* The “Blame Michael Madigan for Scott Lee Cohen” bandwagon got off to a rousing start this weekend with Lynn Sweet’s column…

Every Democratic activist I’ve been talking to the last few days says it is time for Madigan to step up or step out. […]

But blaming the press does not excuse Madigan. Most party chairmen would have started caring about the viability of the top of the statewide Democratic ticket — no matter if Quinn or Comptroller Dan Hynes were to be the eventual nominee — once Cohen started pouring huge sums of his own money into his race. […]

The Cohen episode demonstrates that Illinois Democrats could use a real state party leader. Even if Madigan did not want the party to endorse anyone, usually a chairman would at least try to make sure the least-electable contender does not get the nomination.

“In any other state, campaigns or interested parties would have gone to the state party chair and aired their concerns about Scott Lee Cohen’s candidacy,” said Kitty Kurth, a Chicago-based Democratic consultant. “The state party chair could have asked Cohen to step down for the good of the party. If Cohen said no, then the party chair could have stood up in the press and said to voters, ‘Vote for any Democrat, but not this one.’ ”

She made a lot of good points. Madigan didn’t do anything except try to kick Sen. Rickey Hendon off the ballot. However, Kurth’s comment rings somewhat hollow since nobody went to Madigan. The Madigan people claim ignorance of Cohen’s background.

So, what about Cohen’s background? Sen. Dick Durbin, who may have been partially behind Sweet’s column, stepped up the volume at a press conference yesterday….

House Speaker Michael Madigan faced a rare public rebuke Sunday for his stewardship of the state Democratic Party from U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, who questioned why the party failed to properly vet pawnbroker Scott Lee Cohen before his stunning primary win last week.

“I think that Chairman Madigan needs to have a much better process in place so that we know the backgrounds of all candidates as they put themselves up to be Democrats,” Durbin said after announcing his chairmanship of Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias’ U.S. Senate campaign.

“I would say to [Madigan] and to every member of this party at every level: We have a special responsibility to make sure it never happens again,” said Durbin, who also laid blame on himself and the news media for Cohen’s election.

That shot across the bow got the Speaker’s attention…

Attempting to rebut criticism that the Illinois Democratic Party should have done more to prevent Scott Lee Cohen’s nomination for lieutenant governor, Brown said earlier today that Madigan met with Cohen on Friday and urged him in a “very direct and very frank” way to drop his candidacy.

Brown was unable to characterize Cohen’s response to Madigan during the meeting in Madigan’s Chicago law office. He said the meeting had previously been kept under wraps to avoid the appearance of backing Cohen into a corner.

But Brown said he believed the meeting should be publicized after Madigan has become the subject of criticism for failing to do background checks on the candidates for lieutenant governor, including Cohen.

Larry probably had it right about the Friday meeting…

Generally, the most intimidating thing the Speaker can do is glare at you. Even if he did speak I imagine it was something like the glare and “get out, now.”

And then the Madigan camp leaked something else for effect: Madigan called Cohen Sunday after Cohen told the Sun-Times that he wasn’t dropping out…

About 90 minutes after telling the Sun-Times that he was not quitting the race Sunday, Cohen received an afternoon call from House Speaker Michael J. Madigan, the state Democratic Party chairman.

According to Madigan spokesman Steve Brown, Madigan called because he heard Cohen was dropping out of the race and wanted to confirm it.

Cohen spokesman Baxter Swilley said Madigan made it clear to Cohen that stepping aside was the best course of action for his personal life and his career and that if he did so, he would have a chance to rehabilitate his image.

Madigan, by the way, was the only party leader to call Cohen last Tuesday night to congratulate him, and Cohen had this to say last night…

“I want to thank Speaker Madigan, who met with me on a personal level to give me advice, give me some reasons why it would be best for me not to be on the ballot,” Cohen said.

So, while Madigan still gets part of the blame for Cohen being on the ticket, he does get some of the credit for getting him off.

* Meanwhile, take a look at this handy Sun-Times map of which counties were won by which candidates…

Notice that Castillo won many of the Metro East and southern Illinois counties? Do you think voters thought he was related to Jerry Costello? [ADDING: Castillo finished second in Madison County by 59 votes - buttressing the theory.]

Also, note that Rep. Mike Boland won all of the Quad Cities area, even though Congressman Phil Hare endorsed Terry Link, who did not exactly run a great campaign.

Considering all that, the Daily Herald editorial is pretty spot on…

Widespread apathy and disinterest were the unfortunate winners Tuesday, and to say that is not necessarily a knock on Cohen or Plummer. Either could have been anywhere from history’s worst candidate for office to history’s greatest. That’s not the point. The point is, they were elected without many people having any idea where they fell on that scale. They were elected, mainly, because nobody cared.

That is the hard truth.

And it is an indictment of everyone - of the electorate, the news media, the political parties, even most of the candidates running for governor (only Andy McKenna, who endorsed a running mate for himself, gets dispensation here).

None of us cared enough to go beyond the most cursory exploration to find out who these candidates were.

And that is leading to many editorial pages to call for eliminating the office or reform the selection process. Southtown…

Reformers for years have called on lawmakers to revise Illinois’ goofy running-mate system in which candidates for governor and lieutenant governor run separately in the primary and get paired for the general election - reinforcing that old saying about politics making for strange bedfellows.

Reformers for years also have called for the elimination of the lieutenant governor’s office altogether which costs about $2 million annually to operate - the same amount that Cohen spent to try to attain it.

Tribune…

The most important lesson, though, may be that, since the story broke Wednesday evening, Illinois has been in a tizzy because of a statewide office that doesn’t need to be. Lieutenant governors sit around waiting for governors to die or be impeached and ousted. Doesn’t happen much. Why not change our order of succession so that the attorney general or president of the state Senate is next in line? The lieutenant governor’s budget isn’t huge, but spiking this office pronto would free up some money and real estate for a state government that needs every dollar it can save.

So let’s thank Scott Lee Cohen for forcing all of us to focus on the office of lieutenant governor. Let’s wish him well. And, now that he has shuffled off the stage, let’s hope both major parties see an opportunity to cross this office off the state’s organization chart.

Sun-Times…

We urge the Legislature to revise the state’s election law so that candidates for governor and lieutenant governor run as a team not just in the general election, but also in the party primaries.

SJ-R…

More importantly, until candidates for governor are forced to choose and vet a compatible running mate, as presidential candidates must do, we can only expect more surprises like this one.

* Related…

* Where did Cohen win? Examine vote totals in the lieutenant governor’s race By Ward, By Cook Township, By County

* 3 aldermen were critical to Cohen’s election - Democrat now dropping out was supported by 2 dozen elected officials in Illinois

* Daley won’t call for Cohen to step down

* Daley: Media Dropped The Ball On Scott Lee Cohen - ‘You All Knew About It,’ Daley Tells Reporters

* Lawmakers Could Reconsider Way Lt. Governor Is Nominated