87 Comments - Ottawa Otter - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 1:04 pm: Nominate a gubernatorial candidate from outside Chicago for 2018. - Ron - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 1:04 pm: Less people voted this year. When less people vote, Republicans win. - Ratso Rizzo - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 1:05 pm: The Dems need to embrace a truly progressive agenda along the lines of Bernie Sanders. That truly is the recipe for success when it comes to the white working class. Trump embraced elements of Sanders agenda and won the rust belt with it. - Anon221 - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 1:06 pm: Start with Open Primaries. Take a look at your most recent ballot. How many local seats were uncontested? How many races could become contested if it is easier for other parties and Independents to help with the heavy lifting? And, in the same vein, equal signature numbers for ballot access regardless of party/no party. You don’t eliminate a pressure point by squeezing even tighter. - 22 - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 1:08 pm: Lead. - A Deplorable - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 1:09 pm: Rich, with all respect, your question reveals the answer. “Try to confine your answer to Illinois” Illinois is confined. The Dem party is confined. Look at the red reef. The state has no distinction in its problems, only in its history of leadership. - Ron Burgundy - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 1:11 pm: Be “for” something other than the status quo. - Lil Squeezy - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 1:12 pm: Do not run a poll in May to decide what attacks you will use in October. When you include sex offenders on a list of whats most important to voters they will tell you sex offenders. When you ask how important social security is, they will say very. It doesn’t mean you should insult their intelligence by claiming your opponent supports sex offenders or will gut social security. Democrats have people who knock on doors. Those people understand voters more than anyone because they…well… speak to them. Maybe run some ideas by those folks first. Also try to stand up for yourself when someone takes a tired old message and puts new life into it with $30 million. You can’t just stand there and take those punches. - A Jack - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 1:14 pm: Trump won largely through votes in rural areas that are often ignored by Democrats. The corrupt Chicago Democrat misconception is deeply ingrained in rural Illinois. They need to figure out how to break through that misconception. - Amalia - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 1:14 pm: the same solution as before…stop pandering to a list of groups and start messaging that appeals across the board. Dems were accused in the 70s and then post Carter of spending too much time on a long constituency list of needs. every convention speech would be about the list. boring and not helpful. this is certainly not to say we don’t call out bad acts, as it is baffling how the racism, sexism, and anti semitism displayed in Trump world appeals. but pandering to constituencies does not translate across media markets. we are a large state, with a huge agricultural money need and people eat and grow in cities. where is the connection on that? there are urban and rural divides in many ways, but economic issues are connecting. “it’s the economy, stupid.” - LakeviewJ - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 1:16 pm: 1) Institute new leadership that can credibly make an argument for policies benefiting the working class. The problems of Madigan, Clinton, Pelos, et al isn’t that they are too liberal or too conservative. It’s that people think they’re crooks. 2) Building on that, the losers of presidential elections going back to about 1988 have been perceived as stiff, unfeeling technocrats or out-of-touch insiders. Don’t nominate for President someone that fits both those categories. - 47th Ward - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 1:18 pm: In my lifetime the (National) Republicans have gone from being the party of moneyed elites and Wall Street to the defenders of those who are losers in the modern economy. The biggest criticism I have of Clintonism is its focus on 3rd Way Centrism, which is double-speak for being Republican light. And our celebrity and cultural elites are aliens to rural America, offering working people next to nothing. Take trade as one example: Democrats pushed NAFTA through, doing the GOP and its allies a remarkable favor. Then Democrats failed to keep the promises made to displaced workers and watched from the sidelines as the GOP cut education and worker training programs. Flash forward to 2016 and the GOP is the anti-trade, anti-globalization party promising to return manufacturing jobs to the industrial rust belt, to fight for the little guy. Up is down, black is white. I’m not advocating a purity contest and I’m not going to start ripping so-called DINOs, but the socialists in my party are not going to sit quietly in the back of the bus any longer. And yet, socialism is not the path to electoral success either. The US can no more shield itself from the forces of modernity and globalization than ISIS can. I support trade and internationalism, but we have to help those who get left behind. For