55 Comments - Obamacan - Thursday, Apr 23, 09 @ 7:25 am: Worked with him on the Obama campaigns. Great guy and smart as a whip. - Team America - Thursday, Apr 23, 09 @ 7:45 am: It will be interesting to see if Bond’s entry into the Dem race for IL-10 scares away Susan Garrett and Dan Seals, both of whom stated that they would run only if Mark Kirk did not. Bond is way more savvy than either of the other two by showing that he has the testicular verility to run against the fearsome Mark Kirk (wasn’t the Obama wave supposed to sweep him out of office, by the way?) regardless of Kirk’s plans. However, voters will be reminded that Bond is one of the Tribune’s “Blagojevich 26,” which may be a big issue if Roland Burris is still around to remind us of all of the fallout from the Dems continual enabling of Blago from the 2006 election onward. - JonShibleyFan - Thursday, Apr 23, 09 @ 7:55 am: NEWSFLASH: TeamKirk likes Kirk. - OneMan - Thursday, Apr 23, 09 @ 8:17 am: The big nugget is at the end of the story on Hastert.. There so no one else I have heard of expressing an interest in running. - RFK fan - Thursday, Apr 23, 09 @ 8:24 am: Krishnamoorthi is smart with an even temperament. I’m not sure why anyone would want the Comptroller’s job with the tasks ahead, but he’s the right kind of person to have it. - Peoria Pundit - Thursday, Apr 23, 09 @ 8:28 am: Krishnamoorthi? Never heard of him. - OneMan - Thursday, Apr 23, 09 @ 8:28 am: Who wouldn’t want to intern for Burris, man would you learn a lot. “You learn more from failure and you can from success” - Peoria Pundit - Thursday, Apr 23, 09 @ 8:32 am: And regarding Buss not being able to find help? Why would anyone put themselves through the grief. I witnessed how the press behaved towards his staffers the last time Burris was in Peoria. They were rude, arrogant, spoiled children. In other words, typical press behavior when they are not catered too. Since they couldn’t unload on Burris, they picked on staffers who lacked the ability to fight back. http://pundit.blogpeoria.com/2009/02/17/politics-hunting-down-burris-with-the-press-pack-in-peoria/ - wordslinger - Thursday, Apr 23, 09 @ 8:37 am: What about Oberweis’ the Younger in the 14th? He’s featured as a milkman in a kind of “Pleasantville” spot for the dairy that gets some play on Chicago TV. He was also featured in the “barber shop” spot for his old man last go round. I’m not really sure if the dairy is a big enough operation to justify a lot of TV spots. - Ghost - Thursday, Apr 23, 09 @ 8:52 am: I like Bond, he would be a great choice/option for this spot. - Ron - Thursday, Apr 23, 09 @ 9:20 am: Shimkus is right on target with his comments about cap and trade. It will be destructive to economy. Shimkus reflects the sentiments of the vast majority of voters in his district and downstate Illinois. There is no conclusive evidence that global warming is man made. - Cassandra - Thursday, Apr 23, 09 @ 9:21 am: Potential Burris interns are crazy not to take it in this job market. It’s a foot in the door…and they can job-hunt while they are getting some experience. - VanillaMan - Thursday, Apr 23, 09 @ 9:22 am: “I want to win,” Kenyon said. “That’s the important thing to me. So I want the time to be right.” Read that? You want to know why Illinois politics is corrupt? It is because we have political parties that don’t give a crap if the guys they nominate are the best candidates for us. They only want to win. That is how we get Ryans and Blagojevichs in office. Until both political parties take their missions seriously, voters will be cynical and hate their politicians. - VanillaMan - Thursday, Apr 23, 09 @ 9:27 am: Have you seen what even Obama now concedes as the total costs of “Cap and Trade” to American families? It is a huge tax and a destructive one. Talk about a Trojan Horse for the environmentalists. The House leadership must think everyone has utterly lost their minds. - Plutocrat03 - Thursday, Apr 23, 09 @ 10:13 am: Is anyone brave enough to do a realistic assessment of what a cap and trade program would do the the people of this country? Every form of energy would increase in costs. Jobs would be lost in the coal producing states particularly. The is the mother of all regressive tax policies. - Cat Dr - Thursday, Apr 23, 09 @ 10:16 am: Rich - I went to grade school and high school with Raja.  I remember him as an extremely bright, hard working, but very humble person.  I never thought of him as a political animal - especially in Illinois politics - as he always was quiet and conscientious.  I heard from some fellow alums that he had earned Barack Obama’s trust and worked as a close advisor, but at this point I am more intrigued than knowledgeable about his campaign. From what I know of his intelligence and ethics, Comptroller would seem to be a good fit from him.  