* Sen. Kirk Dillard was on WDWS-AM this week and was asked about Bruce Rauner…

“No one should ever be able to buy the governor’s office and nobody’s taken as much special interest or out of state money in a primary than Mr. Rauner, who’s a billionaire a friend of Rahm Emanuel’s, a member of his inner circle, and actually the guy that made Rahm Emanuel rich in a $16 million dollar deal when Mayor Emanuel was leaving the Clinton administration.

“So you gotta be aware of wolves in sheep’s clothing. No one should be able to buy the governor’s office. And it hasn’t happened. A fellow named Ron Gidwitz spent multi-millions, so did a man named Blair Hull, Jim Oberweis hasn’t been successful. And to the state’s credit we haven’t let people buy the office of the governor nor should we.”

OK, that first sentence was so long that Dillard had to stop and take a deep breath before he could finish his thought. That should be an indication that you’re droning.

Also, nice touch on throwing Gidwitz under the bus and interesting that he’d whack a fellow Senate Republican and his party’s likely US Senate nominee.

It’s not a bad line of attack, it’s just way too long and a bit too disjointed, particularly for live radio. He ought to know that by now.

* Speaking of Rahm…

Mayor Rahm Emanuel and millionaire venture capitalist Bruce Rauner are friends, school reforms allies and business associates whose families have vacationed together.

But, the mayor made it clear Thursday he’s not about to climb aboard the political bandwagon Rauner is driving aimed at imposing term limits.

“My view is, you have term limits. They’re called elections. That’s what elections are for. You stand before the voters and you run for election…An active and engaged public will do that,” the mayor said.

Ignoring the fact that the city’s new ward boundaries were drawn to protect incumbents, Emanuel said, “My way of [imposing term limits] is dealing with how the maps are drawn and bringing real competition, rather than actually through re-districting, taking it out. But, I don’t believe in arbitrary term limits. I haven’t supported that in the past. I wouldn’t change now.”

* However, at the very same press conference…

When Emanuel was asked if he listened to Lujack and had any recollections he replied, “Do I? No, I gotta be honest, I listened to XRT as a I probably showed yesterday.” […]

However, even one of the mayor’s press aides said later that Emanuel’s answer on Lujack was probably the most honest thing he said during his wide-ranging half hour news conference

That’s one weird admission by a spokesperson. And so therefore I don’t believe a word of what Emanuel said regarding Rauner.

Just sayin…

* And speaking of rambling, check out Gov. Quinn’s remarks about the minimum wage bill…

“We want a decent society, like Jimmy Stewart said. He wanted Bedford Falls in ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ to take care of your neighbor. And there are folks like Mr. Potter who just want to run people down and grind them down. We don’t believe in that,” Quinn told reporters Wednesday at St. Pius V Church on the city’s Lower West Side.

“Mr. Potter is one of those who probably wouldn’t raise the minimum wage in a million years. But Jimmy Stewart and all of those in Bedford Falls understood how important it was to help your community. The community grows when you help everybody, and I think that’s important in Illinois,” Quinn continued.

“That’s why in this coming year, we want to make sure we talk to all the people in government and run for government and get them on board,” the governor said.

* From WTVO…

Illinois temporarily hiked income taxes to help pay its bills and now, is even deeper in debt. So should the tax hike be made permanent?

State Treasurer and gubernatorial candidate Dan Rutherford says “no” but also says the state needs to be smarter about taxing and budgeting.

“So I don’t want it to stay, but realistically, there may need to be a discussion of some form of revenue, some form of revenue, in the position to put Illinois back into a financially solvent situation,” said Rutherford (R). “But I'’ll tell you what, I will not sign any bill into law that will generate revenue that does not fit into a comprehensive package for the financial situation of our state.”

So far, Rutherford is being the most honest person about the revenue situation.

If you listen closely, Rutherford does sorta have a campaign theme other than his constant refrain about him being the most electable guy. He also wants a “smarter” government. He should’ve been developing that a lot more than he has.

* The Southern Illinoisan…

State Sen. Dave Luechtefeld, R-Okawville, on Wednesday announced his support for Bill Brady in the 2014 Illinois gubernatorial race.

In a news release, Luechtefeld, said the Bloomington Republican will “make the tough decisions and follow through on them” to improve Illinois.

“I coached a lot of teams over the years. If one of my teams came in second in a championship game one year, they came back stronger and more determined the following year, Luechtefeld said.

Brady raised over $460,000 during the last six months of 2009, the same point in the cycle we’re at today. This year, he’s raised about 46 cents. Just kidding, but not by much. I don’t know how he’s become any stronger, other than he has a lot of residual name ID and could still win the primary that way.

* News-Gazette…

Three of the four Republican candidates for Illinois governor — state Sens. Bill Brady of Bloomington and Kirk Dillard of Hinsdale, and State Treasurer Dan Rutherford of Chenoa — have agreed to participate in a televised debate on Jan. 23, hosted by four Illinois public broadcasters and the League of Women Voters of Illinois.

The debate sponsors say they’re still waiting to hear from the fourth GOP candidate, Chicago businessman Bruce Rauner.

So, when is somebody gonna start following Rauner around in a chicken suit?