35 Comments - Former Card Carrying Repub - Friday, Mar 26, 10 @ 12:48 pm: that’s what the Lite Guv contest needs: an evening wear and bathing suit portion. I hear a Cisco song in the background… - 47th Ward - Friday, Mar 26, 10 @ 12:53 pm: While I’m pretty sure Black’s respect for Turner is genuine, I would caution Democrats against taking advice on the LG nomination from the Gentleman from Vermillion County. I’m not sure Black minds that our process has become a parody of American Idol meets The Bachelor meets Hamlet. I suspect Black would like nothing more than to stick it to Quinn and the Dems this fall, so consider the source. And for crying out loud, why do so many people compare elections to beauty pageants? It’s an insult to beauty pageants. - Altgeld's Ghost - Friday, Mar 26, 10 @ 12:54 pm: That ad is weak, and the message is mixed. I give it a big thumbs down - shore - Friday, Mar 26, 10 @ 1:00 pm: Another awful ad by Alexi and pathetic attempt to change the focus from the real debate in illinois which is do we want 6 more years of the failed alexi/stroger/blago era of corruption, incompetence in job killing. he needs to explain why he gets 15 million taxpayer dollars for his failed bank and how his minor league basketball experience makes him fit to be a us senator. This is no bill bradley we are talking about here. - Rich Miller - Friday, Mar 26, 10 @ 1:01 pm: AG, it’s not an ad, but I kinda agree. They’ve got that great audio clip yet people have to wait half a minute to hear it. And they only play it once. Then again, we can nitpick just about anything to death. Still… - Will County Woman - Friday, Mar 26, 10 @ 1:04 pm: as much as i hate to admit…that’s a pretty good video by the alexi g. camp. very effective/powerful. rich, i agree that kirk is going to have to explain himself, but he should not do so in a way that makes him look like he is responding to alexi g.’s ad. it’s tricky, but it is doable. the national GOP is going to have to move away—far away from the tea-bag palin set and return to the country club set. mark kirk kinda gets caught up in this angry white racist wave by virtue of the fact that he is republican and voted against healthcare, though he had justified, well articulated and legtimate reasons for doing so until the palin faction of the party. unfortunately for him much of what he says and stands for gets lost because palin faction of the party being so vocal and galvanizing all of the attention. the national gop seriously needed to fully (self)implode after the 08 elections and rebuild, letting the palin set splinter off and go elsewhere. - OneMan - Friday, Mar 26, 10 @ 1:15 pm: Zorn sort of has a point, be it Monken or others he has put in high positions it seems at times it’s more about a message than the right person. - vole - Friday, Mar 26, 10 @ 1:15 pm: Kirk took the wrong fork by forging such a strong bond with the right wingers of his party. He has tuned up with John Shimkus on right wing policy issues. I’ll ask it again, on policy alone, does anyone think Shimkus would have any chance of winning a US senatorial race in Illinois? - Will County Woman - Friday, Mar 26, 10 @ 1:17 pm: that video indirectly enforces a notion that mark kirk is a part of the ugliness (e.g. angry right-wing extremism, dems legislators being called names and threatened) that has ensued post the passage and signing of HCR into law. mark kirk’s vow to repeal is what the angry extremists have been going on about all week, and has been front and center in the national media. though mark kirk is not part of hate, violence and extremism, the video subtly makes the case or suggests that he is part of that, and/or perhaps was a leading architech of it by referencing how long he has been vowing to repeal–before the repeal movement started so to speak. - walter sobchak - Friday, Mar 26, 10 @ 1:23 pm: As a ‘no-winger’ I must say that the use of ‘tea bag’ is always distasteful now that we know the sexual act it refers to. It might give you snide jollies to type it thinking it will once and for all cause all sympathizers to the Tea Party movement to drop their misguided allegiance to ideas you don’t support…but I doubt it. - shore - Friday, Mar 26, 10 @ 1:29 pm: right wing is Illinois democrat talking point code for please don’t talk about real issues. Opposing a democrat plan does not make you a panderer to an extremist wing of your party. sorry. next. Because the media in Illinois is biased against mark kirk and likes to waste all its time on drivel like the naming of a lite guv candidate and which democrat congressman got spat on last weekend, no one grilled alexi this week or any other democrat on where they stand on obama’s abandonment of the state