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An incredible Democratic blunder
Thursday, Jul 22, 2010 - Posted by Rich Miller * What the Democrats have done with their challenge to Cedra Crenshaw’s petitions has not only caused a short-term public relations nightmare, but will probably have longterm consequences. As we’ve discussed before, the Democrats challenged the Republican state Senate candidate’s petitions based on a technicality. The Will County elections board ruled with the Democrats along party lines and kicked her off. The resulting uproar has made Crenshaw a national tea party sensation. From the now thoroughly discredited “reverse race baiter” Andrew Breitbart’s Twitter page…
* Anyway, a judge tossed out that Will County ruling yesterday…
Crenshaw raised about $11,500 in June, including $5,000 from former tea party Republican gubernatorial candidate Adam Andrzejewski. She also loaned $1,000 to her campaign in May. That total is better than a few legislative candidates pulled in over the past six months, but she has a long way to go and only reported $4,200 in the bank. But even the infamously crocked Tribune editorial board couldn’t bring itself to say that she has a shot at winning this campaign…
* However, I’ve watched Ms. Crenshaw give plenty of interviews over the past several weeks, including this one... Cedra Crenshaw: Mom v. Machine from EAGTV on Vimeo. She’s good. Very good, in fact. Crenshaw is a natural and whatever happens in November, she has a future in Illinois politics. I would bet she runs for something else in two years, maybe Congress, and/or statewide in 2014. The Democrats have taken a candidate whom almost nobody would’ve cared about and turned her into a national hero with a very bright political future. Sometimes, it’s best to leave well enough alone.
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- Publius - Thursday, Jul 22, 10 @ 11:05 am:
Something tells me the Democrats will appeal and try to get better results higher up
- Cedra Crenshaw vs. The Machine - Thursday, Jul 22, 10 @ 11:08 am:
I can’t wait to see how hard A.J. Wilhelmi campaigns. Remember, he got the seat via appointment when Larry Walsh had to give up the seat when he won the race for Will County Executive. He had token opposition last time.
Crenshaw ain’t no slouch.
- CircularFiringSquad - Thursday, Jul 22, 10 @ 11:10 am:
Something tells us Capt Fax was into the silly sauce heavy last nite.
Why follow those silly election laws.
Those laws shouldn’t be for the lawmakers right?
Some who have seen your new hero in action suggest she is a little looney tunes
But what the heck
Perhaps the Tea Party is doing ads
- train111 - Thursday, Jul 22, 10 @ 11:11 am:
I’ve voted in every Dem primary since 1994 and I say good. The party got its just kermuffins for filing a nonsense petition challenge. It’s high time the political highjinks of this nature ceased and maybe a defeat in this race would give party officials and lawyers a chance to think about their future actions when it comes to petition challenges.
Alas–Who am I fooling?–the same nonsense will continue–after all these are the same party leaders who foisted RRB on us and then endorsed he reelection even though he was under federal investigation!!
train111
- cassandra - Thursday, Jul 22, 10 @ 11:16 am:
Wow. I’d vote for her.
- Anonymous - Thursday, Jul 22, 10 @ 11:21 am:
I must be missing something - is the Democratic Party the only folks who file petition challenges based on technicalities? If the Democratic party chair was Dick Durbin instead of Mike Madigan, would the challenge not have been by the “Chicago Machine”? There is some awfully tiresome rhetoric surrounding this matter.
- downstate hack - Thursday, Jul 22, 10 @ 11:26 am:
Ms. Crenshaw certainly seems like a smart articulate conservative candidate. If she can raise some money this will be an interesting race.
- John Bambenek - Thursday, Jul 22, 10 @ 11:28 am:
I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Jay Rowell for what amounts to easily a few hundred Gs in “in-kind” donations by helping make this a national story.
Thanks Jay!
- Cheryl44 - Thursday, Jul 22, 10 @ 11:31 am:
She needs to immediately disavow Andrew Breitbart if she wants to be taken seriously.
- Wumpus - Thursday, Jul 22, 10 @ 11:48 am:
BFD they challenged her petition. S.O.P. for any candidate. Repubs do it, Dems do it. Maybe she can run against Bean or (Seals) if he wins, since no one else lives in their district.
