Mike Bost’s greatest hits
Monday, Jul 29, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The Democrats have compiled a mix tape of GOP state Rep. Mike Bost’s House floor outbursts. Bost, you already know, has announced a run for Congress. Have a look…
* Southern Illinois Democratic Women’s Barb Brown announced the video via e-mail today…
Today GOP extremist Mike Bost announced that he is running for Congress. I hoped that this wasn’t going to happen, because when I think about Washington and all that is broken, I think about Bost.
This shocking new video that shows a compilation of meltdowns Bost had in the Springfield Statehouse pretty much sums up why. Time and time again, he would rather scream at his opponents and those who disagree with him. That is why I wanted you to be the first to see this video so that you could get to know what Mike Bost is really like.
I’m not so sure. His anger may play well. We’ll see.
* In other campaign-related news, Crain’s has an interesting story about David Axelrod’s former firm AKPD…
David Axelrod is not an easy name to replace in Democratic politics. That’s especially true for the political consulting firm whose name starts with his initial: AKPD Message & Media LLC.
But now it’s Larry Grisolano’s turn to put his stamp on the Chicago-based partnership, after it has spent the past four years focusing almost exclusively on its most important client, President Barack Obama.
Mr. Axelrod, the former Chicago Tribune political editor who founded AKPD and became one of Mr. Obama’s most trusted advisers, was known as a word slinger and message guru. Mr. Grisolano, on the other hand, has a reputation as a master of digital advertising and micro-targeting, having served as the Obama campaign’s director of paid media for both the 2008 and 2012 campaigns.
While insisting he’s not trying to “sell the Obama fairy dust,” Mr. Grisolano is trying to position AKPD as the go-to shop for the data-driven political ad strategy that the Obama campaign made famous. “There are plenty of people in the commercial and political space that are basically riding on how things have always been done,” he says, “and what I think distinguishes us (is) we are embracing the change.”
* Other stuff…
* VIDEO: Walsh: Boehner and Illinois delegation want me to stay away from Washington
* Would Bill Daley Be Governor 1 Percent?
* Secretary of State Jesse White questions voter policies
* Desire for facts drives UI professor Gollin to Congress
- CircularFiringSquad - Monday, Jul 29, 13 @ 1:09 pm:
Does this mean we will see BossToss on Fox every week like the goofus from Texas and Michele Bachman?
Another reason no to vote for him
BTW Brad Cole isn’t running for something
- Been There - Monday, Jul 29, 13 @ 1:13 pm:
Mike is his own man, like him or hate him, and this video shows that he shares the frustration many voters feel about state government. It demonstrates that he actually cares enough to get angry. Rich is correct, this could play well in his district.
- aufjunk - Monday, Jul 29, 13 @ 1:14 pm:
=I’m not so sure. His anger may play well. We’ll see.=
Bombast Boosts Bost?
- OneMan - Monday, Jul 29, 13 @ 1:25 pm:
I think it can play well..
Sometimes to be heard, you need to be loud…
Also put ‘context’ around some of it, it might play really well.
- woodchuck - Monday, Jul 29, 13 @ 1:27 pm:
They’ve had weeks to prepare something and this is the best they could do? Seems to me Gary Forby got a little irate in Benton last year and that was okay because he was representing those who were angry at Springfield. Bost is no Bill Black but he played the role well. He’s also a likeable guy who has been repeatedly re-elected from Jackson County. He will be tough to beat.
- MrJM - Monday, Jul 29, 13 @ 1:31 pm:
That’s a good Bost greatest hits showcase but they missed one.
– MrJM
- jisbell - Monday, Jul 29, 13 @ 1:31 pm:
I can only think this will help him. “Yeah, I’ve been mad and frustrated, but you should be too…”
- Belle - Monday, Jul 29, 13 @ 1:32 pm:
He might benefit from a regular massage or some acupucture…he really needs to calm down a tiny bit.
