Mess with the bull, get the horn
Thursday, Feb 5, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller
* I told subscribers about this on Wednesday and Bernie followed up…
State Sen. SAM McCANN, R-Plainview, has paid a price for his almost-run for governor as an independent last year. Of all 20 Republican members of the Senate, he’s the only one without a leadership position.
Democrats hold 39 seats in the chamber, but despite the GOP’s minority status, the party gets to have a spokesperson on each committee. Just like the Democrats who are committee chairs, those spokespeople receive a stipend of $10,327 over the base legislative pay of $67,836 annually.
Senate Republican Leader CHRISTINE RADOGNO of Lemont assigned 18 of her colleagues to be minority spokespeople on one or more committees. But McCann, who was spokesman last session on what was the Agriculture and Conservation Committee, got no such assignment this year.
As noted in Capitol Fax on Wednesday, even freshmen Sen. NEIL ANDERSON, R-Rock Island, is a minority spokesman. Anderson — who became the only Republican to unseat a Senate Democrat in November when he defeated former Sen. MIKE JACOBS, D-East Moline — has that role on the new Agriculture Committee.
I don’t think it was completely about his almost-run for governor. That’s a significant part of it, for sure, but this is also what did him in…
McCann also confirmed Wednesday that he had been for state Sen. DALE RIGHTER, R-Mattoon, instead of Radogno, for leader this session.
“I thought he’d do a better job,” McCann told me.
It’s actually not that he voted for Righter, it’s that he pledged to vote for Radogno then voted for Righter. And it was apparently the second time he did that to her.
- 1776 - Thursday, Feb 5, 15 @ 10:15 am:
Hit him in the pocket book. He shouldn’t be surprised.
- Oswego Willy - Thursday, Feb 5, 15 @ 10:16 am:
I am always in favor of caucus and loyalty and well-placed discipline and also well deserved reward.
But should the ILGOP GA Caucuses worry more about what Rauner thinks of them, collectively and individually, or worrying about the pecking order of Caucuses Rauner’ owns?
Autonomy means decisions you make on your own, for your own, actually have weight. If the 67 just haveta do what Rauner says, when Rauner says it, I guess this just comes down to a stipened and job discription lost?
Who knows, a member turns on Rauner in a year, McCann might move up again…because Rauner says so…
- Anonymoiis - Thursday, Feb 5, 15 @ 10:23 am:
==It’s actually not that he voted for Righter, it’s that he pledged to vote for Radogno then voted for Righter. And it was apparently the second time he did that to her.==
Honesty and trustworthiness have never been his strong suit. This is the same guy who claimed to be a Marine even though he never actually made it to (let alone through) boot camp.
- DuPage - Thursday, Feb 5, 15 @ 10:24 am:
An EXTRA $10,327 for something that should be part of the job? I see where the state could save some money.
- Wordslinger - Thursday, Feb 5, 15 @ 10:26 am:
The only one of 20 not in a “leadership” position?
That is so sad, on so many levels.
That’s like being the one kid on a winless soccer team who doesn’t get a “Participant” trophy and a pudding cup.
- Ducky LaMoore - Thursday, Feb 5, 15 @ 10:27 am:
I wonder if Mr McCann will have a well-funded primary opponent in 2016?
- walker - Thursday, Feb 5, 15 @ 10:29 am:
Maybe Rauner should be like Blago and make McCann his Senate floor leader.
His bills should just fly out of committee.
- Oswego Willy - Thursday, Feb 5, 15 @ 10:30 am:
===I wonder if Mr McCann will have a well-funded primary opponent in 2016?===
That depends on how he votes with Rauner.
Rauner owns the Caucuses.
“These stay, these I want gone.”
Rauner will dictate who gets what, when, come Primary time.
- How Ironic - Thursday, Feb 5, 15 @ 10:34 am:
I’m not sure what the issue is. The whole “Don’t bite the hand that feeds you” bit.
- VanillaMan - Thursday, Feb 5, 15 @ 10:42 am:
While it is a political move, what concerns me is the possibility that his fellow Prairie Whigs don’t believe he is a serious fellow able to be dependable team player.
After his initial flash-in-the-pan appearance under the Dome, McCann just might be flaming out. His silly gubernatorial feign wasn’t the result of grassroots or demand. It wasn’t hinged upon reality. His actions exposed him as an ambitious guy who feels too big for his britches.
You don’t want people like that in important positions.
- langhorne - Thursday, Feb 5, 15 @ 10:44 am:
well deserved.
- Dr X - Thursday, Feb 5, 15 @ 10:46 am:
Later in the article he said he didn’t know the positions were political. He should just quit now if he can’t figure out simple things.
- walker - Thursday, Feb 5, 15 @ 10:46 am:
O’Willy: It remains to be seen how much Rauner “owns the caucuses.”
You could be right, but I was surprised how cool the reaction to Rauner appeared to be yesterday, from Radogno and Durkin, as well as from many others. Maybe just their personalities.
