Way back in the autumn of 1994, as the national Republican tsunami was just becoming evident, House Speaker Michael Madigan ordered some of his more vulnerable incumbents to run away as fast as they could from their party’s doomed gubernatorial candidate.
Every poll showed that the hapless Dawn Clark Netsch was being pulverized by Republican Gov. Jim Edgar. So, after Madigan issued his edict, several House Democrats sent out campaign mailers with big photos of their new best pal, Jim Edgar.
The ploy didn’t work. Madigan lost 13 seats and his majority that November.
But that bit of history clearly shows how far Madigan will go to win. That’s really what he’s all about.
Winning.
Maintaining control.
Holding onto power.
Maybe now you’ll understand why Madigan’s staff drafted a brutal and ham-handed 14-page memo for some House Democratic candidates outlining how best to call for impeachment proceedings against Gov. Blagojevich. It’s the winning, stupid.
Blagojevich is probably the most unpopular governor this state has ever had. A Glengariff Group poll taken weeks before administration insider and campaign fund-raiser Tony Rezko was convicted on 16 felony corruption counts showed that 59 percent of registered Illinois voters want impeachment proceedings to begin against Blagojevich. A clear plurality want Blagojevich removed from office — 45 percent to 35 percent.
If that’s what voters want, well, then that’s what Madigan’s candidates will give them.
Most of Madigan’s candidates are running against Republican incumbents who represent Republican-leaning, independent-minded districts. According to that Glengariff Group poll, 73.5 percent of Republicans and 63 percent of independents want to start the impeachment process and large majorities of both groups want Blagojevich removed from office.
House Republican Leader Tom Cross has tried to make the memo itself the main issue rather than address impeachment.
Cross has a point. Madigan’s impeachment memo is certainly way over the top. It includes a harsh litany of Blagojevich’s alleged “misdeeds” that have nothing to do with impeachment, like the gross receipts tax and free mass transit rides for senior citizens. The memo encourages Madigan’s candidates to avoid answering the question if asked whether Madigan or his staff helped them prepare their positions.
Cross’ candidates will claim that the Democrats trying to defeat Republican incumbents are just Madigan robots doing what they’re told. But that, itself, is a dodge, because an overwhelming majority of Cross’ own party members clearly want impeachment proceedings to begin. Cross is in serious danger of positioning his own candidates on the wrong side of history in what will likely be a big Democratic year in Illinois. That combination could be politically lethal.
Cross and others also claim that Madigan is using the impeachment issue to divert attention from the fact that he is the lone man opposed to a multibillion-dollar capital construction plan.
“Never mind those 500,000 new jobs! Look over there at that bright, shiny impeachment ball!” Madigan appears to be saying.
His critics are right. Madigan’s venom and hatred for Blagojevich are getting the better of him. But the massive construction plan is loaded with opportunities for corruption, and voters clearly believe this governor is corrupt. In my mind, it’s a toss-up.
There are also those who think that the possible impeachment of a governor is too important an issue to be “politicized” by cynical attempts to win campaigns. But that ignores an important fact: We live in a democracy.
If candidates are elected on vows to begin impeachment proceedings, then that’s a good indication of what the public wants. Election results validate issues as much as individual candidate personalities or partisan strength.
In other words, goofy memo aside, this issue is too important not to be “politicized” by candidates. Let’s get on with it.
* Four unions send critical letter over impeachment memo: It was signed by leaders of the Service Employees International Union, Teamsters Joint Council 25, UNITE HERE and the Midwest Region of the Laborers International union.
* WSJ John Fund: All this sounds like an issue voters both inside and outside Illinois would want to hear from Mr. Obama on. Does he side with those Democrats who want to move aggressively against a governor who appears to be corrupt – or with his old Chicago buddies who prefer to wait?
* Southern Illinoisan: Thumbs down to the higher level of dysfunction among our state’s top elected leaders that emerged this week through the public release of a secret, talking points memo compiled on House Speaker Michael Madigan’s behalf.
* Impeachment By Mail? The Committee for Legislative Action is sending out letters to area residents asking for your input in the ongoing impeachment talks.