too long, the egg heads in my party ignored the people who were losing in the global economy, we forgot the promises we made to them, and we didn’t fight hard enough against the GOP assaults on the middle class. Tax cuts are popular, but that’s all the GOP has to offer America. America needs investment in education, human capital and infrastructure. Illinois Democrats need to deliver on those, even if it means going alone to raise the taxes necessary to do it. Illinois Democrats will win because they offer smarter policies that work for the greatest number of people. They will win because their ideas are better. We need to remember who we abandoned and work hard to rebuild that relationship. - Rich Miller - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 1:21 pm: ===They will win because their ideas are better=== What ideas? Seriously, about all I saw during the campaign was sex offenders and Social Security. - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 1:21 pm: I guess I’d start right “here” Join the 21st century. I despise Twitter for pure political messaging, and Facebook is one step above Twitter in bringing ridiculousness front and center and phoniness paraded as real. I will suggest “this”, as a Republican, not a Raunerite… Join the 21st Century by being visible. Maybe the joke is that if suggest some cutting edge thing, but this 1954 mentality that “all is well, we can just respond with the same program” is getting clobbered day after day after day. The nuancing of governing in the open and allow an openness and inclusiveness to voters to their Party and allowing the many 21st century avenues to embrace Democratic leaders will help in imaging. It’s 2016 and this “smoked filled back room” insiders meme can be argued to still exist. They need to be seen far more transparent to goals and accomplishments, and a strong willingness to take on visibility everywhere in the state to embrace “thank yous” and “we need to” type of framing with media, groups, locals, and party structure. You can’t continually stand at a Blue Room podium and extol in long-winded monologues. They need to GO to social service groups, GO do tours with stops and tracking of the tours to their constituencies. The messaging is weak, the delivery at a podium away from successes makes the arguments even weaker. “No one” is buying newspapers, but people share local news videos with each other. It’s the passively aggressive way to social media-ize and bring forward messaging through physically active traveling and traveling through controlled 21st Century mediums without the severe backlash of looking utterly insincere when the topic or program or core belief is anything but. When I see the actively professional passive aggressive press configuration of message, travel, growth and transparency of the 21st century framing, then I know Democrats in Illinois are starting to be serious. If I continue to see ridiculous podium monologuing with poster boards and stale congratulatory words about places and programs hundreds of miles away… then I’ll know the 1954 existence is going to bury Democrats in the end. OW - Rich Miller - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 1:21 pm: Oops. Lil Squeezy beat me to it. - JB13 - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 1:23 pm: A good place to start would be to actually attempt to compromise. The strategy in Illinois can’t be to say *everything* the Republicans desire is somehow a bridge too far or an insult to public decency. As of now, the Democrats in this state still hold most of the cards. Use that as leverage. Offer *something* beyond “We’ll let you raise taxes, and we’ll even let you take the blame.” This state is looking for leadership. It’s not getting it from Rauner. It’s not getting it from Madigan. It’s time for someone to lead. It’s time for someone to govern - or at least try. If they do so, they can position themselves well to prosper as the “Party of Leadership and Grown-Ups” amid the midterm correction likely to come after the inevitable overreach under Trump. But if they would rather attempt to shirk their responsibility to the shoulders of minority party lawmakers who have been excluded from every major decision for more than a decade, then they should be prepared for what’s coming. I’ve long said the political imbalance in this state is the result of past events - namely the conviction of George Ryan, followed almost immediately by the ascent of Obama, which squelched any hope of an immediate GOP rebirth - not some sort of natural, innate “enlightenment” of Illinois voters vs their neighbors. Three quarters of this state, geographically speaking, is heavily red, or purple, at worst. Only Chicago and portions of Cook County can now be considered reliably blue, particularly outside of presidential election years. Republicans are highly motivated. They have been to the very, very bottom of the pit, and they are retaking their old turf and taking some new turf, as well, under the new political realities. If Democrats insist on not adjusting to that reality, they will continue to pay a price. - Gooner - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 1:24 pm: Democrats need to do nothing. Don’t submit a budget. Stop speaking about left wing issues. Complain about the lack of jobs (whether or not such jobs are being created, since reality does not matter), claim things are getting worse (again, feel free to