47 Comments - VanillaMan - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 9:28 am: There isn’t much difference between Quinn and Hynes. What Hynes has to do is put the fear of losing the governor’s mansion on full display. Dan can beat Quinn if Illinois Democrats believe Quinn couldn’t win. With Illinois Democrats underestimating the GOP, (for very real reasons, btw), they might not bite at this kind of message from Hynes. The Illinois Democrats have been very delusional over the past four years, and they may still believe that the GOP will save them from defeat once again. Hynes will have to shake Democrats up, and he hasn’t a track record for doing that. If Dillard finds the cruising easy, Hynes may have to use it as a warning that Quinn will go down, and that Dan Hynes would be a better candidate. - north sider - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 9:29 am: between Kenneddy and Giannoulias, the amount of political ads that will be on television and on buildings will be overwhelming. By the way, can we please have a candidate for the Senate who wasn’t born a multi-millionaire? Seriously folks, we need someone in office who understands what struggle is about. Illinois is in a financial crisis, how can these two candidates relate at all? - Rich Miller - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 9:32 am: north sider, FDR was born a millionaire and he seemed to empathize with the poor. I’m not saying you’re wrong, I’m just sayin… - Niles Township - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 9:39 am: One plus is for the TV stations that are hurting for revenue. There will be competitive races for governor, senator and cook county board president. They have to love that. - Segatari - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 10:00 am: JBT should just stay out. Alexi went after the stuff she left behind undone and refuse to fix - like that downtown hotel fiasco. Plus her lack of desire to win was demonstrated in her poor run for governor. - Conservative Republican - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 10:14 am: Regarding Rich Miller’s “friend’s” comment about a tracking videotape of Dillard’s announcement: I think this is an example of what separates the Republicans from the Democrats. There still is a remnant of regard for Reagan’s 11th Commandment amongst professional Republicans. This was Dillard’s announcement, his first foray out in the campaign. He is a distinguished Illinois statesman. Hence he was entitled to his day in the sun. I don’t think it crossed the minds of his more prominent Republican opponents to track his speech for a verbal flub. Such thinking is more in the vein of Democratic tactics. The Democrats are much more atuned to the “politics of personal destruction” than they claim to be and than they accuse Republicans of. So chalk one up for more integrity amongst the Republican gubernatorial candidates on that one. By the way, I heard that the Birkett-dissing remark was not made during his announcement, but afterward in response to a reporter’s question. If true, it might not have been available for videoing anyway. - dupage dan - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 10:24 am: Segatari, JBT got a better on that hotel mess than could have been gotten otherwise. Alexi will have alot of ’splainin’ to do re the IFDA and the college fund mess. Democrats are in trouble this cycle no matter how much they try to believe otherwise. Northsider & Rich, As far as needing someone who understands the poor, multi-millionaires may have the power to get into office while claiming to have a special understanding of the poor and downtrodden (FDR, RFK, Teddy Kennedy, Huey Long to name a few), their track record speaks more loudly than their rhetoric. FDR’s programs did not lift the U.S. out of the depression. Unemployment remained high until the war machinery of WW11 lifted the country out of the depression. RFK didn’t really have a chance to shine due to his untimely demise. Teddy would have the country bankrupted by foisting a gov’t run heatlhcare program when the evidence is irrefutable that Medicare is near bankrupcy. Huey Long’s name was added for comic effect. - dupage dan - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 10:25 am: Segatari, 1st sentence should read “JBT got a better ‘deal’ on that hotel mess than could have been gotten otherwise. sorry - Louis Howe - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 10:30 am: Actually the public may be ready for a real FDR type of “Noblesse Oblige.” However, Alexi doesn’t strike me strike me as an FDR type while Chris Kennedy certainly has the family lineage. - Inquisitor - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 10:30 am: If JBT is truly committed to run for Comptroller, I think you’d see a radically different candidate that we saw during her gubernatorial effort. She knew her stuff as Treasurer, and truly enjoyed that job and could effortlessly transition to the other side of the financial aisle. And let’s face it: she add a spark of fun to the whole process. I say run, Judy, run. - Bakersfield - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 10:31 am: Oh come on Rich, had they had a tracker there the dopes in the Chicago media would have accused them of “stalking” Dillard. Big mistake, though. - JonShibleyFan - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 10:32 am: Republicans should thank their lucky stars JBT is running for comptroller. Her face is familiar and she has an easy message. - JonShibleyFan - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 10:34 am: “…had they had a tracker there the dopes in the Chicago media would have accused them of “stalking” Dillard.” Maybe if they followed him into the john or eavesdropped on calls to his wife and kids. Even so, that’d be a one-day story, against a clip that would be replayed the whole cycle. Any of them would take that trade. - wordslinger - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 10:35 am: – his federal financial disclosure statement–which requires that only the range of assets be listed–will show that he is worth between $13 million and $62 million, I’m told.– That’s a lot of cash for a young man. If I had that kind of money when I was his age, I would never have seen 40. - Balance - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 10:46 am: What is she thinking? - fed up - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 10:48 am: Eliminating the Lt. gov position seems like a good idea maybe we could flip a coin and get rid of the comptroller/treasurers office to. - dupage dan - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 10:48 am: Louis Howe, Don’t we already have someone like that at the national level? Seems like his noble spending habits are starting to tell on his opinion poll numbers. I’d rather have a few months/years of tough economic times than decades of economic despair at the hands of any “well meaning” big spender of my money. FDR’s administration was a failure - only “saved” by an horrific 6 year world war. Spare me the Noblesse Oblige, please. BTW - the Kennedy mystique ain’t been passed on to the next generation. That dynasty “don’t hunt”. He should stick to the Merchandise Mart - he will do best for Illinois if he manages the business well. - Rob_N - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 10:56 am: DuPage Dan, The only history “books” that claim FDR’s policies failed and were only “saved” by WWII are written by conservative pundits who ignore half the data out there. You are certainly free to believe in whatever you want — but pixies and unicorns don’t really exist. - wordslinger - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 10:58 am: –FDR’s administration was a failure - only “saved” by an horrific 6 year world war.– The contemporary full-mooner “intellectual” revisionism of FDR is as sad as it is ignorant. It’s amazing that this failure somehow was elected four times, kept the country from tearing itself apart, beat the fascists, and put the country on a footing to enjoy the greatest expansion of prosperity in the history of the planet. Read your Reagan — he voted for FDR four times and was proud to say so til he began his long twilight journey. - Rob_N - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 11:01 am: Segatari and DuPage Dan, You’re both half-right. JBT put the deal to get rid of the property together but it wasn’t completely negotiated by the time she had to leave office. Giannoulias finished the negotiations she had started and gave her credit for the work she did. - Phineas J. Whoopee - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 11:02 am: Hynes is the only candidate who could beat Quinn in a boring contest. Appearing to be an opportunistic, party splitting, nepotism influenced machine democrat could have a negative influence as well. Methinks the dems should stick with Quinn for four years. He will trounce any republican because he will get many repub votes. - dupage dan - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 11:21 am: Rob_N, The only books? Really? The unemployment figures that exist outside of any “books” tell a good story. You can look at manufacturing production figures during that period, as well, and note that efficiency was low and output was not getting better during the latter part of the ’30’s. I didn’t find that info in any conservative pundit’s books, BTW. Didn’t get it from any unicorn’s either. Wordslinger, Just because FDR was re-elected doesn’t mean that he was a success. The first re-election came at a time when things looked a little better - why change in mid-stream? By the time of the 3rd term (1940), the world was at war and our involvement was feared by many. FDR proclaimed loudly during that campaign that he would keep the US out of the war (look how well that worked out). That is what people wanted to hear at that time. The economy was not in good shape then (after 8 years of FDR’s magical economic policies, unemployment hoevered at 20%) but the fear of war got FDR votes. The last campaign was happening at the end of the war - the economy was going well due to the war (which we were winning), not FDR’s economic policies. The “4″ terms of FDR were an anomally. Claiming that his multiple terms were indicative of the voters confidence in his economic policies is pixie dust. FDR did some wonderful things for this country. I was only commenting on his economic policies and how they failed to improve the economy during the depression. From 1932 until the entrance of our country into the war the economy did not substantially improve. Adding that he beat the fascists is irrelevant to that