37 Comments - Ron Burgundy - Thursday, Nov 17, 16 @ 9:55 am: I always wonder when people floating their name say that “people have come to me.” Are those real people or imaginary friends? She would certainly not be the kind of top tier candidate who would scare off the Pat Quinns of the world or be able to compete financially either in a primary or general. - Handle Bar Mustache - Thursday, Nov 17, 16 @ 9:58 am: I don’t think the downstate ties are a stretch at all. She lived in Peoria from 1977-1992, and spent a lot of time in Springfield working for Alexi. At Bradley she obtained her B.A. in psychology (1977/1978) and her M.A. in counseling (1982). She was Director of the Crisis Nursery at Crittenton Care and Counseling Center from 1984-87, then Associate Director of The Youth Shelter from 1987-90. From 1990-92 she was Minority Student Services Director at Bradley University. - Foie Gras - Thursday, Nov 17, 16 @ 10:00 am: A Chicago Democrat won’t drum up much enthusiasm downstate. - Phil - Thursday, Nov 17, 16 @ 10:01 am: Perhaps she’s communing with the ghost of failed campaigns past? - Not It - Thursday, Nov 17, 16 @ 10:02 am: Only Pat Quinn has the stomach for the primary and the general. Only other possibility is a former Obama official who will ride the wave of Obama nostalgia once Trump starts to implement his plans. - Tom - Thursday, Nov 17, 16 @ 10:03 am: a great lady who has a heart. If she could raise the money, I think she could be a contender. - The Dude Abides - Thursday, Nov 17, 16 @ 10:03 am: Maybe the Democrats should nominate someone who actually have a decent chance of beating Rauner and that someone isn’t Kelly. Bloomberg could give her financial support again for her strong support for gun control but that will only hurt her chances downstate. It’s a big reason Trump did so well against Hillary in rural areas across the country. - Anonymous - Thursday, Nov 17, 16 @ 10:05 am: Who? - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Nov 17, 16 @ 10:09 am: Kelly is NOT the person that can beat Rauner. That’s the only criteria now that Democrats need to consider. It’s a bit of a stretch to think she can get through a Primary. - Almost the Weekend - Thursday, Nov 17, 16 @ 10:14 am: The echo chamber for Democrats from the 2016 campaign still exists. Not the answer. - Amalia - Thursday, Nov 17, 16 @ 10:17 am: well, she certainly is good at getting into the picture. that was her at the Dem Conv always behind any person who was on tv from the delegation for actually doing something, right?!? - Norseman - Thursday, Nov 17, 16 @ 10:22 am: What the Dems need to ask anybody seeking the Dem nomination for governor. SHOW ME THE MONEY. - Rock Rosi - Thursday, Nov 17, 16 @ 10:22 am: Wishful thinking - Norseman - Thursday, Nov 17, 16 @ 10:23 am: SHOW ME THE MONEY. - Anonymous - Thursday, Nov 17, 16 @ 10:24 am: She got beat pretty badly against Rutherford and raised less than 1 million. Plus, she has no charisma. B team at best. - Leapfrog - Thursday, Nov 17, 16 @ 10:26 am: Who was a dem who had to always fight the “machine” for re-election and won time and time again, plus, gets along well with downstaters on both sides of the isle, has passed substantative legislation and has served in both chambers and is bi-lingual? That’s the person..however the “regular centrist dems want stooges not statesmen..just saying.. - Downstate - Thursday, Nov 17, 16 @ 10:30 am: Glad to see references to how she’ll play downstate…..BUT, given the most recent election results,it would seem Cook and the collar counties are all that matter. Win those and Downstate doesn’t matter. - Signal and Noise - Thursday, Nov 17, 16 @ 10:46 am: Robin Kelly is a very good person and a good public servant. That said, we’re going to need to do better than that to beat Rauner/Griffin/Uhlien - Juvenal - Thursday, Nov 17, 16 @ 10:46 am: You cannot judge Robin Kelly’s future results based on 2010 outcomes. Blago had just been impeached, Quinn hung on by his teeth, Alexi was getting destroyed in the press, and Rutherford was viewed as a moderate Republican who was okay on labor issues. All things considered, she did well. In a three way primary, it won’t matter how much the other candidates spend, the only thing that will matter is if Robin can turn out votes in Cook County, and she can. In the general election, Quinn’s downfall was turnout in the city and labor downstate. Kelly won’t have those problems. And if she puts together a good team, she will raise enough money to compete, atleast $80 million, perhaps $100 million. Most important: if people are coming to Robin, that tells me that they don’t believe Kwame is running, which is good news for JB. - DuPage Bard - Thursday, Nov 17, 16 @ 10:50 am: Need a better choice. Pritzker and Kennedy aren’t it either. Durbin backing out is a problem. If I’m Rauner, I’m excited about the names