65 Comments - How Ironic - Friday, Nov 5, 10 @ 8:09 am: Brady is going to announce that they found 20,000 votes in Jason Plummers tax returns. Reporters will not be allowed to see however, as they are ‘private’. - Quinn T. Sential - Friday, Nov 5, 10 @ 8:15 am: An accepatance speech; as well as a concession speech are customary pomp and circumstance, but are irrelevant to to the final outcome of the race. The winners and losers are determined by the voters, but their votes are counted and certified by election authorities. Until the counting is done and certified, any speechifying is just part of the political theater. I don’t need Bill Brady to tell me he lost; any more than I need Pat Quinn to tell me he won. The numbers speak for themselves. I don’t view Brady as a “sore loser” for a lack of a concession speech. I suspect he feels as though he owes it to his supporters across the state to let the election authorities do thier job. A lack of speech has also not encumbered Quinn from continuing to govern. A concession speech; if sincer and from the heart, is no less relevant as to when it is delivered, so long as it is delivered within the time frame for the election certification. The only people upset about the lack of a concession speech are Quinn supporters who; for some reason believe it diminishes the satisfactory quality of their opportunity to gloat. - ChicagoR - Friday, Nov 5, 10 @ 8:20 am: Well, better late than never. - Anonymous - Friday, Nov 5, 10 @ 8:22 am: How Ironic is close. Brady will announce that Plummer has returned from his border tour, and will report his findings. - just wondering - Friday, Nov 5, 10 @ 8:22 am: Maybe Brady is announcing how many years in prison a woman should get for performing an illegal abortion on herself once he succeeds in making abortion a criminal act. Someone needs to answer this question for voters. - Siwash - Friday, Nov 5, 10 @ 8:25 am: I LIKED Brady for being against the deatheaters! - Anon - Friday, Nov 5, 10 @ 8:28 am: Oh good God! Hello!!!!! Ever since Roe v Wade, January 22, 1973, states have been forbidden from outlawing abortion during the first trimester. - lakeview - Friday, Nov 5, 10 @ 8:28 am: How Ironic wins. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Nov 5, 10 @ 8:29 am: The one thing I do hope is that the Brady Campaign Staff is not just trotting Bill out there to make him answer questions that will put the Principle in a bad light, or handcuff him. Do him a good service, Staff, if it’s going to be more of the same, re-think this and don’t send your Guy out. So far, it ain’t working. When you weigh this presser, it won’t do Bill ANY good if Bill doesn’t have something that will be worth hearing. Do not embarrass this man by having this presser, and then have him look frustrated. - OneMan - Friday, Nov 5, 10 @ 8:37 am: He is going to concede. - Wensicia - Friday, Nov 5, 10 @ 8:37 am: I believe he’ll concede, otherwise, what’s the point? He gains nothing in refusing. - OneMan - Friday, Nov 5, 10 @ 8:41 am: That being said, in the grander scheme of things what is the big deal about conceding anyway? It’s not like it is holding up a transition or something. Yes, it is nice and everything but what does it really mean. - Happy - Friday, Nov 5, 10 @ 8:46 am: Brady concedes and puppies everywhere breath a sigh of relief, mainly because they can actually breath when not in gas chambers. - Mike Ins - Friday, Nov 5, 10 @ 8:48 am: Seriously, on the abortion thing at the state level… I mean I get it, my mom, bless her heart, has been a single-issue voter for most of her adult life, and I have driven friends to the abortion clinic, but for the love of god Republican governors have no more ability to outlaw abortion than they do to say, take away the freedom of the press… it’s in the Constitution and has been since 1973. It’s been 40 freakin’ years people; the governor of a state can’t outlaw abortion anymore than your county assessor can based on his or her viewpoints. We might as well ask candidates their views on diplomacy with Pakistan. Still, I know nothing will convince my mom, she’ll forever look at that single issue for every race from dog catcher to president. Prediction for Brady - an introspective concession. Then we turn page to the timing of the tax increase and the pension borrowing and the mayoral election! - Wensicia - Friday, Nov 5, 10 @ 8:49 am: One Man — Isn’t conceding a show of good sportsmanship? Like how opposing teams sometimes talk and shake each other’s hands at the end of a game? After all, politics is a game of winners and losers, what I