Back in December, Gov. Bruce Rauner was asked by a Chicago TV reporter if he planned to run for reelection. Rauner said he wasn’t focused on such things.
Just three days later, Gov. Rauner contributed $50 million to his own campaign fund.
So, either he suddenly focused himself on the 2018 campaign, or he simply wasn’t telling the truth.
Rauner does this a lot. Whenever he’s been asked about the Illinois Republican Party’s blistering post-election campaign attacks tying Democrats to House Speaker Michael Madigan, Rauner has said he doesn’t pay attention to that stuff - even though he has given his party almost all of its funding during the past year and even though he has often referred to himself as the leader of the state party and put his own people into positions at the party.
Look, all politicians play with the truth. But this is getting to be a bit too much to bear because these actions are at the very core of what Rauner is doing as governor.
You will recall that some of Rauner’s buddies set up a huge and ostensibly Democratic political action committee (IllinoisGO) right around the time Rauner was inaugurated in January of 2015. That campaign committee was, in reality, solely designed to mess with Madigan.
In June of 2015, the governor launched an expensive statewide TV advertising campaign attacking Speaker Madigan, blaming him for the failure to cave to the governor’s demands for pro-business/anti-union reforms in exchange for a state budget solution.
Shortly thereafter, the governor moved into the primary season, spending millions more. And then he started spending real money on state legislative races in June of 2016, an unheard-of early start date which actually came while lawmakers were still in session. Rauner even began paying for Chicago broadcast TV ads for Rep. Mike McAuliffe, R-Chicago, in early August, also an unheard-of start date. And the governor launched a TV ad touting his support for term limits, a not so subtle dig at the House Speaker’s record longevity.
Republican candidates picked up four House seats during last year’s campaign. But days after the election ended, the state GOP launched a new website, “BossMadigan.com.” The site is filled with profiles of Democrats whom the Republicans say are really just Speaker Madigan’s pawns. The party is also spending money on social media to spread the word about those naughty Democrats who’ve allegedly dared to align themselves with their own state party chairman.
This is still a free country and Gov. Rauner can do whatever he wants. The House Speaker is, after all, notorious for holding floor votes on ridiculously political bills. Madigan must’ve forced Republicans to vote against a phony “property tax freeze” bill 15 times in order to bash them with their own votes during the campaign. And this Madigan stuff goes back decades. We’ve always been in constant campaign mode in Illinois. Rauner is simply upping the ante with actual year-round campaign spending.
So for the governor to deny involvement or even knowledge of campaign activities when his entire organization and others around him have been deeply in campaign mode since Day One defies all credibility. This is not some ancillary activity.
To put it as simply as possible, Rauner has used campaign tactics to try and force a wedge between Democrats and Speaker Madigan. That’s what IllinoisGO was supposed to be about - an alternative source of campaign money for Democrats who defied Madigan, or a bludgeon against those who stuck with him. Everything Rauner has done since then has had the same two goals regarding Madigan.
And yet, when asked again about this topic just last week, Rauner said, “I’m not getting involved in any of the General Assembly’s decisions on their leadership.”
Right.
But this obsession with Madigan means Rauner has defined his own term in office as a crusade against the Great White Whale. Yes, there is plenty of public support for that. Madigan is the least popular politician in this state, and perhaps in the entire country.
“Moby Dick” didn’t end well for the pursuer, however. Madigan’s top people have been saying for more than 18 months that they know they can’t move their own guy’s poll numbers up very much, so their plan is to drag Rauner down to Madigan’s level. Rauner has eagerly followed Madigan into that rabbit hole and failed to accomplish much of anything else in the process.
At last check by a Republican pollster, the governor’s favorable rating was 36 percent, with an unfavorable rating of 48. He’s gonna need every bit of that $50 million, and a whole lot more.
As for whether he thinks Madigan deserves another term as speaker, Rauner said late last week that he wasn’t going to comment on the matter, saying it’s a decision for lawmakers. “That’s their prerogative,” Rauner said.
His comments came just hours after the Rauner-funded state GOP blasted incoming Democratic Rep. Mike Halpin of Rock Island after he told a local TV station he would vote for Madigan.
Democrats have dismissed the campaign against Madigan as a distraction that makes reaching a budget resolution only more difficult.
“I don’t think that’s going to go anywhere, I mean nowhere,” Currie said. “So I don’t understand why they are spending time spinning their wheels on projects like that. They would be better off paying attention to the crisis that various programs and vulnerable people face after Jan. 1. I would say that’s plenty on our plate without having side spats.”
- Big Joe - Monday, Jan 9, 17 @ 9:11 am:
Great piece, Rich. Hit the nail right on the head. Great summary of why our state is in this mess. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look good for a solution soon.
- Chucktownian - Monday, Jan 9, 17 @ 9:23 am:
Good summation. I think Rauner will go the way of Captain Ahab in 2018.
- wordslinger - Monday, Jan 9, 17 @ 9:25 am:
–Look, all politicians play with the truth. But this is getting to be a bit too much to bear because these actions are at the very core of what Rauner is doing as governor.–
Exactly. They’re obvious, bald-faced lies, told directly to the people.
It’s creepy when someone lies to you, and they know that you know that they are lying to you.
What’s the point, anyway? Is he ashamed of his actions on this front? Is it just a default mechanism, to lie when he doesn’t have to?
- Oswego Willy - Monday, Jan 9, 17 @ 9:43 am:
===So for the governor to deny involvement or even knowledge of campaign activities when his entire organization and others around him have been deeply in campaign mode since Day One defies all credibility. This is not some ancillary activity.===
Rauner has never been about personal credibility.