Hope this helps at least a bit. - Dorothy Zbornak - Thursday, Apr 23, 09 @ 10:22 am: Krishnamoorthi “involved in administering tough ethics rules” ?? The tough ethics rules were began on Treasurer Giannoulias’ first day in office - practically a year if not more before he was even working in the Treasurer’s office. If someone is trying to ride coat tails here let’s make sure it’s someone who deserves the ride - Former Traffic Prosecutor - Thursday, Apr 23, 09 @ 10:24 am: Cassandra: This would be true if Burris had, in fact, actually posted any internship notices at area law schools. Whoever told Sneed that is absolutely wrong… - just sayin - Thursday, Apr 23, 09 @ 10:31 am: The Hastert crew’s arrogance and incompetence so screwed things up, Foster is now there to stay. Re Raja Krishnamoorthi, better order some extra large signs to accomodate that name. Finally, John Shimkus is nuts. I can’t believe the people in that district are satisfied with that guy representing them. Talk about setting your sights too low. - Pat collins - Thursday, Apr 23, 09 @ 10:41 am: The Hastert crew’s arrogance and incompetence so screwed things up, Foster is now there to stay. We will see. Perhaps the pleasantly surprising Sen. Christine R will convince the “establishment” to let Lauzen have a clear shot. That, plus the mid term effect may do it - springfieldish - Thursday, Apr 23, 09 @ 10:49 am: Bond is the perfect candidate for the 10th. Great business credentials AND strong labor support. Not just a fiscal conservative, but an executive with the expertise to thrive in the Washington environment, Bond would bring congressional representation back to the 10th. Kirk’s record is vacuous, scraps but no meat. Bond’s Senate Committees are hard-charging and result driven. Staffers love him. Voters took to him in a very Republican district because he listened and worked like a dog to knock on thousands of doors. In no time the voters of the 10th will understand that Bond ‘get’s it.’ - Lake Voter - Thursday, Apr 23, 09 @ 10:56 am: The shine on Bond is not as bright as it was. He got involved in a few local elections and got pounded (Gentes, Hyde). With that said he is fairly bright and does work hard. Be an interesting race if Garrett runs. In the 10th you have to be strong in the Cook portion to win. Kirk has lost the Lake portion of the district and survived because he is so strong in Cook. Garrett has to know this fact as does Seals. - Anonymous - Thursday, Apr 23, 09 @ 11:08 am: Cap and trade will raise prices and cost jobs, so we should definitely avoid that and kick the problem down the road so our children and grandchildren can deal with the consequences of our inaction. Sounds like the environmental version of the pension problem - give me the benefits today (lower taxes and more jobs), give the next generation the problems. - Jeff B. - Thursday, Apr 23, 09 @ 11:13 am: I worked with Raja Krishnamoorthi in a job right out of college, and became friends with him. Definitely a bright guy, even temperament, was always a good listener and gatherer of opinions- so maybe not so surprising that he went on (after I knew him) to success in Obama campaigns. Very neat to hear that he’s pursuing public service rather than megabucks somewhere in the private sector. - ConservativeVeteran - Thursday, Apr 23, 09 @ 11:15 am: Senator Bond will run for re-election, in 2010, and State Rep. Jo Ann Osmond should oppose him. She’s been a conservative legislator since 2003, and she was the chairman of the Lake Co. GOP, 2004-’06. In 2006, Bond barely won, with about 50.5%, replacing St. Sen. Geo-Kariss, a Republican who was in the state senate for about 30 years. - LTown - Thursday, Apr 23, 09 @ 11:22 am: Springfieldish, I agree with you. Bond is ambitious, smart, and been extremely proactive in the Senate. Toss that in with his ability to raise money and win an election, and I think we’ve got our next congressman. - Team America - Thursday, Apr 23, 09 @ 11:34 am: He’s ambitious, I’ll give him that, even to the point of running over his mentor Terry Link if he feels it’s to his advantage. At least he’s won an election, unlike Seals. - springfieldish - Thursday, Apr 23, 09 @ 11:48 am: Lake Voter- Bond’s involvement in the Hyde and Gentes races was tangential at best; too much going on in Springfield at the time. Remember, the infrastructure committee had to coordinate a dizzying array of local and county governmental agencies and Bond showed an impressive bi-partisanship in helping these people get the projects up and ready for stimulus money. While Suzi Schmidt was whining about not being invited to meetings, her Lake County engineering staff were working with Bond to get the money flowing. Getting real projects going is where the political rubber meets the road and that’s Bond’s strength. - Skeptical Cynic - Thursday, Apr 23, 09 @ 11:54 am: Bond kind of reminds me of Al Salvi–another young man in a hurry from up Lake County way. His overwheening ambition ended