like to call a ‘blood sport’. - SouthernIL - Friday, Nov 5, 10 @ 8:50 am: Brady!!! Give up the ghost….Halloween is OVER! - just sayin' - Friday, Nov 5, 10 @ 8:55 am: Brady doesn’t want to concede, but he will. Then it’s off to the Florida condo and the Porsche. Kirk’s people call all the shots and they can’t have Brady out flailing around about how we have to wait until every single oversees vote comes in, when Kirk is desperate to get sworn into the senate right away. Brady’s self-centeredness conflicts with Kirk’s self-centeredness. But as Brady is the weakling in that relationship he’ll back down to Kirk in the same way he’s been doing throughout the campaign. It’s worked so well thus far. Bye Bill. - Bobby Hill - Friday, Nov 5, 10 @ 8:56 am: How long after Brady concedes does it take Quinn to try to pay back his unions with our money? - OneMan - Friday, Nov 5, 10 @ 8:59 am: Wensicia, yes conceding is a show of good sportsmanship, but at the end of the day either your team won or lost.. It doesn’t change the score, so yes it is nice, but is it really a big deal. Also I guess I would wonder how much of this is being driven by a desire to hear Brady say it, not because it is nice, but because of feelings about Brady? As a punishment for hubris, because he is a social conservative and man does that piss some folks off. - Ghost - Friday, Nov 5, 10 @ 9:02 am: OneMan, its about character and custom, all components of a social construct. - Mike Ins - Friday, Nov 5, 10 @ 9:02 am: Sorry about the rant above, I guess my point is this is a more sophisticated blog and the campaign and election is over… everyone is entitled to their reasons but stuff about how the governor or county assessor is going to outlaw abortion somehow might be perfectly appropriate on a tribune comment board, but this blog is a bit beyond that level of analysis. Until someone explains to me HOW, like the actual mechanics, of a governor outlawing abortion it’s just campaign message points. Campaign is over, thank god Quinn won bc he had a plan that he had the testicular fortitude to share… a plan to cut spending and increase taxes in this environment… and he won. You want a politician, a leader who gives it to us straight? Quinn. Quinn told us what we didn’t want to hear but is the truth and he wins. Congrats. Sincerely. - OneMan - Friday, Nov 5, 10 @ 9:06 am: Yeah it get it, it’s custom and it’s nice. But again in the grander view of things what does it matter, you won, you want the satisfaction of the other guy saying he lost. I have been there, I get it. But again it’s not like a transition is being held up or anything. Everyone wants to shake hands and say good game when it’s over, but when all is said and done it’s whats on the scoreboard when time has run out that matters. - Far Northsider - Friday, Nov 5, 10 @ 9:15 am: I think Brady should not concede, keep dragging this out and look even more ridiculous than he looks now. - Ghost - Friday, Nov 5, 10 @ 9:16 am: OneMan you are basically debating the old Ghandi question, just the ends justify the means, or the means justify the ends. At the end of the day does it matter? to me yes, how one chooses to approach an issue is as important as the outcome. functionaly it has no impact on the election, but it does have an impact on brady if he wants to run for this or other office again. - Phil - Friday, Nov 5, 10 @ 9:17 am: One Man, I don’t think that you and others do “get it.” The point of the concession speech goes beyond the “good sportsmanship” analogy. As a matter of substance, you’re right, the concession speech doesn’t change the outcome of the election, but the speech is an opportunity to reinject some much neeced civility into the political process. - Responsa - Friday, Nov 5, 10 @ 9:17 am: Mike Ins @ 9:02–Your earlier post this morning was not a rant at all. It was the voice of reason. It was also insightful, true, and something that should give food for thought to all future campaigns. Thank you for that. - Wally - Friday, Nov 5, 10 @ 9:20 am: just sayin——So, you want to criticize a guy who has achieved a certain level of success? People who take huge risks and work long hours? Interesting! Who do you praise? It is essentially 2 1/2 days since the election ended. What has been the rush to have Brady concede??? - MrJM - Friday, Nov 5, 10 @ 9:21 am: Bill Brady should exhaust every possible avenue and every Republican bank account before he gives up the fight. Illinois voters deserve nothing less. – MrJM - cookiemonster - Friday, Nov 5, 10 @ 9:21 am: Ditto to Bobby Hill - Wensicia - Friday, Nov 5, 10 @ 