* Quote of the day goes to Cook County Board President Todd Stroger, who said this after filing his petitions late yesterday afternoon…
“I feel great,” Stroger said after filing. “I feel like 150 pounds of dynamite.”
I think that dynamite might be going off in his face pretty soon - cartoon-style, of course. Not in reality. I also figure there will be a lot of interest in the validity of those Stroger signatures and possibly a challenge.
Speaking of Stroger’s petitions…
About 40 minutes before deadline on the last day to file Monday, Cook County Board President Todd Stroger filed 22,000 signatures to run for re-election — about half as many as some of his main rivals.
It wasn’t that people were reluctant to sign his petitions, he said.
“Normally, you have people who collect signatures,” Stroger said. “It’s hard getting people out there to collect signatures.”
It’s definitely tough to get people to pass sheets knowing that almost every door they knock on will soon be slammed in their faces, coupled with screams of anger. I cannot imagine what it would be like circulating for Stroger.
The horror. The horror.
* Runner-up quote of the day award goes to Jim Ryan, who is now apparently campaigning as an outsider…
“Until you get in there, it’s hard to say exactly what you would do,” Ryan said, adding he also would eventually like to see pension and Medicaid reform.
The lack of specificity in Ryan’s comments was in sharp contrast to his run for governor seven years ago in which he offered detailed proposals to deal with an already out-of-whack budget. Since his loss to Blagojevich, Ryan has been teaching at Benedictine University in Lisle.
Ryan also appeared to be trying to bill himself as an outsider, despite two terms as Illinois attorney general and before that a stint as DuPage County state’s attorney.
“I think I bring a fresh perspective. I’ve been out of government for a long time,” Ryan said. “I love public service. I believe in public service. I don’t really think the government is supposed to be the problem, it’s supposed to be at least part of the solution and it hasn’t been.”
First McKenna, now Ryan. Yep. Outsiders. Sure.
By the way, Jim Ryan’s people said they were waiting to file until yesterday not because they were having petition problems but because they wanted the last spot on the ballot, which might be worth a point or three come election day. Well, as Cal Skinner notes, Ryan filed his petitions before Andy McKenna. So, McKenna gets the last spot, not Ryan. Oops.
* Politico appears to be overstating the influence of the tea partiers in Illinois…
In what could be a nightmare scenario for Republican Party officials, conservative activists are gearing up to challenge leading GOP candidates in more than a dozen key House and Senate races in 2010.
Conservatives and tea party activists had already set their sights on some of the GOP’s top Senate recruits — a list that includes Gov. Charlie Crist in Florida, former Rep. Rob Simmons in Connecticut and Rep. Mark Kirk in Illinois, among others. […]
Even in Illinois, where polls shows Kirk would be highly competitive as a general election candidate in a state in which Republicans have been crushed in recent elections, the prospect of picking up the president’s former Senate seat isn’t enough to win over many activists.
“We’re going to work hard as hell to make sure Mark Kirk doesn’t win,” said Evert Evertsen, an Illinois tea party organizer. “Mark Kirk is about as liberal as Arlen Specter was.”
What a breathless piece that was. No mention at all that not a single valid poll shows Kirk in any sort of GOP primary trouble.
The problem with Politico is that it too often sets the meme for the day. The Hill quickly followed suit, as did Hot Air, HuffPo and many, many more. Yet, there’s no real evidence that this surge yet exists in Illinois.
Look, I don’t doubt that the crazy NY congressional race could embolden the Right here and elsewhere if their candidate wins. But I do question whether they actually have the ability to do anything about it.
Speaking of which, Fox News runs a lede that directly contradicts the rest of its story…
Republican candidate Dr. Eric Wallace announced Tuesday that he is withdrawing his bid for Illinois’ U.S. Senate — making the path easier for Rep. Mark Kirk to secure the GOP nomination for the seat.
