* 2:54 pm - The teevee is reporting that US Sen. Dick Durbin asked US Sen. Roland Burris to resign. Burris said no, of course.
Durbin also said that Burris hasn’t made up his mind about whether he’ll run in 2010. So, the trial balloon from earlier today apparently was either false or was walked back.
Burris declined to comment as reporters circled around him and walked with him to the elevators. “My attorney suggests I don’t discuss this,” Burris said as he waited for the elevator.
Durbin: “[Burris] said he had not made up his mind as to whether he would be a candidate [in 2010]…I told him that under the circumstances, I would consider resigning, in his shoes. He said he would not resign.”
Cook County Sheriff’s police escorted armed security personnel hired by Cicero President Larry Dominick from polling places during today’s primary election, according to the Cook County Clerk. […]
Officers from the Sheriff’s department may assist with security at polling places, [Courtney Greve, a spokeswoman for Cook County clerk David Orr] said, but armed off-duty police officers hired by political candidates are not allowed.
Don’t tell that to the Cicero flack in chief…
But Cicero Town spokesman Dan Proft claimed the security personnel were necessary, “to make sure Garcia and his hooligans don’t cause any problems at the polling places.”
So, to stop some “hooligans” from causing trouble, Cicero is using armed guards who are not allowed at the polls and who had to be escorted off the premises by county sheriff’s deputies.
I suppose this is a big improvement from when Al Capone first took over the town’s government in the 1924 election. Capone used Tommy Gun wielding gangsters, not off-duty cops, at the polling places. And the sheriff’s deputies knew better than to show up.
Mayor Richard Daley alleged today that federal authorities ignore blatant drug and gun trafficking but are overzealous in prosecuting star athletes such as Barry Bonds and Michael Vick.
“They can find Barry Bonds and Michael Vick, but they can’t find a drug dealer?” Daley said at a news conference where he argued for tougher federal and state gun laws.
The mayor said federal law enforcement—which has targeted City Hall and Chicago police officials with indictments—has misplaced priorities because it charged football star Vick for dog-fighting and baseball slugger Bonds with lying about using steroids. […]
After his passionate defense of Vick and Bonds, the mayor would not say whether he thought the federal case against his former patronage chief Robert Sorich and two other aides was a fair use of law enforcement power.
* The man who probably did more than anyone except maybe George Ryan to drive Illinois voters away from Republican candidates offers advice to Illinois Republicans…
“The people are looking closely at the quality of candidates you put forward,” Rove said. “You better not claw yourselves up and bloody yourselves up and cut yourselves up in a primary.”
That sounds exactly like what Jim Edgar has been saying for years. The message has been ignored, particularly by the right. The fact that these words are coming from the darling of the right wing is significant, if those who’ve hung on his every word in the past decide to listen now. The war between the two halves of the GOP here has been beyond destructive.
* More…
“It strikes me that you have a pretty easy message,” Rove told the several hundred attendees at the Schaumburg Marriott. “If you want change from the way things are then you ought to elect yourself a Republican governor.”
The message isn’t so simple, of course. Illinoisans are unhappy with the way things are going, but the polls I’ve published here in the past few months show the Republicans aren’t yet seen as a viable alternative. When a goofy Democrat who hasn’t held elected office since 1995 and was appointed to the US Senate by the completely disgraced Rod Blagojevich still led the best candidate the Republicans have by seven points, there’s real systemic trouble afoot.
“Republicans are going to start winning … when they get candidates who can talk to suburban voters” about kitchen table issues
Actually, Republicans may start winning the suburbs when their national party (including people like Rove) stops scaring moderate suburbanites away in droves.
There are some very good suburban GOP legislators who’ve managed to hold on or even thrive. Many of those people are not exactly Rovian types, like Rosemary Mulligan, Sid Mathias, etc. But victorious legislative Republicans have lately become the exception in Cook, Lake and Will counties. The 2006 Senate Democratic gains were mostly suburban, as were the 2008 House Dem pickups. The Democrats have picked up two suburban congressional seats this decade, and another one may be in the offing if Mark Kirk runs statewide.
Staring into the future will burn your eyes, but does anyone really think that when Barack Obama’s popularity starts to fall nationally that it will drop just as far in Illinois? So, rhetorical attacks on Obama or consistent votes against Obama’s major legislation by statewide GOP hopefuls probably won’t be a net positive next year.
