getting calls from committeemen all over the place. They say, ‘We’ve got nothing going to keep our Republicans from voting for Barack,’” said state Rep. Angelo “Skip” Saviano of Elmwood Park, a member of the Republican State Central Committee.
* Dan Lipinkski’s campaign has a new mailer which is basically an open letter from community activist and “fellow Southwest Sider” Joe Kulys.
Kulys slams the bloggers who have attacked Lipinksi for the past several months as “political punks” and “radical left-wingers,” claiming they’re from places like “San Francisco, Hollywood, New York City and Massachusetts.” Kulys then notes this in the letter…
[W]e were working, sweating, building and strengthening the Democratic Party while they were still crying in their cribs because their diapers were full.
And just where was Dan Lipinski during all this difficult party building? Why, he was also in his “diapers” and/or away at college. Lipinski wasn’t even living in Illinois when he was tapped to replace his daddy.
The only time Dan Lipinski really did anything on his own was when he was zooming towards the womb. He didn’t build anything on the Southwest Side. He barely knows the Southwest Side of today.
Ask pretty much any insider in that district and they’ll tell you the “real” reason Dan Lipinski was originally slotted into that seat was because he has a horrific case of diabetes and his mommy wanted to make sure he got lifetime health insurance coverage. He’s an embarrassment on every level.
* As I told you Saturday, the latest Tribune poll found that 44 percent of Democratic primary voters are still undecided about the Cook County State’s Attorney race…
Cook County Commissioner Larry Suffredin held a narrow edge, with support from 17 percent of voters, the poll showed. Chicago Alds. Tom Allen (38th) and Howard Brookins (21st) each had 11 percent, as did Anita Alvarez, the No. 3 official in Devine’s office. Devine’s top assistant, Robert Milan, had 3 percent and Tommy Brewer, a defense lawyer and former FBI agent, had 2 percent.
* Brookins, who is not on TV, has apparently either not yet burned in his message that he is the “black” candidate or black voters know it and are rejecting him. The demographic play is acknowledged by Brookins’ own people as his best hope of winning the campaign because he isn’t exactly a stellar candidate. To that end, Jesse Jackson, Sr. came out for Brookins over the weekend.
Bob Milan, candidate for Cook County state’s attorney, fired back Friday at a campaign ad run by Ald. Tom Allen (38th) accusing Milan of being a status quo choice to lead an office that, according to the ad, looked the other way on police torture allegations.
* On another county race, it borders on reportorial malpractice that nobody ever seems to point out all of the developer money raised by County Assessor Jim Houlihan. The spin is he’s the good guy, pushing for “reform” by pumping big bucks into the Board of Review contests…
Cook County Assessor James Houlihan has contributed $190,000 to a candidate running for a seat on the board that reviews the work of Houlihan’s office. […]
Houlihan said he is not trying to increase his power but aims to reform a system he says is slanted toward the commercial property owner.
Yeah, OK.
* And, finally, a self-described “pro environment” candidate for the Water Reclamation District has a not so eco-friendly contributor…
But Spyropoulos is under attack now too. She, Podgorski, and Maragos have taken a cue from Shore and framed their candidacies as part of an environmental movement; on its Web site, the Illinois Sierra Club has a pleasant-looking picture of the three of them winning its endorsement.
On Friday, though, Podgorski issued a press release accusing Spyropoulos of greenwashing. Podgorski noted that while she’s promised to battle BP and other companies that pollute the lake, the primary source of her campaign financing—her pops, Theodor—is the owner of a gasoline distribution company.
Tribune Co.’s proposal to sell Wrigley Field to the state is alienating would-be buyers of the Chicago Cubs who say owning the team without the iconic stadium would be like a day in the bleachers without a cold beer.
“The Cubs and Wrigley Field are so intertwined. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts,” says a member of one bidding group who requested anonymity because of Major League Baseball’s sensitivity about the sale process. “Splitting them absolutely diminishes the value of the team and my interest level.”
The loss of Motorola Inc.’s cell phone business would reduce Chicago to a pin-dot on the global technology map and set the stage for the dismantling of a giant that helped shape the region’s corporate landscape for generations.
