78 Comments - blue dog dem - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 1:17 pm: I voted fair. Just like I tie bad trade deals like NAFTA and TPP to both BO and BC. - Oswego Willy - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 1:17 pm: Voted “fair” “Why?” There’s video of Gov. Rauner at the state GOP convention calling upon e dry one present to elect Republicans to ALL… and he paused… and again reiterated “all” offices. You own it, then you own it. Rauner is the head of the ILGOP, Rauner said so, Rauner also said what he said at the GOP state convention. It’s fair game. If you don’t want Trump, then you constantly and consistently denounce him… … you don’t, in a sneak manner… encourage his election. Voted “fair” - Joe Bidenopolous - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 1:19 pm: I voted fair. Trump is Republican standard bearer and the others are self-identified Republicans. Whether they like it or not, a large plurality (38.8%) of Illinois Republican primary voters cast a ballot for Trump, and many of those same voters will be voting for Kirk, Dold and whomever. If they want to dissociate from Trump they need to disengage from the people who support him. Trump doesn’t exist as a presidential candidate without voters who will support both his caustic agenda, and yes, Kirk. - Conn Smythe - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 1:20 pm: not only fair, would be political malpractice not to. - Annonin' - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 1:20 pm: Very fair til the ask voters to go for some else and take BigBrain rental $ for GOTV - Harry - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 1:21 pm: Unfair–if Kirk says he does not support Trump, he does not support Trump, and if he changed his mind, well, gee, he’s hardly the first. Doesn’t make any difference, he’s gonna lose regardless. - wordslinger - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 1:23 pm: The Tribbies are talking out their troncs. Of course it’s fair. Trump is the national GOP leader. He’s the nominee for president, not dog-catcher. Furthermore, GOP candidates should be asked whether they support their nominee on specific issues: banning all Muslims; rounding up and deporting 11 million people within two years; tearing up trade agreements, etc. - Ron Burgundy - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 1:23 pm: Fair to try. Whether it succeeds in a particular case is another matter. - Oswego Willy - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 1:24 pm: ===not only fair, would be political malpractice not to.=== Here’s the rub, and you’re not wrong… In Ohio, Kasich made clear his feelings on Trump and it would be incredibly unfair, given the same exact parameters (Governor not attending the convention) but Kasich making clear his feelings, while Rauner will feed the Trump machine quietly and privately, but publicly is mute, and further, tries to make being mute his “true feelings”… … unless you see the video of Rauner at the state GOP convention… - Pawn - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 1:24 pm: I voted Fair, because like it or not, he IS the Republican nominee for President. Donald Trump won the Illinois Republican primary this year. And truthfully, neither Dold nor Kirk took a bold stand in opposing him before that primary. I might have a different opinion if they were always loudly opposed to Trump and named him as the viper in their midst before the primary. They are leaders in the Illinois Republican party and absent that principled stand prior to the primary, they do have some ownership of where the GOP stands today, with this unhinged narcissistic unqualified dangerous individual as their candidate for President. - Juvenal - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 1:25 pm: It’s too bad no one has figured out how to convert the Chicago Tribune editorial board’s hypocrisy into a clean form of energy. It’s certainly abundant, dependable and renewable. - Robert the 1st - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 1:25 pm: I suppose it’s fair. He is the party’s nominee for the nation’s highest office. What a disaster for the GOP. - Louis G. Atsaves - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 1:27 pm: Voted unfair. After public disavowals of Trump, the process is those disavowals are ignored and by pretense they are still “lined up with” or “behind” Donald Trump or however they are attempting to make the link? Unless there is a public endorsement that was retracted to muddy the waters, and in both cases, that doesn’t appear to be true, then the Tribune is correct. This is a little different from Madigan linkage attempts where House Members cast votes for him to become Speaker. If they later disavow their support of Mr. Madigan, it would also be unfair to tag them the same way. To my knowledge, none have done so, even the rebellious Mr. Dunkin. Thus, my “unfair” vote. - Ducky LaMoore - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 1:27 pm: Well, obviously it is fair to do to democrats with Madigan and Obama in cahoots to destroy Bruce Rauner. But a guy that could be the American equivalent of a fascist dictator, no, obviously we can’t tie that guy to the rest of the republicans. Only the Trib Editorial Board could be so daft. - Downstate - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 1:28 pm: Absolutely fair. R’s have tied every D congressional candidate to Nancy Pelosi for the last several years. Of course it’s fair. Doesn’t mean I like it hindering the R’s chances in the fall, but it’s fair. - @MisterJayEm - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 1:31 pm: Is it fair to tie candidates to their party’s candidate for president? Sure. – MrJM - Huh? - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 1:31 pm: Fair. Whether you want to or not, you own the leaders of your party. - JohnnyPyleDriver - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 1:33 pm: Definitely fair. Republicans voted for him in the primaries. Republicans are in the process of nominating him right now. Republicans are the ones that will be voting for him in November. He is the