430 ILCS 65/8) (from Ch. 38, par. 83-8)
Sec. 8. Grounds for denial and revocation. The Department of State Police has authority to deny an application for or to revoke and seize a Firearm Owner’s Identification Card previously issued under this Act only if the Department finds that the applicant or the person to whom such card was issued is or was at the time of issuance…
A person whose mental condition is of such a nature that it poses a clear and present danger to the applicant, any other person or persons or the community
In other words, maybe the state cops should grab Walsh’s musket.
* Mark Kirk originally backed Donald Trump for president, then said he’d write in David Petraeus, then said he’d write in Colin Powell, then went back to Petraeus, and now he appears to be backing away from Petraeus again…
Kirk, who is struggling in his Senate race against Democratic challenger Tammy Duckworth, said months ago that he planned to write in former CIA Director David Petraeus for president. But in an interview with a Chicago radio station on Wednesday, he refused to confirm whether that was still his plan.
“I said that largely out of total frustration,” Kirk said. “The joke I’ve seen going around is, ‘If you had a rowboat and it sprung a leak with Hillary and Trump in it and it sank, who would win?’”
Asked if that means he doesn’t have a candidate he’s planning to vote for, the Republican senator replied, “I don’t at this point. Pretty frustrated by the choice that we have now.”
This is all completely silly and useless, by the way. Write-in votes don’t count unless the candidate is registered. So, he’s flip-flopping all over the place about something that means absolutely nothing.
Neck-deep into this political season of flying mud, campaign propaganda is flooding mailboxes in the Illinois Valley.
The leaflets are colorful in language and graphics. Some of their claims are easily fact-checked and others are so outrageous as to be undeserving of fact-checking. Most are sent by political groups, not the candidates.
A bulk of the fliers target candidates in the race for District 76 state representative.
Andy Skoog (D-La Salle) is challenged by Jerry Long, a Republican from Streator. Two years ago, Long challenged Frank Mautino (D-Spring Valley) and lost by 337 votes. Last year, after Mautino was picked in December as state auditor general, La Salle circuit clerk Skoog was appointed to replace him as state representative.
Too wrong to even be false
Source: Illinois Republican Party
Claim — “Skoog took $16,000-plus from groups who bankrolled a politician guilty of horrific sex crimes against children.”
Misleading — This claim is nearly unworthy of being fact-checked. The advertisement alleges Andy Skoog received campaign contributions from sources that also contributed money to Rep. Keith Farnham (D-Elgin) before Farnham was convicted in 2015 of trading images of child pornography. The flier does not mention Farnham by name but it’s well understood that Farnham is who they are talking about. Farnham served five years as a state representative and, expectedly, received campaign donations.
This mailer is claiming that after Farnham’s arrest in 2014 and conviction in 2015, his allegedly crooked donors looked for other sleazy politicians to fund and landed on Andy Skoog. This vaporous connection also has been used in ads against Mike Mathis of Gillespie, a Democrat running for the House seat in District 95, and Rep. John Bradley (D-Marion). Bradley donated $1,000 to Farnham — three years before Farnham was arrested, according to the Chicago Tribune.
I’ve always believed that the content of mailers should be treated as if they came from the candidates’ own mouths. And candidates shouldn’t be able to hide behind the fact that state parties often pay for these mailers. The parties pay for them mainly because state parties get a discount on postage. I would love to see a reform which forces these party mailers to include a statement from the candidate being supported that he or she “approves” of the message.
* Anyway, some media outlets do a good job on this particular topic, most, though, often choose to ignore candidate advertising. If you continue reading the above fact-check, you’ll see a very long list of insane mailers in that district. You may quibble here and there with how the paper judges them, but it’s mostly very solid and thorough work.
Anything that can be hacked will be hacked. Electronic voting machines are no exception. Which raises the question, “Could you hack enough electronic voting machines to influence (rig) the outcome of the upcoming presidential election?” To answer this question, you need to have high confidence in the answers to three additional questions:
1) Are there a sufficient number of electronic voting machines in swing states?
2) Can you identify and tamper with (hack) the right machines in the right locations?
