* Back in 2010, Speaker Madigan was ridiculed by the Republicans and their allies for putting up his own GOP candidate against himself. Madigan decided to make himself an example for the rest of his candidates and put himself through the full program, spending thousands of dollars on mail and polling to make sure the Republicans could gain no foothold there. Madigan got 67.2 percent of the vote, compared to 83 percent four years earlier. No politician ever likes to go backward, especially a guy like that.

So, now that he has a somewhat well-funded (by Republicans) Democratic primary opponent, Madigan is once again putting himself through the program…

Illinois’ Speaker of the House Mike Madigan invokes a caricature of his least-favorite governor, Rod Blagojevich, in a rare humorous re-election flyer he is sending to constituents.

Madigan, a 40-year veteran of the house, doesn’t usually have to run too hard for re-election.

But Madigan, 69, faces a spirited if under-funded challenge in this year’s Democratic primary election from Michele Piszczor, 25, so he is leaving nothing to chance, populating the front lawns of his Southwest Side district with Madigan signs and sending out a mailing that makes fun of Blagojevich.

Madigan, who is also chairman of the state Democratic Party, never got along with Blagojevich, who in 2003 became the state’s first Democratic governor in 26 years but is now facing a 14-year prison sentence for corruption.

“When lawbreaking politicians make a mess of things, we need strong leaders to clean things up,” the flyer says against a backdrop of a Blagojevich character standing in front of a decrepit frame house, atypical of the brick bungalows in Madigan’s district.

The flipside of the flyer shows Madigan speaking to a Chicago Police officer and says Madigan fights to bring misbehaving public officials to justice.

The full mailer is here…

* Madigan’s opponent, Michele Piszczor, stood in front of the county building earlier this week and ranted about the Speaker. She was able to attract one local network…

A candidate challenging Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan for his 22nd District seat in the Democratic primary is taking her campaign to the streets.

Michele Piszczor gave a series of short speeches in front of the county building at 69 W. Washington.

She says she’s Madigan’s only real opponent in the house race.

“No one has really challenged and he doesn’t think he needs to earn the peoples’ vote and no one’s even given him a reason to think otherwise,” Piszczor said.

It’s not in the station’s summary, but Piszczor also called Madigan “the most corrupt man in Illinois history.” Watch…

You can always tell when a candidate is walking a lot of precincts. They have a hard, sometimes leathery look to their faces from being out in the wind and weather. And they’re also lean and toned from all the walking. Rep. Randy Ramey is a prime example of that this year. He’s walking door to door to save his political life following his embarrassing DUI bust, and it shows. No personal offense meant, but I’d bet decent money that Ms. Piszczor is not a walking machine. When you’re being outspent and out-organized, you absolutely gotta walk. Occasional TV and newspaper stories ain’t gonna do the trick.

Still, I have to admit that it is fun to watch Piszczor give His Royal Highness a bit of hell right in his own back yard. It’ll build character.

       

