Scott Lee Cohen, who is mounting an independent run for governor, has chosen a running mate: Baxter Swilley, who was Cohen’s downstate coordinator when Cohen sought the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor.
Swilley, a Chicago resident, operated out of an office in downtown Springfield.
“As a community organizer, Baxter spent his life bringing positive change to Illinois by working for organizations including the Chicago Metropolitan YMCA and the Chicago Urban League,” John Davis, a Cohen campaign spokesman, said.
“Scott is a friend of mine and I strongly and genuinely believe in him,” Swilley said before the primary.
Apparently, there wasn’t a mad rush to join the ticket.
Swilley is a young African-American. Here he is on video talking about the failed bid to bring the Olympics to Chicago…
Sneed hears gubernatorial hopeful Scott Lee Cohen, who announces his bid today, had no success in picking a female running mate. “He was looking for a suburban mom type, but it didn’t work out,” a source said. Word is the Rev. James Meeks turned him down.
A suburban mom type. Yeah, that’s it. “The females will forgive me” Cohen was looking for a little insta-redemption. No chance.
Swilley, a native Chicagoan, was Cohen’s first choice all along, campaign spokesman John Davis said. “He was the first person Scott asked, but Baxter wanted to take a couple of weeks to think about it and when he did, he decided to come along,” Davis said.
So many questions, so little point.
31 Comments
- northshore liberal - Tuesday, May 11, 10 @ 8:16 pm:
This guy is such a goof.
Nice guy, but I’ve never met anyone so full of it in all my campaign days (and I’ve been campaigning for a long, long time).
Cracks me up that he’s running for something — and of COURSE the 1st time he runs, he runs statewide. He falls into the blagojevich-cohen type of ego. Big ego-inflated self of self - so why not run for statewide office?? It’s simply crazy that he and Cohen are running for office. I think Baxter just wants a part in the sure-to-be-made after-school movie that could be made on Cohen. Why else?
I have no idea how they plan on getting all those signatures. I’m out there collecting for another candidate, and you wouldn’t believe how many people hear the word “independent” and immediately berate me because they think I’m working for SLC. I don’t see how he can do it.
- Six Degrees of Separation - Tuesday, May 11, 10 @ 9:19 pm:
Blair Hull spent around $200 for each vote he got in the primary. I would think $10 apiece could get you 25k good sig’s by the deadline. Ready, set, pay, go!
@JonShibleyFan– Lets face it! Democratic politics isn’t kind to African-American Political Operatives on the Democratic side as it stands. I’ve seen qualified people with Masters degrees and experience likely from OTHER states get turned down when they want to work in Illinois. If you are not Irish then nothing happens for you behind the scene in Chicago or Illinois. Alot of Dumb Irish guys working behind the scenes because of family connections.
Looking at this from a “Star Trek” perspective, this combo would be perfectly cast as the evil twins of Forrest and Bubba.
- PatheticpatQuinn - Wednesday, May 12, 10 @ 9:12 am:
Hmm it now appears the attempt to smear Duffy was a part of an organized effort to get ahead of stories that show Pat Quinn to be a typical crook co. Machine hack. Laying of hundreds threatining the jobs of thousands claiming doomsday for education but it seems if your a state rep who is an ally of quinns then he will give your wife a job with a six figure salary. Quinn/stroger are the same hack politicans taking care of friends and family.
- The Irish Guy - Wednesday, May 12, 10 @ 9:16 am:
To Jib Jogger,
You owe all Irish guys an apology for your racially and ethnic insensitive statement regarding, “dumb Irish guys”.
The reason political campaigns don’t want to hire your master’s degree holding friends is that a master’s doesn’t matter in politics. What do you think, we’re doing here, electing the best and the brightest?
People from out of state take 10 years to get a handle on our politics. So instead we hire our own dumb guys (Black, white, hispanic, Irish, Polish, German, etc).