party. If this or that candidate doesn’t like that, they should have worked harder to ensure he didn’t capture their party’s mantle. I think candidates who speak forcefully enough against him can counteract the attempts to tie them together, but they need to be out there with that message. These mealy mouthed statements trying to walk the line don’t cut it. You can’t support him but not endorse him. That’s gibberish. - Joe M - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 1:33 pm: Fair. One is either a Republican or they are not. That is the way Democrats have been treated too. So what is fair for one is fair for the other. - Formerly Known as Frenchie M - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 1:34 pm: What, you don’t like being tied to Trump? But it’s okay to tie others to Madigan. And claim to be doing Madigan’s “bidding”? Come on. Rauner and Trump (especially those two) are cut from the same mold. Rich, white, privileged — and without any sense about how *lucky* they are to have been born into the situations they were born in. Both approach politics and business the same way: spit, hysteria, and opportunism. (Apologies to Pauline Kael.) - Oswego Willy - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 1:34 pm: - Louis G Atsaves - I can add a link where Rauner asks that ALL Republicans should be supported… ALL. Would you like me to? - thunderspirit - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 1:34 pm: It’s absolutely fair to tie a candidate to other people in their party. Birds of a political feather, so to speak. In other news: the Chicago Tribune editorial board discovers that the shoe pinches on the other foot. - Anonymous - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 1:36 pm: Fair. If you belong to a political party it seems a rebuttable presumption exists that you approve of its top candidates. It is up to you if you disagree with a choice to repudiate it loudly or leave the party. - NoGifts - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 1:37 pm: It is fair because the candidates represent their party platform. That means that trump and other republicans are supporting the same platform. Until we get rid of our de-facto two party system, independent candidates will be forced to run as a member of one of the parties and face the same problem. - thunderspirit - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 1:37 pm: OW — that’s different, though. Because Madigan! - Anonymous - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 1:37 pm: It’s not just fair, it’s effin’ golden! - Johnny Tractor - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 1:38 pm: Sure it’s fair, but it depends on the level of office. At Sen. Kirk & Gov. Rauner’s level? Fair and vey relevant. Mayoral level - nah, don’t think so. - Doug Simpson - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 1:39 pm: Gee, dont *republicans* tie Democrats to Secretary of State Clinton? Rauner endorsed Trump, Rauner supports those positions. - A guy - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 1:40 pm: Sure it’s fair. They’re members of the same party. The candidates have some responsibility here to make known whatever it is they think is important to the electorate. The voters have some responsibility to find out at least a little bit of who they’re voting for. Trump may or may not be a disadvantage to these and other candidates. The Speaker on the other hand, will be a very real disadvantage to many candidates throughout the state. - AlfondoGonz - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 1:42 pm: Fair. Trump is the current standard bearer of the Republican party. He is their nominee for the President of the United States. He is a result of their policies and politics. W - AlfondGonz - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 1:43 pm: Didn’t mean to “say it” just yet on above comment. Final sentence was to be “Why shouldn’t Republicans be tied to their nominee?” - Kozmik - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 1:43 pm: No it’s not fair to Trump to tie Kirk to him. Trump can’t be held responsible for Kirk’s incompetence. Kirk seems to take every opportunity he can to try to be a Democrat. Why would anybody vote for the pseudo Democrat when if that’s what you want you can just vote for the real Democrat. - Railrat - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 1:45 pm: Fair as it is to “tie” labor leaders to Clinton - Chicago Barb - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 1:46 pm: Totally fair. The next president will nominate maybe as many as three Supreme Court justices and the Senate will confirm. A Republican Senate and a Republican President will not be approving the same justices as a Democratic Senate and a Democratic President. - blue dog dem - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 1:47 pm: A couple of weeks ago, Rich posted about a controversy down in Monroe County regarding political signs. Local Dems were doing a bit of early campaigning. Ironic that both Hillary and Tammy endorsements were not to be found? Or calculated? - Louis G. Atsaves - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 1:48 pm: ===”Whether they like it or not, a large plurality (38.8%) of Illinois Republican primary voters cast a ballot for Trump . . .”