* Now Democrats are hurting themselves
* Bradley Under Fire for Capital Bill
* Higgins cartoon
* Chambers: Out-of-Character Morrissey Spits in Madigan’s Eye
- Cassandra - Friday, Jun 13, 08 @ 8:37 am:
If he’s that smart, why did they write this stuff down in a memo? Why not a secure teleconference, which gives some deniability. The content is not particularly scurrilous; this type of maneuvering goes on all the time in politics. But it’s not even a particularly well-written memo. If the purpose of writing it down with the expectation that it would be leaked is saber-rattling, it seems to have backfired.
While they are holding impeachment hearings, everything will grind to a halt in Sfield…everything that hasn’t already, that is.
No time to raise our taxes. But afterwards, if the impeachment effort is successful? I still
feel like Blago is the only thing between me and a massive income tax increase aimed straight at the
middle class. The economy may be worsening for the great middle, but that won’t affect our tax-loving legislators once they get a free hand. They are in the process of giving themselves a raise so they won’t feel the pinch.
- DumberThanULook - Friday, Jun 13, 08 @ 8:43 am:
Sounds time and time again that speaker MikeyMouse is more interested in his own power than the good of the party.
Will Dems suffer another 18-seat loss now that his dem candidates don’t stand for anything except being SockPuppets?
What happened to campaigning on those Democratic values the voters seem to want this year.
Oh, sorry, the puppetmaster killed all those plans.
- Ghost - Friday, Jun 13, 08 @ 8:51 am:
DTUL, you mean the voters clear desrie to have the Gov impeached/removed from office? Madigan seems to be running on exactly what the voters want.
Madigan is the only person keeping thge Jones/Blago pay-to-play dynasty in check. No capital plan with these two in ctonrol of billions of dollars. Speaking of SockPuppets, how about Hendon over in rules? or Jones refusal to let our Democratic values be reflected in votes to reject pay raises during a fiscal crisis or Jones refusal to call up for a veto over ride vote budget slashes to things like anti-violence programs in chicago or the money to fix bridges!!! The Gov who wants a capital plan slashed out the money needed for bridge repair. Without madigan standing a line against the Gov we would be giving billions of dollars in contract prize money to the most corrupt Governor in the history of the United States. We should be praising madigan for standing the wall so many with Democratic values are afraid to walk, not trying to bury him.
Its time to stop talking and just impeach the Gov so we can pass a capital budget withou fear of its components being auctioned off for campaign contributions. Lets not forget the recent story about how many construction contractors just dropped 25k checks on blago.
- Louis G. Atsaves - Friday, Jun 13, 08 @ 9:07 am:
Nice column Rich. I think you nailed this issue down!
- Ahem - Friday, Jun 13, 08 @ 9:12 am:
Any estimate on how many people believe this 500,000 jobs thing?
- Plutocrat03 - Friday, Jun 13, 08 @ 9:12 am:
How is trying to remove an allegedly incompetent, member of your party a bad thing? If anything, I can argue that by having the Democrats deal with an unpopular Governor they are instilling confidence into the electorate by doing the ‘right’ thing despite the fact that they are removing one of their own. (Based on citizen desire to remove Gov in polls)
Does anyone ever check how many jobs are actually created by capital expenditures? 500,000 seems like large number. No one ever seems to actually cross check the data to see what really happened after the money is spent. So much of the expenditures come from the purchase of materials and supplies which are sourced outside this state and country, I suspect that the real number is far less than what is promised.
With all the construction in the Chicago metro area I see a ton of out of state plates on the worker’s trucks. What benefit to the Illinois economy is it to have a significant amount of the labor costs go to out-of state workers?
- Bill Baar - Friday, Jun 13, 08 @ 9:20 am:
MJM is no fool…and right… the impeachment ball is bright and Cross should be going for it too…
- Levois - Friday, Jun 13, 08 @ 9:20 am:
I wonder how this memo got out in the first place. There was probably a better way to address this for any state rep candidates than that. And I have no way of knowing if Madigan’s hatred for Blago has gotten the better of him, but it would be very unfortunate especially for a guy I consider the adult down there.
- VanillaMan - Friday, Jun 13, 08 @ 9:22 am:
Why is Blagojevich getting any loyalty? Since when has he ever earned any of it? Why are so many Democrats willing to tie themselves to this guy?