“Too much is at stake for the citizens of Illinois in this race and I have decided to put my personal ambitions aside to prevent the splitting of ‘true’ conservative and Christian votes in the primary and thereby handing the nomination uncontested to Mark Kirk,” Wallace said in a press release Tuesday.
“I don’t want to be responsible for handing this primary to Mark Kirk because my fellow conservatives and I split the vote in the Republican Party. Defeating Kirk has to take first priority because he is neither an economic nor social conservative,” Wallace said.
Wallace was an also-ran at best. The only way this helps conservative Republican Patrick Hughes is if Hughes can make it a close race. There’s just little to no evidence of that yet.
* Can we expect a barn-burner in Forrest Claypool’s old county board district? Likely…
State Rep. John Fritchey filed last week to replace Claypool, who three years ago narrowly lost a primary battle for county board president. Today, another challenger emerged: former Ald. Ted Matlak.
In 2007, Matlak lost his re-election bid in the 32nd Ward to newcomer Scott Waguespack.
Matlak is no political novice. Neither is Fritchey, who has the support of Claypool and U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley, D-Chicago, who was Claypool’s board ally before he won a special election for Congress earlier this year.
* Eric Zorn tries to parse blame in the Quinn vs. Hynes TV advertising fight. I mostly agree with what Zorn says, but this just isn’t right…
That [Hynes] ad, like Hynes’ first ad which started it all, fires wildly by unfairly labeling a legislative tax compromise as “Quinn’s proposal.”
Fires wildly?
Look, the governor endorsed that final House tax hike bill. He is on record saying that the House should ignore the Senate-passed tax increase bill and focus on the House bill at hand. And even after the House bill failed to pass, Quinn refused to budge from his position, saying the House version was the one he wanted.
So, it’s not a wild accusation, or at all unfair, to call this Quinn’s bill. He backed it. It’s his.
* Related…
* February primary ballots to be lengthy
* Republican Mark Kirk: It’ll be me vs. Democrat Alexi Giannoulias for U.S. Senate next year
* Hughes: Filed, withdrew and filed again. What’s the story? One of Hughes supporters had sent a petition sheet directly to the Board of Elections via snail mail, and the ISBE had no choice but to receive it as a filing. “I was stunned and asked how could that be? It didn’t have anything else with it and no one was authorized,” Johnston said. The staffer said it happens more than people know, but that if they get a sheet in the mail they have to treat it as a filing. That’s the law. “I asked how we fix it,” Johnston said. “She told me we had to withdraw the earlier filing and file the real packet. So she got the general counsel out, did a withdrawal form for me and then proceeded to accept the filing I had prepared. I had to find Patrick, had him notarize the form withdrawing from the earlier filing and brought that back to the Board.”
* Press Release: Today the Campaign Manager to Robert Dold – Republican candidate for Illinois’ 10th Congressional District – is calling on State Representative Beth Coulson to abandon her unlawful request to use state taxpayer funds or her funds from her state campaign account to pay for mailings while she is a candidate for federal office. “This use of taxpayer dollars taken from State coffers not only is illegal,” said Campaign Manager and Spokesperson Kelley Folino, “but it reveals a willingness on the part of Rep. Coulson to disregard campaign finance laws and Illinois taxpayers.” Ms. Folino urges the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) to reject Coulson’s request.
- Team America - Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 12:17 pm:
This great cartoon from The Hill pretty much sums up the self-destructive conservative gameplan.
http://thehill.com/opinion/weyants-world/66007-weyants-world-november-3-2009
- shore - Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 12:22 pm:
I am not a springfield guy, but in d.c. there’s either a 60 or 90 day rule that says those amount of days out from a voting day no franked mail can go out. If there’s no such rule in springfield I don’t see what dold is upset about. And if it’s campaign account he has no standing.
Politico also said in 2005 that congressman footlik would be our representative then said for the last 3 years that Dan Seals would represent us. oops. I don’t think Kirk will ever sleep well even if he’s elected-what happens when he gets a SCOTUS vote? but I agree with you he’s not going to be as easy to beat as the upstate new york woman.