him up back in private life pretty quickly. - Tommy Boy - Thursday, Apr 23, 09 @ 12:18 pm: The GOP in the 14th District (one of the few places there is still a GOP) doesn’t want to see young Hastert in the race. They know that an inexperienced legacy trying to grab daddy’s political seat would undermine the Republicans’ ace in the hole-Democrat arrogance and corruption. - Anon - Thursday, Apr 23, 09 @ 12:18 pm: Agreed Skeptical Cynic - Bond ran for school board in 05, Senate in 06 and now Congress in 2010? What has he actually accomplished? He still serves on the school board AND in the Senate AND supposedly works at Allstate. I think he needs to settle in and get something done (other than voting for pay raises). Instead, he seems to be carrying on the proud 10th District Democratic tradition of running for Congress in a district that he doesn’t live in. - vole - Thursday, Apr 23, 09 @ 12:18 pm: John Shimkus’s nervous system has benefited as much from the mercury spewing from coal powered generating plants in southern IL as the planet has benefited from all the CO2 “fertilization” from those plants. Shimkus is giving Jim Inhofe a real run for the dunce cap. - LTown - Thursday, Apr 23, 09 @ 12:38 pm: Anon 1218, that sort of reasoning is pretty irrelevant. Obama ran for Senate ‘04 in and President in ‘08. Playing up his inexperience didn’t play with voters. Aside from that, Bond’s four years of work in the state Senate make him plenty qualified. When the state was distracted with our transitioning governors, he took initiative to make sure we were in a position to receive maximum federal stimulus dollars. We need more people who think bigger picture like that to represent us. - TheWatcher - Thursday, Apr 23, 09 @ 12:43 pm: Bond is young enough to serve 20 years and gain real power. Now if someone could teach Mike to keep his word. - springfieldish - Thursday, Apr 23, 09 @ 1:03 pm: Sorry, amigos, but there are no similarities between Al Salvi and Michael Bond. Salvi proved that money alone won’t get you elected, and never caught on that voters would see right thru the hyper-conservative rhetoric flowing from the mouth of a million-dollar-verdict personal injury lawyer. Bond has not only proven an ability to get things done in a remarkably short period of time, but also campaigns in the land of no-foolin’. He engaged voters in a way no Lake County candidate has done in 50 years, and then helped 4 Democratic Lake County Board candidates beat entrenched incumbents by doing the same. Salvi had to self-fund his gibber-jabber; Bond earns backers by being the real deal. You don’t move up Allstate’s ladder by doing nothing and you don’t chair big committees in the Senate unless the leadership believes things will get done. Both have been proven correct. Lake County is changing; it’s electorate is more engaged and expect more from their representatives. Bond’s 31st Senate district is far more Republican than the 10th and he won by working it. This is the right time for Bond to run in the 10th and he’s the kind of hard-working candidate that voters respect. - Maggie - Thursday, Apr 23, 09 @ 1:13 pm: Bond was a member of the “Blagojevitch 26″ - the group of Illinois state Senators who voted against an amendment that would’ve permitted Illinois voters to oust governors by a popular vote. - Shore - Thursday, Apr 23, 09 @ 1:14 pm: 1. Hastert should be persona non grata to Republicans. What his father did to our party is unforgivable at the national and state level. Getting rid of Peter Fitzgerald, then losing congress, just awful. I’m also not a fan of DUI legislators. 2. The Mark Kirk bashing continues to be outrageous. I realize for Democrats used to aristocrats, millionaires and incompetence that an ivy league naval reservist nationally and internationally respected rather than reviled for his policy making talents is a foreign concept, but Kirk is a real force. 3. - Anon - Thursday, Apr 23, 09 @ 1:25 pm: LTown. Bond can barely tie his shoes, let alone be a force to secure federal dollars. Using the Obama experience argument is weak at best. Let’s call this what it is, a page out of the Politics 101 playbook. 1) Announce early to get out in front of Garrett, a bright, widely respected legislator with infinitely more name-ID in the 10th. 2) Contract with a media firm and a political consultant that will spend more of your money than they are worth. 