===it now appears the attempt to smear Duffy was a part of an organized effort to get ahead of stories that show Pat Quinn to be a typical crook co. Machine hack. ===
What a tinfoil hat, besotted maroon you are. We had a Question of the Day on whether legislative spouses ought to be allowed to hold commission jobs three months ago…
“Organized effort” my eye. You’re as goofy as they come, dude.
- Chi Town Brown - Wednesday, May 12, 10 @ 9:31 am:
SLC really is an interesting case study into the impact of third party canidates. The latest Research 2000 poll for the Daily Kos showed that he will take votes exclusivly from Gov. Quinn. In a close race, if Cohen is able to get two to four percent of the vote he could hand the race to Brady.
On the otherhand I have been hearing more and more from my Tea Party friends about Randy Stufflebeam who is collecting signatures to run for the Senate. If he is able to get on the ballot he will probably have a simular effect to Rep. Kirk that SLC will have to Gov. Quinn and in a close race hand the seat over to Giannoulias.
===he will take votes exclusivly from Gov. Quinn===
Quinn dropped just one point with SLC on the ballot, while SLC got 3 points. Hardly definitive. Also hardly definitive is Sufflebeam’s chance of getting onto the ballot. Easier said than done.
- Small Town Liberal - Wednesday, May 12, 10 @ 9:39 am:
Can we just get past the signature deadline already so the the SLC show can come to an abrupt stop?
- grand old partisan - Wednesday, May 12, 10 @ 10:12 am:
This entire exercise was a no-win proposition for Cohen, and perfectly illustrative of how pointless his campaign is. Obviously, Cohen needed someone with more credentials and a better story than his – if for no other reason than anyone with less credentials and a seedier past would probably be barred from the ballot due to their felony record. The problem is that begs the question: ‘why not just through your support behind this other fellow, who is clearly more qualified than you, and then become their running mate.’
Does Baxter rise to the level of making people wish the ticket was reversed? I don’t know. But I’m surprised no one has made the connection between him and Illinois’s other famous young African American community organizer. Just the thought of Cohen’s campaign trying to even indirectly imply that Baxter is an Obamaesque figure is very amusing.
“As a community organizer.” I like it. Quinn can hardly poo-poo his experience when it reads verbatum of that of the President before elected to public office. Nice move.
If SLC can affect the election. A lot of people voted for him and if he can convince them the leadership all knew about his past but bailed on him because he would go along to get a long with business as usual he can take a swipe at Quinn. No, I don’t think he can win, but if his numbers get off of 1% and go to 2-4% it becomes a big deal in a 4 man race.
Why is it that the LaRouchies are starting to look normal???
- Lakefront Liberal - Wednesday, May 12, 10 @ 10:23 am:
What is so weird about this is that I had heard that Baxter, and several other staffers, quit Cohen’s campaign late last summer because of bounced paychecks. He obviously came back at some point since he was Cohen’s spokesperson post election. Why you would then make this move is beyond me.
My one Scott Lee Cohen story is meeting him at an event for another organization and him becoming very beligerent when I said that I was supporting someone else in the primary. It reminded me exactly of how machine guys oftten act — charming as can be until the exact second you question or show opposition to something they are doing, then suddenly beligerent and confrontational as can be.
- JonShibleyFan - Wednesday, May 12, 10 @ 10:30 am:
JibJogger,
Those smart folks are always getting pushed aside by that darned Paddy Bauler and Hinky Dink McKenna!
Seriously, your argument is absurd and relies pretty heavily on some dated stereotypes (maybe not as old as the references I jokingly made, but the certainly the Ab Mikva era).
As far as Master’s Degrees…the next time a Master’s Degree is better campaign experience than time in the field will be the first.
There are plenty of talented political folks of all racial, ethnic and gender stripes. Some are good, and some are not. Based on the comments from a few folks here that have worked with Swilley, he may fall into the latter category. So maybe he’s not throwing that much away after all.
- Yellow Dog Democrat - Wednesday, May 12, 10 @ 10:31 am:
Does anyone think Cohen’s Quixotic crusade might be an effort to muddy the waters for Claypool’s Quixotic crusade?
