This is a new one on me
Friday, Feb 21, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From the always interesting Big Debbie’s House blog about Champaign-area politics…
There is no doubt that George Gollin is running an unconventional campaign, but unconventional may have just veered into screwball.
According to an Ann Callis volunteer, Gollin himself spent this Saturday afternoon (2/15) outside the Callis Campaign Headquarters, located at 1922 Edwardsville Club Plaza in Edwardsville, putting flyers on Callis volunteers’ cars and putting up Gollin yard signs in front of the Callis HQ. Oh, and our tipster also got photos of Gollin doing this
Gollin and Callis are Democrats hoping to challenge freshman GOP Rep. Rodney Davis.
* One of the pics…
What an absolutely bizarre thing to do.
- Oswego Willy - Friday, Feb 21, 14 @ 10:09 am:
“That is just too hands-on.
Signed,
Tony Peraica.”
- Walker - Friday, Feb 21, 14 @ 10:10 am:
sane people can lose their minds, walking daily in weather like this
- Cincinnatus - Friday, Feb 21, 14 @ 10:16 am:
Good grief, this is absolutely no big deal at all. “Spent the afternoon…” makes it sounds like he was out there for hours. Maybe he needed a smoke break and stuck a couple of signs up. Do you prefer candidates that live in penthouses and are carried in sedan chairs?
Geesh…
- OneMan - Friday, Feb 21, 14 @ 10:18 am:
Cincinnatus,
Thought you were going to go full Rauner on this…
- Goonhammer - Friday, Feb 21, 14 @ 10:19 am:
If you want something done right, do it yourself- am I right?
- Whatever - Friday, Feb 21, 14 @ 10:23 am:
Well, at least he’s not personally pulling down Callis signs. Remember Al Hofeld?
- MrJM - Friday, Feb 21, 14 @ 10:23 am:
Amateur hour.
George Gollin should have formed and funded a shady, Ohio-based 501c(4) PAC to pull those signs for him.
– MrJM
- Cincinnatus - Friday, Feb 21, 14 @ 10:23 am:
OneMan,
I went full campaign consultant on this…
- Juice - Friday, Feb 21, 14 @ 10:26 am:
During the 2006 primary, someone stuck an Eisendrath sign in the yard at the Governor’s mansion. Kinda similar.
- Rich Miller - Friday, Feb 21, 14 @ 10:30 am:
Juice, unless Eisendrath himself did it, that’s not really similar.
Staff and volunteers do this kind of stuff all the time. I’ve never seen a candidate doing it, though.
- Rich Miller - Friday, Feb 21, 14 @ 10:31 am:
===I’ve never seen a candidate doing it, though. ===
I take that back. Peraica was even more brazen.
- Oswego Willy - Friday, Feb 21, 14 @ 10:33 am:
“Thanks Rich, Tony P.”
- Chicago Cynic - Friday, Feb 21, 14 @ 10:49 am:
As a campaign operative, I may have done similar things or even, heaven forbid, pulled an illegal sign or two from public property. But the candidate himself doing it? Moron!
- wordslinger - Friday, Feb 21, 14 @ 10:52 am:
Yeah, it’s a Peraica move. Once you cross that line, you should probably sit down and reevaluate.
- CicrcularFiringSquad - Friday, Feb 21, 14 @ 11:02 am:
No no no Fast Tony P. would have set the bush on fire after sticking the sign in
- Upon Further Review - Friday, Feb 21, 14 @ 11:03 am:
Goofy candidate chooses a goofy place to put the sign! Yeah, right behind the weeds that will get their attention!
- Pat C - Friday, Feb 21, 14 @ 11:11 am:
Especially since walking a precinct would have been a much more productive use of time and fliers. Those he planted get tossed ASAP.
Walking and talking gets you some votes.
When campaigning, you need to be ruthless with your time. Not your voter? Say thanks, have a nice day and move on. Neutral, talk to him. Your voter, talk to him.
Stuff like that? Just a waste of time. And in this weather, too….
- Wumpus - Friday, Feb 21, 14 @ 11:22 am:
Waste of money and a waste of time. He will be a perfect fit in congress.
- Big Debbie - Friday, Feb 21, 14 @ 11:28 am:
Thanks for the link, Rich! Made my day.
