* We had some real controversies at the Illinois State Fair back in the days of Rod Blagojevich. In 2002, when he was first running for governor, Blagojevich slammed House Speaker Michael Madigan for a $300,000 grant to the International Livestock Exposition as a “misplaced priority” and a “product of arrogance.” On Democrat Day, Madigan shot back…

“I don’t plan to get into any criticism of Blagojevich,” Madigan says. “I could do that. I could talk about his indiscretions. But I’m not going to do that because I believe in solidarity within the political party.”

Several years later, during another Blagojevich vs. Madigan war, the governor brought in a busload of Chicagoans to heckle Madigan during the Speaker’s speech.

There was actual news to cover during those State Fair experiences.

* Not so much this year. There are no statewide elections in Illinois next year - the first summer this has happened since 1999. I even skipped the State Fair that year, heading to Europe for two months to cover the war in Kosovo and other stuff. Unfortunately, that meant missing Bob Dylan’s last State Fair performance. Oh, well. I was in Paris that week with my daughter.

* Anyway, like in 1999, this year’s fair has been pretty boring, politically speaking. No statewide election means no flocks of candidates hauling down their legions of supporters. But reporters still have to find something to write about, so a large handful of union protesters, a few people supporting the gaming bill and the vacationing Speaker Madigan made due…

Labor strife marred “Governor’s Day” at the Illinois State Fair Wednesday as the state’s largest public-employee unions teed off on Gov. Pat Quinn for his “fundamental assault on worker’s rights.”

That storyline, rooted in a series of pay raises Quinn yanked last month for about 30,000 state workers, dominated the Democratic Party’s annual Illinois State Fairgrounds pep rally, which boasted a crowd of several hundred party supporters.

The day’s political events also were overshadowed by the appearance of President Barack Obama about two hours away from Springfield. They took place despite a prominent absentee, the chairman of the Democratic Party of Illinois, House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago).

Madigan, normally a fixture at the Democratic events at the State Fair, opted uncharacteristically to skip the rally and the Obama event in order to “spend some time with members of his family out of state,” Madigan spokesman Steve Brown told the Chicago Sun-Times.

More…

Policy disputes trumped party unity Wednesday as Illinois Democrats gathered for a perfunctory celebration of Governor’s Day at the state fair.

Unions protested Gov. Pat Quinn’s attempt to cancel raises promised in labor contracts with state government, while Quinn blamed legislators. Scores of people attended the state fair rally clad in orange T-shirts urging Quinn to sign a huge expansion of gambling. Quinn, however, continued criticizing the legislation without saying how he would like to see it changed.

State Democratic Chairman Michael Madigan, the speaker of the Illinois House, was nowhere to be seen, nor was Sen. Dick Durbin or most other Democrats in the state’s congressional delegation.

Even Quinn left his own party early so that he could join President Barack Obama at an event in the northwestern Illinois town of Atkinson.

The union members were outside the fair’s gates and the people wearing orange T-shirts were polite and even cheered at times. This was nothing at all like the controversies of the Blagojevich days.

More…

Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn faced discord from both union members and those who want Quinn to sign a bill expanding gambling in Illinois Wednesday, as he tried to rally a sparse crowd of Democrats at the Illinois State Fair.

* And the off year sparked at least one prediction of doom and gloom…

On Wednesday, as the state’s Democrats held their annual Democrat Day at the Springfield fairgrounds, the head of the state party did not show, only one congressman appeared and the governor left the main event after a few minutes.

The poor turnout reflected the fair’s diminished value for politicians. Once a celebrated affair that connected Chicago politicians to downstate voters, the state fair seems to be losing its political capital.

Meh.