of Israel. Voters have a right to know whether senator durbin, dan seals, alexi, melissa bean, jan schakowsky stand with the government of israel on allowing it to develop settlements or against it and with obama on saying no. - Rich Miller - Friday, Mar 26, 10 @ 1:32 pm: shore, he’s not running in just the 10th CD any longer. And Jewish voter attitudes around the state don’t always conform to those views in the 10th. Try thinking statewide, for a change. …Also, the biggest national political news story of the week, in case you missed it, was the healthcare vote. Pretty big stuff. - Michelle Flaherty - Friday, Mar 26, 10 @ 1:38 pm: So when Rod’s three horsewomen of the apocalypse wrote a pressrelease on state time touting Obama’s candidacy, they got fined by the ethics commission. Is it appropriate for Rep. Black to use state time and resources to tout Rep. Turner’s candidacy? - Rich Miller - Friday, Mar 26, 10 @ 1:39 pm: MF, there’s a big difference between what legislators say on the floor and what state employees can do on state time. They’re elected, after all. If you want to make a deal out of this, you’ve got far too much time on your hands. Then again, so do they. Just sayin… lol - Responsa - Friday, Mar 26, 10 @ 1:41 pm: The ticking time clock Alexi internet video is very strange. For him to spend time and money actually reinforcing Kirk’s agressive campaign message rather than exploiting his own campaign message (whatever it is) is bizarre. The senate race this fall will provide one of the clearest idealogical choices with respect to the role of federal government that Illinoisans have had the chance to vote on in a long while. One guy will win and one will lose. Based on his own beliefs and his read on the polls and the mood of the country Kirk is obviously comfortable running on the repeal and replace issue and will talk about it a lot in public and on the trail. For Alexi to act as if this is somehow a “gotcha” moment makes no sense. But then…. - Will County Woman - Friday, Mar 26, 10 @ 1:42 pm: zorn and i have had the discussion before about his being a rabid liberal/left-winger on his blog, and it was not meant as a diss it was just my attempt to state an obvious fact about him… and no matter how many times he or any other dem, especially the left-wingers of the party find legtimate fault with quinn on issues concerning quinn’s ability to lead, make good/sound/effective decisions, competency etc… despite the quibbling they will all turn around and vote for quinn anyway. sad. instead of getting a sticker that simply reads “i voted” after casting a ballot, i guess it would be better and more accurate to get a sticker that reads “i voted for ineffectiveness, ineptitude, and incompetence” might as well just stay home and not vote then? - CircularFiringSquad - Friday, Mar 26, 10 @ 1:45 pm: Looks like Zorn is drinking the same mope juice as the Countdown Clocksters. Simon is a law school professor, while BillTheBuilder’s partner gets to stack the 2×4 out in the yard. The Simon family has a huge, favorable legacy The other side is known as a bunch of tight, non involved profit grabbers Need any more comparisons Eric. - bored now - Friday, Mar 26, 10 @ 1:48 pm: it demonstrates a profound ignorance (i’d suggest something stronger, but rich likes for us to play nice, which i’m not always good at) to suggest that the president of the united states has abandoned israel. sure, israel’s prime minister wants to bully our president because we want peace in the middle east — and peace isn’t exactly in likud’s platform — but that doesn’t mean that we will abandon israel. rather, it means that netanyahu wants nothing to do with us unless we have (white) evangelical conservatives in the white house. someone really ought to explain democracy to that idiot… - vole - Friday, Mar 26, 10 @ 1:49 pm: “Opposing a democrat plan does not make you a panderer to an extremist wing of your party.” That alone does not. But when you do it by spouting the same conservative talking points of the leaders (public and media) of your party, then the label is apt to stick. The GOP’s mission of NO is not likely to be a winning strategy, so we have to question the wisdom of following that lead and whether we want that voice to represent a state as diverse as Illinois. - 47th Ward - Friday, Mar 26, 10 @ 1:56 pm: Yeah, it’s a stretch to say Bill Black is misusing state resources. On the other hand, if his unending supply of hot air was a state resource, it could heat most of the homes in Danville every winter. I’m going to miss him next year. Floor debates will never be the same. - wordslinger - Friday, Mar 26, 10 @ 2:30 pm: I can’t figure why Kirk thinks he needs to be out front with