ignore reality) and blame the Governor. Making decisions costs votes. If you want power, stand on the sidelines and point a finger. - Last Bull Moose - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 1:24 pm: Chicago corruption is not a misconception. Look at the number of Chicago Aldermen who have gone to jail. Look at the false police reports in the L. McDonald case. - Lil Squeezy - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 1:25 pm: School funding reform could be an issue. Many losing candidates had school districts that would benefit greatly from school funding reform. But I guess that would have required actually having to educate them. - John-on-the-spot - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 1:25 pm: Dems need a simple 5 point agenda for the middle class. - 47th Ward - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 1:26 pm: ===What ideas?=== The question was what should they do going forward, not what did they failed to do in this election. And I offered a few. It would be political malpractice to campaign on raising the income tax as your signature issue, yet both Pat Quinn and Jom Edgar managed to win with exactly that message. - LakeviewJ - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 1:26 pm: I’d add the any conversation about globalization and looking inward as a country will be forced to reckon with consumption and land use development patterns. The same towns with shuttered factories also have decimated local business districts. The only store is the Wal-Mart on the edge of town stocked full of cheap foreign goods. - Keyser Soze - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 1:28 pm: What should the party do? Drift toward the center. Assign its far left members to broom closets. - Lil Squeezy - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 1:28 pm: We have professions we have to import professionals for. We could talk about job training programs for those professions, especially in districts hurt the most by manufacturing loss. - Ahoy! - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 1:33 pm: I think Democrats need to focus on good government instead of fighting Rauner. The Democrats in Illinois are going to win on social issues because even in Illinois the Republicans here are backwards and more resemble southern conservationism which is going to appeal to small rural communities where the population is declining. Go ahead and concede the small shrinking houses seats. Illinois Democrats do need to focus more on good economic policy instead of pandering to unions and trail lawyers and spinning it that you are “protecting the middle class,” most of us see through that crap and most middle class homes are not in a union nor are lawyers. Good governance is good politics. Lou Lang’s comments are showing that the Democrats are more worried about politics than governing and people are seeing that and if they are not, Rauner has the money to open their eyes. - Lil Squeezy - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 1:36 pm: We could speak of improving access to medical care in rural communities. We could talk about all sorts of social services hurt right now. Attacking your opponent for not supporting a budget that didn’t become law is not the same thing. Do not think it is, because its not. If you knock on doors you know to say something about yourself first. I barely ever mentioned the opponent when I used to knock. Attacks are lazy, saying something real matters. - Ron Burgundy - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 1:37 pm: –about all I saw during the campaign was sex offenders and Social Security.– Coming in 2 years to a TV near you: “My opponent wants to give sex offenders Social Security!!!” - Pipedream - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 1:39 pm: Honestly, it’ll swing back hard the other way when people see how dark trump and the GOP’s America will be. When they see families destroyed, people dying because of lost uealth care coverage, normalized hatred, and a loss of rights that people took for granted (freedom of the press, for one). I think it will awaken a sleeping giant of decency. Of people who despise bigotry, xenophobia, anti-intellectualism, and anti-science. At least I hope. - phocion - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 1:40 pm: Get behind the Fair Maps Amendment and pass it through both Chambers. The media and public will love you for it. Push back in meaningful ways on traditional groups - black caucus, Hispanic caucus, trial lawyers, organized labor. They’re not going to abandon you and you will attract favorable press attention and leaning voters. Get an infrastructure program going. Everyone loves a ribbon cutting, even if it has to include some user fee increase (remember, you’ve got a lockbox now so people will support it). Enact some form of additional workers compensation reform. You’ll get credit for compromise and it will actually help the Illinois economy (imagine that). Cut a deal on school funding and end it. Do something that everyone will find something to hate, and be done with it so it won’t keep hounding you year in and year out. Show some freaking humility. The party is viewed by many as smug, arrogant, out of touch, condescending and just plain unpleasant. Deal with it. - The Velour Nail - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 1:43 pm: Two suggestions: (1) Democrat statewide office