It is because of power.
Right now the anti-Madigan people and the “I’m-Afraid-To-Take-A-Stand” people are refusing to leave the sinking USS Blagojevania, even after Rezko’s convictions, pro-impeachment polls, and being a part of the smoldering decay that has engulfed our state over the past few years. For them, doing nothing is easier than doing something, so they hope that someone else will fix the situation for which they are partly responsible. They hope to one day wake up before too long and discover Adlai Stevenson II as governor and an “I Like Ike” bumper sticker on a new Studebaker in their driveway.
Madigan is leading the way out of this fiasco. Support him or get out of the way, because showing your loyalty to Rod Blagojevich hasn’t paid you one dime of respect among Illinois voters.
You Democrats sold your souls to the Devil to get a gubernatorial winner. Now pay up!
- Six Degrees of Separation - Friday, Jun 13, 08 @ 9:23 am:
Ahem and Pluto-
I am an infrastructure improvement advocate.
In the interest of fairness, the link below is a critique of the “infrastructure investment creates jobs” studies performed by several US governmental agencies (by the conservative-oriented Heritage Foundation). I assume the state has gotten their jobs-creation projections by extrapolating the USDOT study numbers.
- AsAMom - Friday, Jun 13, 08 @ 9:26 am:
Ghost - you’re right - why should $43 billion be given to this administration? Until a child knows the basic concepts of, the serious warnings of & how to handle a credit card, you can’t just give one to them - or you’ll be paying for years. That’s too expensive of a lesson.
Rich - Very interesting that you think the Gov’s office leaked the memo. I too am not convinced that the Speaker or his top level staff penned it.
- Rich Miller - Friday, Jun 13, 08 @ 9:30 am:
AsAMom, the Speaker’s staff wrote it, but I’m not convinced that they leaked it.
- ChampaignDweller - Friday, Jun 13, 08 @ 9:33 am:
The Republicans are out of power, at least in part, because they refused to address out-of-control corruption. Impeachment proceedings should begin immediately. I don’t agree with Madigan on everything, but I agree that without him, the Governor and Emil Jones would have sold off more State assets in their effort to secure more power and money.
- wordslinger - Friday, Jun 13, 08 @ 9:58 am:
You can’t give this governor control of the capital money. I know in today’s microwave society patience is short and attention spans even shorter, but c’mon — there’s a new reason not to trust this guy every day.
The GOP folks who are playing ball with the governor are making a ludicrous mistake. They were given a gift and threw it away. After Jones, Tom Cross is going to be remembered as his biggest defender. Jones got a lot — what did Cross get? A promise? Good call, chief.
By all means get on with it. What’s so scary? Impeachment doesn’t throw Rod in jail. It just removes him from a job he doesn’t want to do and is not very good at.
- Kevin Fanning - Friday, Jun 13, 08 @ 9:59 am:
lol
- Garp - Friday, Jun 13, 08 @ 10:47 am:
As in the economy, politics is run by the law of supply and demand and Madigan’s folks wouldn’t have drafted these talking points unless their candidates were telling them the Governor’s failure is a central issue in their districts and they need to deal with it.
Frankly, I don’t think Madigan really cares whether the memo got out. He knows we are headed down the impeachment road and had to know this memo would find it’s way to Blogo’s folks. Maybe he didn’t think Blogo would be stupid enough to leak and pulicize a document that has his own party candidates calling for his head.
- Presidential election Year duh! - Friday, Jun 13, 08 @ 10:59 am:
Speaker always thinks voters give a crap about his state legislative races– a suburban state rep is lucky to have 30% name id at election time-this is a national election we are looking at this fall –he screwed up two years ago and four years ago with the same mindset. If there was ever a time to do a corrupt free capital bill now is it–with feds all over the place people would have to think long and hard about risking their freedom for a few bucks.
- Dirt Guy - Friday, Jun 13, 08 @ 11:02 am:
I’ll bet that Madigan expected the memo to get out. How could it not? It has done one thing, which may have been the purpose of the leaked memo, and that is to out Blago’s backers. Would you want one of those people in a foxhole with you? I wouldn’t. The memo may have exposed a couple of reps. to MJM that were previously fence sitters.
