In June 2008, according to the story, Tribune Co. Chairman Sam Zell approached then-Editor Ann Marie Lipinski at a meeting, “saying that the Chicago Tribune should be harder on Gov. Rod Blagojevich. … In a news meeting later the same day, she found out that Mr. Zell was in negotiations to sell Wrigley Field to the state sports authority.” Lipinski says, “It was hard to avoid the conclusion that he was trying to use the newspaper to put pressure on Blagojevich.” […]
Zell has denied that he sought to use the newspaper for business purposes. No one from the editorial board was present for the conversation between Zell and Lipinski. We can, however, say with certainty that Tribune Co. executives — from Zell on down — have never tried to influence this editorial board. Their approach has been completely hands-off. Completely. They have had no impact whatsoever on our Blagojevich editorials. We realize that we cannot prove a negative. All we can do is tell you the truth and ask you to believe us.
How can the Tribune say “with certainty” that Zell never, ever tried to influence the editorial board when a former editorial board member editor is on record saying it was “hard to avoid the conclusion” that Zell was trying to use the paper to put pressure on Blagojevich?
*** UPDATE *** This is how. From Eric Zorn…
Ann Marie, as the editor, was not a member of the editorial board — didn’t sit on it, didn’t vote on it, etc. The same holds true today for Gerry Kern. Long established protocol as I understand it is that the editor in chief doesn’t dictate to or participate in the decisions of the board, though as a non-member myself I can’t swear that this has always been scrupulously heeded.
It would’ve helped had the Tribune explained this in the piece, or in conversations with me prior to this. Either way, it’s thankfully now cleared up.
* After the controversy over Gov. Pat Quinn’s no-layoff agreement with AFSCME around the time that the union endorsed his candidacy, it was probably no surprise that the state’s largest public employee union had given the governor no contributions. But late Friday night, the governor’s campaign disclosed $450,000 from two AFSCME contributions…
Quinn reported an additional $921,000 from various labor unions to his two campaign accounts late last night.
Governor Quinn has reached a resolution with an association of medical transporters who had threatened to not vote for the governor.
They had said they would withhold their votes unless the state paid them for services rendered.
The Chicago Association of African American Transporters said that shortly before its news conference, the governor’s office promised to pay within 10 days.
FOX Chicago News estimates that $61.1 million has been spent so far this year for campaign commercials on television. That’s more than double the $24.1 million candidates and their allies spent on TV in 2008.
“It’s astounding,” said Cynthia Canary, of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform. “I knew it was up this year, but I had no idea it was that much more.”
Actually, the comparison is not all that “astounding.” Two years ago, Illinois had no truly contested statewide races. The only statewide campaign was US Senate, and Dick Durbin’s opponent was less than inspiring, to say the least. This year, we had hotly contested primaries in both parties for US Senate and governor, plus a big-money primary for Cook County Board President. This fall, we have the top two statewide races, plus the assessor’s race, plus all those contested congressional races. So, yeah, spending is far outpacing 2008. The only real suprise is that spending was that high two years ago.
* The Post-Dispatch had Mason-Dixon do a statewide poll Oct. 18 through Oct. 20 of 625 likely voters. An earlier version of this post had these as “registered” voters, but M-D used self-identified likelies in its sample. That’s not the greatest screen, but some campaigns are using it as well, so it’ll do. Anyway, Bill Brady is leading Pat Quinn by 4 points in this poll…
Bill Brady, Republican 44%
Pat Quinn, Democrat 40%
Scott Lee Cohen, Independent 4%
Rich Whitney, Green Party 3%
Lex Green, Libertarian 1%
Undecided 8%
* Women don’t like Brady’s 10 percent budget cut idea at all, while men are divided. The question: “Illinois currently faces a state budget shortfall that some have estimated could be as high as $13 billion. Would you support or oppose addressing the state’s budget shortfall by cutting state spending by 10% across the board, including spending for public education?” The answer…
* And voters are split on the Quinn one-point income tax hike issue. The question: “Do you support or oppose raising the state’s current income tax rate from 3% to 4% in order to provide additional funding for public schools?” The answer…
there are 40,000 fewer registered black voters now than in the 2006 midterm.
* Newt Gingrich rallied with Bill Brady in Collinsville yesterday, and the Chicago newspapers were there to cover it. Tribune…
While Bill Brady has minimized his conservative social positions as he talks to Chicago-area voters, 300 miles away in southwestern Illinois the Republican candidate for governor campaigned Friday with former House Speaker Newt Gingrich to fire up the downstate base.