discussion. Reagan took alot from FDR - he would likely have had 4 terms if the constitution would have let him and age didn’t diminish his great powers. Admiration should not be confused with agreement. Both of you should get better information about history - high school history books are not much better than watching Oliver Stone or Michael Moore movies. Fun to watch but full of cr@p. - Arthur Andersen - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 11:24 am: PJW, and why is it that you think the Lite Guv will attract R voters? - Libertyville - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 11:29 am: Segatari: “Plus her lack of desire to win was demonstrated in her poor run for governor.” I guess I will take that seriously when you get the stones to run against somebody with 27 million dollars of dirty money to throw at you. JBT took a principled stand by running. And the margin she lost by..just under 10 points…was not much different than the highly touted congressiona/turned Gov candidates in Iowa and Wisconsin. 2006 sucked for the GOP. And btw, serg….jbt was the last GOPer to win statewide. Getting 55% of the vote against a pretty good candidate named Tom Dart. As I recall she was the only goper elected that year. - Rich Miller - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 11:34 am: CR, my friend is a Republican. So, that kinda knocks down another one of your theories. - VanillaMan - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 11:35 am: Rich Miller’s original point regarding FDR was the fact that he is recognized by all as having had the empathy necessary, and coming from a wealthy family, to counter the original posting that suggests that we should avoid candidates born with family fortunes. The fact that the New Deal was a total bust is irrelevent to that fact. He was a man with a big heart - no doubt. - wordslinger - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 11:44 am: –There still is a remnant of regard for Reagan’s 11th Commandment amongst professional Republicans.– Not so you’d notice! - wordslinger - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 11:50 am: Dupage Dan, I’d suggest, as I have many times here: “Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929-1945,” by David M. Kennedy. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, it’s part of the extraordinary Oxford History of the United States. VMan, it’s 900 pages, so I’d suggest you wait for the movie. - dupage dan - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 11:53 am: FDR certainly was seen as having a big heart. He was also a ruthless, masterful politician and read the body politic very well. Read some of the biographies of FDR and Churchill and other contemporaries (not necessarily those by “conservatives”). They are not so flattering about FDR and his connection to the common man. - dupage dan - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 12:04 pm: I believe that Kennedy puts forth in that book that the depression was ended by the war, not FDR. There is no doubt that FDR had a way with words that calmed a country full of fear. To generalize that to the idea that his policies got the US out of the depression is not supported by the facts. - 47th Ward - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 12:17 pm: DuPage Dan and VanillaMan have convinced me. All we need to do is eliminate taxes and start WWIII to get this economy moving again. Brilliant! Seriously, the passionate revisionism of FDR’s legacy is curious to me. Why is the GOP so afraid of a president who has been dead for 64 years? - Rob_N - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 12:21 pm: DuPage Dan, Since you mentioned it, please tell us what the unemployment rate was in America when FDR first took office and then what is was just before we entered WWII (or even just before WWII began overseas since you claim WWII “saved” the economy). Some unbiased, nonpartisan facts would bolster your argument, if you can find them because as we all know you’re entitled to your own opinions but not your own facts. - Rich Miller - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 12:23 pm: Let’s move away from FDR. My mistake in bringing it up. However, WW2 was, indeed, a huge boost to the economy. Why? One big reason: Domestic spending beyond anything that FDR or the GOP ever dreamt possible. - Rob_N - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 12:24 pm: 47th Ward… They never stopped being afraid. They just keep inheriting the loathing of his programs from generations before. It’s like some sort of anti-FDR torch keeps getting passed on through the decades. Just look at all the conservative attempts over the years to dismantle Social Security, etc. Heck, it’s that loathing of him that in part motivated the 22nd Amendment. - Rob_N - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 12:27 pm: Rich, agreed, but that wasn’t Dupe’s point. - Bakersfield - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 12:31 pm: Be interested to see what Alexi has on hand after Q2. His disbursements in Q1 were $22,000 so I am guessing he was holding back on paying quite a few bills. 