*removes tinfoil cap*
- Ab Mikva era - Wednesday, May 12, 10 @ 10:54 am:
@ - JonShibleyFan What world are you living in? While Jib Jogger is angry the arguments have some merits. If there is so much diversity as you argue in Chicago politics behind the scene then take a PICTURE of it and prove it. You can’t! But in the Youtube era I lean more toward the Joggers argument we can prove that case with film and people applying to those jobs very quickly. It’s actually worse than the Mikva era today. I am 65 years old and I see it getting worse.
I was expecting him to name Loop Lady or Cassandra….
- Just Wondering - Wednesday, May 12, 10 @ 12:28 pm:
I keep running into uninformed voters with the “anyone but the incumbent” feeling. If he gets on the ballot, we know SLC won’t win but I wonder how many of these “throw out all the bumps” thinkers will actually cast a vote for Cohen.
The lady whose face you don’t see, but whose voice you hear reminds me of the women from SNL, you know the public radio women who were talking about muffins last Saturday night. Seriously, listen again. Hysterical!
For a guy who obviously has been forgiven for a lot by his kids, Cohen sure is wasting their inheritance on this nonsense.
- CircularFiringSquad - Wednesday, May 12, 10 @ 3:12 pm:
Actually Sneed reports Baxter Swilley ( we get dibs on the name after the election) was Daddy’s LittleBoy’s (aka Tugboat Andy McKenna)first pick before he went with Mutt Murphy, the Palatine Phlash.
- northshore liberal - Tuesday, May 11, 10 @ 8:16 pm:
This guy is such a goof.
Nice guy, but I’ve never met anyone so full of it in all my campaign days (and I’ve been campaigning for a long, long time).
Cracks me up that he’s running for something — and of COURSE the 1st time he runs, he runs statewide. He falls into the blagojevich-cohen type of ego. Big ego-inflated self of self - so why not run for statewide office?? It’s simply crazy that he and Cohen are running for office. I think Baxter just wants a part in the sure-to-be-made after-school movie that could be made on Cohen. Why else?
- siriusly - Tuesday, May 11, 10 @ 8:47 pm:
That’s one less signature on his petitions.
- Anon - Tuesday, May 11, 10 @ 8:50 pm:
I have no idea how they plan on getting all those signatures. I’m out there collecting for another candidate, and you wouldn’t believe how many people hear the word “independent” and immediately berate me because they think I’m working for SLC. I don’t see how he can do it.
- Six Degrees of Separation - Tuesday, May 11, 10 @ 9:19 pm:
Blair Hull spent around $200 for each vote he got in the primary. I would think $10 apiece could get you 25k good sig’s by the deadline. Ready, set, pay, go!
- MrJM - Tuesday, May 11, 10 @ 9:26 pm:
Shades of the George W. Bush vice-presidential search committee chaired by Dick Cheney…
– MrJM
- Wigand - Tuesday, May 11, 10 @ 9:26 pm:
Word is, and I kid you not, that he asked both Hynes and Meeks to run with him.
- JonShibleyFan - Tuesday, May 11, 10 @ 9:34 pm:
Wow. Guess Baxter is turning in his resignation from ever working in Democratic politics in IL again.
What a clown show.
- Willie Stark - Wednesday, May 12, 10 @ 8:35 am:
Northshore Liberal hits the nail on the head. I had a similar experience. What a great laugh to wake up to, though.
- Yellow Dog Democrat - Wednesday, May 12, 10 @ 8:38 am:
I guess R. Kelly turned him down.
- Jib Jogger - Wednesday, May 12, 10 @ 8:38 am:
@JonShibleyFan– Lets face it! Democratic politics isn’t kind to African-American Political Operatives on the Democratic side as it stands. I’ve seen qualified people with Masters degrees and experience likely from OTHER states get turned down when they want to work in Illinois. If you are not Irish then nothing happens for you behind the scene in Chicago or Illinois. Alot of Dumb Irish guys working behind the scenes because of family connections.