3) Can you infiltrate the required number of the more than 8,000 distributed, local, mostly offline, public polling places, and defraud a sufficient number of ordinary citizen volunteer election monitors, trained and credentialed partisan poll watchers, and the local and state officials who have a system in place to forestall both human error and any type of suspected tampering? […]
There’s a compelling and reassuring post by Chris Ashby, a Republican campaign finance and election lawyer, that clearly explains what would be necessary to “rig” an election. It’s a good read. In it, Chris opines: “To rig an election, you would need 1) technological capabilities that exist only in Mission Impossible movies, plus 2) the cooperation of the Republicans and Democrats who are serving as the polling place’s election officials, plus 3) the blind eyes of the partisan poll watchers who are standing over their shoulders, plus 4) the cooperation of another set of Republicans and Democrats — the officials at the post-elections canvass, plus 5) the blind eyes of the canvass watchers, too.”
What Chris means by “technological capabilities that exist only in Mission Impossible movies” is that even though hacking an individual machine is relatively easy, hacking the right machines in the right places to successfully and undetectably “rig” a national election would take an almost impossible-to-imagine coordinated effort by an army of technicians and wizened election volunteers from both political parties. […]
Between all of the hacked documents being released by WikiLeaks, the massive Yahoo email hack and the recent super-sized DDoS attack, it’s natural to wonder if a technical hack could impact or rig the upcoming election.
While conspiracy theorists, fear-mongers and attention seekers may want you to believe it’s probable, and while it is true that the chances that hackers might influence the outcome of the upcoming election are non-zero, in practice, it’s just not possible. The thousands of very well-distributed, mostly old-fashioned, partisan-monitored, local election polling places that make up our national election system are on full alert, and it is more than capable of defending our democracy on November 8th. So please, go out and vote with confidence. America needs you.
The emergency medical technician has changed his identity at least twice since 2001. Born in New Jersey with the name Larry Myers, he presented himself to authorities as Michael Trivasano during a series of arrests between 2001 and 2002 — a sequence that ended with a five-year prison term for attempted murder.
Once out of prison, he legally changed his name from Larry Myers to Michael Arquero and began a new life. He married, started a family, got his EMT license — and obtained a firearm owners identification card and later a concealed carry permit, all as Michael Arquero.
Arquero is now charged with unlawful use of a weapon by a felon. A simple fingerprint check would have revealed that he was a felon — albeit one known as Michael Trivasano — and disqualified him from owning a gun. But in Illinois, fingerprinting is not part of the background check required to get a firearm owners identification card or a concealed carry permit. Someone who wants a concealed carry permit has the option of supplying fingerprints to expedite the permit process. […]
Lawmakers could have incorporated fingerprint checks into the language of the concealed carry bill when it passed in Springfield, but they didn’t. They reasoned that someone with a criminal background wasn’t likely to apply for an FOID card or a concealed carry permit anyway. A felon will simply get a gun illegally, they shrugged.
Michael Arquero proved them wrong. It was alarmingly easy for him to defeat the supposed safeguards by misrepresenting his identity and his background. It wasn’t until he was arrested again that his fingerprints were discovered to match those of the felon known to the Illinois Department of Corrections as Michael Trivasano.
Suburban Cook County is poised to join Chicago in adopting a $13 hourly minimum wage, a move critics say is better left to the state but proponents contend is a response to the state’s inaction.
The Cook County Board of Commissioners is expected to pass an ordinance Wednesday that would gradually raise the minimum wage to $13 by July 2020, following its approval by the board’s legislative and intergovernmental affairs committee Tuesday. […]
Commissioner Larry Suffredin, D-Evanston, lead sponsor of the proposal, said the goal is for the state to pass a minimum wage law, but a proposal put forth by Sen. Kimberly Lightford, D-Maywood, has languished since 2009. The intention is to encourage the state to move forward.
And almost exactly two years ago, Illinois voters overwhelmingly supported a non-binding referendum to raise the minimum wage to $10 an hour.
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle appears to have some facts on her side when she suggested too many low-level offenders sit in expensive jail cells because they’re too poor to make bail. […]
Of the 8,222 people behind bars on Oct. 24, Dart’s office says, 298 were being held for failure to post $1,000 or less bond. Included are 62 that need $500, 17 that need $100 and one poor sap who needs just 50 bucks.