- Clueless - Monday, Jul 29, 13 @ 1:34 pm:
If they played this around the clock, it would equal a Bost mandate at the polls. Mike should use this…it is classic and the fact that the Dems are using it shows how clueless their big city consultants really are. The people are sick of it and they want a better Illinois…especially in southern Illinois, that means voting for a guy like Mike. He would never win in Cook County but he will in ‘fly over country’.
- OneMan - Monday, Jul 29, 13 @ 1:35 pm:
While Chicago Democrats tried to steamroll you I stood up…
Actually that might work…
- RonOglesby - Monday, Jul 29, 13 @ 1:37 pm:
the “We need people to solve problems” thing in the video is funny… yeah he’s a little nuts, but the D’s own this state. Makes me wonder if you could compile a video of D’s promising to fix the recurring problems in Illinois over and over and over and over…
- jisbell - Monday, Jul 29, 13 @ 1:44 pm:
The democrats delete this and pretend it never happened in 3… 2… 1…
- Empty Suit - Monday, Jul 29, 13 @ 1:45 pm:
Bost video is reminiscent of the add used against Senator Syverson dancing and doing cartwheels. More were impressed a guy in his 50s could do cartwheels and missed the message of the add. I think the add will help Bost as he is echoing the anger most normal folks feel.
- Raising Kane - Monday, Jul 29, 13 @ 1:47 pm:
Totally disappointing video by the dems. When I saw that link I thought it would be really good…but it was weak sauce.
- wordslinger - Monday, Jul 29, 13 @ 1:52 pm:
He’ll fit right in with the House GOP. They think they’re victims when they’re in the majority.
- Living in Machiaville - Monday, Jul 29, 13 @ 1:52 pm:
Dems showing a weak “strategery” here. Bost can use his anger and frustration bits to show he’s fighting against the big bad Chicago machine. This will play really well in southern IL.
- Knome Sane - Monday, Jul 29, 13 @ 1:56 pm:
=Mr. Axelrod, the former Chicago Tribune political editor who founded AKPD and became one of Mr. Obama’s most trusted advisers, was known as a word slinger=
Now we know who the respected “Wordslinger” is on Capitol Fax Blog!
- Rufus D Doofus - Monday, Jul 29, 13 @ 2:07 pm:
Woodchuck, oneman and Living in Machiaville have broken the code. It sure as heck will play, maybe not loud enough though.
- Chicago Cynic - Monday, Jul 29, 13 @ 2:42 pm:
Ok, I know I’m in Chicago so maybe I’m missing why it is that so many commenters here think this is weak, but it seems to me that Joe Walsh was just catapulted from Congress for less intemperate displays.
I get the whole “a little anger is justified thing.” But this looks less like anger and more like he’s unbalanced. I’m pretty sure that’s the point. We’ll see how it plays but I expect the Dems are right and this video (and similar) will be very harmful for him in this run.
- Chicago Cynic - Monday, Jul 29, 13 @ 2:51 pm:
BTW, the Bost video has gone national. Politicalwire.com picked it up.
- Joe Schmoe - Monday, Jul 29, 13 @ 2:58 pm:
Fox doesn’t elect Congressmen. The voters do. In his district, Bost will play very well to the frustrations of the electorate.
- Crazy Like a Fox - Monday, Jul 29, 13 @ 3:02 pm:
Hey Rich, in your opinion, who is the best media firm in the state?
- Ray del Camino - Monday, Jul 29, 13 @ 3:18 pm:
What some of you forget is that the bulk of the 12th Congressional District is St. Louis Metro East, not cornfield flyover. Enyart will eat this clown’s lunch.
- OWB - Monday, Jul 29, 13 @ 3:21 pm:
We are not all enamored with Mike Bost here in the 115th district. Even liberals like myself have supported him in the past because while he may be a you know what, he is our you know what. His outbursts are extremely embarrassing. He who screams the loudest does not win the debate.
