Fire Madigan 2016!
Friday, Aug 21, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller
* John Kass pens a column entitled “Can the Khan of Madiganistan be touched in 2016?” and has this advice for Gov. Rauner…
It wouldn’t be easy to threaten his hold, and I expect his jesters and media biscuit eaters to cry foul and unleash their trolls.
It would also cost some $10 million, well within the reach of Rauner’s political funds for 2016. If done correctly, Madigan’s resources could be stretched thin.
First, a Democratic candidate in Madigan’s increasingly Hispanic Southwest Side district must be found to challenge his re-election.
Ideally, the candidate would be a woman, a Latina; best if she were a mom, a cop, Roman Catholic with a college degree.
If such a candidate were well-funded, the Khan would be forced to keep his troops close. He’d have to spend power to keep it.
He then offers up a legislative target list (none of whom are at all surprising, and several of whom won during the big Republican wave of 2014) and pushes a ward committeeman candidate against Joe Berrios, which is Madigan’s true weak spot. Go read it all.
- 47th Ward - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 9:27 am:
===Go read it all.===
Absolutely not.
- Oswego Willy - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 9:29 am:
===It wouldn’t be easy to threaten his hold, and I expect his jesters and media biscuit eaters to cry foul and unleash their trolls.===
Everything that does actually make (gulp) sense in that … column… is diluted by that grab above and similar passages elsewhere.
Kass proves… Trolls are gonna Troll. Right Ms. McQueary?
- Adolfo Phillips - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 9:30 am:
The great Kass put Mike Smiddy in Hillside, not Hillsdale. Close. Only 130 miles apart.
- Linus - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 9:31 am:
I especially like Kass moving Mike Smiddy’s district to suburban Hillside.
- Arsenal - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 9:31 am:
What is Rauner/the Trib gonna do when Madigan finally gets off stage and it turns out that Democrats STILL aren’t willing to slit their own throats?
- Jack Stephens - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 9:31 am:
Bruce,
Where is YOUR Constitutionally Mandated Balanced Budget?
If you have no desire to fulfill the duties of the Governor of the State of Illinois….the resign.
Sincerely,
Jack Stephens
- A Jack - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 9:37 am:
Madigan’s district voters are probably wise enough to see that having Speaker of the House from their district gives them an incredible amount of pull in the GA, while some newbie rep would put them at the bottom of the pile.
The problem of the Rauner trolls is that they seem to think voters aren’t that bright.
- Anonymous - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 9:39 am:
A Jack - “The problem of the Rauner trolls is that they seem to think voters aren’t that bright.”
Well, Rauner did win an election based on that premise.
- Oswego Willy - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 9:40 am:
===Well, Rauner did win an election based on that premise.===
But only picked up ONE legislative seat…
- The Captain - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 9:43 am:
Rich I have tolerated many of your misguided ideas over the years but suggesting that I (or anyone else, poor fools) go read Kass is the objectionable point where I draw the line.
- AnonymousOne - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 9:44 am:
What a hoot. Power obsessed governor wanting to displace perceived (and real) powerhouse. Fight for who gets to be the supreme autocrat.
- scott aster - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 9:45 am:
Madigan & Brown start thinking about the next election the day sfter there last win.
- So what - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 9:48 am:
Kass lost his credibility when he signed up on wls in return for shutting his trapper. He opined for years about the Combine but rauner us the Combine. #zerocredkass
- Bluefish - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 9:49 am:
Someone needs to tell Kass that DeLeo retired 5 years ago. He’s still “cut and pasting” that line.
- Anonymous - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 9:52 am:
Why don’t the GOP buy houses in the district and load them up with potential candidates and voters
- Johnny Pyle Driver - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 9:52 am:
i don’t even have to click the link to know that the Tribune is going to ask me to pay them to read their swill. I can’t even read what my own Governor has to say in that rag without paying for it.
- The Dude Abides - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 9:53 am:
Yes, there was no coattail effect at all in Rauner’s victorious campaign for Governor. The voter turnout was noticeably poor with half of the eligible voters staying home. I think the low turnout could be explained by voters not being happy about either of their two choices so they stayed home. Many Rauner supporters disagree with me saying that their guy was elected because the voters embraced his message. I don’t buy it, I think it had more to do with Quinn and his low approval numbers.