That last person is being held for allegedly shoplifting $118.26 worth of shrimp from a Mariano’s grocery store. He’s been in jail since Oct. 18, charged with retail theft under $300. His incarceration is costing taxpayers $162 a day. In other words, in terms of money, taxpayers would be better off to have reimbursed Mariano’s and let the guy go on the first day. […]
In 2015, again according to Dart, the county had 1,024 “turnarounds.” Those are cases in which a person was held so long awaiting trial that their eventual sentence was shorter than the time already served. Collectively, the excess “dead time” was a stunning 222 years in jail.
It’s time more judges got serious about lowering bonds. We understand no one on the bench wants to be the person who allows a suspect to return to the street — only to commit a serious crime. But we are not talking about major infractions here. In one case we’ve written about in the past, a 33-year-old man was ordered held on $50,000 cash bail for possession of two Viagra pills. Should taxpayers foot the $143-a-day cost of jailing someone for such an offense?
Judges set bonds to ensure people show up for trial. If people don’t show up, they forfeit what they have paid. But judges have to be careful that some people without the means to pay aren’t kept in jail while others with more money and charged with the same types of crimes are released. […]
In July, the Sun-Times reported that Cook County judges routinely set bail for crime suspects at levels contrary to what the new risk-assessment system calls for. Last week, two men, one of whom is represented by the MacArthur Justice Center, filed a class action lawsuit arguing “excessive” bail set by Cook County judges is unconstitutional.
In a statement Monday, Cook County Chief Judge Timothy Evans said the courts have made significant progress. More I-bonds and electronic monitoring orders have been issued and the average population at the jail has declined, he said. In the first half of 2016, 94 percent of the lowest risk defendants were released pre-trial, he said.
That’s good. But Dart, Preckwinkle and others are correct that we can’t stop pushing until we have a system that treats all poor people fairly.
Republican Comptroller Leslie Geissler Munger again tried to link Democratic challenger Susana Mendoza to longtime House Speaker Michael Madigan and the state’s financial woes. And Munger also accused Mendoza of previously double dipping at the public trough by collecting two government paychecks.
In turn, Mendoza painted Munger as a “wingman” for Gov. Bruce Rauner and took her to task for failing to “denounce” Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
Support of Trump has been a litmus test issue thrown at Republican candidates across the country this fall. Mendoza said Munger enjoys backing from some of the same campaign donors as Trump and that it should take “half a nanosecond” to know where to stand on the controversial candidate.
Munger said she’s “really working very hard to stay out of the issues at the top of the ticket” and “certainly cannot support a lot of the things that Mr. Trump has said.” But she declined to state her choice for president.
“She just accepted, from the person that she’s supposed to be a checks and balances to, a check for $1 million. By constitution, the Illinois comptroller’s office should be an independently elected office that serves as a watchdog for other executive offices,” Mendoza said.
Munger pointed out that some of that contribution was transferred out back to the Illinois Republican Party to fund other candidates’ races, prompting Mendoza to dub it “a legal laundering mechanism.”
Munger countered: “It’s not all coming in to me. My opponent has actually received plenty of money from special interests herself, including contracts that she’s gotten, money from companies she’s given out contracts out to, and money from Speaker [Michael] Madigan himself.”
“The Illinois Democratic Party is run by Speaker Madigan,” Munger said, as Mendoza interjected.
“Can I please finish? I was quiet when you were speaking,” Munger said.
There were numerous interjections during the appearance.
“Comptroller Munger has just admitted that she is allowing her campaign account, Citizens for Leslie Munger to be used as a legal laundering mechanism, so not only has she gone from being the state’s chief fiscal officer, she’s now admitted to being the state’s chief fiscal launderer,” Mendoza said.
Mendoza, a former state legislator and current Chicago city clerk, blasted Munger for accepting millions of campaign contributions from Rauner and business owners with close ties to the governor. The money was used largely to fund television ads that depict Mendoza as a Madigan protégé who will only do the bidding of the powerful Democratic leader if she’s elected. A large chunk of it was also distributed back to the state GOP, which is using it to help fund other campaigns. Mendoza called Munger the state’s “chief fiscal launderer.”