- Pat Collins - Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 12:22 pm:
Conservatives and tea party activists had already set their sights on some of the GOP’s top Senate recruit
I do not think that this hurts Kirk per se, as, despite what some might say, he has not gone out of his way to make conservatives mad. I also think he will have some effective reach out.
Now, for some GOP state Reps, they just MIGHT get a challenge. If I were Kay Hatchert, I might be sweating a little….
- Carl Nyberg - Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 12:55 pm:
Talking Points Memo made the point that Gov. Charlie Crist should be nervous about his U.S. Senate campaign based on the NY-23 race.
It’s not Kirk who should be nervous in Illinois, but Beth Coulson. If the activists can whack Dede Scozzafava in October/November, why wouldn’t they be able to do the same to Coulson in January/February? What other Congressional race is going to be competing for their attention at that time?
Will endorsing the anti-Coulson become the litmus test for governor candidates to prove themselves to party activists in other parts of the state?
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 1:02 pm:
Nyberg may be spot on here.
- VanillaMan - Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 1:03 pm:
If you ask someone collecting Stroger’s ballot signatures if they think Mr. Stroger is 150 pounds of dynamite, they would probably agree that representing the Cook County President is like handling dynamite. Lit dynamite. With a short fuse.
Mr. Ryan claims that although he has been out of politics for years, he can bring a fresh perspective as governor. That makes no sense. His freshness date expired during 2002’s campaign. That is why he lost. Sitting on the store shelf for the past eight years, didn’t make him any fresher. If he said that he could bring “another” perspective to the Mansion, that would be more correct. It would an old perspective.
I cringe whenever a sub-prime second tier candidate makes news. It just reminds readers why these candidates are sub-prime and second tier. So Dr. Wallace wants to unite ‘true’ conservative and Christian votes in the primary? Which one did he represent? The only way he can consider his actions in any way Christian was when the Good Lord convinced him to drop out.
Fritchey seems to have found himself another barnburner of an election, didn’t he? Why is this happening? Because voters are in a tizzy, and everyone with a political itch thinks they have a chance this time around. It is like those commercials for a job search company that show a dozen people of varying skill levels trying to play the same game of tennis. It is all a bit nutty. To a veteran like Fritchey, it is probably also a bit frustrating. But hey, the Democrats have thrown us into this situation, so it’s like karma too, right?
The pundits so want the GOP to die they spin everything into a death watch. They have been repeatedly wrong, and will continue to meet their poor level of expectations with more death notices of the GOP.
But they have to be wrong about Kirk’s situation because no one can lose to a zombie. We’re talking Illinois GOP here folks. Talk about zombies! But the pundits want to keep spinning about how much the GOP is dying, so everything that happens will be spun that way. Silly!
- Will County Woman - Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 1:06 pm:
Why would anyone think to submit filings by mail? Shouldn’t you be afraid of your petitions getting lost or damaged? Wouldn’t that scare you enough to just submit them in-person?
- just sayin' - Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 1:11 pm:
Too bad George Ryan hasn’t been sprung yet. He’s a real outsider because he’s been living out of state. Add George to the ballot and pretty much the entire band will be back together.
Note to the IL GOP brain trust: that’s just a joke. Don’t take it as a suggestion. Seriously, running George Ryan would be a bad idea. Yes really. Stop thinking about it. Stop. Please.
- DupageFan - Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 1:14 pm:
Hughes: Ditka in, Ditka out, ditka back in.
Hughes: I filed, I withdrew my filing, I filed again.
Arrington and Lowery at least know how to run a campaign
- ahoy - Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 1:15 pm:
Are these tea party people just Democrats in disguise trying to take down the Republican party? Or are they just crazy?
If it’s the first their brilliant!
- Pat collins - Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 1:18 pm:
Isn’t it news that Lip the son gets a primary pass?
Each term makes him all the more solid….