- John Parnell - Thursday, Feb 5, 15 @ 10:48 am:
And he didn’t bother to vote in the republican Primary last March.
- Oswego Willy - Thursday, Feb 5, 15 @ 10:54 am:
- walker -,
With respect.
When your voting decision is based on how someone outside the Caucus or how the District may react, you are now Co-Opted.
Rauner is dictating autonomy. Voting decisions based on the happiness of the Governor and that $20 million parked by him.
As for voting in the Primary,
Rauner ever not vote in a GOP primary?
If McCann does what Rauner expects, the governor will give cover. He’s said so. That is McCann’s worry; Rauner not Radogno.
- Wordslinger - Thursday, Feb 5, 15 @ 11:00 am:
Geez, how do you pledge to vote for someone twice and go back on your word both times?
Why would you do that, in an obvious losing battle? What possible expectations of legislative influence could you have after that?
- Team Sleep - Thursday, Feb 5, 15 @ 11:08 am:
His traveling circus show is starting to wear thin. He just burned through his fourth Capitol staffer in as many years and he was recently named in a civil suit (filed in Macoupin County) for defaulting on a sizable loan. He could be effective if he settled down a bit and worked on repairing some of these needlessly damaged bridges.
The truth is that he will be primaried with a big cash push from Governor Rauner. Book it now. In that district $500,000 during a primary is a lot of scratch. Not saying that Rauner would commit that kind of money to a McCann opponent but the Senate GOP retreat “promises” mean that anything is on the table.
- Oswego Willy - Thursday, Feb 5, 15 @ 11:14 am:
- Team Sleep -,
With respect.
What will it say about Rauner if McCann is “Green” every single time Rauner tells him to be and then Rauner “turns” on him?
Rauner requires and demands these members to be at his beck and call on votes. Can Rauner turn on someone who has a perfect “Rauner Record”?
Keeping you word goes both ways.
- Toure's Latte - Thursday, Feb 5, 15 @ 11:16 am:
==Geez, how do you pledge to vote for someone twice and go back on your word both times?==
Depends on the timeline. If it was “Yes I’ll vote for you this time” then “Okay, you get nothing extra in the paycheck”, that’s different.
But it doesn’t seem this guy has a lot on the ball.
- Apocalypse Now - Thursday, Feb 5, 15 @ 11:17 am:
The most disturbing bit of information contained in this post is the $67,836 and extra $10,327 for being a committee chair. You have to wonder how many of the legislators, Republican and Demcrat, are just collecting a pay check.
- RNUG - Thursday, Feb 5, 15 @ 11:19 am:
== Later in the article he said he didn’t know the positions were political. ==
Give him a break; he’s just a simple businessman like Rauner.
/snark
Seriously, I like Sam on a personal level and he is my State Senator, but he needs to learn to play the political game better. First rule of politics: don’t make promises you don’t intend to keep.
- flea - Thursday, Feb 5, 15 @ 11:21 am:
The idea he questions the extra stipend now that he won’t get it is both hilarious and ludicrous.
- Team Sleep - Thursday, Feb 5, 15 @ 11:23 am:
OW -
But here’s the rub: it’s not just McCann’s eventual votes. It’s also the fact that he announced his intentions to run for Governor and then, after “dropping out”, being the only state-level GOP official in the state to NOT endorse (or even speak to/with) Rauner. McCann burned his bridges with Rauner well before Rauner’s win was certified.
- Kippax Blue - Thursday, Feb 5, 15 @ 11:23 am:
Piggybacking on Parnell’s post–You are what you say you are through your ballot, and in IL the only way to really define one’s political party in Illinois is through the primary vote. And (to me) if that person were to pull Democratic primary ballots 9 consecutive elections, and in the 10th cycle pulled Republican, that voter has become a Republican. To pull no primary ballot equates to no party affiliation. No doubt, committee assignments are political assignments. Leader Redogno is correct not to give a political seat to a non Republican.
If walk lists were only handed out on one cycle information, McCann’s door would not even be listed as one on which to knock.
- Calling u out - Thursday, Feb 5, 15 @ 11:25 am:
Sen McCann is a good person who represents his district well, and is always available for his constituents on both sides of the aisle. Being from his district, I could care less what the leadership of the establishment thinks of him. So he’s taken to the wood shed for bucking the system, good, the system needs bucked. We need more politicians like him!
- Kippax Blue - Thursday, Feb 5, 15 @ 11:27 am:
erf–Radogno
- Oswego Willy - Thursday, Feb 5, 15 @ 11:29 am:
- Team Sleep -,
You may be right on the history and that backfiring on McCann…right up to the point the LLs are looking for vites to get bills and a budget passed and McCann slow plays to an agreement with Rauner, cutting out Radogno, that come election time, that $20 million won’t find its way into that district.
It’s what’s ahead that’s the leverage, not what’s past.
- Kippax Blue -,
So…what was Rauner when he lived in Chicago and voted?
Use the “search” key, get back to us.