- Anon - Wednesday, May 12, 10 @ 8:56 am:
Looking at this from a “Star Trek” perspective, this combo would be perfectly cast as the evil twins of Forrest and Bubba.
- PatheticpatQuinn - Wednesday, May 12, 10 @ 9:12 am:
Hmm it now appears the attempt to smear Duffy was a part of an organized effort to get ahead of stories that show Pat Quinn to be a typical crook co. Machine hack. Laying of hundreds threatining the jobs of thousands claiming doomsday for education but it seems if your a state rep who is an ally of quinns then he will give your wife a job with a six figure salary. Quinn/stroger are the same hack politicans taking care of friends and family.
- The Irish Guy - Wednesday, May 12, 10 @ 9:16 am:
To Jib Jogger,
You owe all Irish guys an apology for your racially and ethnic insensitive statement regarding, “dumb Irish guys”.
The reason political campaigns don’t want to hire your master’s degree holding friends is that a master’s doesn’t matter in politics. What do you think, we’re doing here, electing the best and the brightest?
People from out of state take 10 years to get a handle on our politics. So instead we hire our own dumb guys (Black, white, hispanic, Irish, Polish, German, etc).
- Rich Miller - Wednesday, May 12, 10 @ 9:27 am:
===it now appears the attempt to smear Duffy was a part of an organized effort to get ahead of stories that show Pat Quinn to be a typical crook co. Machine hack. ===
What a tinfoil hat, besotted maroon you are. We had a Question of the Day on whether legislative spouses ought to be allowed to hold commission jobs three months ago…
https://capitolfax.com/2010/02/19/question-of-the-day-899/
“Organized effort” my eye. You’re as goofy as they come, dude.
- Chi Town Brown - Wednesday, May 12, 10 @ 9:31 am:
SLC really is an interesting case study into the impact of third party canidates. The latest Research 2000 poll for the Daily Kos showed that he will take votes exclusivly from Gov. Quinn. In a close race, if Cohen is able to get two to four percent of the vote he could hand the race to Brady.
On the otherhand I have been hearing more and more from my Tea Party friends about Randy Stufflebeam who is collecting signatures to run for the Senate. If he is able to get on the ballot he will probably have a simular effect to Rep. Kirk that SLC will have to Gov. Quinn and in a close race hand the seat over to Giannoulias.
- Rich Miller - Wednesday, May 12, 10 @ 9:36 am:
===he will take votes exclusivly from Gov. Quinn===
Quinn dropped just one point with SLC on the ballot, while SLC got 3 points. Hardly definitive. Also hardly definitive is Sufflebeam’s chance of getting onto the ballot. Easier said than done.
- Small Town Liberal - Wednesday, May 12, 10 @ 9:39 am:
- What a tinfoil hat, besotted maroon you are. -
I’m not sure anyone could have said it better.
- Montrose - Wednesday, May 12, 10 @ 9:51 am:
Can we just get past the signature deadline already so the the SLC show can come to an abrupt stop?
- grand old partisan - Wednesday, May 12, 10 @ 10:12 am:
This entire exercise was a no-win proposition for Cohen, and perfectly illustrative of how pointless his campaign is. Obviously, Cohen needed someone with more credentials and a better story than his – if for no other reason than anyone with less credentials and a seedier past would probably be barred from the ballot due to their felony record. The problem is that begs the question: ‘why not just through your support behind this other fellow, who is clearly more qualified than you, and then become their running mate.’
Does Baxter rise to the level of making people wish the ticket was reversed? I don’t know. But I’m surprised no one has made the connection between him and Illinois’s other famous young African American community organizer. Just the thought of Cohen’s campaign trying to even indirectly imply that Baxter is an Obamaesque figure is very amusing.
- the Patriot - Wednesday, May 12, 10 @ 10:16 am:
“As a community organizer.” I like it. Quinn can hardly poo-poo his experience when it reads verbatum of that of the President before elected to public office. Nice move.