* Meanwhile, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is doing robocalls to voters in districts represented by GOP Congresscritters Judy Biggert and Mark Kirk. Here’s the script, provided by the DCCC…
Hello, I’m calling on behalf of House Democrats with an important message about the economy.
Did you know [GOP member] voted against President Obama’s economic recovery plan, endorsed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce? [GOP member]’s empty rhetoric can’t hide that s/he voted to raise the AMT tax on 22 million middle class Americans and against the largest tax cut in history.
Call [GOP member] at [xxx-xxx-xxxx] to ask why s/he voted to raise taxes on middle class families.
I doubt this will convince either Biggert or Kirk to get in line with the president, but it’s interesting spin. Thoughts?
As always, keep your copy and paste DC talking points off of this blog, please. I’m not interested in what your favorite hack just told you to say on the radio or cable teevee. Be original. Thanks.
* Rep. Michael Tryon (R-Crystal Lake) has proposed creating a new, online searchable database with just about every possible bit of state government information imaginable, including state employee salaries…
“There just aren’t any secrets in government,” Tryon said. “This is our opportunity to be second to none.”
But Joanna Webb-Gauvin, legislative director for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31, says AFSCME members have concerns about putting that information in a searchable database.
She says there’s no real public policy reason for rank-and-file state government workers to have their salaries disclosed, and doing so raises security and privacy questions. Instead, she says, lawmakers could put up salary ranges for job titles so the information is out there without tying it to specific individuals.
“They feel it’s a violation of their personal privacy,” Webb-Gauvin said. “They’re feeling sort of like their laundry is being aired in a searchable database.”
Other legislations questioned whether employees could benefit from seeing which employee make what, such as in cases of pay discrimination.
* The Question: Do you think state employee salaries should be included in a comprehensive, searchable online government database? Please explain fully. Thanks.
* Rep. Fritchey responds to a story we broke yesterday that SEIU will spend $250,000 on TV ads for Rep. Sara Feigenholtz, plus another $24K in phone-banking…
“It’s obvious that [SEIU] thinks this is an election that can be decided by dollars rather than by issues,” Fritchey said. “But it’s the same strategy that they used to elect Rod Blagojevich twice.”
That’s mild compared to the acrimony behind the scenes in this race. It’s pretty intense. Just hang around the comments section here for a tiny taste. And it’s not just the candidates. Unions battling unions is always entertaining theater because labor unions often view themselves as an almost religious entity, so the fights are sanctimonious and brutal.
But what everyone seems to forget in this circular firing squad bloodbath is that the election is over in a week. People will have to go back to working together at the Statehouse, city hall, etc. In some cases, bygones will be bygones. In others, I’m not so sure the wounds will heal in the foreseeable future, considering what’s been happening and the threats I’ve been hearing. Watch for trouble on the labor front, for instance.
* SEIU’s TV ad is up and running today. I haven’t seen it yet, but I’m told that it’s a positive ad for Feigenholtz.
*** UPDATE *** Here’s the ad…
* Mike Quigley was on Don & Roma’s show this morning. Listen here. One of the first questions is about Feigenholtz’s weeks-old refusal to acknowledge that she ran a poll which had some negative and false questions about both Quigley and Fritchey. Quigley slammed both Feigenholtz and Fritchey for voting for a sales tax hike to bail out public transit, which is the subject of a recent Quigley mailer…
* Two more unions have split with the Illinois AFL-CIO’s endorsement of Fritchey and are backing Feigenholtz. The United Steelworkers District 7, which represents 40,000 Illinois workers, and the University Professionals of Illinois both announced endorsements within the past 12 hours. UPI is a branch of the Illinois Federation of Teachers, which is a major Fritchey supporter, so that one is quite fascinating…
“At this difficult time in our nation’s history, there is no better qualified or dynamic leader on the issues that UPI cares about than Sara Feigenholtz,” UPI President Sue Kaufman said. “Rep. Feigenholtz’s record of supporting Illinois’ public universities, expanding health care and fighting for the needs of working men and women make her the right candidate at the right time to partner with President Obama in getting our economy back on track.”