In a red-meat rally emceed by Fox News personality Mike Gallagher, who whipped the crowd into cheers by bashing National Public Radio, Brady and his running mate, Jason Plummer, shared the stage with the architect of the 1994 Republican takeover of Congress. […]
Gingrich scoffed at the notion that the campaigns picked southwestern Illinois because Chicago and suburban voters are less receptive to his brand of cultural conservatism. “We’ve been together all over Illinois,” Gingrich said of himself and Brady.
Gingrich held a private fundraiser Sept. 23 in Chicago and appeared with Brady at a Will County GOP dinner on Sept. 29, the Brady campaign said.
Brady’s decision to share the stage with Gingrich raised questions privately among some key Brady supporters who recognize the conservative icon as popular with Brady’s base but a potential wedge among independent voters who are crucial to Brady’s campaign hopes.
Quinn’s campaign wasted little time muddying up his opponent and Gingrich by distributing newspaper excerpts that quoted the former House speaker saying that bilingual education emphasizes “the language of the ghetto” and that women should not get top military jobs because they “get infections.”
The Quinn campaign also circulated an excerpt from a Washington Post report in which Gingrich was quoted as saying that “low-income African-Americans fail to acquire wealth because of their habits.”
“Newt Gingrich is a divider, a name caller,” the governor said after meeting with a group of Metro East mayors in southwestern Illinois.
“What we are going to talk about is what you are going to do about it,” he said. “Senator Brady is working hard, I’m working hard, and the entire Republican ticket is working hard. But for the final two weeks here, folks, I know you’re working hard, but I need you to work hard. I’ve got a big goal for November 2nd. I want Madison County and St. Clair County to be red for the governor’s race.”
Rev. Gregory Lee said he will file a formal complaint next week with the State’s Attorney’s Office requesting a formal investigation of Scott Lee Cohen and his campaign staff.
Speaking at his campaign head quarters in Chicago, Scott Lee Cohen says he never asked an emissary to offer the Rev. Gregory Lee or the Rev. James Jones money for their endorsement. […]
“Nothing could be further from the truth,” said Cohen.
Cohen then showed a video to the assembled media that he said would refute any suggestions that his campaign made any type of financial offer. However the video, made by campaign staff, failed to prove anything other then the presence of a TV camera from a Chicago TV station. Cohen’s campaign manager John Davis says the cameraman being present is evidence that no such thing happened. “Never would I have invited an outside camera if I knew or this campaign knew that this sort of thing was happening,” Davis said.
* A buddy of mine said he’d heard a Bill Brady ad on black radio. I asked if he could get me a copy. This was recorded off the radio and there’s a static spike near the beginning, so watch your speakers, but if you do nothing else today you absolutely, positively must listen to this…
Script…
Music lyrics: The time for change is now. We can show you how. Get in the groove, let’s make a move, with Bill Brady.
Narration: Now is the time to make a move in the right direction. It’s time for a change, but you can’t change or fix anything if you are part of the problem. Our last governor was part of the problem. So is our present governor. You can’t cut deals with everyone you think will help you get elected. We need a governor for all the people of Illinois that has a plan to get us out of, and keep us out of this mess we’re in. A governor who’s independent in policy, but dependable in times of need. It’s not about whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat. It’s about getting Illinois back on the right track. And Bill Brady is the one who can get the job done. So let’s make the right move with Bill Brady.
Music lyrics: Get in the groove, let’s make a move, with Bill Brady.
He’s no Rickey Hendon, but that’s quite a catchy tune.
* Our old friend Simon Edelman at the Quinn campaign sent a video over with this note…
Don’t be surprised if you see it this Tuesday on Glee.
I have no idea what that means, but the video/ad is pretty darned funny. And I mean intentionally funny, unlike Brady’s radio spot. Watch…
Oh, man. Some of those clips were painful to watch. Funny, but painful.
* As a commenter pointed out, Gov. Pat Quinn is the political version of a jam band. Maybe not a good jam band, but a jam band nonetheless. Here’s another long riff at the SJ-R editorial board…
* And here’s your exclusive preview of WBEZ’s “Best Game in Town.” From the producer….
Several congressional districts are up in the air and polling information has key Illinois districts trending republican. We talk with WBEZ’s Sam Hudzik about the local districts that may go blue. And this week, MSNBC’s Chris Matthews taped his show Hardball from the University of Illinois (Chicago). Steve Edwards sat down with the longtime cable talk show host to talk about the possibility of a congressional swing and to assess how President Obama is performing.