the right wing. They have no place to go, and their bark is worse than their bite in Illinois. It’s not like Brady ran away with the nomination. - Louis G. Atsaves - Friday, Mar 26, 10 @ 2:33 pm: Last I heard the national health care program that passed remains more unpopular than popular with the electorate. So Alexi may be doing Kirk a favor by highlighting his comments about it. Who is more out of touch? Alexi or Kirk on this issue? And since when did all Republicans suddenly turn into angry rabid tea party racists and screamers and all Democrats turn into Marx and Stalin? The political discourse of this nation and state have really deteriorated the past few years. There is plenty of stupidity within both political parties. No one party has a complete monopoly on stupid behavior. - Sucka free - Friday, Mar 26, 10 @ 2:33 pm: A vote against (and a pledge to repeal) a healthcare bill that is popular in Illinois and which will only become more popular as people see its positive effects over the summer and we get away from the “death panel”; “baby killer”; “social/fascism” goofy lies. Preceeded by a pledge to oppose the very popular (in Illinois) president at every turn. Preceeded by a bow to the fringe right-wing Palin/Limbaugh set All of which is soon to be followed by a vote against financial reform (which will be tough to jive with his attacks on Broadway Bank). Is what will add up to a relatively easy Alexi win. - Rich Miller - Friday, Mar 26, 10 @ 2:34 pm: ===Last I heard=== You haven’t been checking lately, then. And it was popular in Illinois before the vote. - wordslinger - Friday, Mar 26, 10 @ 2:41 pm: Louis, the USA Today poll showed a big bump for health care support after the weekend vote. People like to go with the winner, and the Dems won. I think the n-bombs and the spitting hurt the other side a lot. As it should have. - ABCBoy - Friday, Mar 26, 10 @ 2:52 pm: === The GOP’s mission of NO is not likely to be a winning strategy === See, this is what drives me crazy here. The GOP has concrete alternative plans to offer. The media just isn’t picking it up. They are not merely the “party of NO.” Even if they were, that’s not an unreasonable position if one is convinced that the current idea being discussed is a BAD one. Doing nothing can be better than doing something if that something is going to make matters worse. Do we have poll numbers on the popularity if the health care law of just Illinois residents? If so, I’d like to see them. I suspect some of the HC popularity right now is a “bump” effect post-passage. Similar to how a convention can give a candidate a temporary bump. Yes, some of the goodies from the bill happen immediately. But couple that with the news that Social Security now has negative cashflow, along with the inevitable economic consequeces of this bill, and the health care may not be that popular by November. Plus a 12% unemployment rate in Illinois with a Democratic President, Congress, Governor, state legislator, and Chicago mayor. There’s no GOPer to pin that on. In the long run, Alexi’s efforts to paint Kirk as some type of right-wing wacko is going to fail. He’s been known in the Chicago media market as a thoughtful guy for a decade. His demeanor is pretty tame. He is not ram-rod conservative on the social issues. And perhaps most imporantly, he doesn’t have to deal with the cloud of corruption that is hounding Alexi right now. - ABCBoy - Friday, Mar 26, 10 @ 3:00 pm: === People like to go with the winner, and the Dems won. I think the n-bombs and the spitting hurt the other side a lot. As it should have. === Agreed and agreed. However, I think it was pretty cynical of the Democrats to use that to garner sympathy. Both sides can cherry-pick some choice messages & scenarios. Neither party has a monopoly on the crazies. Usually those alarming threats are simply shared w/ the police and taken care of quietly. Using them to advance one’s political position just seems cheap to me. It’s also logically flawed. Just because a person is crazy it doesn’t make them wrong: “Watch out for those dangerous polar bears! They have laser-plasma rays coming out of their eyes!” “Nonsense. Polar bears don’t have laser-plasma rays coming from their eyes. You’re crazy. Ergo, polar bears are not dangerous.” - VanillaMan - Friday, Mar 26, 10 @ 3:03 pm: Quinn isn’t leading, he rambles. Whether it is during speeches, answering reporter’s questions, making political decisions or making gubernatorial decisions, Pat Quinn doesn’t seem to know what to say or do, or have anything to say or do. This is a man who rambled into The Mansion after rambling around Illinois for a generation. Pat Quinn is Forrest Gump without Gump’s self-awareness. As citizens