- OneMan - Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 1:25 pm:
We are all outsiders…
- shore - Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 1:35 pm:
Nyberg,
I agree with you which is why I have been so disappointed to see establishment republicans like aaron gq schock, shimkus and former pro-life nrcc boss tom cole lineup behind coulson.
10 years ago when the seat was open, a fellow named john cox came out and got 26 percent of the vote and had it not been for the last minute endorsement of john porter, the primary would have gone to the conservative. (despite redistricting intending to make kirk safer) The district is not that conservative anymore and so that is unlikely, although coulson is an even juicier target than that woman because the woman in new york was endorsed by the NRA, and coulson is not pro-gun and was endorsed by blago.
- South Side Mike - Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 1:36 pm:
DupageFan: I think it’s the Hughes’ campaign version of the hokey-pokey:
Hughes says Coach Ditka’s in
Hughes says Coach Ditka’s out
Hughes says Coach Ditka’s in
And he promotes him all about
Hughes does the hokey pokey
And turns pundits all around
That’s what he’s all about.
Hughes sends his petitions in
Hughes withdraws his petitions out
Hughes sends his petitions in
Leaving us with a lot of doubt
Hughes does the hokey pokey
And turns commenters all around
That’s what he’s all about.
- just sayin' - Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 1:49 pm:
I really wish the Mark Kirk people would stop the petty sniping at Pat Hughes. Clearly Kirk’s people don’t think their guy is the lock in the primary they want everyone to believe.
A well meaning volunteer (let’s give benefit of the doubt) mailed a petition form to the Board of Elections. A state staffer, also probably well meaning but maybe poorly trained, logged the thing in as an official filing.
There is no story here. A candidate can’t possibly be held responsible for what every volunteer circulator does and certainly not for what a state employee does.
The Board of Elections definitely needs to fix its procedure going forward. Slimy players will now see a way they can create all kinds of havoc. Especially when most every candidate puts petition forms on their website. Anyone could print one out, throw some sigs on and mail to the Board of Elections.
- Anonymous - Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 1:52 pm:
Great cartoon, TA.
I’m not sure that the linked articles accurately reflect the sentiment of “the Conservatives” here in Illinois. Similar “discussions” have been going on for quite some time now–and while there are definitely some loud voices, I think that many Conservatives want to win this Senate Seat and more importantly, actually feel OK with Kirk.
While he may be perceived as being on the wrong side of social issues, many Conservatives I’ve spoken with recognize him as the fiscal conservative he is, and appreciate his decades of service in govt and the military which they see as positives. Plus they really, really like his background in and depth of knowledge re: national security and foreign policy.
And I haven’t seen anything that shows he’s in trouble. As a matter of fact, even I was surprised at a recent Milton Township event–where Kirk and Hughes both spoke–and Kirk won 224 to 55. (The other candidates didn’t even make it into double-digits.)
Yeah, “it’s just a straw poll”, but we’re talking Milton Township, which is considered the “heart” of DuPage–and folks out there know their Candidates and issues extremely well. While I pretty certain Kirk would win, I was surprised by how much.
- South Side Mike - Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 2:06 pm:
Just sayin’,
I carry no water for Kirk. I understand what happened with the petitions and that it may at least once or twice each election cycle, and that Hughes may have had the misfortune to have this occur on the last day of filing, when people are paying more attention than usual. But when you are trying to run an upstart campaign, you can’t afford embarrassing mistakes like the Ditka endorsement. You don’t look credible to voters.
I agree with Anonymous: Kirk may not be the ideal GOP primary candidate because of his social issues stances. But he is pretty darn moderate/conservative in almost every other area. He is by no means an Illinois version of Scozzafava.
- Anon - Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 2:08 pm:
Hughes is headed for failure with the inept Johnston and Zahm running his campaign.
- just sayin' - Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 2:39 pm:
Mike Ditka endorsed Pat Hughes. Again, where is the story?
A few people can’t just get together in a vacuum and declare there is an issue.