25 Comments - 47th Ward - Friday, Mar 2, 12 @ 1:22 pm: ===It’ll build character.=== For whom? - Rich Miller - Friday, Mar 2, 12 @ 1:24 pm: Everybody involved. - 47th Ward - Friday, Mar 2, 12 @ 1:25 pm: lol! - Mark - Friday, Mar 2, 12 @ 1:43 pm: dead on observation rich…that face hasn’t seen a precinct yet and i bet those knuckles haven’t hit a cold storm door yet either…and who picked the county building? - Regular Reader - Friday, Mar 2, 12 @ 1:45 pm: “The most corrupt man in Illinois history.” Because Governor Small’s connections with Al Capone were nothing compared to the treachery of Speaker Madigan! So ridiculously unfounded. - amalia - Friday, Mar 2, 12 @ 1:55 pm: really? cause you took too long to impeach him on things that pre dated the Fed indictment. not impressed with this piece to convince, not that you need any help winning. - Team Sleep - Friday, Mar 2, 12 @ 1:56 pm: Sure, MJM, you thought so little of Blago that you co-chaired his reelection campaign. Nationally, it’s amazing to see how many MOCs and Senators are ducking tail and not running for reelection. I give MJM credit for continuing to build his legacy and work his tail off to hold on to his Dem majority in the House. His fundraising clip is incredible. I think he’ll gain 2-3 seats. But it Rich is right - it doesn’t hurt to have some competition from time-to-time. I would concur that Ms. Piszczor likely isn’t walking many precincts. Wayne Rosenthal told me that in 2010 alone he lost 25-30 pounds and went through four pairs of high-end walking shoes. - Wensicia - Friday, Mar 2, 12 @ 2:03 pm: Where was that strong leadership when Blagojevich went for the second term? Oh, yeah… - Objective Dem - Friday, Mar 2, 12 @ 2:24 pm: I agree with Rich about the walking. She was on Chicago Tonight this week and did not appear that she is much of a walker. - JP - Friday, Mar 2, 12 @ 2:25 pm: Is $20,000 really = “well-funded” vs. the incumbent Speaker of the House? Seems like a trivial amount for such a tough race. JBP - siriusly - Friday, Mar 2, 12 @ 2:26 pm: Rich is right about walking, but I think its especially un advisible for any candidate (especially her) to seek so much TV & radio visibility when she comes off so badly and so un-educated each time she speaks. I will be curious to see how many votes she gets, but I mostly feel sorry for her. - mokenavince - Friday, Mar 2, 12 @ 2:30 pm: Madigian’s district has changed but not enough to matter.At 69 the run will do him good.40 years on the job I’m sure he still has a few things up his sleeve. - Ron Gorn - Friday, Mar 2, 12 @ 2:33 pm: She is a lost individual who is thinking she is running for HS President. - Old Milwaukee - Friday, Mar 2, 12 @ 2:46 pm: Good for her. She sees something she doesn’t like and she’s trying to change it. She won’t be sucessful, but she’s not sitting on the sidelines. I wonder if a bunch of Goliath’s friends stood around and made fun of David’s little slingshot. I’ll bet they did. The Madigan defenders on here are Goliath’s friends. She has courage, and she gets credit for that. - mark walker - Friday, Mar 2, 12 @ 3:02 pm: She might be brave, and you have to like her willingness to try to make a difference, but her statement about corruption and MJM is also false. We have too many real problems in this state to be focusing on mythical ones. - Steve Bartin - Friday, Mar 2, 12 @ 3:20 pm: Who could forgot that Madigan was a Blago campaign chair when he ran for re-election??? - JP - Friday, Mar 2, 12 @ 3:23 pm: apparently mjm stever. - Rich Miller - Friday, Mar 2, 12 @ 3:26 pm: ===apparently mjm stever. === Some of you folks must’ve slept through 2007-2008. - Deana - Friday, Mar 2, 12 @ 3:43 pm: Really? Just because the candidate looks a little pudgy and maybe has access to sunblock, everyone’s decided she must not be hitting the doors? Do you have some kind of mathematical formula for how many doors knocked equals how many pounds lost, or are you just judging her based on her appearance? If you have some actual evidence about Piszczor’s campaign strategy, I’d be interested to hear it, but until then, that was a pretty useless comment to make. - Yellow Dog Democrat - Friday, Mar 2, 12 @ 4:13 pm: Pisczor ain’t running for state rep. She’s focused on media attention OUTSIDE Madigan’s district. Her talking points about Madigan don’t play well at all inside the district. This is aimed at tarnishing him elsewhere. Its alot cheaper to spend $20K now trying to get headlines you can use in direct mail anywhere in the state in the Fall than trying to generate those same headlines district-by-district come November. - Michele Piszczor - Friday, Mar 2, 12 @ 9:18 pm: Rich, thank you for the compliment and confidence…I think! Rich, I would love for you to come walk with me. Why don’t you come walk with me? Come join me. Come walk with me so you can see for yourself that the people of the 22nd district can’t stand Madigan and help me pass out fliers. Unless of course you would like to pass out fliers for Blago’s campaign chairman Michael Madigan! Most of the signs on people’s yards have been placed on there without permission. Some have removed signs to only find new ones replaced each day. I have pictures I can show you. I have tons of examples of people I have spoken to with regards to this and I would love to take you to their house if you would like. The formula is very simple Rich…. Michael Madigan is the chair of the Democratic party which equals= NO MONEY FOR MICHELE AS THE ONLY REAL OPPONENT Madigan has. I don’t care if people are republican, democrats, independents the issues we face are issues we all face together. This is clearly a grassroots campaign and I am out there canvassing and talking to the people everyday. Despite all the jobs Madigan has given people you would think they would be doing a better job of helping him get reelected by actually asking people for the permission to place signs up and actually talking to the peopIe but I guess in the eyes of Madigan and his people, “WHO CARES WHAT THE PEOPLE OF THE 22ND DISTRICT WANT OR NEED”. Who in their right mind would go against a man like Michael Madigan if it were not for truly being passionate about making Illinois a better place for us all. People are in survival mode at this point. We don’t have time for these foolish child games or lies. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH Rich. Rich, you can go to my website www.micheleforillinois.com and submit your contact information so we can meet up in the district some time soon. Thank you and God Bless. - Michele Piszczor - Saturday, Mar 3, 12 @ 7:21 am: Wow Rich why did you delete my comment. Only people bashing me can be on your blog but I can’t come on here. That doesn’t seem like journalism to me. Well let me post it again. Rich, thank you for the compliment and confidence…I think! Rich, I would love for you to come walk with me. Why don’t you come walk with me? Come join me. Come walk with me so you can see for yourself that the people of the 22nd district can’t stand Madigan and help me pass out fliers. Unless of course you would like to pass out fliers for Blago’s campaign chairman Michael Madigan! Most of the signs on people’s yards have been placed on there without permission. Some have removed signs to only find new ones replaced each day. I have pictures I can show you. I have tons of examples of people I have spoken to with regards to this and I would love to take you to their house if you would like. The formula is very simple Rich…. Michael Madigan is the chair of the Democratic party which equals= NO MONEY FOR MICHELE AS THE ONLY REAL OPPONENT Madigan has. I don’t care if people are republican, democrats, independents the issues we face are issues we all face together. This is clearly a grassroots campaign and I am out there canvassing and talking to the people everyday. Despite all the jobs Madigan has given people you would think they would be doing a better job of helping him get reelected by actually asking people for the permission to place signs up and actually talking to the peopIe but I guess in the eyes of Madigan and his people, “WHO CARES WHAT THE PEOPLE OF THE 22ND DISTRICT WANT OR NEED”. Who in their right mind would go against a man like Michael Madigan if it were not for truly being passionate about making Illinois a better place for us all. People are in survival mode at this point. We don’t have time for these foolish child games or lies. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH Rich. Rich, you can go to my website www.micheleforillinois.com and submit your contact information so we can meet up in the district some time soon. Thank you and God Bless. - Rich Miller - Saturday, Mar 3, 12 @ 3:26 pm: Michele, nobody’s comments were deleted. Comments are closed for the weekend. - Yellow Dog Democrat - Sunday, Mar 4, 12 @ 10:16 pm: Wowzers. Is this really the best candidate the GOP could find? I’m not sure if that says more about Republicans or Mike Madigan. But if I was MJM, I’d make sure every voter met Michelle. - wordslinger - Monday, Mar 5, 12 @ 9:40 am: After just reading MPs thoughtful comments here, I’m convinced that Roeser has found his ideal candidate. Or maybe MJM did. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.