3) Hope that Garrett and ‘third time’s a charm’ Seals don’t get in. - springfieldish - Thursday, Apr 23, 09 @ 1:33 pm: Obviously, Shore hasn’t read Team America’s Lake County Republican blog. They are continually bashing him. They refer to him as a RINO (I had to ask someone, and I still think it’s hilarious!), and even though Great Lakes Naval Training Center is in his district, Kirk does not get a lot of support from naval and marine vets. Bond has earned strong support from Marine vets. As to Kirk’s policy-making talents, well, good luck finding an example of that. He is a force all right, a force for the blanding of Illinois. He’s the mayo on a sandwich that needs mustard, the cream soda when an IPA 90 Minute is called for, dippin’ dots to ice cream……. I could go on but I’m making me hungry! - anon - Thursday, Apr 23, 09 @ 1:37 pm: Anon 1:25 couldn’t agree more. So let me get this right….Bond feels he can run in a district he doesn’t live in? Bond conspired with Sen Link on the voter fraud committed in Lake County. Bond thinks he could make it past a primary against Garrett. Bond supported Gov Blago. Bond was against Gov Quinn in recall…“In addition, Bond said most of the people calling his office favoring recall focused solely on Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Bond, and other recall opponents, said it’s a mistake…” I don’t think Bond is fit for the school board, much less the state senate or congress. - dupage dan - Thursday, Apr 23, 09 @ 1:37 pm: I agree w/Ron (9:20 AM) and Shimkus. Global warming due to human action is the biggest scam of the 21st century. I remember the first earth day pronouncements back in 1970: We will be knee deep in cigarette butts by 1980 (never happened). We will run out of oil by 1990 (never happened). Pronouncements by grant hungry “academics” who are stifling dissent by learned colleagues has the potential to bring about damaging regulations that could wreak havoc on our countrys’ economy in ways we can hardly imagine. While we are wrecking our own economy with this cap and trade bull, China will continue to build coal fired power plants by the dozens each year. If the eco-groups and the president want low carbon emmision power why are they ignoring nuclear power in favor of wind turbines? (NOT IN NANTUCKET - the Kennedys are shouting) That couldn’t provide the needed power levels even if they were stacked on top of each other. How’s about ethanol? We could plant every arable acre in this country and convert the crop to ethanol and we would only be able to offset petroleum use by about 10%. Let’s get real here. Al Gore doesn’t know what he’s talking about. - Louis G. Atsaves - Thursday, Apr 23, 09 @ 1:57 pm: Since Kirk is being taken seriously as a candidate for U.S. Senate or even Illinois Governor, the Kirk bashers have been out in full force bashing away. Kirk must be doing something right when the extremists of both political parties get a case of extreme nausea at the sound of his name. And most of the bashing has been pretty silly stuff. Both Bond and Garrett know how to campaign and get their messages out. Bond has done extremely well using technology to get his voters out and will be a force to be reckoned with. Both the abilities of Bond and Garrett as campaigners should be respected. The Seals message grew tired by the end of his second campaign and nothing new is emerging to show some fresh ideas from him. Since no one else is asking: Since Melissa Bean lives in the 10th and Bond apparently lives in the 8th, shouldn’t they swap places the next election and run in their respective districts? Just asking! And this stuff about Senator Geo-Karis’ endorsement of Bond I notice is popping up in a few places today. One person even used the word “coercion.” I can count on some of the fingers of my left hand the number of people close to Geo-Karis who know the true story about that endorsement and her decision to so endorse. I’m one of them. “Coercion” incorrectly describes that action. That’s all I’m saying on that one. Kirk is also an excellent campaigner who can speak to audiences and win them over. He comes across as thoughtful and intelligent, qualities only a few politicians can master. He hasn’t been winning tough campaigns in the 10th on sheer luck. If he stays put and Bond, Garrett or Seals run against him, he will win again. And if he runs for U.S. Senator or even Illinois Governor, I see him potentially winning for the same reasons. - Anon - Thursday, Apr 23, 09 @ 2:01 pm: springfieldish, you must be drinking from the same water fountain as Blago. Great Lakes is being improved and expanded. The North Chicago VA is transforming to a new $100 million state-of-the-art facility. Even Democrats agree that this is due to Kirk. You say “Kirk does not get a lot of support from naval and marine vets.” This is news to me. He was endorsed by VFW PAC and has an active group of veteran supports. Oh, and I almost forgot, HE IS A VETERAN. When did Bond serve? - IrishPirate - Thursday, Apr 23, 09 @ 2:04 pm: Perhaps Burris should post his job openings in Chicago steakhouses. There have to be some bussers or waitstaff looking for governmental jobs. I say start them out at 60 grand……… - Mr. Know-it-All - Thursday, Apr 23, 09 @ 3:56 pm: VanillaMan says: You want to know why Illinois politics is corrupt? It is because we have political parties that don’t give a crap if the guys they nominate are the