- Kippax Blue - Thursday, Feb 5, 15 @ 11:35 am:
OW–I tried to qualify my post by using “to me”. I realize that the way I feel and what is reality are not necessarily the same. But if I were in a political chair, I would want to ensure my political choices would be for the best of my party.
As for Rauner, 20+ million dollars spent can overcome numerous political affiliations, primary voting record notwithstanding.
- Anonymoiis - Thursday, Feb 5, 15 @ 11:39 am:
==Sen McCann is a good person who represents his district well, ==
Someone who lies to their Senate colleagues, that results in the district losing a voice in an Ag committee, is representing the district well? Agree to disagree
- Oswego Willy - Thursday, Feb 5, 15 @ 11:41 am:
To further my point, as others have also said;
If Rauner wanted Radogno and Durkin to control the Caucuses for him, Rauner woukd make it quite clear Radogno and Durkin will be able to have that say where the $20 million will or won’t go, for or against GOP members…
I don’t think Rauner is saying that. Maybe, just maybe, Rauner is laying down his rules for the $20 million, his own criteria, no matter what Radogno or Durkin say…
- William j Kelly - Thursday, Feb 5, 15 @ 11:43 am:
Yeah that’s some bull……
- A guy - Thursday, Feb 5, 15 @ 11:56 am:
== Anonymoiis - Thursday, Feb 5, 15 @ 11:39 am:
==Sen McCann is a good person who represents his district well, ==
Someone who lies to their Senate colleagues, that results in the district losing a voice in an Ag committee, is representing the district well? Agree to disagree===
A-moiis, So true. He didn’t just “lie” to her, he lied to all of them. They make decisions based on accurate counts and what they’ve been told in confidence.
This guy was “outed” in the worst way you can be. His word is no good. That’s not a pop gun, that’s a cannonball. Playing both sides against the middle is dangerous and costly. He lost. I doubt anyone feels sorry for him.
The public flogging is deserved.
- Oswego Willy - Thursday, Feb 5, 15 @ 12:01 pm:
if anyone thinks I am pulling or “rooting” for McCann, or think this discipline is not warranted, you would be wrong.
I am playing out how delicate…a dance… the relationship between Rauner, the Caucuses, and that parked $20 million bit set aside for flowers and chocolates.
- Kerfuffle - Thursday, Feb 5, 15 @ 12:25 pm:
Sam may be likeable but I would say he is politically inept. I never saw him as a major player and obviously those at the dance don’t either.
- Anon - Thursday, Feb 5, 15 @ 2:16 pm:
McCann made a stupid move two years ago when he dumped on Radogno to write in Kirk Dillard as Leader. That went back on his commitment to Radogno, AND put Dillard in a spot where he had to publicly disavow any attempt by him for the leader spot. What almost no one remembers is that the Senate GOP went all in during the summer of 2012 to kick a very strong and well liked Republican from Sangamon County off the Independent ballot. A guy that was Jim Thompson’s downstate campaign staffer in ‘76 and a former House GOP staffer. Radogno put lots of staff and legal support into the effort, only to have McCann turn on her. Sangamon County is the bulk of that district, and the local GOP was none too happy that McCann jumped over into Larry Bomke’s district to run, “taking” that seat away from Sangamon. They ran someone against Sam in the Primary, and Sam won. They ran someone against Sam later that summer as an “Independent”, and Sam just barely got him thrown off the ballot…completely based on Radogno’s staff work. McCann is an amazingly hard worker. He beat a Demuzio and two well liked Sangamon County GOPers. But, he really needs to step back and look at the big picture. He is the least popular member of the super minority caucus. That’s not good for him or his district.
- formerGOPer - Thursday, Feb 5, 15 @ 2:57 pm:
McCann is my senator too, unfortunately, and I lost total respect for him after realizing he was appearing at Dillard rallies days before the primary and then didn’t even bother to vote. You shouldn’t be in a partisan office if you don’t vote in the party’s primary.
- Realreporter - Thursday, Feb 5, 15 @ 4:16 pm:
Politicans like Bruce Rauner and Chris Radagno are playin’ a dangerous game tryin’ to intimidate a independent legislator like Senator Sam McCann! I bet Cullerton would love to have Senator Sam join his Caucus.
- Rich Miller - Thursday, Feb 5, 15 @ 4:19 pm:
===I bet Cullerton would love to have Senator Sam join his Caucus.===
Look, I like Sam. Always have.
But considering his history with the truth and his leader, I wouldn’t be so sure Cullerton would want him in those caucus meetings.
Also, at this point, I’m not so sure Radogno would care if he left. That’s not exactly a Democratic district. They might end up with someone “better.”
- Team Sleep - Thursday, Feb 5, 15 @ 5:57 pm:
Rich -
I talked to Senator Sam last year when he was considering his run for Governor. He asked/proclaimed aloud, “So, if I were an independent, I would just caucus with the Senate GOP.” I told him that would not be a foregone conclusion and that Leader Radogno would have the discretion to keep him out of her caucus. He gave me a puzzled look and I made a reference to wandering in the political wilderness. I think that hit home with him as he wound down his “bid” for our state’s highest office.