Munger responded by noting that she’s simply following the campaign laws that Mendoza passed when she was a legislator, and adding that she “didn’t need this job” and was doing it as a service to the state.
“The governor has not bought me,” Munger said. “Everything I have done is completely legal and transparent. It’s not illegal because Susana Mendoza voted for the law.”
Mendoza kept up the attack on Munger’s campaign finances for most of the debate and deflected Munger’s complaints that she has accepted campaign funds from Madigan through the state Democratic Party’s $150,000 contribution.
“Speaker Madigan’s campaign funds have not contributed to me, nor have I asked,” Mendoza said. “It’s not the same because the Democratic Party is not the personal piggy bank of Speaker Madigan.”
Incumbent Republican Leslie Munger was appointed to the post by Governor Bruce Rauner. Her Democratic opponent, Chicago City Clerk Susanna Mendoza, says Munger is controlled by the wealthy governor.
“She just accepted — from the person who she’s supposed to be a checks and balances to — last week, a check for $1 million. By constitution, the Illinois comptroller’s office should be an independently-elected office that serves as a watchdog over other executive offices.”
Munger counters that she stood up to Rauner.
“The governor has not bought me. In fact, I’m probably the most independent person here because I don’t need this job. I took this role because I love Illinois.”
* The governor’s bonuses for non-union state workers was also an issue…
Mendoza said the state doesn’t have money to pay its bills or keep open social service agencies, saying they “should be prioritized, certainly over anyone receiving a performance bonus while we’re in the midst of our worst, worst fiscal crisis of all time.”
But Munger said she was under court order to pay state workers.
When moderator Phil Ponce pressed: “including bonuses?” Munger said she cannot make a distinction over salary and bonus when an agency sends the request to her office for payment.
“There is no way to determine, which is bonus, which is pay,” Munger said, accusing Mendoza of not knowing how the office worked.
Mendoza countered that one of her top advisers is former comptroller Dan Hynes, and said Munger should have, upon taking office, immediately reviewed each agency’s expenses so she could make financial distinctions when necessary.
Believe it or not, this year’s crop of election commercials contains fewer really bad ads than in previous cycles. We have, nonetheless, persevered to find some of the most misleading. […]
Medicare scare in Illinois
At first glance, the ad run by Illinois Democrat Kate Cloonen seems like routine stuff. She suggests that her Republican opponent, Lindsay Parkhurst, would take away seniors’ Medicare and Social Security.
Democrats make that case frequently. But normally, they can point to some vote long ago to make modest or necessary reductions in federal spending to support their claim. In this case, the ad is not backed up by the slightest scintilla of evidence.
What makes it even more absurd is that the office that Cloonen currently holds, and that Parkhurst is seeking, is a seat in the state legislature.
Even if Parkhurst wanted to end the two signature federal programs for retirees, she’d have a hard time doing so from her perch in Springfield. Surely, Cloonen can come up with something better than this.
Responding to Governor Rauner’s “Facebook Live” on breast cancer detection and awareness, breast cancer advocates will hold their own “Facebook Live” to talk about how Illinois’ budget impasse has left low-income women without access to mammograms, breast exams, pelvic exams and Pap tests that could save their lives.
“Since FY 2015, the Illinois Breast and Cervical Cancer Program has lost $22 million in state funding,” said Teena Francois-Blue, MPH, Associate Director of Community Initiatives and Research for the Metropolitan Chicago Breast Cancer Taskforce. “This program makes it possible for low-income women to get health screenings that detect cancers early, when there are better treatment options. It is tragic that some Illinois women may have lost their chance for early, successful cancer treatment because our state budget was being held hostage for political reasons.”
“When Governor Rauner announced his Facebook Live session, he illustrated it with a photograph of his dog wearing a pink ribbon around her neck, saying, ‘Stella is doing her part to raise awareness and we are, too,’” said Beulah Brent, Board President of Sisters Working It Out (SWIO). “Frankly, I find that insulting. Illinois women need access to life-saving screening services, not photographs of family pets.”