holders and legislative leaders should make public appearances, attend events and hold question and answer sessions around the state; and (2) have a legislative leader succession plan that includes younger members of the GA and members outside of Cook and the collar counties serving as assistant leaders, etc. - Rich Miller - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 1:43 pm: Ron Burgundy, more like “My opponent wants to take your Social Security away and give it to sex offenders!” - Lil Squeezy - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 1:43 pm: Anybody remember that old woman who testified before the House about DON scores? Not a dry eye in the chamber. I stand for that woman, not my opponent doesn’t. - Ron Burgundy - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 1:47 pm: –Ron Burgundy, more like “My opponent wants to take your Social Security away and give it to sex offenders!”– That works, perhaps kicking Grandma while doing it. - Todd - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 1:48 pm: La off of guns and gun owners. It’s tired and sure didn’t work in the McAuliffe race. - Ducky LaMoore - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 1:51 pm: Young, aggressive, forward-thinking leadership with an emphasis on distilling intellectual objectives into a simple message that does not demean any voting block. - frisbee - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 1:57 pm: Nationally the Dems will do some soul searching the president’s party will take some licks in the midterm election. In Illinois the Dems need to embrace some progressive policies to motivate voters in the city but also focus on issues that are important to the suburbs and rural parts of the state. A progressive income tax would be a good place to start and not just the advisory ballot questions. Legalizing cannabis seemed to do well at the polls this cycle, perhaps the Dems could lead the way on that issue and point to the GOP as being for big government with another failed prohibition. Actively recruiting more minorities to run for office would be another easy way to mobilize voters next time around. We will finally have an Asian American State Rep. for example but why has it taken so long? Transportation is a big issue in the suburbs, focusing on public transportation infrastructure would be appealing to many of those communities. Local & healthy food issues are important to many young families so tapping into that issue would be an easy win for Dems. - jon r - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 2:03 pm: The unions themselves have internal issues. I would guess 1/2 of the membership of the local i belong to vote “R”. Just as ILLINOIS voters voted Mr RAUNER in, also voted for raising minimum wage. - AlfondoGonz - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 2:05 pm: Drop the single serving politics that tries to cater something individually to racial groupings and advertise the platform as one that is for the greater good, as it is. That’s why people like Bernie. - OurMagician - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 2:06 pm: Embrace the state, not just pockets. I know “counties don’t vote” but if you want to grow your party within a state you can’t go 1 for 102, the Cubs almost have a better success rate. Show the state outside of Chicago that Chicago matters and show Chicago that the rest of the state matters too. The Republicans leader is a billionaire from Winnetka not a farmer from Bushnell so if he can try and connect with them, you can and need to too. - wordslinger - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 2:07 pm: Keep expanding in the suburbs on quality of life and social issues, while continuing to support public and private unions. - Ducky LaMoore - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 2:10 pm: @OurMagician Yes. I live in a small county. I couldn’t name you the last time, or any time a democrat running state-wide ever came to the county. There are reasons my county votes 80% republican, and one of those reasons is that republicans actually show up and shake hands. - blue dog dem - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 2:11 pm: Todd@1:48. Amem. And while your at it, dump the public sector unions. We the trades are competing for the same tax dollars. - Southside Markie - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 2:13 pm: The Democrats are a regional party? Has everyone forgotten already that Clinton got the most votes? - Ducky LaMoore - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 2:17 pm: ===The Democrats are a regional party? Has everyone forgotten already that Clinton got the most votes?