of prospects being floated at this point. - A guy - Thursday, Nov 17, 16 @ 10:53 am: She’ll do. The only thing more helpful would be an expensive primary that has Chicago pushing their will and the rest of the state pulling in a different direction. Carry on. So far, all of the applicants are acceptable. - illini - Thursday, Nov 17, 16 @ 11:13 am: I think if we learned anything from this last election it is that Southern Illinois has turned from Purple to Deep Red. Any challengers to BVR will have to demonstrate that they can appeal to Downstate. Not certain any of the names being mentioned can come close to meeting that criteria. At least not at this time. - Downstate Democrat - Thursday, Nov 17, 16 @ 11:35 am: This election shows that Democrats need to be able to appeal to every region and that when they write off the rust-belt they lose. This fallacy that it’s an either / or (you can’t work on downstate because you have to turnout the urban base) is fallacy. You have to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time. Kennedy has big potential to grow support. - Loop Lady - Thursday, Nov 17, 16 @ 11:41 am: Thanks for the offer and admire her much, but not gonna happen… - Loop Lady - Thursday, Nov 17, 16 @ 11:43 am: I’d love Biss to run with JBs money…a woman can dream… - bogman - Thursday, Nov 17, 16 @ 11:47 am: She has done nothing in congress. She can’t raise money and is not a good speaker. Pretender at best - Sue - Thursday, Nov 17, 16 @ 11:50 am: Robin should study the map in the post above. LOL - Chicago Cynic - Thursday, Nov 17, 16 @ 12:02 pm: Sounds like four more years of Rauner. No way Robin Kelly can raise the $50 million+ that will be required. - Anonymous - Thursday, Nov 17, 16 @ 12:05 pm: I’m curious to see how Kelly has performed in Kankakee county. I remember the no-name candidate who faced Triple J in 2012 managed to out perform Romney in the county (Granted he was an especially toxic candidate for that part of the district) But if Kelly has performed well in the county outside of the city of Kankakee, it may show how Kelly COULD perform in other rural/exurban parts of the state (again all hypothetical and me speculating. And again this is against no name opponents so my point may be moot) - Team Sleep - Thursday, Nov 17, 16 @ 12:11 pm: “My family, friends and staffers have told me that I would make a great governor. I therefore am throwing my hat in the ring.” - Telly - Thursday, Nov 17, 16 @ 1:43 pm: Until Michelle Obama makes a Shermanesque denial, I’m holding out hope. - Shake - Thursday, Nov 17, 16 @ 2:11 pm: Lisa Madigan Governor 2018… - wndycty - Thursday, Nov 17, 16 @ 3:32 pm: Many of the folks dismissing her as a viable candidate also predicted that Toi Hutchinson would replace JJJ. Even Preckwinkle underestimated Robin. Granted the state of Illinois is different from the 2nd CD but I wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss. - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Nov 17, 16 @ 3:34 pm: It’s easy to dismiss unless she can raise $50 million. She hasn’t shown she can. She’s easy to dismiss. - shytown - Thursday, Nov 17, 16 @ 5:14 pm: No. Please no. - ;) - Thursday, Nov 17, 16 @ 5:46 pm: Unfortunately, Robin Kelly (and almost all of these other names being thrown around) cannot compete in central and downstate IL areas - in my opinion. The Dem bench, particularly those that can be competetive statewide, ain’t deep - can we all just start to admit that fact. I know all these tier three players are using this for the brief press pop and fundraising boost, so I take all of the names w a whopping spoonful of salt; the problem, however, is that with a flooding of a ton of names, we begin to deter the limited number of people we have who could compete from wanting to enter the fray and get bogged down in an expensive and risky primary battle. We need less random tier three, regional names, or gimmick candidates (like politically and governing inexperienced wealthy names). We need a name that is experienced, popular, and thoughtful, that is a known quantity and inspiring. And then we need leadership to court that person and clear the way so that people can coalesce around them - beliefs, boots on the ground, and campaign finances and resources. So, those are givens, and now here’s a suggestion that I’ve previously seen somewhere here before that i like: we need to draft tom dart. He’s got a larger than life presences, and he’s thoughtful. He’s got common sense policies, that have been effective for social change and economic savings. He’s liked by progressives (even extreme ones), liberals, libertarians, conservatives, and even extreme social conservatives. He’s a guy who can be competitive if he’s given the full support and resources. - Deft Wing - Friday, Nov 18, 16 @ 8:55 am: Lol! Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.