=== Yet, 61.2% of Republican primary voters voted for someone else. I bet Madigan would have loved to have 61.2% of the vote on all those veto overrides he lost with his “supermajority” in the Illinois House. My vote still stands as “unfair.” - Anon221 - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 1:49 pm: Fair. Whether other R’s want to be tied to him or not, Trump really doesn’t care. No matter how many loops are thrown on him, the R’s are going on a fast and furious ride through the sage and cactus. So they either need to hang on tight and eat the dust, or cut loose and go their own way. It’s Illinois on a larger stage. - Oswego Willy - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 1:50 pm: - Louis G Atsaves - Start at the 3:12 mark, go to the 3:50 mark… “Thanks! ow” https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Zwo2uuAsdv4 I guess Rauner suppers Trump after all? - Wensicia - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 1:51 pm: How could this not be fair when they’re all on the same ballot? Why hasn’t the Tribune questioned the Kirk campaign on how fair it is to tie Duckworth with Blagojevich? - Honeybear - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 1:51 pm: Fair, for better or worse you’re in the same party. Hey, I left the Democrats. I made my choice. Rauner is still using the name Republican even though those he owns are more correctly known as Raunerites. There are only a few Republicans left in the state that stand up for the values affirmed by their history. Just because Trump is redefining the party doesn’t mean that Republicans can escape being tied to him. - Mongo - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 1:52 pm: Of course it is fair. They are of the same political party. This approach simply makes the legislative candidate distinguish himself or herself from the Donald. It is an opportunity that might not have occurred. - Just Chilling - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 1:56 pm: @Juvenal 1:25 — Great line! Voted fair because everything is pretty much fair in politics these days. - Way Way Down Here - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 1:58 pm: Fair. This situation didn’t pop up over night and the silence was deafening. - Anonymous - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 1:59 pm: Politically it’s fair game even if it’s really not “fair” especially for politicians who have repudiated or not endorsed Trump. However, I can’t wait for all the calls of unfairness when their favorite Dem candidate is tied to Madigan or Quinn or Blagojevich. Duckworth has been trying to claim that the tie is unfair. - Amalia - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 2:01 pm: Fair, but with exceptions. Kasich, the gov of Ohio, where the convention is being held, not involved in the convention nor endorsing Trump. he has his own problems….anti choice actions…but on the Trump score, he’s doing what he can. Kirk is much the same. the difference with Kirk is that he’s insulated in large part by his more progressive politics on reproductive choices and firearms issues. so, there are exceptions. deny Trump at your peril, Rs. - scott aster - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 2:02 pm: Kirk should have endorsed the party nominee..just as Jeb Bush and John Kasich should have they took the pledge just like Trump. Trump will win anyway. - Give Me A Break - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 2:12 pm: Voted Fair, Gov said he is the head of the Illinois GOP, Trump is a member of the GOP, what is there to question? - Anonymous - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 2:13 pm: My issue is linkage to Mitch McConnell, not Trump. And I cannot vote for Kirk because the Senate must no longer be led by McConnell and his colleagues. - Anon2U - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 2:19 pm: Voted fair. It is just as fair as tying the state of Illinois decades of failure to Mike Madigan and the legislators who vote him in as Speaker every two years. Dem House members “own” that vote and their constituents will be reminded of that now through November. - Anonymous - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 2:20 pm: You bet it is fair. The GOP created the monster known as Trump by their dog whistle politics for years. Trump just comes out and says it without being veiled. He belongs to every GOPer. - kimocat - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 2:21 pm: Oops - last anonymous at 2:20 was me. - UIC Guy - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 2:22 pm: For all the attempts to distance himself from Trump, you know that Kirk i)will going to vote for McConnell to set the Senate timetable and agenda; ii) will also fall in line,when push comes to shove, on close votes for lowering taxes on the rich, or confirming some dreadful Supreme Court Justice. So the efforts to distance himself from Trump mostly seem like lip-service for electioneering purposes. - Ahoy! - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 2:27 pm: Is anything unfair in politics anymore? - Anonymous - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 2:32 pm: Completely fair. If and when Kirk decides to announce he’s voting for someone besides Trump who is actually on the ballot and might actually win. - Responsa - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 2:38 pm: “Fair” under the current construct that pretty much anything goes in modern political campaign rhetoric. That said, it is up to the candidates to differentiate themselves. In the scratch for the apparently significant numbers of “independent” and “undecided” vote in Illinois I’d guess that Dold and Kirk for example– to the extent they choose to —will have an easier time distancing themselves on certain issues from the R standard bearer than their Dem counterparts will have distancing themselves from Mrs. Clinton’s problems and alliances. - Chicago Cynic - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 2:40 pm: Totally fair. They will be expected to support Trump on appointments and policy. Pinning them down is critically important to know how they will govern. - Last Bull Moose - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 2:45 pm: Fair. Those of us who oppose Trump lost. Now we are chained to him. It is worse than being shackled to a corpse. A corpse is quiet! - Nick Name - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 2:46 pm: It’s entirely fair, and Rauner refusing to even acknowledge Trump, much less say where he stands on Trump, is making this more of an issue than it needs to be. What is Rauner hiding? - Anonymous - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 2:51 pm: Voted unfair because Tammy Duckworth cannot stop promoting the myth that Mark Kirk is a Trump delegate and state chairman. - Anonymous - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 2:54 pm: I voted “Fair.” If Bruce Rauner supports Trump’s agenda and Trump’s hostility toward Muslims, working women, and