Francois-Blue added: “Governor Rauner’s mother-in-law was successfully treated for breast cancer in 1987, and she has been cancer-free ever since. We believe that every woman in Illinois should have that same chance for early detection and a long, healthy life. Unfortunately, many low-income women and women of color don’t have access to high-quality screening and treatment services – a disparity that can cost them their lives. Illinois women don’t need an online chat with a nurse-practitioner; they need reliable funding that will give them access to breast exams, mammograms, pelvic exams and Pap smears.”
This Facebook Live event is being presented by the Metropolitan Chicago Breast Cancer Taskforce and members of the Responsible Budget Coalition, a large, diverse non-partisan coalition of more than 300 organizations unified in support of a fully funded, yearlong state budget with adequate revenue to serve our people and empower our communities.
Emphasis added for obvious reasons.
*** UPDATE 2 *** He did take the question and gave the standard answer…
Asked about impact of budget impasse on breast cancer screenings, Rauner repeats line that state needs reforms to properly fund health care.
Just wanted to follow up on why the Illinois Breast and Cervical Cancer Program (IBCCP) and Stand Against Cancer (SAC) are so important and the $22 million in state funding cuts are so harmful.
1. One-third of Illinois’ population is Latino. Many immigrants do not have insurance and are not currently eligible for insurance on the ACA exchange or through Medicaid. IBCCP and SAC are two programs that provide lifesaving screenings, diagnostics and treatment for this population.
2. Many women who are newly insured get their screening covered for free, but then face a $1,000+ deductible for diagnostic follow up. Follow-up diagnostic screens can cost a woman anywhere from $300-$700, and a biopsy cost the woman $1,000 in out of pocket costs due to high deductibles. It is well-established that the subsidies assist people with covering their health insurance premiums but that they do nothing to assist with the deductible. The costs of diagnostic services are extremely high and pose a significant financial barrier both to early diagnosis and care.
3. Many small business owners and people who make above a certain income do not receive any subsidies. These individuals must bear the full cost their premiums, deductibles and other out of pocket expenses. Often these costs pose unreasonable barriers to care. These programs provide a safety net for people to assure that they are still able to get swift access to quality care.
Additionally, Rauner’s cut of $22 million to IBCCP and SAC have contributed to significant delays in care for Illinois women and risking women’s lives.
Thanks for your attention to this important matter,
Sincerely
Ariel J. Thomas, MS
Metropolitan Chicago Breast Cancer Task Force
*** UPDATE 4 *** From the governor’s office…
Despite decreasing demand for state support due to requirements of the Affordable Care Act that women be covered free of charge by insurers, Governor Rauner ensured $5 million in additional state dollars was allocated for the Illinois Breast and Cervical Cancer Program in this summer’s bridge funding. Governor Rauner agrees that funding for preventative services is of the utmost importance, which underscores why he held today’s Facebook Live highlighting Breast Cancer Awareness Month and signed legislation to improve early detection methods by requiring insurance plans, including Medicaid, to cover 3D mammography.
* The two major party candidates for Illinois comptroller will appear on WTTW’s Chicago Tonight program at about 7 o’clock this evening. They’re streaming it live on their website, so click here.
The Green Party candidate plans to protest…
WTTW Studio Protest Tues. Night Demands Equal Airtime for Candidates
WHO: Activists & Illinois Comptroller candidate Tim Curtin
WHAT: Protest against partisan bias in public broadcasting
WHERE: WTTW11 studio building, 5400 St. Louis Ave., Chicago, IL
WHEN: Tonight, Tues. Oct. 25th, 6:00pm to 7:00pm
There are four candidates on the ballot in Illinois this year for Comptroller, but viewers who tune into local PBS affiliate WTTW’s candidates’ forum on Tuesday will only see two of them. Tim Curtin, the Green Party candidate for Comptroller, isn’t taking it lying down: he’s organized a demonstration of supporters and equal airtime activists outside the WTTW studio, 6pm to 7pm on Tuesday, Oct. 25th.
“Street action is obviously a last resort,” said Curtin. “We tried repeatedly to work with the station to ensure airtime for all ballot-listed candidates. There are four names on Illinois ballots for Comptroller this year, and I don’t think it’s a controversial position to say that something billed as a Comptroller candidates’ forum should include all four of those individuals.”