* Charlie Wheelan seems to be spending a lot of money on things that nobody watches…
* Berkowitz has interviewed a few of the candidates, and I keep forgetting to link to them…
* If Roland Burris agrees not to run in 2010, will the heat truly be off? At least his possible purely caretaker role will allow him to stop running his mouth in public, so we’ll see. Lynn Sweet floats a trial balloon about a meeting later today between Burris and Sen. Dick Durbin…
Burris understands that he needs to try to mollify Durbin and he will attempt to do that.
Scoop: Burris will also be sending, directly or indirectly (maybe this is it) two messages: he will not resign in the wake of the controversy surrounding his appointment by the ousted Gov. Blagojevich and he will not run for the seat in 2010. Burris has finally realized that not seeking election next year is the least price he will pay.
Sweet claims that the Senate Ethics Committe probe could take time. and the Sangamon County State’s Attorney investigation into alleged perjury won’t be finished soon. Maybe not. Durbin might be able to slow-walk the ethics committee, but that would be foolish. And the state’s attorney doesn’t exactly have a gigantic mound of evidence to sift through. It’s pretty straightforward stuff (although perjury is probably unlikely).
As U.S. Sen. Roland Burris prepared Monday to return to work in Washington, his attorneys continued to prepare a document they say will show he has not changed his story about how he secured the Senate seat from Gov. Rod Blagojevich. […]
“It will show he hasn’t changed his story,” [Burris attorney Tim Wright] said. “This will be a document that will be factually based, and I’m confident it will show that it’s been the media that’s changed their story, not the senator.”
Yeah, blame Burris’ prevarications on the media. That’ll allow the heat to die down.
* My weekly syndicated newspaper column takes a look at the ongoing nightmare in the Illinois House…
The nasty and brutish Statehouse war is officially over for everyone but House Speaker Michael Madigan.
The House Republicans made a big stink last week. It was totally expected. They were upset with House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie’s explanation for why she did not immediately inform the House impeachment committee that U.S. Sen. Roland Burris had submitted a new and highly explosive sworn affidavit. The affidavit created a media feeding frenzy because it raised serious questions in reference to Burris’ truthfulness about his appointment to the Senate by former Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
What wasn’t expected is the way Madigan reacted to the minority Republicans. Madigan ordered his Rules Committee to pop a Rep. Jack Franks resolution onto the floor that asked for an investigation by the Sangamon County state’s attorney, who is already looking into whether Burris committed perjury during his impeachment committee testimony and via his affidavits.
The Franks resolution asked the state’s attorney to look into allegations made by Blagojevich on WLS-AM (890) several days ago. Blagojevich claimed a legislative leader asked him to find a state job for a legislator’s secretary after the legislator’s wife discovered the two were having an affair.
House Minority Leader Tom Cross (R-Oswego) immediately saw the move for exactly what it was: A blatant attempt to punish House Republicans for speaking out about an issue they believed to be important. Cross excoriated Madigan and the Democrats for bringing Franks’ resolution to the floor and threatened to retaliate, vowing to ask the state’s attorney to investigate everything that Blagojevich has ever said and ever will say about hanky panky by House Democrats.
Since Cross took the bait, pretty much everyone under the dome immediately assumed he was the legislative leader mentioned by Blagojevich, even though he later denied it.
But the Madigan trick worked. The emphasis was now off Currie and on a potential sex scandal involving a legislator. And because of that, the big issue on many minds last week was where Madigan’s move might eventually lead.
Legislators are human beings. They are therefore flawed. Attacking one member for an egregious personal mistake could open up the biggest can of worms imaginable. I mean, seriously, are they now going to start outing legislators, statewide officials and top staff who’ve succumbed to various human temptations? Can Madigan truly think he can sanctimoniously throw the first stone knowing what he does (and what others do) about his own people and what he has done to help them solve their little problems or extricate themselves from sticky situations? If he asks, I’d be happy to remind him.
Since the nuclear option could destroy so many lives, things will probably stop right where they are. Sinners can breathe easy.
The real problem here is Madigan doesn’t seem to realize the war is over. His former enemies Blagojevich and former Senate President Emil Jones are gone. The new Senate president is the godfather of Madigan’s only son. The new governor is so eager to avoid Blagojevich’s many mistakes that he appears to be more than willing to bow to Madigan’s power. Last year’s election resulted in Madigan controlling 71 seats, just one short of a super-majority, so the Republicans have been thoroughly defeated.