1.6 would be a nice number to put up, however. - Ghost - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 12:32 pm: Rob_N, the deal JBT put together was to let powerbroker Cellini keep the hotel, pay only .25 cents on the dollar for the loan after Cellini had been raiding its profits for years and not making payments on the loan. Jim Ryan blocked that sweetheart deal for cellini; which resulted in several years of litigation pushing JBT’s spport as reason the court should enforce letting cellini have the state pay for his hotels, but he gets to own the properties and reap the profits. Fortunetly JBT’s scheme to help cellini was stopped. the State took possession of the properties and is liquidating the assests. This is the deal anyone else gets when they miss a mortgage payment. JBT should never be allowed in office again after trying to toss millions of dollars of tax payer money away for the benfiti of cellini and friends. I like Hynes, I think Hynes has the money to run, but can come acroos a little dry campaining. Quinn does better with the speaking, but has no money. Should be an interesting race. - Rich Miller - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 12:33 pm: Ghost and others. Comptroller races are mainly name ID. Not sure if it’ll stick against her. - wordslinger - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 12:33 pm: DD, it’s a complex subject, but just a couple of points. –When FDR took office, he undertook the first comprehensive review of how all Americans lived. What they discovered was that about one-third of the nation had no idea “that they had this Depression on” as Wash Hogwallop might say. That’s because much of the country, particularly in the rural South, already lived in Depression-like conditions and had for generations. Many of the the New Deal programs were geared to the long-term goal of integrating that mass of humanity “ill clothed, ill fed, ill housed, ill educated and ill trained” into the national economy. –When WWII ended, there was a great fear that the Depression would return, as soldiers came home and war expenditures were cut. The fact that it did not can certainly be attributed to the massive public works improvements that laid the foundation for modern, incredibly productive economy, as well as the education and housing guarantees of the GI Bill, which produced an enormous, educated working class and the post-war housing boom that changed America forever. Think about it. We have been living pretty well here, haven’t we? Must have done something right. - VanillaMan - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 12:56 pm: …the passionate revisionism of FDR’s legacy is curious to me. You must not know how history is processed then. We are interested in seeing all sides to every historical issue. All we have had over the past few decades has been a pro-FDR, (justifably so, btw), accounting. What we have been witnessing has been an availability of new insights on the era and an availability of new economic views. This is absolutely normal, I’m even reading a liberal’s viewpoint of Ronald Reagan, so this happens to most presidents. The worse years of the Great Depression was 1936-1937. The very bottom. While Western Europe was growing economically, we were not. A lot of historians want to know what happened, especially economic historians. I know enough not to fall for the old standard that WWII saved the US economically. We are now just measuring the economic impact of war spending to really support this old yarn. It is a slam against FDR that is not yet fully supported by research, so I don’t cotton to it. As to the pro-FDR stuff, I spent years reading it. I don’t have to wait for movies. As a matter of fact, I have spent so much time reading that era that I am fully capable of reading rebutting historical accounts, and not get upset over it. If you guys want to just stop learning about this era to just want to believe what we were told in colleges and university class rooms, go ahead, but don’t include me. I believe that we are still learning about that era, and I want to hear from all sides, even if you do not. Yes, the New Deal was a bust. It is a fact. FDR handled it and moved on. You guys need to do the same. - Rich Miller - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 12:57 pm: Enough about FDR. Move along. There’s plenty to talk about here without going into that. - dupage dan - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 1:08 pm: I got wrapped up - history buffs get that way sometimes. Moving along. - Rob_N - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 1:17 pm: That’s it Rich… Start a second blog for history buffs to discuss national politics and historical revisionism so folks can “take it outside”. – Back to the topic … I’m hearing more about 10th CD too and possible legislative races as mini-dominoes. Should be interested to see what shakes out in the next few weeks. - boston bound - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 1:52 pm: i just boarded a plane bound for boston w/chris kennedy…he is very much becoming of-the-people in lowly row 6 w/the rest of us commoners…oops gotta power down! - scoot - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 5:07 pm: Thinka Topinka is back! Good for her! - Anonymous - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 5:22 pm: Wow, Boston, really?!!!! One or two more flights like that–and he’ll be just like us! - Anonymous - Friday, Jul 10, 09 @ 5:24 pm: You go, Girl!!! Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.