- Poli Eng Mat - Thursday, Jul 22, 10 @ 11:49 am:
As a Republican who follows that Sen. district, I will say that Wilhelmi will be tought to beat. He is very well liked by a lot of Republicans including the powers that be. I am glad I don’t vote in that district as it would be tough to chose. I like Wilhelmi but she does have a great story and prospects.
- I'm Just Saying - Thursday, Jul 22, 10 @ 11:53 am:
Right because Andrew Breitbart is a HUGE deal in Cresthill and Rockdale…….
- just sayin' - Thursday, Jul 22, 10 @ 11:57 am:
Crenshaw should have been the GOP’s gov lite choice, or maybe governor for that matter.
- Will County Woman - Thursday, Jul 22, 10 @ 12:50 pm:
===The Democrats have taken a candidate whom almost nobody would’ve cared about and turned her into a national hero with a very bright political future.===
I agree. and the best part of all of this is that because she is now so visible she (indirectly) encourages other people of color to look and listen to the her and by extension the GOP.
She is a major asset to the IL-GOP, one hopes that they realize this, and they’d be wise to treat her well and promote her. The IL-GOP, like the GOP elsewhere, suffers from stagnation because it has largely been seen as too homogeneous of a group, which makes it unappealing to others.
Crenshaw is definately more appealing than the Michael Steele. If the GOP wants to grow in Illinois or elsehwere it needs to court minority women, and have one speak for the party.
@Just sayin, I agree that the GOP Lt Gov pick should have been someone like Crenshaw. If I were Brady I would have Crenshaw close at hand from here on out, not that he’s going to junk Plummer for her, but to tap into her star power. If I’m Crenshaw I would accept Brady’s overtures because of the continued expsoure she is sure to get, the last thing she or the IL GOP need is for her to fade into oblivion for an IL senate race, especially if she should lose. (I hope she wins btw). It’s a win-win for them both.
If, as conventional widsom suggests, Brady is going to start bleeding white suburban women, he better start looking at other groups to court so that he doesn’t lose too much ground. As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, middle and upper class blacks (i.e., Crenshaw) are prime for the taking as many are not as enamored of the democratic party as the democrats like to think. these are educated and professional blacks, many of whom will freely admit that the dem party takes blacks for granted. That is another reason why Crenshaw is so relevant and appealing right now.
- Levois - Thursday, Jul 22, 10 @ 12:52 pm:
She can’t be underestimated. She fought very hard! Good for her. She may not win this race, but I hope she gives Wilhelmi a run for his money!
- Yellow Dog Democrat - Thursday, Jul 22, 10 @ 1:14 pm:
“Ms. Crenshaw, you’ve got the backing of the Education Action Group, an organization with ties to conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart.
Do you think Mr. Breitbart was right or wrong to post video clips of Ms. Sherrod on his blog and push for her ouster?”
Next, Please!
- the dark horse - Thursday, Jul 22, 10 @ 1:15 pm:
I hear the dems in Will County are pleased as punch that she will be on the ballot. The ground game will be in full force. I predict a close race: AJ wins by 10 points.
- VanillaMan - Thursday, Jul 22, 10 @ 1:19 pm:
Whatever happened to the good old days when Chicago politicians used to co-opt folks who looked like political stars? Crenshaw would have been hugged to death by Old Man Daley.
- GoldCoastConservative - Thursday, Jul 22, 10 @ 1:32 pm:
YDD - Breitbart did not publish the video in the hopes that the Ag employee would get canned. He posted the video to demonstrate the NAACP’s hypocrisy for attacking the Tea Party as racist while appearing to support Ms. Sherrod’s initial, racially-motivated handling of a white farmer’s request for government assistance. By choosing to focus on Sherrod you are obfuscating the point Breitbart made.
- Rich Miller - Thursday, Jul 22, 10 @ 1:33 pm:
===you are obfuscating the point Breitbart made.===
Either way, he was wrong and is now discredited. And so are you.
- John Bambenek - Thursday, Jul 22, 10 @ 1:36 pm:
Rich-
Curious… did you read the post where he made those videos public?
- GoldCoastConservative - Thursday, Jul 22, 10 @ 1:37 pm:
Rich, if getting Sherrod canned was Brietbart’s intent, I would agree with you. But, it wasn’t, and I don’t. The kerfuffle over Sherrod is a distraction for the main issue - the NAACP’s obvious hypocricy.