9:24 am: Rick Pearson of the Tribune is reporting that Brady will concede. - Happy - Friday, Nov 5, 10 @ 9:28 am: Let’s be honest with ourselves, did anyone actually think Bill Brady was going to ever be Governor of Illinois? He did say he wanted to be more like Indiana. What are the residency requirements? They have a Governor race coming up in two years. - ShadyBillBrady - Friday, Nov 5, 10 @ 9:29 am: I absolutely understand why he doesn’t need to or have to give it ip. And I understand how he must be feeling. BUT … dragging it out if he is as confident he has no chance as the rest of the world serves what purpose? And dragging it out in order to play up the ideas of Chicago voter fraud, etc. Only serves to perpetuate and create division, doesn’t it? How he handles it won’t change the election outcome. But it might impact e outcome in a more general sense. I personally believe he should do whatever he wants. But hen should also be willing to own whatever residual effects that has on his image and influence. - OneMan - Friday, Nov 5, 10 @ 9:32 am: == As a matter of substance, you’re right, the concession speech doesn’t change the outcome of the election, but the speech is an opportunity to reinject some much neeced civility into the political process == Looking at the comments on this post, I don’t think if he gets up and apologizing for having been born is going to make much of a difference in the tone. Fine, but if anyone thinks it is going to be non-gassed puppy dogs and smiles once he concedes, you need to check your dosages. State is still going to have all the exact same problems. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Nov 5, 10 @ 9:36 am: ===Let’s be honest with ourselves, did anyone actually think Bill Brady was going to ever be Governor of Illinois?=== I had thought they were going to run the same strategy on the ground, so Yes, I did. I think its not fair to say “…actually think …” Yes, we did. Jerry and Co. - “Coffee is for closers…” - just sayin' - Friday, Nov 5, 10 @ 9:37 am: It’s over. On one level it doesn’t matter if Brady doesn’t concede. Quinn won and Brady can live in denial all he wants. Doesn’t change the reality, as others have noted. Quinn is moving on no matter how much Brady pretends. Mark Kirk wants to be sworn in NOW. So Kirk can’t give Roland Burris the opportunity to say “I don’t have to go yet. Your own governor candidate says we have to wait until every vote is counted.” Brady has played useful idiot for Mark Kirk throughout this campaign. That’s not going to change now. Brady’s officially out in 4 hrs. - The Moderate - Friday, Nov 5, 10 @ 9:37 am: The party is over. It is time to go home and regroup. Learn from unpopular positions and statements and reinvent. - Elmhurst - Friday, Nov 5, 10 @ 9:39 am: Concession is mostly a meaningless tradition. But in a close race, I think it signals that a campaign is calling off its lawyers, and it accepts the mathematical reality. - Ghost - Friday, Nov 5, 10 @ 9:41 am: Oneman, your suggesting that only actions which lkarge scale impacts should be onsidered. Covering my mouth when I cough oes not impact very many, but the couple of people standing nearby apprecate it. Perhaps if we focus on increasing the small positive impacts we can overall create bigger impacts by the compilation of civil actions. being nice to one person wont change the world, but it can still make the day a little nicer for that one person, and perhaps that may be a good thing - Ghost - Friday, Nov 5, 10 @ 9:41 am: Basically one man can make a difference, even if its a small… - wordslinger - Friday, Nov 5, 10 @ 9:44 am: ===Let’s be honest with ourselves, did anyone actually think Bill Brady was going to ever be Governor of Illinois?=== I did. He had everything going for him: bad economy, off-year-election, Dem control of Springfield and Washington, wrecked budget, Blago trial in the middle of the campaign, Quinn bungles…. Brady and crew missed the chance of a lifetime. You may never see the stars line up like that again. Take a look around the country and the Midwest. Brady is one of the biggest names that didn’t grab a chair when the music stopped. - Wumpus - Friday, Nov 5, 10 @ 9:50 am: His forensic audit of the ballots has been completed and he found 125k more ballots in Massac (65%-31%) county - Homer J. Simpson - Friday, Nov 5, 10 @ 9:50 am: I’m not a frequent commenter, but I do read this site regularly. I am curious about the vote totals from Tuesday’s election. With 100% precincts reporting the total votes for the special Senate election came to 3,501,619. The