- too obvious - Monday, Jul 29, 13 @ 3:23 pm:
Everyone is missing the point that Mike Bost’s rants are always about how the majority’s rules impact HIM, Mike Bost. Always just about procedure. Well wake up Mike, all the procedural things you whine about are multiplied by 10 by John Boehner and the GOP majority in the U.S. House. Grow up.
At least when Joe Walsh ranted and raved it was over POLICY and how the people were being impacted.
- CircularFiringSquad - Monday, Jul 29, 13 @ 3:28 pm:
“Dems showing a weak “strategery” here. Bost can use his anger and frustration bits to show he’s fighting against the big bad Chicago machine…”.
The problem is he either lost every time he got mouthy with Chicago or needed their help to pass a bill…hmmm
Most think the real reason fir the DC run is 2014 was the year to field a TIer 1 candidate against BossToss and send him home. He thinks he picked a safer route.
He is incorrect. TTFN
- OneMan - Monday, Jul 29, 13 @ 3:29 pm:
Big difference being intemperate at a townhall than being intemperate fighting in the legislature. Also Joe Walsh’s family court issues didn’t do him much good either…
- Shemp - Monday, Jul 29, 13 @ 3:36 pm:
“Mike Bost IS the problem” uhhh, really?
- Chicago Cynic - Monday, Jul 29, 13 @ 3:40 pm:
Good point OneMan. One could argue that flying off the handle like he tends to do in the Chamber is worse.
- Arthur Andersen - Monday, Jul 29, 13 @ 3:43 pm:
Knome, there is a big difference between being a word slinger and being The wordslinger.
- mokenavince - Monday, Jul 29, 13 @ 3:44 pm:
=== Word==
I agree with you 100 percent he will fit right in the House. He has the makings of a future Speaker.
My guy is Bobby Rush so I have no Rep. he doesn’t even stop in to say hello. Bost would be one more goof in a House that still thinks it’s 1913.
Bring on the Know Nothings.
- wordslinger - Monday, Jul 29, 13 @ 3:44 pm:
–Big difference being intemperate at a townhall than being intemperate fighting in the legislature.–
I don’t know. Bost is so over the top.
I understand playing the Chicago card, everyone does that.
But I think it’s kind of insulting to Southern Illinois voters to presume that they’ll swoon for some candidate who regularly takes the House floor and displays symptoms of advanced canine distemper.
- SO IL M - Monday, Jul 29, 13 @ 3:45 pm:
This video will help him at least as much as it hurts him. But, Ray del Camino is right. Enyart will carry enough of the Metro East area that the rest wont matter.
- wordslinger - Monday, Jul 29, 13 @ 3:49 pm:
–Knome, there is a big difference between being a word slinger and being The wordslinger.–
Yeah, you could tell us apart by our bank statements. I think Axelrod’s would give me a hernia.
- Knome Sane - Monday, Jul 29, 13 @ 3:51 pm:
=Yeah, you could tell us apart by our bank statements. I think Axelrod’s would give me a hernia.=
LOL
- 1776 - Monday, Jul 29, 13 @ 5:20 pm:
Barb Brown is the problem. She’s a political hack who has never won an election and sits in her ivory tower.
- dang - Monday, Jul 29, 13 @ 5:48 pm:
So happy Bost is leaving Springfield, but so sad for our country he might end up in Congress. A bittersweet day
- Steak Taters And Gravy - Monday, Jul 29, 13 @ 5:52 pm:
– She’s a political hack who has never won an election and sits in her ivory tower. –
Uhhhh, she did win a couple elections and served Randolph County as Circuit Clerk.
- Just Me - Monday, Jul 29, 13 @ 5:53 pm:
Ummm…..for a Republican Party Primary, that ad may actually work.
- jake - Monday, Jul 29, 13 @ 6:13 pm:
Funny to see references to Gollin and Bost in the same post. Gollin is a genuinely passionate person who sometimes seems like an absent-minded nerd, while Bost is a person whose convictions are not necessarily very deep, but acts out tantrums repeatedly.