If SLC can affect the election. A lot of people voted for him and if he can convince them the leadership all knew about his past but bailed on him because he would go along to get a long with business as usual he can take a swipe at Quinn. No, I don’t think he can win, but if his numbers get off of 1% and go to 2-4% it becomes a big deal in a 4 man race.
Brady 44%
Quinn 43% (assume he loses 2% to SLC).
Whitney 10% (based on 2006 numbers).
Cohen 3%
- D.P. Gumby - Wednesday, May 12, 10 @ 10:23 am:
Why is it that the LaRouchies are starting to look normal???
- Lakefront Liberal - Wednesday, May 12, 10 @ 10:23 am:
What is so weird about this is that I had heard that Baxter, and several other staffers, quit Cohen’s campaign late last summer because of bounced paychecks. He obviously came back at some point since he was Cohen’s spokesperson post election. Why you would then make this move is beyond me.
My one Scott Lee Cohen story is meeting him at an event for another organization and him becoming very beligerent when I said that I was supporting someone else in the primary. It reminded me exactly of how machine guys oftten act — charming as can be until the exact second you question or show opposition to something they are doing, then suddenly beligerent and confrontational as can be.
- JonShibleyFan - Wednesday, May 12, 10 @ 10:30 am:
JibJogger,
Those smart folks are always getting pushed aside by that darned Paddy Bauler and Hinky Dink McKenna!
Seriously, your argument is absurd and relies pretty heavily on some dated stereotypes (maybe not as old as the references I jokingly made, but the certainly the Ab Mikva era).
As far as Master’s Degrees…the next time a Master’s Degree is better campaign experience than time in the field will be the first.
There are plenty of talented political folks of all racial, ethnic and gender stripes. Some are good, and some are not. Based on the comments from a few folks here that have worked with Swilley, he may fall into the latter category. So maybe he’s not throwing that much away after all.
- Yellow Dog Democrat - Wednesday, May 12, 10 @ 10:31 am:
Baxter was Cohen’s first choice?
LOL
More like his only choice.
- 47th Ward - Wednesday, May 12, 10 @ 10:33 am:
*dons tinfoil cap*
Does anyone think Cohen’s Quixotic crusade might be an effort to muddy the waters for Claypool’s Quixotic crusade?
*removes tinfoil cap*
- Ab Mikva era - Wednesday, May 12, 10 @ 10:54 am:
@ - JonShibleyFan What world are you living in? While Jib Jogger is angry the arguments have some merits. If there is so much diversity as you argue in Chicago politics behind the scene then take a PICTURE of it and prove it. You can’t! But in the Youtube era I lean more toward the Joggers argument we can prove that case with film and people applying to those jobs very quickly. It’s actually worse than the Mikva era today. I am 65 years old and I see it getting worse.
- Ghost - Wednesday, May 12, 10 @ 11:12 am:
I was expecting him to name Loop Lady or Cassandra….
- Just Wondering - Wednesday, May 12, 10 @ 12:28 pm:
I keep running into uninformed voters with the “anyone but the incumbent” feeling. If he gets on the ballot, we know SLC won’t win but I wonder how many of these “throw out all the bumps” thinkers will actually cast a vote for Cohen.
- Say WHAT? - Wednesday, May 12, 10 @ 1:21 pm:
The lady whose face you don’t see, but whose voice you hear reminds me of the women from SNL, you know the public radio women who were talking about muffins last Saturday night. Seriously, listen again. Hysterical!
- wordslinger - Wednesday, May 12, 10 @ 1:23 pm:
For a guy who obviously has been forgiven for a lot by his kids, Cohen sure is wasting their inheritance on this nonsense.
- CircularFiringSquad - Wednesday, May 12, 10 @ 3:12 pm:
Actually Sneed reports Baxter Swilley ( we get dibs on the name after the election) was Daddy’s LittleBoy’s (aka Tugboat Andy McKenna)first pick before he went with Mutt Murphy, the Palatine Phlash.