* Anyway, use this post’s comment section to let everyone else know what went down.
* Comptroller Leslie Munger’s new TV ad has footage of Susana Mendoza seconding the nomination of Michael Madigan for House Speaker…
* Script…
VO: Susana Mendoza spent her political career following Mike Madigan’s orders.
SM: “I second the nomination of Michael J. Madigan for Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives.”
VO: Mendoza called him her mentor- but the Chicago Tribune called Madigan “the architect of Illinois’ financial downfall.”
VO: Together they voted for the largest tax hike in Illinois history and even raised their pay by a whopping 13 percent.
SM: I for one am thankful to the Speaker…for what he’s done for each and every one of us.
VO: Susana Mendoza. Just a career politician and Illinois just can’t afford her.
* Video of her full nominating speech is here. The transcript of that speech is here.
* The Question: Rate Munger’s new TV ad on a 1-5 scale, with 5 being the most effective and 1 being the least effective. Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
* Lindsay Whipp at London’s Financial Times wanted a local angle on Illinois’ US Senate race. So, a mutual friend put us together and I suggested she head to LaSalle County, a blue-collar area that Barack Obama won handily in 2008, but lost by just a hair in 2012 and the site of an intense state legislative battle…
US veteran Stan Mazon enjoys a cigarette and beer on his porch, star-spangled banner swaying to his left, as he soaks up the afternoon sun in his sleepy home town of Ottawa.
Mr Mazon is not sure who to back in November’s presidential election, despite usually voting for the Democratic party’s candidate. Like many residents of Ottawa, the 68-year old is not necessarily voting along party lines in all races. The choice in the key Senate contest between incumbent Republican Mark Kirk and rival Tammy Duckworth, for instance, is a no brainer for Mr Mazon. He is voting for the Democrat.
As a fellow veteran, Ms Duckworth lost both her legs in Iraq in 2004. Senator Kirk’s campaign, however, has been criticised for misstating the extent of his military service. He has apologised, but for some it has not been enough.
“She’s a veteran and what she’s been through, she’s got my sympathy there,” Mr Mazon says. “Kirk did the wrong thing by lying about being a vet.”
On 10 October 2016, the Christian Times Newspaper web site published an article reporting that “new evidence is surfacing” showing “widespread voter fraud carried out by Hillary Clinton supporters during the primary election” […]
This report is false, and no alleged “hidden camera and surveillance footage” documenting voter fraud is actually viewable on the site. The screenshot that accompanies the article was actually taken from BBC news footage about alleged vote fraud in Russia, not the United States […]
The Christian Times Newspaper (not to be confused with the legitimate Christian Times newspaper) is a fake news web site that has exploited the current political scene by publishing multiple fabricated clickbait stories related to the upcoming presidential election, including a false claim that thousands of pre-marked ballots for Hillary Clinton and other Democratic candidates had been found in a warehouse in Ohio.
How ironic.
* I’ve also seen a 2014 story about electronic votes being changed from Republican to Democrat recycled to make it look like this was actually happening to Trump backers. Click here for the Snopes debunk.
Millions of Republicans, independents and Democrats across the nation are conflicted (read: HORRIFIED!) by the presidential candidates on offer from the two major political parties. In Illinois, where Hillary Clinton is certain to win the state’s 20 Electoral College votes, the question many are asking is: “How can I make my vote for president count?”
There is a way. Vote for the Green Party presidential candidate, Jill Stein, to help re-elect Gov. Bruce Rauner in 2018.
That’s right. Voting for the hard-left Dr. Stein, who makes Sen. Bernie Sanders seem like a sober bank president, can help Rauner win what is certain to be a hard-fought contest two years from now.
Here’s how it works.
If Stein receives 5 percent or more of the presidential vote in Illinois on Nov. 8, then the Green Party will qualify as an “established political party,” making it eligible to place a full slate of candidates on the 2018 statewide ballot. A Green Party candidate for governor in 2018 will attract several percentage points of the total vote — most of it coming at the expense of the Democratic nominee.
* Well, the idea appears to be catching on with some top GOPs. Former Illinois Republican Party Chairman Pat Brady had this response to Laura Washington’s question about how he plans to vote next month…
“Jill Stein. Green Party,” the lifelong Republican replied in an email. “Want Greens to get to number so they are on ballot in 2018. Helps our side.”