general Senate count came in at 3,662,697. This makes sense to me because not every voter fully understood the two separate votes for the same seat. What I am confused about is the total for the Governor’s race which comes in at 3,692,348. Just for information’s sake, why would almost 30,000 people place a vote for Governor, but not for either Senate question? - Wally - Friday, Nov 5, 10 @ 9:55 am: How is this for irony. Olin Corporation, in the metro east area, is moving 1000 jobs to Mississippi becuase the union said NO to a contract. So, Quinn strikes a deal with a union and gets a bunch of money from them and then watches unemployment grow in the state. - Wensicia - Friday, Nov 5, 10 @ 9:56 am: I don’t know why, but some people participate in elections and vote only for the top office candidates, ignoring the rest of the ballot. I’ve had people tell me this. - cermak_rd - Friday, Nov 5, 10 @ 9:57 am: That’s easy. A lot of people just vote for one or two people on a ballot. Maybe they only really cared about the statewide slots and couldn’t care less about the Senate or other offices. I would imagine the vote totals get lower the further you get down to offices like Metropolitan Water Reclamation District. - Happy - Friday, Nov 5, 10 @ 9:58 am: Homer, I would bet it has something to do with how nasty the Senate race was. I know people in my family that had almost a hatred for both candidates. - Ghost - Friday, Nov 5, 10 @ 10:01 am: So Olin, a MO based company is not moving to either Indiana or TN or MO? Are they moving becuase of the union contracts vote? Accoding to Olin, they are moving because Mississippi offered them undisclosed financial incentives of at least 30 million in value. Thats not due to the union. - lawyerlady - Friday, Nov 5, 10 @ 10:03 am: Oy, it’s been 2 and a half days, and Tuesday night, the race was awfully close with a lot of ballots outstanding. I think he’ll concede today, and I don’t see why people are getting their panties in a bunch about the fact that he’s doing it today v. yesterday v. Wednesday. Also, I question anybody who doesn’t feel a *little bit* bad for the loser in any race. I feel terrible for Alexi (and his team) and all of the other losing candidates who’ve dedicated a year + of their lives to this thing. Regardless of your opinion of a candidate, you have to acknowledge that defeat isn’t pretty for anyone and quite frankly sucks the life and energy right out of you for a while afterward. Plus, most of these guys, including Brady, believed that they would have done a good job, and had good intentions, even if you didn’t agree with them. I couldn’t stand Alexi during the campaign, but during his concession speech, a part of me wanted to give him a hug and a tissue. - Wally - Friday, Nov 5, 10 @ 10:13 am: Ghost, I will suggest Googling and you can read the story. Actually a headline that states it is due to the union vote. We lost 1000 private sector jobs. Think of the purchasing power for the state of Illinois that will be going bye bye. Good luck closing the deficit and improving unemployment when we hear news like this. - MrJM - Friday, Nov 5, 10 @ 10:13 am: @Oneman - A candidate’s concession is an acknowledgement that they came up short in a free and fair election. In a representative democracy, that is not an insignificant endorsement of the preceding electoral process. That said, I’m in no rush. – MrJM - shore - Friday, Nov 5, 10 @ 10:15 am: dogs across Illinois call it the wuff decision. Personally I think the man didn’t want to bother with this over the weekend. As a side note, jason plummer will have plenty of time to do his naval intel work! - Phineas J. Whoopee - Friday, Nov 5, 10 @ 10:15 am: I hoped Brady wouldn’t concede till after Chicago releases the absenty vote count so we could see how big the margin got. - not applicable - Friday, Nov 5, 10 @ 10:16 am: Brady to concede. http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2010/11/05/brady-to-concede-to-quinn-today/ - Grandson of Man - Friday, Nov 5, 10 @ 10:26 am: I’m an AFSCME member, and I now believe in union concessions, as long as it ensures that we union workers have a fair chance at keeping our jobs and our ability to pay our bills and enjoy our lives a little bit. Everyone might need to sacrifice a bit now, since the budget crisis is so dire. If others see that we in unions are inflexible, why should they pay more to get out of this mess? Today at work, after seeing the deal that CMS and AFSCME are working toward, that would have us give back part of our contractual raise in 2011, I was lobbying for acceptance