Yet Madigan continues to punish everyone he believes are his enemies. House Democrats who allied themselves with Blagojevich have been whacked but good. The onerous and oppressive House rules, originally put in place by the Republicans to keep Madigan from waging guerrilla warfare when he was in the minority party, have been left unchanged. And the pathetically powerless Republicans who dared defy Madigan last year by working with Blagojevich on the capital construction plan are being stomped at almost every turn.
Blagojevich’s horrid legacy is being purged in the Senate. Democrats and Republicans are attempting to work with each other for the first time in years. Senate President John Cullerton even set up a bipartisan dinner event for senators and their spouses. And he has loosened his office’s stranglehold on power.
But Blagojevich’s ghost reigns supreme in the House. It’s like he never left. He can still control events from afar, as was amply demonstrated last week.
Any commenter who speculates on who the legislator in question is will be banned for life. Period. No exceptions.
“I have no reason not to run,” Quinn told me when I asked him about the 2010 election.
“I think I am doing a good job today. I anticipate I will continue to do that. Stabilizing the ship of Illinois is vitally necessary. I think even in the first three-and-a-half weeks we’ve done a decent job of turning a page in an unhappy chapter in the state’s history,” Quinn said.
* His charm is still his personal thriftiness, and he’ll be pushing that angle with reporters as long as he can…
He sipped a cup of tea while we chatted at a hotel restaurant and insisted on handing me $3 for it, turning down my offer to pay. Blagojevich rarely attended NGA meetings, and when he did, he arrived on a state plane. Quinn flew United, coach. He refuses to get new business cards; he just scratches out the word “lieutenant” on his old cards.
That thriftiness will help counter what will likely be claimed is his love for more taxes and bigger government.
* But he’ll have to be careful how he spends money on this never-ending state tour…
[Quinn wants to] Travel around Illinois, visiting different cities and suburbs each week.
* Among his plans for his first 100 days in office…
Consider creating a separate department to regulate the insurance industry.
That should send some ripples through the Statehouse, where the insurance committees are usually populated with friendly (to the insurance industry) faces.
…Adding… Quinn has long favored a Citizens Utility Board style consumer group for the insurance industry. Haven’t heard that explicitly mentioned lately, but could that be part of what he’s talking about here?
Over a strong dissent from Justice Antonin Scalia, the U.S. Supreme Court turned away an appeal Monday from a former top aide to Mayor Richard Daley who was convicted of scheming to steer city jobs to campaign workers.
Lawyers for Robert Sorich and two co-defendants questioned whether the scheme to reward Daley’s political supporters with city jobs amounted to a federal crime. The three were prosecuted for “honest services fraud,” and they argued in their appeal that this was hazy and an ill-defined crime.
Only Scalia voiced a dissent, however. “This expansive phrase invites abuse by headline-grabbing prosecutors. … Carried to its logical conclusion,” he wrote, it “would seemingly cover a salaried employee’s phoning in sick to go to a ballgame.”
The number of farms in Illinois is growing, but average size is down, a trend also reflected in Sangamon and several surrounding counties in a just-released federal census of agriculture.
In fact, the more than 1,100 farms in Sangamon County in 2007 was up nearly 19 percent from 2002.
The Canadian National Railway challenged the authority of federal regulators to make the railroad pay an estimated $70 million for two overpasses, in Aurora and in Lynwood.
C ook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez on Monday filed a consumer fraud lawsuit against four Chicago-area towing companies, two near Blue Island, for preying on accident victims by charging fees ranging from $1,995 to $6,500.
Primary elections for various municipal offices are being held today in Cicero, Berwyn, Calumet City, Dolton and Aurora, among other communities.
The race for Cicero town president is a three-way contest among incumbent Larry Dominick, police officer Roberto Garcia and Morton College trustee Edward Ledvina.
Chicago Public Schools Chief Executive Officer Ron Huberman said today that community input helped convince him to take six schools off a proposed closing list expected to be voted on by the board this week.
How would you like to rent a car in Waukegan or St. Charles, only to be slapped with the 8 percent “transaction tax” that applies to Chicago car rentals?