===Good grief, this is absolutely no big deal at all.===
Regular readers of BDH know that I try to be funny and can be a bit sarcastic. My post on this certainly fit into that. I’ve met George and think he is a good guy with his heart in the right place. So, no, I don’t think it is a big deal. But it does show that he would not be the strongest candidate to take on Rodney Davis - which is very important to local dems at least in Champaign. And no one can deny that those pictures are hilarious.
- A guy... - Friday, Feb 21, 14 @ 11:33 am:
If this guy’s got time to do this, he doesn’t understand where he’s actually supposed to be.
- Dude - Friday, Feb 21, 14 @ 11:47 am:
Callis supporters are whickering about this thoroughly unimportant incident while their candidate only speaks in DCCC soundbites and avoids substantive interactions with voters.
- Truth Squad - Friday, Feb 21, 14 @ 12:59 pm:
Thats kind of odd. I live in Champaign and I have met Ann Callis about 5 times and was able to ask her a lot of questions. Believe it or not there was nobody from the DCCC that cut in and said, “No questions sir, Ann Callis must be protected” On the contrary she seemed well informed and attentive. One gets the feeling that some on the Gollin campaign have created an illusion of what they think Ann Callis is like without ever having bothered to meet or talk to her, because there have been plenty of opportunities to do so.
Ann Callis is supported by the DCCC because they, rightly, think that she can beat Davis. You do realize they do internal polling on these things. There is nothing sinister about it and it begins to sound ridiculous. I watched their debate last night and she seemed to have a very firm grasp on the issues.
Also, this is not unimportant. George Gollin should not be doing these small petty things if he wants to be a Congressman.
- DuPage - Friday, Feb 21, 14 @ 1:12 pm:
When he gets his hands dirty, its from putting in some honest work. Unlike some other Billionaire/politicians.
- Rich Miller - Friday, Feb 21, 14 @ 1:20 pm:
===this thoroughly unimportant incident ===
It’s the most newsworthy thing that candidate has done so far this year.
Just sayin…
- John A Logan - Friday, Feb 21, 14 @ 1:26 pm:
This is just plain idiotic. It’s a “C’mon Man!” moment.
- Bring Back Boone's - Friday, Feb 21, 14 @ 1:32 pm:
He needs to dress up in all black and do it at night with a few “pops” in him. Then he will complete the Tony Peraica training.
- Filmmaker Professor - Friday, Feb 21, 14 @ 2:11 pm:
We professors are known to do many bizarre things. Like assigning papers that we have to grade. Which is what I should be doing instead of reading Cap Fax!
- Yellow Dog Democrat - Friday, Feb 21, 14 @ 2:18 pm:
First-time candidates often have a shark tank moment.
Why they obsess over signs, online comments and blog posts i dunno.
it is i suppose, literally, a cry for attention.
In this case, from a candidate who cannot even get noticed by his opponent.
- VanillaMan - Friday, Feb 21, 14 @ 2:28 pm:
it is so pitiful, it is kinda cute.
- wayward - Friday, Feb 21, 14 @ 2:38 pm:
If Eisendrath stuck a sign on the lawn of the governor’s mansion, that could have been a statement about Blago rarely being there. But I’m not exactly sure what Gollin’s point would have been, if he had one.
- Anon - Friday, Feb 21, 14 @ 2:45 pm:
Can anyone say “private property”?
- Courser - Friday, Feb 21, 14 @ 3:01 pm:
One word…pathetic.
- Robo - Friday, Feb 21, 14 @ 4:02 pm:
Made you look!
- Just The Way It Is One - Friday, Feb 21, 14 @ 4:47 pm:
If the bush starts burning at some poing, and neither the bush nor the sign goes up in flames, and People here a voice telling People that “I AM” is hovering about that bush and speaking to them, does that mean the Lord God Almighty is on Gollin’s side and he wins???
Or, is it, rather, that George is truly running a “Grass Roots” Campaign, and, over time, that Sign slowly grew up within/as part of that very same BUSH? Maybe he didn’t stick it in there himself, after all…?
Just the kinds of things on a Friday afternoon, since this is not techincally a CAPTION CONTEST, that make you say “Hmmmm…!”
- Just The Way It Is One - Friday, Feb 21, 14 @ 4:49 pm:
That was meant to read above, “…at some point…” (I’m not sure what exactly a ‘poing’ is but if anyone knows, and it fits, by all means let me know–or else I sure do need that Late Afternoon Cup ‘o Joe now)!!!