* Nobody in their right mind would suspect that Chicago’s early voting numbers this fall would even come close to matching 2008’s. Sure enough, it’s down, but it’s still way ahead of the 2006 totals…
As of Thursday, according to the Chicago Board of Elections, 28,476 people had cast ballots. That sounds good, but it’s not even one-third of the 103,000 who’d voted by this point in 2008, when a fellow named Barack Obama led the ballot.
Today’s figure roughly equals all of the early voting count in 2006. But early voting was in its infancy then.
You never compare off-year turnout to presidential years and you don’t do that with early voting, either. Top wards are 18 and 19.
* Cook County’s EV totals are ahead of 2006 as well…
County Clerk David Orr said 35,600 people had voted early as of Thursday, while 33,000 did so in 2006.
Early voting started Oct. 12 and ends Thursday.
“What’s significant about early voting so far is because for the first time in history, the suburbanites are voting heavier and earlier than the city folks,” Orr said.
That is interesting. Top EV sites are Orland Park and Matteson, the home of state treasurer candidate Robin Kelly.
* Also keep in mind that “no excuse” absentee voting is legal this year. You don’t have to leave your home to vote any longer. You just mail in your ballot, which is even easier than early voting, and that may impact EV totals. Lots of people are receiving mass absentee ballot applications in the mail. The Republican Party sent theirs out last week and the Democrats’ coordinated campaign mailed theirs this week.
But there was a problem with at least one group this year. They made a stupid mistake, and they’d better hope the Post Office works out the problem…
Some groups trying to take advantage of a new absentee voting law allowing people to cast a ballot by mail without having to give an excuse are having a few problems with their get-out-the-vote-efforts, elections officials said today.
An insert in today’s editions of RedEye (a Chicago Tribune publication) and the Chicago Reader aimed at encouraging younger city voters to fill out a pre-printed, mail-in request for an absentee ballot contained the wrong address for the Chicago Board of Elections. The mail-in form listed the board’s address as 69 N. Washington St., instead of 69 W. Washington St.
The newspaper insert was part of the “Vote Naked Illinois” voter outreach campaign sponsored by Equality Illinois, Rock the Vote and Roosevelt University.
Jim Allen, a spokesman for the city election board, said the office is working with the U.S. Postal Service in hopes that the absentee ballot applications will be delivered to the board offices.
You’d think that with all the money put into the “Vote Naked” campaign they’d have enough cash to hire a proofreader. Sheesh.
Chuck Goudie’s ABC7 piece this week on no excuse absentee voting was headlined “Open absentee voting concerns officials,” but the only official quoted said they’re keeping a close eye on things.
Have you received one of those mass absentee ballot applications yet?
* Meanwhile, the ACLU of Illinois claims the recall provision on the ballot next month violates the US Constitution. From a press release…
The group’s objection centers on the provision in the recall process that requires at least 100 registered voters from each of at least 25 separate counties to sign a petition in order to initiate the recall election process. The ACLU of Illinois argues that this requirement means that “signatures of electors in less populous counties have greater value than the signatures of electors in more populous counties.” This, the ACLU of Illinois notes, undermines the principle of “one person, one vote” that the Supreme Court of the United States has repeatedly required as part of the electoral process.
They make a good point about that. More…
The ACLU’s Grossman notes that voters in Illinois’ 24 most populous counties – which contains 6.4 million voters or 84% of registered voters – could not place a recall question on a future ballot – even if every voter in those 24 counties were supportive of recalling a sitting Governor. Voters in the remaining 78 counties – with only 1.2 million voters or 16% of registered voters – could gather the necessary 530,000 signatures (using the 2006 gubernatorial election as a guide) to begin a recall election. Grossman writes that “(t)his disparity clearly violates the one person, one vote principle.”
I hadn’t thought of it that way, but it makes sense. And a similar state petition provision was struck down by the US Supremes many years ago…
However, a 1969 U. S. Supreme Court – Moore v. Olgilvie – struck down Illinois’ requirement that candidates for office (in this case, presidential electors) garner petition signatures from at least 50 counties. The Court said that all voters must be treated equally, whether urban or rural, or whether they reside in sparsely settled or populous counties.
So, even if it passes, it may very well be doomed.
I am no longer undecided on this one.
But, frankly, it was only passed so legislators (mainly Democrats) could claim they voted for recall. Gov. Pat Quinn has also made the issue a big part of his campaign. This was little more than political cover. And poorly written at that.
* Related…
* Agreement reached: The Illinois State Board of Elections and the U.S. Department of Justice have reached an agreement after at least 35 of the state’s jurisdictions failed to mail absentee ballots to overseas voters before the national deadline.