Lations, he should come out and say so. If he opposes Trump on those counts, he should be willing to stick his neck out and say that. I’ll give Mark Kirk some credit for taking the latter route, even if he was doing the political math while deciding what position to take on Trump. - Belle - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 3:02 pm: Voted Fair Is it fair to blame the Clintons for Vince Foster’s death? It goes on and on–that is politics. But, I doubt that anyone cares what I think. Since, they would do it anyway. - Keyser Soze - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 3:02 pm: It’s at least as fair as tying moderate Democrats to Hillary. - illini - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 3:22 pm: Absolutely Fair - If it is OK for the Rauner Machine to castigate, malign and misrepresent certain Downstate Democrats members of the GA and accuse then for taking their “marching orders” from an unnamed Chicago politician, I only ask what is the difference here? Still a long way to the November election, but things are getting nasty already down here - and I don’t even live in those districts! - burbanite - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 3:32 pm: Because Madigan… - lake county democrat - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 3:35 pm: I get the “fair” pov but I voted unfair. When Judy Baar Topinka was head of the state GOP and allowed Alan Keyes - easily as horrific a figure as Donald Trump - to be the party’s nominee for one of the most powerful positions on the planet - without actively fighting it and then simply not publicly endorsing him, I didn’t let her off the hook. But if she had: if she had done a “Never Keyes,” if she had said she was withholding her vote (if not voting for Obama), I wouldn’t have blamed her. - Big Mouth - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 4:29 pm: I would say fair. The real question, though, that should be asked– Would it hurt Trump by having having these Republicans from the failed State of Illinois affiliated with him? - thunderspirit - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 4:34 pm: LCD: I recall that election cycle; Topinka (of whom I was very fond) deserved to own that as well. If there’s something distasteful in a candidate, it’s an ethical responsibility to acknowledge that. (But then, that’s why I could never join a political party; I’d be awful at toeing the party line in that regard.) - wordslinger - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 4:38 pm: Curiously, Katrina just posted a column ripping Illinois GOP “elites” for snubbing Trump delegates in Cleveland. I guess she can handle the cognitive dissonance. –The elite within the party should have been shaking hands and getting to know the delegates. Instead, they stayed in their fluffy hotel beds and probably ordered room service, precisely the tone-deafness that got us here.– No, the the real “elites,” as in the two highest elected GOP officials and more, didn’t go to Cleveland at all. Question: Is it fair to criticize GOP “elites” who didn’t go to Cleveland and mingle with Trump delegates? http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/commentary/ct-republican-convention-illinois-delegates-trump-mcqueary-perspec-0719-jm-20160718-story.html - DuPage Bard - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 4:41 pm: Fair- Pot meet kettle. - AJ_yooper - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 4:50 pm: Fair to link party affiliation from top down and bottom to upper; it’s a network of values, power, and money. - Stan - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 5:08 pm: Totally fair… - ChicagoVinny - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 5:20 pm: Fair because Trump is a symptom of a larger problem within the GOP itself. - FormerParatrooper - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 5:27 pm: I voted as fair. For better or worse out political system from day one has been fought with varying degrees of dirty tactics and character assassinations. And in the current climate that gave rise to Trump, while these tactics may work a little in Illinois, in most other States these games are not going to help. Those who are single party voters will vote that way regardless of the candidate, no matter what is said about their party’s candidate. And from being in several States over the course of this election cycle, Trump is a topic I hear discussed often, and it is pretty much 50/50 on love or hate. I honestly do not see him winning in Illinois, but in many other States he has a better chance than most here give him credit for. He may just be voted as POTUS. - Wensicia - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 5:34 pm: Is it surprising McQueary criticized “elite” delegates in Cleveland while giving Rauner and Kirk a pass? Not really. But, does she admire the “New blood and a motivated, growing membership…” that are supporting Trump? Seems so. - Anonymous - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 6:23 pm: They’re reaping what they’ve sown for the last decade or so. - Grandson of Man - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 8:24 pm: I voted fair, because Republicans want Republicans to win nationally, but some, like Rauner, try to weasel out of outright support for Trump (they’re too busy to go to the convention). Rauner probably really wants Trump to win, so SCOTUS can overturn Abood and wipe out fair share fees for all public unions. - walker - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 8:43 pm: There’s no “fair” in politics. Not in the land of the free and home of the brave. - The_Equalizer - Monday, Jul 18, 16 @ 9:19 pm: Utterly fair. For Kirk, he may not support Trump the candidate, but if both Trump and Kirk are elected, Kirk will vote for McConnell for Senate Leader. McConnell supports Trump. Is Kirk going to vote against McConnell? Will he vote against whomever President Trump nominates for the Supreme Court? Of course not. He may not verbally support Trump the candidate, but he will certainly support him once in office with his votes. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.