- Rich Miller - Thursday, Jul 22, 10 @ 1:38 pm:
Yep, and I’ve seen some of his attempts at explaining himself as well. Comical.
- Rich Miller - Thursday, Jul 22, 10 @ 1:39 pm:
===The kerfuffle over Sherrod is a distraction for the main issue - the NAACP’s obvious hypocricy. ===
Except there was none if you watch the full tape. That’s why you’re now discredited in my eyes as a phony reverse race baiter.
- Cincinnatus - Thursday, Jul 22, 10 @ 1:47 pm:
Oh, Rich. Watch that tape again and see how the NAACP audience members approved of her discrimination. Only later did she say that it was the cause of why she was redeemed and saw the error of her previous ways. It is the NAACP member’s initial response to her preamble that shows the hypocrisy. When she made what she admitted were discriminatory remarks that they murmured their approval. There is a much less enthusiastic response to her saying she was wrong.
- GoldCoastConservative - Thursday, Jul 22, 10 @ 1:49 pm:
@Cincinnatus - ditto.
- Rich Miller - Thursday, Jul 22, 10 @ 1:52 pm:
===Watch that tape again and see how the NAACP audience members approved of her discrimination. ===
Um, no. You’re missing the context there. Plus, Breitbart said they were applauding. There was no applause.
- dave - Thursday, Jul 22, 10 @ 2:02 pm:
you are obfuscating the point Breitbart made.
What a joke. The fact that Breitbart lied, and distorted the words of Sherrod, obfuscated his own point.
Breitbart is a joke. And a liar. And anyone that gives him any credibility is also a joke.
- Concerned Observer - Thursday, Jul 22, 10 @ 2:07 pm:
Back to the topic at hand….
Crenshaw doesn’t scare me nearly as much in this video as she did in that ad where she screamed into the microphone. Still not voting for her.
And I don’t think she picked the right race to run in. Wilhelmi is pretty well liked in Joliet, and if you can’t win Joliet it’s hard to win Will County.
I really wish she’d challenged Emily Mcasey in the House….I don’t know Crenshaw’s address, but I think she lives in that district. Think she’d have given herself a better chance to win. I don’t know if I’d LIKE that, but it’d be a closer race.
- Reformer - Thursday, Jul 22, 10 @ 2:24 pm:
The Trib editors ignored the fact, which Rich reported, that Cedra challenged another candidate off the ballot. I guess that inconvenient fact didn’t fit the narrative of Cedra as victim.
- Dave - Thursday, Jul 22, 10 @ 2:38 pm:
“Wilhelmi is pretty well liked in Joliet, and if you can’t win Joliet it’s hard to win Will County.”
He was appointed to the seat then ran against a token candidate. I don’t think his constituents have been formally introduced yet, yet.
- Pioneer P. - Thursday, Jul 22, 10 @ 2:39 pm:
Brought to you by J. Cullerton & J. Rowell. Nice work guys.
- Rich Miller - Thursday, Jul 22, 10 @ 2:43 pm:
Dave, I’m not sure you can make that judgment from so far away.
- Dave - Thursday, Jul 22, 10 @ 2:54 pm:
Make what judgment? He was appointed and face no serious opposition to win reelection. He will now be introduced to the voters. We have cars and internets in Quincy, Rich.
- VanillaMan - Thursday, Jul 22, 10 @ 3:46 pm:
I’m a Breitbart fan, and he totally blew it here. He needs to apologize and completely rethink what he did. In his drive to demonstrate NAACP racism, he published a hacked video. Those folks are “applauding” because they were listening to a woman explaining how she took a moment from her bureaucratic life to heal her life. They are applauding because she made that clear before she began her story.
Breitbart blew it right out of the water, and right up his own ***/(nose). And so far, he is still trying to lamely spin this, and it is very disappointing to watch this. He needed to admit his error, his prejudicial state of mind in accepting this load of crap as fact, and be open about it. He is tainted to me until he does so.
- dave - Thursday, Jul 22, 10 @ 3:54 pm:
he published a hacked video
It isn’t exactly the first time for this from Breitbart.