- Bulldog58 - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 9:54 am:
Besides moving Rep. Smiddy across the state just having him as a possible target is laughable. Rep. Smiddy is in a very strong Democratic and labor heavy district…it would take a lot to unseat him.
- Austin Blvd - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 9:59 am:
Imagine the euphoria and utopia when Rauner controls both the second floor and the House and Senate.
No more handouts. Privatized schools and universities.
Grandma and grandpa out on the street.
Industrial growth at minimum wages.
Kass’ utopia.
- A Jack - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 10:03 am:
Fortunately, Rauner’s honeymoon with the voters is over. He squandered his mandate, if indeed he ever had one in the first place, on trying to get local governments on board with his agenda.
I did Not vote for him. But he did have some promise with the voters since he was an unknown quantity. And had he gone down another path than his turn-around agenda, I think he might have accomplished some good things in Illinois, but his time is fast running out and if he doesn’t change course, he will be a lame duck for the next 3 1/2 years. Attacking the GA is a non-starter.
- The Captain - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 10:06 am:
@ The Dude Abides
The 2014 turnout may have appeared low to some but it was typical for non-presidential years. Here are the last few:
2014 - 49.2%
2010 - 50.5%
2006 - 48.6%
2002 - 51.9%
- Mama - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 10:07 am:
===Well, Rauner did win an election based on that premise.===
Anonymous 9:39, you have a valid point. Many people do not take the time to educate themselves on who they are voting for. Candidates like Rauner didn’t want the public to know he was actually running with the Reform Party under the Republican ticket. He also did not tell the public what his team planned to do once they won. People know who Madigan is and they respect him.
- Langhorne - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 10:08 am:
Difficult to say who is harder to read–kass or klitzing.
- Jack Stephens - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 10:11 am:
Bruce,
If all your going to say is “Fire Madigan” then you are en epic failure.
Jack
- chi - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 10:16 am:
=Ideally, the candidate would be a woman, a Latina; best if she were a mom, a cop, Roman Catholic with a college degree.=
She should be 5′7″, weigh between 170-180 lbs, and be 43 years old. Yea, that’s the ticket. She should be a Sox fan, hate the Cubs, and maintain a well-kept lawn. Now we’re cooking. She should prefer Midway to O’Hare and not be afraid to take on the Rahmfather. Perfect, consider Madigan retired!
- Scholar athlete - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 10:18 am:
Rauner governs using the Green Hornet theory. See, I have this magic ring and if I wish it, it will come true. I will make it happen through my new magical powers imbued by my magic ring. Or maybe it’s my Everyman cheap watch. Or my Everyman Carhart jacket. Or my Everyman Harley. It’s one of those, but I have magical powers. You’ll see.
- Gooner - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 10:18 am:
I’d read it to see how creepy Kass has become, but it is behind the pay wall. Sorry, but I can’t pay for a publication that thinks John Kass and Kristin McQueary are worthy of publication.
Kass for free? Maybe. At a price and knowing that even a penny is keeping McQueary employed? No way.
- Team Sleep - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 10:20 am:
Bruce Rauner’s first official campaign act of 2016 will be to have John Kass locked in a Trib broom closet. He will be given just enough baloney sandwiches and bottled water to think he is still a columnist.
- Wordslinger - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 10:26 am:
King of the Know-Nothing Victims.
- anon - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 10:28 am:
With Madigan facing a well funded opponent, I wonder if Leader Durkin will have the same challenge?
- dzipio - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 10:30 am:
And when this ideal Latina cop person shows up with $10 million in the dem primary, no one will even suggest she may be bankrolled by Rauner.
- tominchicago - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 10:33 am:
First, I really hope that Rauner takes Kass’ advice.
On another note, Rich is right that Berrios is not effective but I fail to see how removing him as party chair somehow impacts Madigan to any great degree. Berrios does not have complete control now. His say about party matters is about equal to Preckwinkle’s and Harmon’s. Proof of that is that he could not get Ray Suarez slated for the Thompson vacancy on the MWRD. In any event, if Mike Madigan wants the party to do something, he gets it done no matter who the chair is. See Susana Mendoza slating this year for comptroller and David Ellis’ slating for Appellate Court 2 years ago.