Chicago Public Schools officials are moving ahead with plans to add hundreds of millions of dollars in debt to the district’s books, setting up a blitz of construction projects.
The Chicago Board of Education on Wednesday is expected to approve borrowing as much as $840 million. But CPS won’t tell the public what it plans to spend the money on until after the district goes to market for the new bonds.
I doubt an elected school board could get away with doing that. Just sayin…
As U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk’s re-election bid approached, his camp knew it would have to convince voters that he is still able to serve following a major stroke in 2012.
Kirk’s first TV ad sought to address that question head on, taking people behind the scenes of the Republican senator’s grueling rehabilitation. The 60-second spot, dubbed “Courage,” showed the senator wrapped in medical gear as he struggled to walk on a treadmill, then slowly climbing stairs in Willis Tower and finally returning to Washington and ascending the steps of the Capitol with the help of a cane and a couple of colleagues. He was making a comeback to honor everyone facing their own challenges, Kirk said into the camera.
While Kirk has presented that image to the public, he has declined to produce detailed documentation on his recovery, treatment and physical and mental condition, making it difficult for voters to assess his fitness for office.
And then the Tribune proceeds to try and figure out what, if anything, is wrong with him. Go read it and report back.
“How about, let’s have a wager on the World Series?” Rauner said in front of Wrigley Field, standing next to Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts.
“If the Cleveland Indians are victorious, I’ll bet you I’ll deliver to you an extra-large Chicago-style deep dish pizza and a case of terrific Chicago-brewed microbrew beer,” Rauner said.
Rauner joked that Kasich will never get that food.
“You’re not going to get that delicious food and beer,” Rauner said. “We’re going to eat it here. Because you know what? The Cubs are going to win.”
Kasich posted his own bet on Facebook, saying he’d send Rauner “fan favorites from Cleveland” if the Indians lose.
Kinda lame, but any time that Rauner can get into a news story with a national figure who isn’t Donald Trump is a good day.
* Meanwhile…
U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-Cubs) and Sherrod Brown (D-Indians) made a bet today on the outcome of the 2016 World Series between the Chicago Cubs and the Cleveland Indians. If the Cubs win, Brown will bring beer from Cleveland’s Platform Brewing Company to Durbin’s office. If the Indians prevail, Durbin will deliver beer from Chicago’s Goose Island Brewery to Brown’s office.
Really? With all the great Chicago microbreweries out there Durbin picks an InBev beer?
Maybe I have missed something, but I have never heard what the Republicans think will happen if Madigan is gone? I get that right now that would require them to win a majority. But if MJM just dropped the mic and walked off, do they think the caucus would rush to Rauner’s agenda? I just don’t get it.
It’s mainly just a schtick. Madigan is spectacularly unpopular. The Republicans think that unpopularity can move voters, so you go with what you think will work. Campaigns are different from governance.
My beef isn’t so much with the Republicans (campaigns are campaigns) but with supposedly sentient editorial boards and columnists who’ve never once pondered the above question.
And, yeah, it’s not like an overwhelming number of Democrats are ever gonna be eager to whack organized labor and the trial lawyers hard and cut off people from workers’ comp benefits.
* Springfield is one of those areas where newspaper endorsements can have an impact, especially in races that are totally within Sangamon County. So this surprise endorsement of Democrat Tony DelGiorno over Rep. Sara Wojcicki Jimenez might possibly move the needle a click or two…
Jimenez, the 99th district incumbent, began her career as a television journalist before going to work for state government, including communications jobs for the state treasurer, state comptroller and House Republicans. She was serving as chief of staff to first lady Diana Rauner before moving to the state House. DelGiorno is a lawyer and a member of the Sangamon County Board.
Jimenez cites her top priorities as education and solving the state’s budget crisis. She backs the governor’s desire to tie parts of his turnaround agenda to passage of a budget. She correctly takes the approach that the state needs to get its spending under control before considering additional revenue. But despite her background as a state government employee, she struggled to convey any of that inside knowledge or provide many specifics on some of her objectives. Her answers hewed to more partisan lines.