Brace yourself. With a burgeoning $50.5 million budget gap, Chicago is reaching into suburban pockets. And Enterprise Rent-a-Car has filed a lawsuit challenging the Daley administration’s effort to collect the tax from drivers who rent cars in the suburbs.
“I guess it promotes me,” he added later when asked about the political edge the site might provide. “Yes, I’m the mayor of the City of Chicago, and it promotes Chicago.”
* 5:04 pm - The Service Employees International Union is reportedly in the process of reserving about $250,000 in TV ad time for Rep. Sara Feigenholtz’s congressional campaign. This will be an independent expenditure. I’m told by several people that $50,000 will go towards cable TV and the rest will go towards broadcast. So far, here’s what’s been reserved on broadcast with more apparently to come…
*** UPDATE *** The House Republicans say Cross did not support a motor fuel tax increase at the Daily Herald edit board meeting and claim the Daily Herald is updating its story.
* 4:04 pm - There are still many hills to climb, but the obstacles may be getting smaller…
Illinois Republican are open to a gas tax hike to fund a major public works package this year - but they want it to be smaller than one floated by Democrats.
“I think it would be a good way to jump start the economy,” said House Republican leader Tom Cross of the construction jobs during a meeting Monday with the Daily Herald editorial board.
Senate Republican leader Christine Radogno of Lemont said some in her caucus may be open to a gas tax hike that falls under the 16-cent increase identified by Senate President John Cullerton, a Chicago Democrat. […]
Radogno indicated the GOP side of the Senate aisle wants to cap the state sales tax on fuel when prices reach $2.50 or $3 a gallon.
Both the House and Senate GOP caucuses have yet to formulate an official proposal as they wait for Democratic leaders and Gov. Pat Quinn to make the first budget moves.
* Greg Hinz follows up on something I told subscribers last week. As you already know, Gov. Quinn has suggested that the General Assembly move the February primary to September next year so everyone could focus on governing instead of politics. Well…
Anyhow, according to Capitol Fax, Speaker Madigan recently had a chat with Senate President John Cullerton and suggested to him that no change [in the primary date] was needed. Mr. Cullerton’s Democratic caucus then met Friday, and agreed to the status quo. Ergo Mr. Quinn’s proposal is shelved, at least for now.
Spokespeople for the Speaker and the President won’t admit to a deal. But Mr. Madigan’s spokesman says, “I don’t think the Speaker ever felt the primary date ought to be changed on his own.” And Mr. Cullerton’s spokeswoman says the caucus reached its own opinion, and that changing the primary date “never was in the reform agenda that he laid out.”
So, all of the incumbents in the House and Senate get an insurance policy protecting them against challenges. And, in the process, Ms. Madigan gets to run at a time of year when her father’s organizational strength can be most effective. Ain’t life grand!
The only ones who lose are Mr. Quinn and those who believe that elections ought to serve the interests of voters and not those they vote on.
Why is Gov. Quinn perhaps the biggest loser?
Mr. Quinn obviously has a personal interest in wanting to move the date of the next primary back to September 2010 from February 2010. Doing so would give him more time to establish a record before quite possibly facing Ms. Madigan in the Democratic primary. And there’s nothing sacred about September as opposed to, say, April or May.
Anyway, the bottom line is the February primary will almost certainly stay right where it is.
* Cook County Commissioner Mike Quigley has a new TV ad which blasts Todd Stroger and touts his endorsements…
The ad buy is said to be slightly smaller than Rep. John Fritchey’s purchase, which was around $120,000.
* SEIU weighed in over the weekend with about $24K in phone calls for Rep. Sara Feigenholtz’s campaign. The union has a predictive dialer that it uses a whole lot in campaigns.
* Recent endorsements via press releases…
* Dan Hynes for Feigenholtz
* Dick Devine, Ed Kelly for O’Connor
* Marty Oberman, Abner Mikva, Dr. Quentin Young, and Leon Despres for Geoghegan
*** UPDATE *** From a Feigenholtz press release…
The United Auto Workers (UAW) Illinois State Community Action Program today endorsed State Representative Sara Feigenholtz in the special election to fill the seat vacated by former Congressman and Chief of Staff to President Obama, Rahm Emanuel. […]
The UAW Illinois State Community Action Program Council is the political organization of the United Auto Workers. It represents almost 70,000 members in Illinois.