=== Senate, House, State legislatures. They are moving to a regional party. And Hillary Clinton did get the most votes… especially in places like the coasts…. - Lucky Pierre - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 2:20 pm: Interesting how some think Trump is anti Semitic and racist His own daughter and son in law are Jewish and Netanyahu called him a true friend of Israel Trump received more minority votes than Romney Illinois Democrats need to stop the identity politics and demonizing business and look at being for private sector job creation.. It is inexcusable to have introduced zero economic development legislation since Rauner’s inauguration They are truly just a party for their special interests, planned parenthood, unions, trial lawyers etc The reason why downstaters voted against the Dems is that they offer nothing to make their businesses competitive with the sea of red states that surrounds them and their economies are declining because of that - Chicagonk - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 2:21 pm: Republicans eventually will go into Chicago and start building up political infrastructures capable of competing there. The machine is dying and once it’s dead, it will be dead for good. The only way to continue to maintain power will be through good governance, integrity, and transparency. So my recommendation for the Democratic Party is to start now with getting rid of the bad apples. - Ron Burgundy - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 2:21 pm: –Has everyone forgotten already that Clinton got the most votes?– I think the point is, she is winning the popular vote by 300k (using CNN numbers just now), but beat Trump by about 4.8 million votes in just 3 states - CA, NY and IL. Doing the math, that means she lost to him by 4.5 million everywhere else combined. - Anonymous - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 2:22 pm: Excuse me Willie, but “the defenders of those who are losers in the modern economy? I don’t see how shipping people’s jobs to China and then demonizing anyone who can be painted as an Other helps these guys. I don’t care what Trump says, those jobs aren’t coming back. We need to find new ways to put these people back to work that will allow these people to survive, to feed their kids, to have that life that’s been taken away from them. We need answers and ideas from both sides of the aisle. - Chicagonk - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 2:23 pm: Republicans eventually will go into Chicago and start building up political infrastructures capable of competing there. The machine is dying and once it’s dead, it will be dead for good. The only way to continue to maintain power will be through good governance, integrity, and transparency. my recommendation for the Democratic Party is to start now with getting rid of the bad apples. - RNUG - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 2:25 pm: At the national level, and partially at the state level, I think the Democrats of today have abandoned their base, the working poor, the middle class (what is left of it), and even small busniess owners (is that redundant with middle class?), in favor of the money from the financiers, trial lawyers, and various special interest groups. The solution is for the party to talk to the citizens, rediscover its’ roots, and change accordingly. If they don’t know how to do that at the party level, then it needs to be done at the individual level. Maybe the solution is for each Representative and Senator to become more independent from the party. I offer Senator Sam McCann as an example. Yes, he has his flaws … but he seems to be devoted to understanding the voters of his district. He’s always out meeting and listening to his constituents. In my experience, he does listen, even if he doesn’t agree with you. And here’s what I think is his biggest asset: unlike most politicians, he doesn’t sugar coat or over promise on the actual issues! Some of you will say I am viewing it through rose colored glasses or I’m unrealistically optimistic, but that’s the way I see it … and the advice also applies equally to the GOP. - Person 8 - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 2:30 pm: To the question…. Consult Jack Franks…..He somehow can win as a D in a R only area. - wordslinger - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 2:32 pm: Gov. Rauner beat Pat Quinn with 50.4% of the vote. He is the only GOP Constitutional officer. Both U.S. Senators are Democrats. Eleven of 18 reps. in the next Congress will be Democrats. Foster and Schneider’s districts are completely in the suburbs. Both chambers of the GA have large Dem majorities. The suburbs have turned reliably blue in presidential years. And the GOP’s is now almost solely funded by three rich dudes (what happens when they’re gone?). So…. who needs the plan going forward? - 47th Ward - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 2:33 pm: ===who needs the plan going forward?=== Rich, apparently. Lol. - VanillaMan - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 2:35 pm: Shop at Walmart. Wear Goodwill clothing. Eat at McDonalds. Homeschooling. Put up an American flag. Drive an American brand truck. Listen to country music. Go to church. Work with your hands. Gain 20 pounds eating nachos. Drink domestic beer. Tell offensive jokes. Move to a house smaller than your parent’s. Have three or more children. Respect people without college by listening to them. Be what Democrats used to be. Good, God-fearing, patriotic family people who found value in everyday people. I love my Democratic friends, but they are too often smug know it alls who have few things nice to say about the rest of us. American won’t elect their superiors. Instead, they elect their friends. - Enviro - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 2:37 pm: = Doing the math, that means she lost to him by 4.5 million everywhere else combined.