* Vote early, vote easy: Kane County Clerk Jack Cunningham is tallying more than 500 ballots a day, with an eye to possibly hitting 1,000 a day as voters have embraced early voting.
* Election Day is over for millions of early voters
* Muslim Americans rally to get out vote - Leaders hope to turn frustration into action this fall
* I’ve been hearing tons of rumors about Scott Lee Cohen trying to buy off African-American ministers, but two ministers confirmed it to CBS2…
Two ministers say the offer was made by a Cohen supporter and by someone who worked for the campaign in the past. It was simple, they say, throw their support behind Cohen at a news conference and they would get cold, hard cash in return.
Chicago minister Rev. Gregory Lee says he’d never had an offer quite like it before.
“It was in the form of cash,” he said.
On Tuesday, while attending a meet-and-greet with independent candidate for governor Scott Lee Cohen, Lee says one of Cohen’s supporters and a one-time campaign worker told him Lee would get at least $500 if he publicly backed Cohen. Lee says it seemed to him that the worker was trying to buy his support. […]
CBS 2 spoke with Reverend James Jones by phone, since he was out of town, who said he received the same offer.
Cohen’s campaign told CBS2 that it didn’t authorize any cash payments.
Not good at all. The Cohen campaign probably just bought itself an investigation.
* WGN TV also had a similar story last night. Rev. Lee told WGN that he was offered $500 and claims he saw people receiving cash. The state’s attorney is reportedly looking into the allegations. Watch it.
*** UPDATE *** From the Cohen campaign…
Independent gubernatorial candidate Scott Lee Cohen will hold a news conference this afternoon at his campaign headquarters. Cohen is prepared to answer questions about erroneous reports that his campaign made financial commitments to a group of Chicago area pastors for their support.
“Nothing could be further from the truth”, says Cohen. In fact, Cohen will produce video evidence that will refute any suggestions that his campaign made any financial commitments to the group of pastors who attended a “Meet and Greet” event at Dusties Restaurant in suburban Matteson on Tuesday.
The pastor who organized the event, Reverend Marvin Alexander of Union Missionary Baptist Church in Chicago, will also be present at the news conference.
A campaign spokesman blamed the miscue on an overworked campaign aide.
“This was an inadvertent overlooking of a critical deadline,” said John Davis. “With two weeks left in the campaign, things start swirling around.”
The Illinois State Board of Elections, which regulates campaign laws, typically fines first-time offenders $500 as long as they file within 10 days of the deadline. The disclosure law is aimed at giving voters information about where candidates are getting money for their campaigns.
Davis said Cohen’s reports will be filed by Friday.
“We’re not sweating the small fine,” Davis said.
OK. Way to bring the heat on yourself, Scott.
* As I’ve told you before, many of the “employers” attending Cohen’s “job fairs” are multi-level marketers. Fox Chicago reports that some of those companies even want up-front cash…
The jobs message resonated with people like Amanda Musfelt of Rockford, a college graduate and mother of three who has been trying unsuccessfully to get back into the workplace. At our request, Musfelt joined hundreds of job seekers who attended Cohen’s job fair in Rockford on Oct. 5 […]
She also found some of the companies aren’t just paying you– they want you to pay them, asking for up-front fees for supplies and training seminars.
“I don’t remember the numbers,” Musfelt said. “I heard a $250 thrown out there, and you make it back in three months, three times that. Not the job I’m looking for. I don’t have $250.”
Usually around this point in a campaign, some pundit will spout off about how undecided voters ought to just stay home on Election Day if they haven’t yet made up their minds.
For crying out loud, the argument goes, if you can’t come to a conclusion after seeing all the ads and reading all the stories, then why foist your uninformed views on the rest of us?
Normally, I might agree with those snarky types. But not this year.
For one, the news media just haven’t done their job, so I can’t blame the masses for being underinformed. The Chicago media have been so wrapped up in covering next year’s mayor’s race that they’ve ignored this year’s state races. And by foolishly focusing on Rahm Emanuel’s every breath, they’ve screwed up their coverage of two elections at the same time. That has to be some kind of record.
But here’s my little secret. I’m completely undecided. I really have no clue who I’m voting for at the top of the ticket. And I have no excuses about being uninformed. Politics is not only my job but my life, so I read just about everything published about every candidate. I’ve read their position papers, I’ve listened to their interviews, I’ve watched all the debates.
Some might say I’ve just overloaded my brain with too much information. But I do that every year. I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s a problem with the candidates. Not me.
If Gov. Quinn is elected and proceeds to govern the next four years like he has the last two, we’ll never dig ourselves out of this hole.