That’s her third big labor endorsement, after SEIU and UNITE/HERE.
Voters in the 5th Congressional District probably can thank federal prosecutors for the unusually large field of candidates in the March 3 special primary for a vacant seat in Congress.
The last time the district had to pick a new lawmaker seven years ago, political workers came from across Chicago to help Rahm Emanuel win the Democratic nomination.
The 2002 Democratic primary that Emanuel won featured 8 candidates. There are 12 Democrats this time. A big jump, for sure, but not exponential.
Since then, U.S. Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald’s City Hall hiring fraud probe effectively neutered the patronage armies directed by Daley’s top aides.
Daley supported Rahm all the way and openly, which was pretty much a rarity at the time and still is today. He usually plays his cards close to his vest.
Now the mayor says he’s unlikely to endorse any of the candidates who want to replace Emanuel, President Barack Obama’s White House chief of staff.
Yeah, but Daley’s city council floor leader Ald. Pat O’Connor is running. That’s most likely a message from Daley that he’d prefer it if Rep. John Fritchey didn’t win.
Seeking to fill this post-patronage power vacuum are…
Um, did they forget the ward organizations which are involved in this race? They still have captains. Not as many as before, but those remaining captains will be a factor.
Voters probably won’t vote in this special election unless they are dragged to the polls. They’ll be far more likely to succumb to the pleas of captains they’ve known for years than to volunteers they just met on election day. So, having even a few captains is a very distinct advantage.
That above linked piece was a essentially a concept in search of a story, and neither worked.
* I honestly don’t know if I was invited to attend the Chicago Journalism Townhall meeting yesterday, but I doubt I would’ve gone if they had requested my attendance. Here’s a big reason why…
Chicago’s elder statesman of journalism, John Callaway, started out by announcing that “Newspapers as we know them are dead.” His contention was that now it’s up to journalists to find the new model that will give people the news they need.
What a silly idea. Jesse Greenberg sums up my problem with this concept quite well…
A quick glance at the experienced and talented panel kind of said it all. A lot of big names in Chicago journalism were up there. Glaringly absent though were advertisers, managers and any academics from some of the fine Chicago j-schools. Basically, what was needed to have a thoughtful conversation looking at different angles of the journalism business was not included… Instead, we got what was to be expected from a room full journalists and PR pros in a crumbing industry - a lot of complaining.
* Newspaper content is beginning to evolve. The Tribune, for instance, is starting to aggregate content from other newspapers on its breaking news page. The Trib, the Sun-Times and several other papers have been breaking stories throughout the day for quite some time now, rather than waiting until they can publish scoops in their paper editions. The city’s newspapers and several Chicago TV stations are offering up far more live video and audio feeds of events, particularly since the Rod Blagojevich disaster began. Both Chicago papers and most of the TV stations are on Twitter.
The good journalists have taken as much advantage as possible of this new technology and have pushed their editors hard to modernize. The lazy ones still complain about the extra work, whine about blogs “stealing” their stories, and try to lay blame where it doesn’t belong, but that’s expected.
* The problem isn’t so much with the newspaper websites, it’s the advertising. Classified ads, which once accounted for something like 40 percent of a newspaper’s profits, have all but disappeared. There may not be a solution to that problem, unless they go to micro-targeting. But after a very promising start, InsiderzExchange is now struggling with that issue as well. So I know whereof I speak when I say this idea may not work.
The other impediment to turning a profit online is the structure of display advertising revenues. Big ads in the print edition pay the highest commissions, and online ads are at best a red-headed stepchild. The papers just aren’t charging enough for their online ads, despite ever-rising traffic and far more creative presentations. That’s gonna kill them if they don’t change soon. Kiyoshi Martinez adds…
I took the opportunity to point out that Web sites for both the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times offer really poor advertising solutions for advertisers, which means they’re not going to get high advertising rates and therefore not capitalize on the vast amount of ad inventory they have but can’t sell.
First, innovate, then raise the darned rates. Look, I know we’re in a deep recession, but online newspaper rates are so low that they’ve become toxic to the industry’s very survival. Worry far less about giving online content away and worry a whole lot more about ridiculously cheap and poorly executed online advertising.