= Doing the math, that would be an average of less than 100,000 votes in each of the remaining states. - Amalia - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 2:39 pm: agree with Todd on the McAuliffe race, but keep on keeping guns out of terrorist hands is important. if Dems listened to agricultural area issues half as much as they listen to Black Lives Matter, Dems would make hay, and help make hay. - the old man - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 2:39 pm: DUMP MADIGAN and get a new “we care image”. - 4 percent - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 2:43 pm: It’s simple - people want solutions and government that works together. They’re tired of fighting, blaming, delaying, obfuscating, etc. BOTH parties need to work on this as its not limited only to the Democrat Party. Fix the budget - a long term solution. Pass an infrastructure bill to get people working Economic development reforms including work comp and tax reform Education funding reform and * GASP * property tax reform in Cook County. - Sense of a Goose - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 2:49 pm: Keep it simple but it has to appeal to the every day person. I haven’t seen any message that says this is what we’ll do. This election was all about the boogeyman from the other side. That can be effective if there’s also a little substance on what we’re for. While the TA may not offer much in the way of growth, it sounds good. We need to recognize that most jobs are not public sector or public works. We have to have a reasonable economic climate. Don’t race to the bottom but do outline some improvements that will help to lure businesses, including the fact that a well educated workforce is one of the most important factors. I believe Chicago test scores have been improving significantly but it gets lost in the shouting. Top 5 good things we’ve done plus top 5 things we will fix. - Taco Cat - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 2:49 pm: We need to stop ignoring the rural populations. Many of them were struggling before the 2008 recession. We’ve heard that the economy has improved but that hasn’t come to millions who cannot find work or are stuck in working poverty. The Dems ignored this population, but they VOTED. What Trump did, Rauner did 2 years ago. “The powerful in Chicago and Springfield have written you off but I’m here to change that”. Before I’m off my soapbox both parties need to stop saying their going to bring back mass manufactuing. There is manufactuing in America. The work has been automated. You cannot unring that bell. - Leave it to BVR - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 2:51 pm: Find someone, anyone, to defeat Rauner…. please. - Anon221 - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 2:56 pm: A lot of focus on what the Dems can do at the State level. They also need to expand their base at the local level. In my county, no opposition for almost every single local seat. And, those that are listed ad Dems are usually DINOs. Keep ignoring the rural and small population centers Dems, and you lose the State. Just look at the maps from yesterday’s posts. Do a county by county autopsy. Start taking areas back. There are a LOT of Independents out there that would help out. The percentage grows every year, and it’s simply foolish to ignore them. - Anonymous - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 2:57 pm: Getting rid of Jabba, the Hutt, the most powerful crime boss in Tatooine, would be a good start. - A guy - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 2:58 pm: ===- wordslinger - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 2:32 pm: Gov. Rauner beat Pat Quinn with 50.4% of the vote. He is the only GOP Constitutional officer.=== You’re not wrong Sling, but an important factor here is that Judy won, and but not for her sad, untimely passing, she’d be a mid-term GOP Constitutional Officer right now. To the question–thinking WAY outside the usual box…. Enact the peaceful transfer of the Speakership to another member. That member could be as partisan as MJM, but it sure would stifle the strategy of the opposition pretty quickly. There should be some process in place to prevent the chaos of this happening under different circumstances anyway. A loss, not likely. A passing, not likely either- but we didn’t expect Judy’s either. Potential loss of seats making the majority far less effective OR enough losses to become a minority– within the realm of possibility for the first part, unlikely in the second. He retires, possible if it looks tough and his legacy is at all threatened. It’s far fetched and out of the box, but you asked. - Carhartt Representative - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 2:58 pm: “Given the choice between a Republican and someone who acts like a Republican, people will vote for the real Republican all the time” –Harry S. Truman It’s still true. - Nick Name - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 3:00 pm: School funding reform/property tax reform. The two go together. Income tax hike. Just do it. Adopt OW’s proposal to get into the 21st century regarding messaging, and sell the idea. - Teddy Salad - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 3:03 pm: Making the Democratic party leaders read these suggestions would be a good start. - wordslinger - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 3:24 pm: –Interesting how some think Trump is anti Semitic and racist– Actually, I don’t find David Duke, Stormfront and the “alt-right” anti-semitic white supremacists that supported Trump all that interesting. http://www.haaretz.com/world-news/u-s-election-2016/1.752064 - Former hillrod - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 3:26 pm: Dead on Vanilla Man. What we just witnessed nationally on Election Day was the revenge of the bitter clingers. The Democratic Party needs to realize those folks are as American as anyone else and their lives matter too. - Trumpeter - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 3:36 pm: @blue dog dem. Careful, we can’t afford the exorbitant cost of trade union labor, either. - Going nuclear - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 3:36 pm: Here’s my two cents that includes some things others have posted, along with a few new ideas. Elect a downstate Speaker of the House. Pass an income tax hike tied to an infrastructure/jobs training program and school funding reform. Support a fair map amendment. Work with college engineering programs to help small/medium size manufacturers cut costs and improve efficiency. Fund county fairs and regional tourism programs. - Sure - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 3:45 pm: “Has everyone forgotten already that Clinton got the most votes?” We all know that, but . . . Unless the totals changed since earlier today, Clinton had a plurality of the popular vote, not a majority. There were two third party candidates too. It is about winning the most individual states and gaining their electoral votes. Trump won 30. Clinton cannot carry her vote totals over from California to offset her losses elsewhere. - Rabid - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 3:53 pm: That must be why the Americans in Israel voted for trump? - Anonymous - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 3:53 pm: –It is about winning the most individual states and gaining their electoral votes.– No, just electoral votes. The number of states it takes to get to 270 is as irrelevant as the national popular vote. The national popular vote does show how profoundly divided the country is. - Athens - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 3:54 pm: Word at 2:32 That’s just the kind of thinking Rauner wants to see. - Lucky Pierre - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 3:58 pm: Flawed logic. Just because the anarchists, black panthers or any other “deplorable” on the left support Democrats does not mean Democrats are anarchists etc. - Scamp640 - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 4:05 pm: Democrats lost not because of some Republican upwelling, but because Democrats did not show up. http://imgur.com/gallery/ATwC2 - A Guy - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 4:10 pm: MJM announces his last term as Speaker would be this term, if Rauner isn’t re-elected. Won’t work anywhere else in the country, but watch the votes come out. - Anonymous - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 4:12 pm: Lou Lang as Speaker. - Retired2 - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 4:12 pm: RNUG said it best. The Dems have abandoned their base. A MSNBC traveling reporter was in a PA diner yesterday and asked why the family had voted for Trump. The young mother said, “I have to be able to feed my kids”. The working class believe they have been abandoned by the Dems. This is not isolated to the “Rust Belt”, it is felt here in Illinois too. The Dems should follow the example of Sen Sullivan whose district encompassed western IL. He spent a lot of time sitting at kitchen tables, talking and listening to the concerns of his constituents. The personal touch of time and attention is an unbeatable combination and acting on their concerns wins re-elections. The personal touch won’t be enough to bring the voters back, unless there is a plan to address the economic issues faced by the middle class. So, going forward, the Dems should: Ask, Listen and Act. - Anon Downstate - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 4:17 pm: A wild and crazy concept for the Democrats…. 01 Concentrate on Agriculture and directly related AG areas. None of this tenuous connection stuff. Avoid anything that looks like Crony Capitalism. Ex.: Create a couple of Agricultural Enterprise Zones in urban Chicago. Get innovative in your thinking. 02 Make it clear that the Democratic party wants IL to become the Agricultural center of the WORLD. That’s where you pour your resources. Reasoning: It’s a WWI style stalemate on budgets, social program funding, etc. Not changing anytime soon. Say what you want, the Democrats didn’t win this election cycle. So, at best, a stalemate. Got to do something different. Status Quo didn’t work at national level, at best held it’s own in IL, in 2 years, could be lots worse then. Time is now to adapt and adjust. IF you move heavy on Agriculture, it goes hand-and-hand with Transportation/infrastructure/Education areas here in IL. Think about it. Rauner has already staked out his alternative area - Criminal Justice reform. And he’s already had some successes. What have the Democrats done to date - Status Quo, more of the same. Notice any successes? Adapt, adjust, overcome….. LEARN…. Just a thought….. - hisgirlfriday - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 4:17 pm: As the commenter Rich quoted in the original post, here are my suggestions: 1. Take away the Illinois Democratic Party from Mike Madigan. I am resigned to the fact that he will never ever voluntarily quit as House Speaker and never stop having huge influence as long as he is living but maybe someone can talk him into stop being Illinois Dem Party chairman? He is a punching bag figurehead for this party who is largely incapable of shaping earned media coverage favorably and has no interest in developing any sort of social media strategy for the party either. A Dem chairman should be available and TV-ready for countering the Rauner narrative and presenting the Democratic one outside of the everyday machinations of the budget standoff. 