- 13thone - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 10:34 am:
I think he’s been emptying all the beer cans personally to cook his “famous chicken”, since he has all that extra time after being bounced off the radio. I must have missed the listener outcry about Kass being fired?
- VanillaMan - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 10:35 am:
“We must do this carefully - yet swiftly! And now, my beauties, first, a Democratic candidate in Madigan’s increasingly Hispanic Southwest Side district must be found to challenge his re-election.
Ideally, attractive to the eye, and soothing to the smell, the candidate would be a woman, hmmm - a Latina; best if she were a mom, a cop, Roman Catholic with a college degree. But whooooo? Whoooo? Who can break the Khan’s spell?
YES! A Latina… a Latina! YES! If such a candidate were well-funded, the Khan would be forced to keep his troops close. He’d have to spend power to keep it. A Latina will put voters to sleep. Sleeeeep. Then they’ll sleeeeep!
Then the Wizard of Kass cackled at Dorothy through his crystal ball and then vanished into a putrid cloud of insanity and dust.
- Albany Park Patriot - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 10:35 am:
Kass is just phoning it in at this point. He’s become a caricature of himself. “Madigan-BAD!” “Daley-BAD!”
- walker - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 10:54 am:
Agree that Berrios is one of Madigan’s weak spots. That’s why it makes sense for Madigan to walk away from him. With Berrios a non-factor, Madigan would be stronger not weaker.
Toni P would be stronger as well.
- too obvious - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 10:59 am:
John Kass is so clueless about politics he can’t even understand why Madigan’s constituents in the district have many valid reasons to love him.
Gee why wouldn’t they choose to put in a far less effective person to represent them? #Goofball.
- Demoralized - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 11:33 am:
I think John Kass ate a lot of paint chips as a child.
- Lionel Hutz - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 11:36 am:
Sorry, that should read: “Fire, Madigan!”
- Rod - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 11:51 am:
One has to wonder what George R. R. Martin the author of the Game of Thrones series of fantasy fiction novels that Kass riffs off in his depiction of Speaker Madigan. Martin earned a B.S. in Journalism from Northwestern University, graduating summa cum laude; he went on to complete his M.S. in Journalism in 1971. So clearly he would be more than qualified to critique the Kass journalism technique, or lack thereof as the case may be, moreover Martin lived in the Chicago area during the heydays of Mike Roko who Kass attempts to emulate. One more fact to add is that Martin is a Santa Fe New Mexico liberal who has in the past endorsed some Democrats.
As to the Kass thought that the GOP should attempt to run a well-funded Hispanic candidate against the Speaker in the 22nd District - that is indeed fantasy. I am sure the Hispanic residents of the 22nd District will rally to the party of Trump and Walker who both want to change the US Constitution in order to deny citizenship to children of undocumented Mexican aliens born in our country.
- Anon2U - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 11:58 am:
Smiddy won by less than 1% with a very weak HRO effort. Smiddy and the union members that control him are nervous, and rightly so.
- The Dude Abides - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 12:28 pm:
@Captain, thanks for providing those stats. The voter apathy is pretty evident.
- PublicServant - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 1:21 pm:
Kass is as good of a political strategist as he is a reporter.
- Anonin' - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 1:58 pm:
How quickly they forget Michelle for IL, the rental from Texas who had all the WhackyJack Roesser moohla and help from Tommy Cross
Oh well. Did not realize was still there til Capt fax hyped the column.
- Oh, please.... - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 3:05 pm:
Rauner doesn’t understand that many of the the Ds (and Rs) actually understand their constituencies and how to vote their districts. The difference this session? The Ds have been doing it and the Rs have not…and votes count.
- Excessively Rabid - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 3:34 pm:
Media Biscuit Eaters would be a good name for a band.
- CrazyHorse - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 3:58 pm:
Well, reading that was about 234 seconds of my life I’ll never get back.
Thanks John.