Stop allowing comments that are inflammatory, outright lies, flamebait and generally bring down the value your site offers. Bad comments are bad content. Encourage good comments and a sense of real discussion.
Who’s gonna advertise on your website if you allow racists, homophobes and tinfoil hat crazoids of all stripes to flood your comment sections with hateful, stupid rants?
* All the rigamaroll about whether newspapers should give away their content online for free is ridiculous, and the debate at yesterday’s event shows that too many people just don’t understand the realities of the newspaper business, nor the new reality of online.
The price you pay for a newspaper only rarely covers the actual cost of printing and delivering. They’re already essentially giving it away. In fact, they’re taking a loss on the transaction. Ads are supposed to make up the difference and provide the profit. That ain’t happening online.
Plus it’s extremely difficult to get consumers to pay for anything online, unless it’s highly specialized content like Capitol Fax or Crain’s Chicago Business.
Yes, changes in newsroom groupthink are essential. But it’s the people at the very top of the food chain who are going to have to change the ad sales culture and their own view of what a newspaper really is.
* Far too many of those top tiered executives believe that cutting reporters is the way to go rather than restructuring their 19th Century business model. This will lead to one end: Oblivion.
Take a look at most small market TV news websites and you’ll see what I mean. After years of hiring cute kids right out of college to stand in front of the camera and smile pretty, those stations are now ill equipped to produce any sort of halfway literate online content. And since everything’s going online, they’re in no position to compete. This is a huge advantage for newspapers, as long as their newsrooms stay smart. Seize it.
As the title suggests, this is incomplete. Your thoughts would be appreciated.
* Lynn Sweet has the story of a comically self-serving attempt to pass blame…
Bud Jackson is a political consultant who has worked campaigns for Roland Burris in the past. When Burris was appointed to the Senate, he was helping out a bit, pro bono, he told me. Now he is dumping on others who, he said, ill advised the junior senator from Illinois.
But Jackson, who makes a living in political communication, wants everyone to know he has nothing to do with the hole the senator has dug himself with his changing stories about his relations with people in ousted Gov. Blagojevich’s orbit.
* The letter…
Concerning Senator Roland Burris
Dear Friends, Colleagues, and Members of the Media:
As many of you may recall I actively helped my former client, Roland Burris, during his run-up to being successfully seated in the United States Senate.
Since that time, well … his team’s public relations efforts have been less than stellar. Turns out that, because my business is political communication, I need to let folks know that I have not been involved in the decisions that have led to the public relations fiasco over the past week. In fact, I actively counseled his team to take very different actions, to no avail.
I have not returned countless calls from my friends in the media, partly because my role no longer includes responding to media queries, now that the Senator has his own official staff. If you are a member of the media, please contact Jim O’Connor, the new communications director (being shot out of a cannon) for Senator Burris at his Washington, DC office (202) 224-2852.
I know based on my own private conversations and experience that Senator Roland Burris has been the victim of bad advice and, when set-up to fail, he certainly shall we say, has had less than adeqaute attempts to better and more clearly inform the public at a press conference, or two. It has ben painful to watch. Regardless, the senator has more than 30 years of public service and his integrity has never been questioned. I know that he has done nothing inappropriate despite the impression that has been left.
Despite what may or may not happen as a result of the mess that has been made, I stand behind my former client. To quote the movie Oh, Brother Where Art Thou Senator Burris is “in a tight spot.” It’s an unfortunate distraction for Illinois people who are most concerned about their jobs and their homes. It’s not so bad if you’re a Republican, a Democrat gunning for his seat, or if you’re trying to sell newspapers — they all benefit by painting everything in its worst possible context.
So to sum it all up: it’s complicated.
Sincerely,
Bud Jackson
So, to “sum it all up,” Jackson says that Burris has been the victim of bad advice, but the stories resulting from all that bad advice are “painting everything in its worst possible context.” Should Burris have just dummied up about his prevarications? I’m not clear about what Jackson believes Burris should’ve done.
I prefer a different quote from Jackson’s favorite movie…
“I slaughtered this horse last Tuesday. I think it’s startin’ to turn.”