DelGiorno, by contrast, offered numerous specifics on policy, including practical ideas such as reinstating a lapsed state tax credit for research and development and looking to emulate a New York program that encourages new businesses to expand or relocate there through tax breaks and partnerships with higher education institutions. He does support redistricting and, seeking to dispel the notion that he’s a pawn of Madigan, said he’d support someone else as House speaker if he faced opposition. That’s not likely to happen, but it’s encouraging that DelGiorno did say he would support term limits for legislative leadership.
In this race, based on preparedness and specific ideas, DelGiorno earns the edge and the endorsement.
Sounds like Sara has been too closely handled. She’s smart, she’s been around the process for years and generally knows her stuff. I was shocked at that editorial.
You’ll recall that DelGiorno recently touted an early October poll which had him trailing by just 5 points, 43-38. 38 is a very long way from 50 plus one. But the unions are making a big push for him on the ground that doesn’t show up in his relatively weak campaign finance disclosures.
Jiminez, on the other hand, is getting big bucks from the GOP. Stay tuned.
* Related…
* Bernard Schoenburg: DelGiorno apologizes for backer’s vulgar Facebook post
* Early voting increases every year as people figure out they can do it. Some folks see it as a sign of intensity, and that could be true, too. But there’s a natural trend here…
In Chicago alone, 17,493 voters had already cast ballots as of about 5:30 p.m. Monday, on the first day of expanded early voting. That beats a city record of 15,000 early voters on Day One in 2012, according to Chicago Board of Election Commissioners spokesman Jim Allen. Another 22,000 voters have already voted early — as Chicago voters were able to vote at a “super site” in the Loop beginning on Sept. 29. That marks the earliest early voting had begun before an election in Illinois.
Illinois also had more than 7.9 million active registered voters as of Monday — beating the state’s previous high total of 7.8 million registered voters in the 2008 election during Barack Obama’s first presidential election, according to Illinois State Board of Elections spokesman Jim Tenuto
OK, that shows intensity.
* And it turns out that Chicago accounts for most of that net state increase since 2008. According to the city elections board this morning, 1.497 million Chicago voters were registered in 2008. As of a week ago, the city was at 1.570 million registered voters.
The city’s elections board spokesman Jim Allen said his office processed “several thousand” online voter registrations over the weekend, which aren’t included in those totals. Allen also pointed out that there’s still a lot of time for voters to register, including grace period and election day. He estimates that the city has seen a net gain of 100,000 registered voters since early August. That number, of course, doesn’t include people who have changed their registration after they’ve moved.
Keep in mind that Chicago’s population has not significantly increased during that same time period.
In DuPage County, which typically leans Republican, 9,272 ballots have been mailed in, with just three voters using early voting. In Lake County, which also has a conservative tilt, 1,619 have early voted, with 10,742 mail in ballots already received of 31,976 requested.
Keep in mind, however, that Barack Obama won DuPage and Lake counties the last two cycles.
* More from the Chicago elections board…
Vote By Mail numbers are up: over 76,000 applications and more than 13,000 returned. That’s far many more applications to Vote By Mail in either 2008 or 2012.
Again, this could be a sign of intensity, but part of it could be that people are figuring out they can vote early and shut off the madness while they await the 2016 Sweet Meteor of Death.
…Adding… Press release…
A record number of suburban Cook County voters took advantage of the first day of Early Voting on Monday, shattering all previous marks for the day.
On Monday, 25,579 suburban Cook County residents voted throughout the 52 Early Voting sites in suburban Cook County and at Cook County Clerk David Orr’s downtown Chicago office. An additional 838 people registered and voted through Grace Period registration.
The previous record for the first day of Early Voting was set in the 2012 Presidential Election, when 13,779 suburban Cook County voters cast their ballots on Oct. 22, 2012.
“This is an incredible testament to the rising popularity of Early Voting,” Cook County Clerk David Orr said. “Whether it’s voting early at one of our 52 sites throughout Cook County, or voting from the comfort of home via a mail-in ballot, Cook County voters appreciate the options they have. There are contests and initiatives up and down the ballot that are generating a lot of interest from voters, who obviously want to make sure their votes are cast.”