- MrJM - Monday, Jul 29, 13 @ 6:18 pm:
Agreed.
Not every hick is a rube.
– MrJM
- Holdingontomywallet - Monday, Jul 29, 13 @ 6:39 pm:
What’s the “Chicago card”?
- Just The Way It Is One - Monday, Jul 29, 13 @ 8:06 pm:
The Bost Stuff: political or not, that’s hiLARious. Also, the WARD ROOM’S piece about William D. is QUITE an Eye-Opener…Mr. So-Called Liberal Democrat, man of the people DAley made nearly $9 MILLION in $alary, stock, and Ca$h Bonuses in JUST one year and 1 week back in 2010?! Wow, no DOUBT HE can relate to the “Average Joe” struggling to pay his family’s bills until the next piddly paycheck…! Like I say, quite the Eye-Opener…!
- Anonymous541 - Monday, Jul 29, 13 @ 9:17 pm:
I don’t understand how this video can be used by a political party. I read that when taping of the General Assembly began that the rules stated they could NOT be used by any outside party. Is Madigan just ignoring the rules??
- leonard - Monday, Jul 29, 13 @ 9:42 pm:
This can boomerang -big time
- civil - Tuesday, Jul 30, 13 @ 1:31 am:
yeah i’m voting for him……
vote early vote often….
- ironman - Tuesday, Jul 30, 13 @ 4:58 am:
Host will not win..he will get less than 100000 votes. Plummer had 129000 and he is from the metro area. Enyart will get his 157000 votes.. Mr. Bost has made to many people in his party angry. Game.e over mike..
- Angry Chicagoan - Tuesday, Jul 30, 13 @ 8:32 am:
The moderate to conservative Democrats that dominate Illinois politics simply don’t get populism, don’t get messaging, don’t get how frustrated people are, don’t get that people of ALL ideological inclinations want someone to take on big corporations and big money. People are to the point where they’d go for a Tom Harkin in a minute, but given the choice between an Illinois Dem and a Bost, the very same people who’d vote for a Harkin if one were on offer will go with Bost.
- Deep South - Tuesday, Jul 30, 13 @ 8:41 am:
IF there is a GOP primary….one of the candidates will no doubt go extreme right…and probably get the nomination. There is no way that candidate will win the general….too many Dems in Metro-East - which is a real problem for any Republican. Bost has to know this…so why is he running? As I’ve said before…the man is unstable…and this vid illustrates assessment to a T.
- Exhausted - Tuesday, Jul 30, 13 @ 9:14 am:
I am a good friend of Mike Bost. He is not unstable. He is a hardworking ex-firefighter who has passion for his job. Has he blown up in the Chamber? Yes, but these few tantrums are over the course of many years. How about all the footage of him making passionate and meaningful points about some really bad legislation and decisions. Those will make a good counter-point to this silly video. I spend a lot of time in the gallery of the chamber and if you would do the same, you might lose your temper from time to time as well. This is a state that is broke. Broke of money, broke of leadership, broke of ethics, broke of common sense and most importantly broke on education. Educating the electorate to know the difference between self driven, motivated, thoughtful and unwilling to continue to put up with this mess. Until the faucet gets turned off there will be no relief. There is an old story about the wild pigs on an island. They couldn’t seem to capture them all to stop them from destroying the crops. They decided to feed them everyday. Soon the pigs no longer needed to fend for themselves. When they were fat and lazy, they laid the corn in a row right to the slaughter house. No more pigs. They never understood what happened! Mike Bost will be missed in Springfield and I hope he can take his determination and thoughtful plans to D.C.
- gwece - Tuesday, Jul 30, 13 @ 12:06 pm:
Amen to what Exhausted said! I’ll take a Marine with some passion with my back anytime over these Illinois bleeding hearts Dems that have ran this state into the ground!
Hey Mike, I think you got the opposition worried.