Quinn has enormous trouble making a decision, and when he finally does make up his mind he more often than not flip-flops, then flip-flops again. I’ll need to buy a neck brace if he gets four years. And our state’s serious structural problems may never be solved.
And then there’s Bill Brady. This man has yet to show me that he has even a tiny bit of a clue about what he faces if he’s sworn in. You can’t balance the state’s completely out of whack budget in one year with a 10 percent cut and a billion-dollar tax reduction. Not without a truckload of magic beans anyway.
That other newspaper’s Brady endorsement was extremely telling. Pretty much the entire editorial focused on how bad Quinn is. They essentially just crossed their big blue fingers and hoped for the best from Brady without any real evidence. I’m not willing to do that.
Moving to the U.S. Senate race, we have Mark Kirk the policy wonk without a moral center vs. Alexi Giannoulias the policy lite juvenile.
We haven’t had a person as credentialed as Kirk run for the Senate here since the sainted Paul Simon. And yet, his outright and repeated fabrications about his military service record turn my stomach. I can report on him without a problem, but I just can’t bring myself to vote for him.
Giannoulias has been running for Senate for more than a year now and yet I always get the feeling that he’s the kid who shows up for finals without ever cracking open his textbook. Charm is not enough in the world’s most elite legislative chamber. Hard work and long hours of study are required to succeed. Giannoulias is too often embarrassingly unprepared, even when he has been asked the same questions before.
None of these people are all bad. Quinn’s heart is as big as the state. Brady really does want to try to fix what’s wrong.
Kirk is an earnest hard worker. Giannoulias has shown a real capacity to empathize with people less fortunate than himself.
But none of that is enough.
I don’t expect politicians to be perfect or even close to perfect. But these four guys don’t even measure up to Illinois’ normally low standards.
Candidates are supposed to grow during a campaign. These guys have shrunk.
Rock Island County States Attorney Jeff Terronez has been pulled from at least one campaign ad, while Illinois State Police look into allegations that involve buying alcohol and partying with underage girls.
A source close to the case says the allegations center around a 19-year old junior college student, and a 17-year old high school student, both under the legal drinking age of 21.
Mr. Terronez Thursday said he couldn’t comment on any investigation or allegations.
Earlier this month, a spokesperson for Chief Justice Tom Kilbride confirmed Mr. Terronez’s taped endorsement was edited out of his campaign commercial on October 1st.
* I’m not sure how many points are behind this ad, but Bill Brady just released a new and positive spot called “Im the guy.” Rate it…
* The new TV ad from Karl Rove’s CrossroadsGPS is about the mob banker stuff…
* MoveOn is running an ad for Alexi Giannoulias that brings up “the corporate front groups” trying to “buy” the election…
* And here’s something you should definitely watch unless you’re a media pro. UIS Assistant Professor of Business Administration Jorge Villegas talks about emotions in advertising. Have a look…
According to numbers released Thursday by the Project on Student Debt, four-year college grads in the United States, on average, graduated in 2009 with $24,000 in student loan debt, a record high.
At the same time, they moved into a work world with an 8.7 percent national unemployment rate for college graduates ages 20 to 24 — the highest annual rate on record, according to the student loan project, put together by the California-based nonprofit Institute for College Access & Success.
In Illinois, the average debt for college seniors graduating in 2009 was about $22,000, according to institute’s study, which looked at students who graduate from public and private nonprofit four-year colleges with loans.
Possible fraud, and a failure by Cook County officials to police government contracts, have excluded women- and minority-owned businesses from getting a legal piece of the pie. […]
One unidentified business owner claimed, “I have been offered $75,000 a year to have the name of my company used on contracts without performing under the contract,” according to the report. The unidentified owner declined the payoff.
The redevelopment at Diversey and Clybourn will be one-third public housing, with the remainder to be determined through developers and community input, the CHA said.
The mixture has been a point of contention, with some residents wanting the development to be 100 percent public housing.
Sneed hears Cook County investigators hauled boxes of hard drives and photo electronic devices out of Cook County Board President Todd Stroger’s executive office at 118 N. Clark St., after business hours Thursday evening.
Sweep ‘em: Sneed is told they were concerned computer files/equipment may have been removed after a private company reportedly swept Stroger’s offices for eavesdropping devices Wednesday night. Stay tuned.
Monroe County Coroner Julie Gummersheimer is reported to be in stable condition after initially being in critical condition in a St. Louis County hospital, according to media reports.
The Monroe County Independent said that Gummersheimer was in St. Anthony’s Medical Center with an illness that began with pneumonia.