He did the exact same thing with ACORN, posting edited videos that absolutely did not show the full picture and very much distorted what happened. And with ACORN, it was very clearly and explicitly intentional.
The guy has zero credibility.
- John Bambenek - Thursday, Jul 22, 10 @ 4:07 pm:
Wilhelmi has never run in a real race. It’s a farce to say X voters support him. It’s almost as much as a farce as saying McCain did X here, Obama did Y, so the district is obviously Dem… McCain didn’t even campaign here. He showed up once to collect checks and left.
We’ll see how well liked Wilhelmi is when voters are introduced to his record as a sock puppet for John Cullerton.
How’s the unemployment numbers in Joliet doing anyway?
- Obamarama - Thursday, Jul 22, 10 @ 4:09 pm:
===We have cars and internets in Quincy, Rich.===
I call BS.
- KnuckleHead - Thursday, Jul 22, 10 @ 4:23 pm:
Ok get ur heads out of Chicago land and look whats happening around the state. Congressman Phil Hare (D)from Quad Cities heavy Democrat area.
Just got smoked by his Republican opponent by 7 points in latest poll. Think it can’t happen in Will County?
- Rich Miller - Thursday, Jul 22, 10 @ 4:31 pm:
That’s a candidate poll. They haven’t release the numbers yet, just leaked one topline to somebody I never heard of.
- John Bambenek - Thursday, Jul 22, 10 @ 4:35 pm:
You haven’t heard of National Review?
Why don’t you ask Phil Hare for his numbers… from the look of his SEC filings, he’s been running polls.
- Obamarama - Thursday, Jul 22, 10 @ 4:59 pm:
Do you mean the Illinois Review? Because they are showing Hare down 45-32, 13 points, according to Schilling’s internal poll.
- HolyCatz - Thursday, Jul 22, 10 @ 5:02 pm:
If Phil Hare is in trouble, there is trouble in DLand, indeed. He should have Costello-like numbers–and probably does once he releases them.
- Rich Miller - Thursday, Jul 22, 10 @ 5:20 pm:
Also, JB and others, go back and read that article again. One paragraph begins…
===Sherrod’s racist tale===
She was definitely part of the original hit. No doubt.
- BH - Thursday, Jul 22, 10 @ 6:46 pm:
Did anybody ask her why didn’t run in the primary? Why she waited until 19 days before the deadline to start petitions?
I watched her on WGN last week. She didn’t come across as a working mother just wanting to fix the government. She gave pre-packaged responses to questions — repeating the same talking point when challenged why she wasn’t involved in politics until 2 months ago.
The TeaParty, the Republican party, and conservatives in general need minority (and female) candidates. This country is looking less like the typical GOP voting bloc: white, Christian males. Everybody knows this going forward even if Democrats get killed in 2010 and 2012. Back in 1994, there’s a reason why freshman JC Watts got to #4 in the leadership — and it had nothing to do with his ability to run the option.
Rich, could you post/link where Mrs. Crenshaw challenged the petitions of another candidate? I read the Trib so you know I don’t know.
- JaySepshey - Thursday, Jul 22, 10 @ 7:54 pm:
Please, if Mz Crenshaw couldn’t fill out a simple form how is she going to become a rising political star?
- Dave - Thursday, Jul 22, 10 @ 8:10 pm:
JaySepshey
She did fill it out correctly. The judge just said so.
- wordslinger - Thursday, Jul 22, 10 @ 9:46 pm:
Part of me would like to see these tea-partiers in positions of responsibility for a while. They remind me of the farm dogs when I was a kid who would bark crazily and chase the corn trucks. Every once in a while they’d “catch” one, under the wheels, if you know what I mean.
- Dave - Friday, Jul 23, 10 @ 6:58 am:
wordslinger
Because our current band of politicos are so much smarter and therefore able to govern so much than the average Joe? Have you seen the numbers on IL? Few could do worse. When you were a kid, did one of those farm dogs turn around and bite you on the as# when he learned you were rooting against him?
- wordslinger - Friday, Jul 23, 10 @ 9:41 am:
Dave, not at all. I’d suggest that government at all levels is crawling with average and below-average Janes and Joes and not a few dumb bunnies.
Schnorf, I believe, in his orginal post said that you want elite people at important levels of government.