- Abe Froman - Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 2:46 pm:
Kirk’s campaign is hardly sniping at Hughes. Pat is doing a perfectly good job of making himself look foolish.
As has been amply pointed out here, Kirk is no Scozzofava. She found a way to make almost every Republican angry and ran a horrible campaign. The majority of GOPers find Kirk acceptible on balance and electable in November. That is why he is not facing anything close to a competitive primary.
Kirk has also spent several months behind the scenes making inroads among conservatives. Of course he will never win over the most strident or those who demand a paycheck for their loyalty. But those people, (some of whose names have appeared above) have proven themselves to be ineffective and inconsequential.
Note to Shore-Do some research. Cox came in 5th in the 2000 GOP primary in the 10th CD, with less than 10% of the vote. He was never in contention. Pro-Choice candidates got almost 75% of the primary vote.
- shore - Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 2:53 pm:
Abe,
Porter only endorsed Kirk over Hochberg, one of his big donors because he was afraid the rightwinger would get the nominee and lose the seat. His wife made the same argument. That was a big concern throughout that primary that with 10 moderates and one conservative, the pro-life folks would go to one candidate.
Team America is the only Kirk person sniping at Hughes and forgive me, but in competitive primaries you’re supposed to raise questions about your opponent and Kirk’s been subject to more heat from the right the Hughes has from Team and Louis Astaves.
- regular democrat - Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 2:55 pm:
Stroger should feel like 350 lbs of dynamite after the media started investigating his opponents. Brown is finished and they are just starting to pound O’Brien. He is looking a lot better today. Don’t count him out just yet. His opposition is very weak at best. We shall see!!!!
- Abe Froman - Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 3:10 pm:
Shore,
While there was some fear back in 2000 about Cox getting some traction it was early on, by the time the Porter endoresement came out, there was more concern about the electability of many of the other candidates, moderate and conservative. Kirk had come out of nowhere to the top tier of candidates and Porter put him over the top.
- Team America - Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 3:12 pm:
It’s true that being a Kirk supporter I’ve been pretty critical of Hughes’ campaign so far, but gosh, when the guy keeps serving up these softballs (Ditka, petitions, etc.), somebody’s going to hit them.
- Bubs - Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 3:16 pm:
Politico is very much misjudging the Tea Party folk. While the organizers no doubt prefer to see it as a unified group of Hard Right “grassroots” under their direction, most I know who have attended rallies are libertarian in outlook, showed up at the rallies without any intention of joining any organization, and do not take instructions from people like Mr. Evertsen.
Tea party organizers will learn this hard lesson when they seek to empower themselves by trying to turn a very legitimate, if somewhat disorganized expression of public protest at a governmental trend into their personal political power base. It will crumble to dust, which will be a sad day, as the Tea Parties are definitely relevant.
- Reformer - Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 3:41 pm:
Kirk has an F- rating by the Second Amendment groups. He was one of the few Republicans to oppose the surge in Iraq. Miller is right,however, that Kirk will win the GOP nomination, which proves most Illinois Republicans aren’t such rigid ideologues after all.
- Cousin Ralph - Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 4:22 pm:
Wow, the cynical way Ryan is reported in this blog today is way beneath the journalistic standards I expect from Rich. There is no front runner in the GOP Gov race and Jim Ryan has as good a shot of winning as any. In fact, given what is happening within the GOP everywhere in the country, he may have a better shot at winning than Kirk does at winning the senate nomination. While I personally am very fond of Judge Lowery from Pope County, why Patrick Hughes has become the candidate this blog loves to hate is bewildering. Mark Kirk has very, VERY, real problems with his base and is avoiding important, downstate events like the plague.
GOPers dont hate Jim Ryan. Ryan lost because George Ryan scandals depressed turnout and Blago had promised change we could believe in. Right now, Jim Ryan looks alot better than what we voted for in 2002 and looks alot better than what passes for Dem leadership in Chicago, Cook County and Springfield. Warts and all, the cynicism here is not justified for either Ryan or Hughes.