best candidates for us. They only want to win. That is how we get Ryans and Blagojevichs in office. Until both political parties take their missions seriously, voters will be cynical and hate their politicians. Of course political parties only care about winning; THAT is their mission. The responsibility to actually govern and lead falls on the individuals that are elected and that happen to be members of the party. That’s nuanced, yes, but let’s not pretend for a minute that party chairmen will or should care about whether a particular law is enacted, except to the extent it affects the polls the next time around. - phocion - Thursday, Apr 23, 09 @ 4:07 pm: Methinks thou doth protest too much, kindly Kirkians and Bondians. Sorry, it’s speak like Shakespeare day. Jeez, if there’s this much Kirk/Bond banter now, I really am not looking forward to 2010. - Jake from Bellwood - Thursday, Apr 23, 09 @ 4:29 pm: Young Mr. Hastert should probably reconsider. The Kendall County crowd did not take kindly a few years back when Dallas Ingemnunson’s kid ran for his dad’s old job. Nepotism doesn’t play that well in Kendall County. - springfieldish - Thursday, Apr 23, 09 @ 4:31 pm: To Anon 2:01 - “Thou puking knotty-pated horn-beast!” I couldn’t resist! As a matter of fact, Kirk voted in favor of bills supporting disabled veterans 0% of the time in 03, 04, 05, and in 06 a whopping 66% of the time. VFW PAC? Let’s see, they support Republican candidates 99.8% of the time. Let’s hope he was instrumental in improving the North Chicago VA, since he was instrumental in letting the funding to maintain VA hospitals descend into the dark ages. Actually, Dick Durbin had as much to do with pushing that appropriation as Kirk. Kirk just bleets more about it. Bond’s support of the 2/24 Marine families is legendary in Lake County. - Ela Observer - Thursday, Apr 23, 09 @ 4:32 pm: Bond only gave tangential support to Gentes’s Senate 2008 race. The Bond organization was primarily focused on the Lake County board races that election. Hyde’s 2009 re-election could be counted as a loss for Bond. A lesson for anyone with the termerity (or foolhardiness) to tinker in Waukegan politics. Looking to 2010, Garrett will not run for the 10th CD. Bond will not be able to shockandawe Seals out of running against him in the primary. The only thing keeping Seals out of the primary is Kirk’s decision to run for re-election in the 10th CD. Which is what Kirk will do. This would be good news for Bond. I don’t think Bond beats Seals in a primary. But I give Bond a 50/50 chance against Kirk. - True Observer - Thursday, Apr 23, 09 @ 4:50 pm: “You don’t move up Allstate’s ladder by doing nothing…” Let’s see- Possibly the second largest insurer in the U.S. Based in Illinois. In an industry exempt from federal anti-trust laws. One of the most highly regulated industries at the state level. - he lives in the heart of the 8th District - Thursday, Apr 23, 09 @ 8:31 pm: Michael Bond does not live in the 10th district. Here’s what’s puzzling: If Bond is so brave in declaring his candidacy how come we haven’t heard a peep from him? So far all we have heard from are his “sources”. So has he officially announced? Or is he just playing political games? Come out of the closet Michael! - steve schnorf - Friday, Apr 24, 09 @ 12:41 am: VM, “the candidates they nominate” can’t be the best people for all of us. There is too much difference of opinion between and among the parties. What you seem to expect is impossible. It doesn’t bother me that in the end our choices come down to the better among the choices. If both parties nominated candidates that I thought were best, it would probably scare you (and lots of others) to death. The reverse is probably also true. In your absolutist demands, I think you deny our human condition too much. - 14th CD - Friday, Apr 24, 09 @ 1:01 am: Ethan Hastert is a non-starter. He was living in Chicago until recently. Never been elected to anything. Drunk driving conviction. No private sector business experience. - A WISE OLD MAN - Friday, Apr 24, 09 @ 5:01 am: Was Ethan Hastert convicted on the drunk driving charge? I’ve seen the newsprint on his arrest, but could not find how the case was dispositioned. If there is a link, please share. Glad to see Kane Republican Chairman Kenyon and 14th CD State Committeeman Wiggins express diplomatic reservations, as well as Lauzen’s reticence. Lauzen is clearly not going to Washington, and he’s proven twice he cannot raise money needed for a race like this. I do believe Foster is here to stay. - 14th CD - Friday, Apr 24, 09 @ 11:37 am: Yes, he pled guilty and was convicted in 2001. NY Times had the story. Foster is beatable. He is plain vanilla and squishy and a poor communicator. Just like Boyda in KS, this district will turn back to the GOP after one term if there is a decent candidate. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.