2. IL GA should pass some kind of independent map drawing legislation to go into effect after the next census. Not just because you can get points for doing the right thing, but also to prevent possible map catastrophe if Rauner gets re-elected. 3. Have way more of a presence Downstate everywhere Downstate. Run attractive well-funded candidates in university towns that are angry about the Rauner funding cuts and where there are plenty of students and college educated voters. Or at least slate somebody to have a name for me to vote for in rep/state senate races at the same time my county only narrowly tilted GOP at the presidential level. 4. Channel the economic populism mood of the country somehow to get back more votes from rural places, from the exurbs, from old Dem strongholds killed by NAFTA. We make fun of Baron von Carhartt but despite his wealth and background Rauner has put a lot of effort into culturally connecting with these folks. Dems need to find a way. Find an Elizabeth Warren/Sherrod Brown type of Dem o run against Rauner for governor. I don’t think a rich Kennedy from Chicago’s gonna do it. - Big Mouth - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 4:24 pm: Not much D’s can do. As the electorate becomes more informed of what Democrat’s stand for, it will be clearer that their policies don’t work. This election has indicated that the news media, who protects the left, has lost much of their hold on citizens. When that completely evaporates the Democrat party will only be spoken of in the history books. - yeah - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 4:30 pm: Stop using email. Stop using flowery speeches to nominate the Speaker. - archpundit - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 4:37 pm: I don’t think Democrats are in awful shape and I’m not sure Rich meant it that way, but there isn’t a message right now and that’s a huge problem. I’m going to do both nationally and state because I think they are similar in many regards. First, have a dang message. Clinton kind of tried, but mostly it was competence and then a list of proposals. Last guy nationally to run on that? Dukakis. Democrats in Illinois have largely done the same thing–look at that clown-vote for us we won’t be as bad. Not exactly inspiring. Rauner is offering horrible ideas in most cases, but I don’t know what the alternative is other than not-Rauner. I’d love Madigan to step down for many reasons. First, I’d like to modernize the party and I mean more than just upgrading from Windows 97 though that is a start. I don’t think Madigan is going to step down though because it’s now personal with Rauner. I’m not as worried about 2018 though. 2 years of Trump and 2 more years of Rauner aren’t likely to produce a low Democratic turnout like we have seen in 2010 and 2014. It is more likely to be 2006. But let’s actually do something with the government that helps people like 1) infrastructure 2) Property tax fix with state funding 3) Progressive income tax 4) Lower cost of higher education–better funding of colleges 5) Tech initiatives based around community colleges 6) Rural Economic Development not around coal. Let’s be real about coal dying. - ZC - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 4:43 pm: I don’t know about policy-wise - it’s not like Rauner and the state GOP are teeming with great ideas these days, except structural “reforms” designed to kneecap Democrats’ volunteers and donors - but going from the nationwide election, accept that the GOP messaging machine is powerful and roll with it. A non-Clinton, “fresh face” probably beats Trump in 2016. Remember, it’s not like the GOP brand is healthy, either. Lots of primary voters voted for Trump precisely -because- they were a) Republicans who b) couldn’t stand the Republicans. So probably good to run a more independent-seeming Dem who can’t easily be tied to Madigan vs. Rauner in 2018. From outside Chicago is a plus. Frerichs seems like a pretty attractive choice … does he want the job, to attempt to go up against Mr Moneybags? - archpundit - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 4:43 pm: ===Be what Democrats used to be. Good, God-fearing, patriotic family people who found value in everyday people. We are and always have been. How about you find some value in women, minorities, and those who don’t want to live by your mistaken idea that the 1950s was perfect. Democrats don’t have to make major changes to win and the demographics are moving towards Democrats. Democrats need to have a message that is clearer and they need to do a better job with candidates at the top of the ticket. However, somehow pretending the 1950s was a magical time ignores the reality of the 1950s and the 2010s. We aren’t a nation of small towns and we aren’t a great agrarian republic of the 19th century. White rural people are not more American than everyone else in the country–stop pretending they are. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.