of this deal. We live in a politically and economically hard time. I want to see the layoff freeze extended to mid-2012. I know that if we are too rigid, that is a bad message to voters and taxpayers, and we could lose much more later. I’ve learned that it’s not a zero-sum game, and a little of something is better than a whole lot of nothing. This doesn’t mean that union members should stop lobbying for other views, but now, with Whitney doing nothing, there’s no place else to turn but Quinn and the Democrats, the very people many of us were angry at last year. This also doesn’t mean that Quinn and the government should be bad employers to us. It’s not our fault that people are laid off because their ultra-rich bosses are all about the bottom line and are outsourcing jobs. - Dogs - Friday, Nov 5, 10 @ 10:31 am: Happy — lol! That was fantastic. Just the laugh I needed this Friday morning. Hooray for the pets - just sayin' - Friday, Nov 5, 10 @ 10:32 am: “I hoped Brady wouldn’t concede till after Chicago releases the absenty vote count so we could see how big the margin got.” They’ll still finish counting the votes for every candidate in every race PJW. Final tallies will be certified later this month. Doesn’t really matter what Brady does. But conceding helps show he’s not a sore loser. I did like Wumpus’ snark about the forensic audit. I bet Brady does have people in his ear telling him a recount would be a good thing because it’s much like a forensic audit. And advice givers like that perfectly illustrates why Brady lost. - ChrisChicago82-Independent - Friday, Nov 5, 10 @ 10:38 am: Hey Homer… A lot of people only vote for a few races that are important to them. It is very possible people did not find the Senate race important enough to vote on. Furthermore, it is also possible, due to the nature of the Senate campaign, that people did not find any of the Senate candidates appealing, and skipped voting on the race rather then to vote in somebody they didnt really care for. Take care. - siriusly - Friday, Nov 5, 10 @ 10:39 am: I think this is a great opportunity for Senator Brady to end his campaign with class and dignity. Wally - There is no rush to concede of course, other than the fact that the votes have been counted and the results are in. - ShadyBillBrady - Friday, Nov 5, 10 @ 10:42 am: homer … The answer to your question about the additional votes form governor …. Scott Lee Cohen. - Aldyth - Friday, Nov 5, 10 @ 10:46 am: To be gracious in defeat is a virtue. Somehow, I’m betting that Brady and Quinn will be getting together at the Billy Goat for a couple of brewskies. - Aldyth - Friday, Nov 5, 10 @ 10:47 am: Oops. That should have been “not getting together for a couple of brewskies” - LakeCountyLarry - Friday, Nov 5, 10 @ 10:55 am: Will Brady throw in the towel or won’t he??? The suspense builds by the moment. One thing about Illinois politics, for sure…the BEST show in town, bar none !!! ‘-) - hisgirlfriday - Friday, Nov 5, 10 @ 10:57 am: Wally, It’s a bit simplistic to say the only reason Illinois lost those jobs is because of the union. Mississippi was dangling $25 million in incentives to get them to move also. However you feel about the union vs. right-to-work issue, isn’t it a bit disgusting the way corporate America is able to shake down ALL of our states and play them against each other to force them to cough up taxpayer money just to protect private sector jobs? I don’t know what can be done about this especially now when corporate money to political campaigns is more a part of our process than ever, but it’s definitely disturbing. Jumping back on topic though… If Brady wants to save face and retreat from this election not a laughingstock he concedes now. But whether he concedes today or never concedes Bill Brady will never be anything more than state senator after he couldn’t make victory happen in the most favorable GOP environment in this state in a long time. Who would back him and believe him after this? Especially when someone from just up the road in Dan Rutherford actually made winning statewide happen despite being a Downstate conservative. - dave - Friday, Nov 5, 10 @ 11:02 am: **Good luck closing the deficit and improving unemployment when we hear news like this. ** Wally - what do you propose? That IL outlaws unions? Your disgust should be directed at the company that refuses to let its employees organize. - Vickie - Friday, Nov 5, 10 @ 11:06 am: SJR reports he will concede based on sources… not sure why other outlets have not picked it up. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.