* The mainstream media is finally coming back to the Scott Lee Cohen saga. The Sun-Times and Daily Herald both had pieces over the weekend. And now the AP has a brief story up about the candidate entitled “Cohen resists discussing past personal troubles“…

Cohen talked to The Associated Press Monday but refused to answer most questions about incidents such as accusations of violence from a former girlfriend and an order of protection sought by his wife when they were divorcing.

Cohen did call the order of protection a “sneaky” maneuver that is often used in divorces to disrupt a man’s life.

Cohen says he has “never, ever, touched, hurt or abused a woman.”

Divorce proceedings can often be chock full of lies on both sides. Many of us have seen it happen. But Cohen’s ex-wife was asked specifically earlier this year by Phil Ponce about her allegations that Cohen attempted to rape her and that she was afraid at the time for her physical well-being. “At the time that was an accurate statement,” she said. Watch it…

Take her word for it that he’s a changed man. That’s not an easy thing to do. Not everyone can do it. I give him credit for that. But it seems pretty darned clear to me that she said he did what she alleged during the early stages of the divorce proceedings. And if we believe her most recent comments, then Cohen is not telling the truth now.

* The AP also talked to Cohen about his campaign promises…

In an interview Monday with The Associated Press, Cohen said Illinois should eliminate unneeded social programs, but he couldn’t name any. He said the state should do away with special funds but couldn’t provide any examples.

His candidacy is wholly unserious. We’ve given Bill Brady plenty of grief for not specifying his cuts, but he has at least put some thought into this race. Cohen has not, except for the political angle. He has no answers for real questions.

* Rate Cohen’s radio ad…

…Adding… I accidentally set the ad video to “Private.” It’s fixed now. Sorry about that.

*** UPDATE 1 *** More AP…

In an interview Monday with The Associated Press, Cohen accused Republican Bill Brady of running “a business into the ground.”

A guy who has been hit with at least ten foreclosure lawsuits and was sued twice for eviction has little room to stand. Just sayin…

*** UPDATE 2 *** Three of the people who provide testimonials in that Cohen radio ad are Raymond Hancock, Jason Kyle and Peggy Bong. From the State Board of Elections website…

Hmmm.

       