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 4:27 pm:
===the cynical way Ryan is reported in this blog today is way beneath the journalistic standards I expect from Rich===
How is pointing out a 180 degree flip-flop “cynical”? Please, explain this to me.
- jim - Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 4:38 pm:
Let me defend Jim Ryan, although I am not a permanent defender of Jim Ryan.
Ryan didn’t claim to be an outsider, Rich claimed Ryan claimed the role of outside. Ryan said he had been out of government for eight years and that that is a long time. Well, he has been out of government for eight years, and that is a relatively long time to be gone. He also said he is devotged to public service (words I despise).
Further, just because Ryan supported a tax swap (which really was just a tax hike) years ago doesn’t commit him to supporting tax hikes in perpetuity. Seems to me that a tax increase, either at the federal or state level, would just make recovery all that much harder.
Rich’s self-congratulation is misplaced. Once again, he’s playing the role of pyromaniac in a field of straw men.
- shore - Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 4:45 pm:
Cousin if Mark had real issues he wouldn’t be up 66-5 in polling or whatever it was.
Hughes has been out there for awhile now, Kirk’s social positions have been out there for awhile now, it doesn’t be adding up to any momentum for Hughes. 11 weeks and we can have our first hotly contested senate race in 12 years.
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 4:46 pm:
===just because Ryan supported a tax swap (which really was just a tax hike) years ago===
It was only two years ago, and he’s currently listed as a board member of the CTBA group, which continues to support a large tax hike.
I don’t think that shot is unfair at all. If he backed a tax hike eight years ago and has since rethought things, that’s one thing.
- Yellow Dog Democrat - Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 4:48 pm:
Let me criticize Jim Ryan, even though I find him a likable enough guy.
If saying you’ve been out of state government for eight years isn’t positioning yourself as an outsider, I don’t know what else it is. It certainly more than just a simple statement of fact. “I’m wearing a blue tie” is a simple statement of fact. What Ryan proffered was a campaign message.
Secondly, Ryan didn’t merely support a tax swap years ago. He’s on the Board of an organization that is leading the charge for a tax swap. Now, the only thing you can conclude from that is either he supports a tax swap still, or he can’t even convince eight people in a room to follow him.
The only Straw Man in this argument is Jim Ryan, who doesn’t stand a chance of winning the GOP nomination.
DISCLAIMER: I support a tax hike too, but Rich’s right, this is a politically convenient flip-flop.
- jim - Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 4:54 pm:
So if a board takes a position on a tax issue, it automatically means that all the members of the board automatically agree with that position. Where is that written?
Obviously, Ryan isn’t interested in embracing a tax increase for political reasons. Who really is? None of the Republicans I can see. And the Dems are basically promising a tax hike that will affect only the despicable rich. So that makes Ryan a phony because a board on which he serves wants more money. What state board doesn’t always want more money and isn’t always willing to raise taxes to get it? As far as not being able to convince his boardmates not to back a tax hike, that’s totally specious. People make up their own minds, they don’t have their minds made up for them.
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 4:55 pm:
===Where is that written?===
In Ryan’s own statement, dingdong.
- Will County Woman - Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 5:15 pm:
news headline states that National Dems and Fox News are criticizing Mark Kirk.
Pat Hughes enjoy your small victory, but remember karma. if you beat mark kirk in the primary, you won’t win the general.
- Quinn T. Sential - Tuesday, Nov 3, 09 @ 7:51 pm:
Wow; reading that swipe at Coulson from someone that was one of her principal promoters over the years brought this old axiom to the forefront:
“We’ve already established what you are, ma’am. Now we’re just haggling over the price. …”
It’s one thing to be a hired gun and come out shooting; but quite another to sell your soul for a few pieces of silver.
With unemployment as high as it is I suppose desperate times call for desperate measures but people that can only see as far as February on the horizon should really have their vision checked.