* Meanwhile, Rod Blagojevich’s former press secretary Lucio Guerrero spills a few of his guts…
For the first time, a key advisor to impeached former Gov. Rod Blagojevich is providing an insider’s account of life inside the administration after Blagojevich’s arrest. […]
On the day the Senate trial convened, Blagojevich began a media blitz that his press secretary advised against.
* And Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. attempts to explain…
“During that very lonely period, (I was) trying to defend my character and my integrity against allegations I had absolutely nothing to do with,” he said. “I still have not talked to federal authorities. I am not an informant. I’m not a snitch.
“I’m not any of those things, and yet I’ve been maligned, besmirched, through that process, and I still have some mental trepidations associated with the things I read about myself and would think, ‘That can’t possibly be me.’ But it is what it is.”
So, when he does talk to the feds, does that then make him a snitch?
* Related…
* Plenty share blame for Burris debacle: Urging him to resign assumes he carries a conscience.
* Should he stay or should he go now? This is a different problem. It’s with how he laid out the wording on the monument. There’s a heading “Trail Blazer,” and then it says “First African-American In Illinois to Become:” and after that he leaves some space before listing his accomplishments — Illinois Attorney General 1991-95, Illinois Comptroller 1979-1991, all the way to SIU Exchange Student to University of Hamburg, Germany 1959-60.
Ald. Patrick Levar’s brother, who once oversaw construction contracts at O’Hare Airport for Mayor Daley, is a focus of a massive investigation of city aviation deals — a probe that’s also looking into possible women- and minority-owned business fraud, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned.
The airport investigation — first disclosed by the Sun-Times on Feb. 12 — is also looking into campaign contributions Ald. Levar (45th) got from airport contractors, sources said.
Mayor Daley’s O’Hare Modernization Program could end up costing as much as $15 billion. So far, $751 million has been paid, under 18 construction contracts, to 227 contractors.
Most of the top contractors, listed below, have been involved in multiple construction contracts awarded by City Hall. The list shows which companies have been certified by the city as businesses owned and operated by minorities (MBE) or owned and operated by women (WBE). Also shown: political contributions by the businesses, their owners and affiliated companies since the mid-1990s.
* Report warns of flooding risk from lock failures in Illinois: One lockmaster says ‘People in Joliet probably wouldn’t be able to sleep at night if they knew how devastating the flooding would be because of a breach’
Starting tomorrow, 450 workers for ArcelorMittal Steel Company in East Chicago will begin a temporary layoff of two to three weeks. The layoffs are a result of worldwide weak demand for steel products, primarily in the auto industry.
Two competing unions are calling a truce over representing Cook County health care workers. They say they’ll work together to fight looming budget cuts.
A battle is raging for the soul of the Republican Party in Winnebago County. The front line is the aldermanic race in Rockford’s 14th Ward. The generals are:
* Comptroller Dan Hynes endorsed Rep. Sara Feigenholtz in the 5th Congressional District today. From a press release…
“Sara Feigenholtz is the right candidate at the right time to represent the needs of residents and families of the 5th district in Congress,” Hynes said. “Sara has consistently rejected political gamesmanship in Springfield in order to get things done for people and her passion for health care will make her a great partner for President Obama in Congress to help all Americans get the health care they deserve.”
Hynes is not the first statewide official to endorse in the contest. According to the Tribune, Treasurer Giannoulias is backing Rep. John Fritchey.
* Rep. Feigenholtz’s campaign loan has become a minor issue…
Feigenholtz announced Friday she was lending her campaign $100,000. She has raised the most money of any candidate in the race — $550,000. But Fritchey and others who got into the race later are now outraising her.
“I find it pretty ironic that someone who made it a major selling point of her campaign that she could raise so much money now has to dig into her own pockets,'’ Fritchey said Saturday at a candidates forum.
“At the outset of this campaign, I knew I was going to make this kind of loan for a final push to get our mesage out,” Feigenholtz said.
Including the loan, Feigenholtz has a $634K $734K to $522K total cash lead over Fritchey…
There’s been a lot more coverage of the Chicago Auto Show than there has of the special election.
All this editorializing by the Tribune and the political chatter from others about holding a special US Senate election is hugely ironic, considering that the media has not given this congressional special election the coverage it deserves and the voters are showing almost no interest, either.
* Jesse Greenberg has some new Fritchey mail, and posted a new Charlie Wheelan campaign video.