35 Comments - Vote Quimby! - Monday, Sep 13, 10 @ 2:22 pm: Radio ad says it’s private… - Rich Miller - Monday, Sep 13, 10 @ 2:24 pm: Fixed. Thanks. - Pat collins - Monday, Sep 13, 10 @ 2:25 pm: If that “private” ad is the same as was playing on the Bears game this weekend, it’s the EXACT same one as his Lt. Gov ad. All he did was change the voice over to be Gov. The job fair, stories, and people saying their names, and that they vote for him are the same (or darn close) to the one I heard on radio just before the primary. - Pat collins - Monday, Sep 13, 10 @ 2:27 pm: Ok i listened it’s the same one as on the Bears, and VERY close to the one he used in the primaries, to good effect then. But now, there is an opposition, and he is not on a main party label. Good ad, but surely less effective. Especially once someone starts to run ads on his “interesting” personal history. - ivoted4judy - Monday, Sep 13, 10 @ 2:30 pm: The pawn broker still takes 2-3% of the vote and that will hurt Quinn at a time when he needs every vote in the State. Somebody should check with the City of Chicago, I bet there is a huge file of complaints against SLC’s pawn shops for violating city ordinances. - Dirt Digger - Monday, Sep 13, 10 @ 2:30 pm: I’m sure someone considered that the “voters” in the ad can be located and questioned since their full names were given. - Niles Township - Monday, Sep 13, 10 @ 2:34 pm: Wasn’t this his radio ad when he ran for Lite Guv. If so, it would be great to follow-up with this people and see if they are planning to vote for SLC for Guv too. - Dirt Digger - Monday, Sep 13, 10 @ 2:35 pm: I mean, let’s take Raymond Hancock, one of the people who says he’s voting for Cohen. It looks like Mr. Hancock has already been paid money by Cohen: Hancock, Raymond $300.00 1/6/2010 Expenditure Citizens for Scott Lee Cohen services rendered Citizens for Scott Lee Cohen That might be considered paying for votes by some people. - Jim - Monday, Sep 13, 10 @ 2:42 pm: I’d charge more than $300 to give a testimonial for this “reformed” no-goodnik. - Peter Coffey - Monday, Sep 13, 10 @ 2:43 pm: The Cohen team modified this ad a bit from the primary, but the first voice, Jason, is identical from what I thought was a very effective primary ad. They’ve clearly added an African-American to broaden the appeal and obviously don’t mention “Lieutenant” in this ad. IIRC, the job Jason got from the Cohen job fair with the “national cable television company” was selling cable subscriptions door-to-door. Someone wrote about this (sorry but I’ve forgotten), and indicated that poor Jason lost that job over the summer. No offense to anyone looking for work, but if you need a job fair to land a door-to-door sales job, oh brother are we in trouble. Is anyone covering these so-called jobs fairs? I’d love to see the results Cohen has gotten so far. If there are more “jobs” like Jason’s, I think it would be helpful for the media to note how effective the Cohen jobs-a-palooza really is. Or isn’t. - Pot calling kettle - Monday, Sep 13, 10 @ 2:43 pm: ==A guy who has been hit with at least ten foreclosure lawsuits and was sued twice for eviction has little room to stand. Just sayin…== He speaks as an expert on the topic. LOL - Cincinnatus - Monday, Sep 13, 10 @ 2:49 pm: RE: Update 2: BWAHAHAHA, this guy’s a hoot! - Anonymous - Monday, Sep 13, 10 @ 2:54 pm: What is Cohen’s end game? He must know he is not electable, and in a best case scenerio only draws under 10 percent of the vote. Why blow $6 million for that? Am I missing something fundemental? - Radio Guy - Monday, Sep 13, 10 @ 2:55 pm: At least he’s paying better than scale, but I would bet he’s not paying residuals. - anon - Monday, Sep 13, 10 @ 2:59 pm: Rich, it is clear the this guy has no respect, whatsoever, for the press. To pay for testimonials, then report the expenditures on the SBOE website is the equivelant of him saying voters are dumb and the press is lazy. If not for you, he would be absolutely getting away with it. The MSM should be ashamed for sleeping at the switch once. They should be fired if they do it again. - Whatever - Monday, Sep 13, 10 @ 3:04 pm: I guess those three really did get jobs as a result of SLC — by going on his payroll! - soccermom - Monday, Sep 13, 10 @ 3:06 pm: Anonymous - you are absolutely right. There’s no way this makes sense. This is a huge amount of money to pay for sheer spite and a few minutes in the spotlight. - Amalia - Monday, Sep 13, 10 @ 3:09 pm: Cohen considers an order of protection a sneaky maneuver. I consider his approach to endorsers sneaky, underhanded, unethical, and immoral. the Peggy Bong addition to the discussion provides a new shorthand to the technique….Bong endorsers. - OneMan - Monday, Sep 13, 10 @ 3:09 pm: Politics and Logic sometimes are not in the same building (for example getting Alan Keyes as your replacement senate candidate) - Who cares - Monday, Sep 13, 10 @ 3:22 pm: The SLC signs are starting to pop up. I’ve seen them on the south side getting on the Ryan. I also spotted some in Lakeview yesterday. - Reggie P - Monday, Sep 13, 10 @ 3:30 pm: I went to a Scott Lee Cohen job fair recently and I got a job as a paid endorser for an Independent Gubernatorial candidate. - Bring Back Boone's - Monday, Sep 13, 10 @ 3:34 pm: Haha I heard this ad while listening to the bears game yesterday. Classic Cohen. - Pat collins - Monday, Sep 13, 10 @ 3:37 pm: I’d charge more than $300 to give a testimonial for this “reformed” no-goodnik. I, on the other hand, am quite available for his going rate - soccermom - Monday, Sep 13, 10 @ 3:49 pm: Keyes had a national profile — and there wasn’t much point in putting up a serious candidate against Barack Obama at that point. But this is beyond illogic — this is incomprehensible. - LG - Monday, Sep 13, 10 @ 4:03 pm: When I first heard the Scott Lee Cohen ad on the radio, I thought “Jason” was Mr. Cohen. The voice - tenor and accent - sounds identical to SLC. Are they related? - siriusly - Monday, Sep 13, 10 @ 4:04 pm: At the end of SLC’s radio ad Jason Kyle says “my name is Jason Kyle and I’m voting for SLC” - if he got paid for the ad / testimonial - is he getting paid to vote for SLC? Is that legal? - Vote Quimby! - Monday, Sep 13, 10 @ 4:09 pm: Are the paid endorsers GT clients? - Wensicia - Monday, Sep 13, 10 @ 4:18 pm: A man who brushes off an order of protection as a “sneaky” maneuver, while refusing to answer past statements of abuse by both ex-wife AND girlfriend has no business being on any ballot for public office. Physical abuse of women by their partners is still a serious problem in this country, and every news agency that talks to this man should demand he give answers to the former charges of abuse filed against him. - Pioneer P. - Monday, Sep 13, 10 @ 4:30 pm: No joke, a Baxter Swilley sign popped up in my neighborhood along Ashland. No one with any self respect would put it in their yard of course. - D.P. Gumby - Monday, Sep 13, 10 @ 4:48 pm: So, we have the wife-beater, the puppy-killer, the incompetent, and the Green…. - KeepSmiling - Monday, Sep 13, 10 @ 5:05 pm: = So, we have the wife-beater, the puppy-killer, the incompetent, and the Green…. = If Whitney can’t get 15% in this race, it’s pathetic. When is he going to advertise? Does he want to win, or just spoil? - RMW Stanford - Monday, Sep 13, 10 @ 5:15 pm: I am sure that Whitney would love to advertize, but I am guessing that for all pratical purpose he has no money is holding him back, a lot. I just have a feeling that the Greens are going to pull less than 5% this time around - Park - Monday, Sep 13, 10 @ 6:32 pm: All this Whitney talk. What exactly are his qualifications to be governor of a state? Whether you like Quinn/Brady or not, both of them have been around enough to know how government works. Both have some idea how the agencies work and who is qualified to run them. Whitney isn’t much more than a slot filler for the greens. Does anyone really think he should be the chief executive of the State of Illinois? I mean, Really?? - Downstate Commissioner - Monday, Sep 13, 10 @ 9:37 pm: -Park- Really, yes!!! The other three candidates are incompetent or hard core conservative silly or borderline criminal. Read what his platform is and what he has to say. If knowledge of agencies and who is qualified to lead them is so good, how did Illinois end up in the mess that we are in? - wordslinger - Tuesday, Sep 14, 10 @ 1:28 am: Cohen had the inside dope on the Daley retirement. The whole lg race, victory and withdrawal and entrance into the governor’s race was a diabolical p.r. campaign to position himself for the mayoral. In a field of 80 candidates, he finishes second with 3 percent and makes the second round against top vote-getter Roland Burris. It’s the only thing that makes sense. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.