are tossed and battered economically, Pat Quinn is getting battered along with us. He is governor by default, not choice. It seems that regardless of the decision that needs to be made, Pat Quinn is adrift along with us, flipping and flopping repeatedly until we all end up on Fate’s Beach coughing up sea water. Whether it is how to deal with his impeached running mate, how to respond to Roland Burris, how to respond to an embarrassing early release program, giving a state of the state address, or how to lead the party regarding Scott Lee Cohen’s nomination and resignation, our Governor isn’t a major player taking center stage in Illinois, he seems to be playing Oliver Hardy in “Another Fine Mess”. His nominations haven’t inspired during times that require inspiration. His choice of Sheila Simon is baffling to anyone expecting that primary voter’s choices should be paramont in this decision. If her last name wasn’t Simon, would she have been selected by Quinn for any public office, let alone Lt. Governor? Quinn is ad hoc in every way. What happens after 5PM, doesn’t seem to be taken into consideration by our Governor when he begins his day at 9AM. - Pot calling kettle - Friday, Mar 26, 10 @ 3:14 pm: Will Rep. Black’s endorsement translate to support for the ticket in November? LOL - Responsa - Friday, Mar 26, 10 @ 3:21 pm: This AP article is just an example of why the new health insurance law will become less and less popular the more it is dissected and its true implications are understood by the public between now and November. Perhaps this clause/tax change will ultimately impact you or someone in your family with respect to their prescriptions? Perhaps these are the very kinds of buried issues that Kirk will be explaining to the public as rationale for his campaign position that the law must be changed and that he should be elected Senator to help make that happen. //www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gmzNv5LYXOA6UM_XmUHdOe9augtQD9ELVL3G1 - Conservative Veteran - Friday, Mar 26, 10 @ 3:23 pm: This week, six of Illinois’ seven republican congressmen signed the letter that asked Attorney General Madigan to sue the federal government, because of the health care law. Kirk was the only one who didn’t sign it. He’s trying to take both sides of the issue. - Rich Miller - Friday, Mar 26, 10 @ 3:35 pm: ===his campaign position that the law must be changed === That’s not his position. - bored now - Friday, Mar 26, 10 @ 4:08 pm: ABCBoy wrote: === The GOP has concrete alternative plans to offer. The media just isn’t picking it up. They are not merely the “party of NO.” === you’d have a point about the media exaggerating the gop’s position IF only you hadn’t done the same thing: === And perhaps most imporantly, he doesn’t have to deal with the cloud of corruption that is hounding Alexi right now. === of course, there is no cloud of corruption hanging over alexi right now. that’s beyond exaggeration (and i assume that you are intelligent enough to know better). google’s first definition of corruption returns this: “lack of integrity or honesty (especially susceptibility to bribery); use of a position of trust for dishonest gain.” i think we can all agree to this. yet alexi lacks neither integrity or honesty, you certainly can’t argue that he’s susceptible to bribes, nor that he’s used his position of trust for dishonest gain. so you’d be hard pressed to complain about the media’s lack of acceptance of *your* perception of the gop’s positions on health care given the fact that you were basically dishonest about alexi’s service to this state as our treasurer… - Louis Howe - Friday, Mar 26, 10 @ 4:48 pm: We’ll know that the Democratic Ticket is in trouble when they start taking political advice from Bill Black. I like Art Turner, he’s a very good legislator, but he’s not the right candidate to fill out the statewide ticket. It’s typical Bill Black mischievousness, and I am sure my democratic member friends know it. - Logical Thinker - Friday, Mar 26, 10 @ 8:28 pm: The passion and energy in this upcoming election will most definitely be on the side of people who want the HC bill repealed. If there ever was a single-stance issue that carried a candidate to victory, this will be it. There aren’t nearly as many people who will benefit from this bill immediately as those who will adversely impacted. Add to that a democratic party waging war within it’s ranks on a number of different levels (Cook County with Claypool; statewide with the LG issues; and with the unions) and a very average candidate at the top of the ticket with Giannoulias. That is a recipe for a GOP victory from top to bottom in November. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.