It also has provided an opportunity for Emil to squeal about the lack of a capital bill. It just shows Emil is only about the money and not governing. I’ll bet there is about 1/34th of the money earmarked for the Jones Friends & Family Trust.
After I heard Emil on TV last year I wouldn’t trust him with the lint in my pocket. About 12 seconds after the budget passed there was Emil’s face on the news exclaiming “I can hear the bacon sizzling now!” I almost kicked in my new flat screen TV, but my wife grabbed my foot.
- Kevin Fanning - Friday, Jun 13, 08 @ 11:05 am:
LOL.
- Garp - Friday, Jun 13, 08 @ 11:22 am:
Presidential Year,
Just because our state politicians are so corrupt that the feds have an army here doesn’t mean its safe to throw more billions into the combine. If the same crooks who brought the feds here are still in charge, doesn’t it make sense to remove the problem before creating more convicts? The feds have enough to do righting past wrongs. We need to start policing ourselves now. We should not have to wait 3 or 4 years to find out where all the capital money went and why a roofer is living in a mansion in Kenilworth.
- reflector - Friday, Jun 13, 08 @ 11:54 am:
Hurrah for Mike Madigan.Keep money out of the Gov’s hands and hang in there.
- Mister Roarke - Friday, Jun 13, 08 @ 12:02 pm:
Rich, I don’t often disagree with your columns, but I do on this one.
Not that Madigan is a saint, by any stretch. But as politicians go, he’s the smart one down there, and the choices he’s been making on policy make much more sense to me than what Emil and Rod have been doing. That his policies are congruent with his personal and political goals is a happy coincidence.
I don’t think much of the complaints from those 4 unions, they are and have been Blago puppets for some time. When AFSCME gets on it’s knees and kisses Rod’s ring again, then you’ll have my attention.
- paddyrollingstone - Friday, Jun 13, 08 @ 12:04 pm:
I have never heard anyone call Madigan “dumb.” Anyone who knows anything about politics in this state knows that there have been few (if any) people smarter than him. He has been speaker since 1982 with the exception of 1994-95. And all the elections from 1992 through 2000 were with the GOP-map! During that time he was the sole defender of the Democrats as he never served under a Dem governor as Speaker until Blago and from 1992-2002 he served with a Pate Phillip run Senate. I don’t care what his motives are - he wins elections. Period. I have seem him make few false steps as Speaker and as a Democrat I would follow him the ends of the earth.
- Arthur Andersen - Friday, Jun 13, 08 @ 12:44 pm:
As a guy who invests a few bucks now and then, I suggest the AA Investment Strategy: LONG Speaker, SHORT Blago.
Emil? AA doesn’t buy penny stocks or junk bonds.
- Anonymous45 - Friday, Jun 13, 08 @ 1:08 pm:
I was going to suggest yesrterday that the Guv’s folks leaked the memo to shore up his position going into budget negos…Blago will go away after the trial and conviction…I feel like the pols are fiddling whilst the State’s fortunes burn…our rail infrastructure is a mess
threatening Chicago’s lead status as a hub, our roads are third world class after a brutal winter, middle class families are being squeezed and corruption is alive and well…I want the leaders to act like grown ups, Mike Madigan included…
- Six Degrees of Separation - Friday, Jun 13, 08 @ 1:52 pm:
Anon 45-
Regarding rail infrastructure, the rail companies are willing to spend serious bucks on improving traffic flow around Chicago without government help…if only they are allowed to do so.
stopcntrains.blogspot.com
www.financialpost.com/story.html?id=525598
www.house.gov/bean/en.us.home.eje.shtml
- anon - Friday, Jun 13, 08 @ 5:51 pm:
Ghost…I agree. I am hoping Obama’s Candidacy will help Democrats down the ticket, but Blago’s misdeeds may help tank the Democrats. I have to give Madigan credit, he is preparing his Reps to distance themselves from Blagojevich. I am shocked though that Cross seems to be backing Blagojevich. I know he already lost my Republican brother and his wife’s backing in Romeoville. Cross better be careful, and to think he is the LEADER for the Rebublicans!! o