Rauner is about doing all he can to mock Democrats who get beaten daily with obvious contradictions in Rauner’s own truth because Democrats are either lazy, inept, or worse, incompetent to respond to Rauner who has made his entire foray into politics a contradiction of what he says sbfvwhat he does.
Why would Rauner stop now? Rauner doubling down makes more sense, and he has “doubled-doubled-doubled” down on everything… because… he can.
No need for a decoder ring, Rauner’s message is clear;
I own the messaging, the daily news cycle, and while having no credibility, no one is calling me on it… and it’s working.
My real favorite? Rauner calling everything “phony”, and yet….
Democratic failure. No to blame but themselves.
- Arsenal - Monday, Jan 9, 17 @ 10:08 am:
==But this obsession with Madigan means Rauner has defined his own term in office as a crusade against the Great White Whale.==
And there’s two problems with that. 1) Madigan isn’t going to be his opponent next year; 2) What happens if he can’t dislodge Madigan- or worse, he does, but nothing else changes?
Of course, on the other hand…
==He’s gonna need every bit of that $50 million, and a whole lot more.==
He’s gonna have it!
- Elmira Eddie - Monday, Jan 9, 17 @ 10:41 am:
This is probably sticking my head in the guillotine this far in advance of the reality, but I think the Speaker may well pull a John Boehner this fall. An observer can see the counties his daughter has carried going south in the last few elections and she may face D.P.Co. SA Berlin for AG in 2018. If Mike is still around, there will be anti-Lisa/dad ads visible on TV from Dyersburg, TN to Janesville, WI (Paul’s home) and from Iowa City to St. Joe/Benton Harbor MI. Thus it may be time to save your last name; also by fall ‘19 Bruce and the Donald may need each other’s success like the Captain needed Tennile (back then, al least)!
- zatoichi - Monday, Jan 9, 17 @ 10:45 am:
Even if Rauner loses in 2018 he is not leaving the public stage. He now has a taste for politics, a need to succeed, and a competitive target to go after to demonstrate success. Since money is apparently no object, he can continue on his current ‘Rauner Funded GOP’ operating path for years to come.
- Arsenal - Monday, Jan 9, 17 @ 11:04 am:
==If Mike is still around, there will be anti-Lisa/dad ads visible on TV from Dyersburg, TN to Janesville, WI (Paul’s home) and from Iowa City to St. Joe/Benton Harbor MI. ==
There’s gonna be those ads no matter what MJM does, but they’ll lose their potency if MJM voluntarily leaves the stage. Not that I predict he will, just indulging in the hypo.
==Even if Rauner loses in 2018 he is not leaving the public stage.==
I don’t think that’s the case, unless he just keeps making runs for the Governor’s office. He wants to beat (1) Madigan (2) AFSCME. There’s really no other animating impulse to his public life.
- Ginhouse Tommy - Monday, Jan 9, 17 @ 11:46 am:
Rauner has no shot a re-election. He has completely poisoned the well. All state employees, current and retired, are against him. You can include the all unions with that too. I’m sure most college/university staff might also vote against him because of their suffering and you can include the disadvantaged that he’s leaving behind. I said before he took office that even if he didn’t like Madigan and most people don’t, you still have to work with him. He won’t and that why the state is in this cluster flop it is in now. What a mess.
- Arsenal - Monday, Jan 9, 17 @ 11:48 am:
==Rauner has no shot a re-election.==
He has $50 million + shots.
Look, he’s in a hole, no doubt, but money and Dem incompetence can do an awful lot. And he’ll surely have one of those two things.
- Oswego Willy - Monday, Jan 9, 17 @ 11:49 am:
===Rauner has no shot a re-election===
- Ginhouse Tommy -
Whatever odds you have against Rauner winning, I’ll take today.
Can’t beat someone with no one.
3-1, 5-1, you set the odds.
I’ll take Rauner. Today. All day… today.
- Anonymous - Monday, Jan 9, 17 @ 12:30 pm:
How can a governor with millions of dollars to burn be at 48% unfavorable? His proxy wars in this last election cost him millions too and he lost at the top of the ticket. He picked up 4 seats because of the Trump factor. Whomever is advising Rauner (or Rauner himself) really doesn’t know what in the heck they are doing. I won’t be voting for Rauner this time.
- Grandson of Man - Monday, Jan 9, 17 @ 12:37 pm:
I think Rauner does a masterful job of playing politics. He has a great instinct of being slippery and giving false impressions, like he does with the Madigan attacks and Trump, whom he won’t embrace but probably supports.
That’s one reason I’m wary of self-proclaimed outsiders who say they’re not politicians, in the negative sense. One doesn’t have to be an actual politician to be evasive and play around with the truth.
- Ginhouse Tommy - Monday, Jan 9, 17 @ 1:09 pm:
I see the you guys are making and the Dems are clueless, but he still has a big hole to dig out of and that is a lot of votes to overcome.
- Arsenal - Monday, Jan 9, 17 @ 1:18 pm:
==he still has a big hole to dig out of and that is a lot of votes to overcome==
Certainly true, and I hope he loses. But nothing’s over yet. It’s barely begun.
- Ginhouse Tommy - Monday, Jan 9, 17 @ 3:12 pm:
I agree
- d.p.gumby - Monday, Jan 9, 17 @ 5:17 pm:
the President elect has proven that truth is no longer necessary for election.
- peon - Tuesday, Jan 10, 17 @ 1:54 am:
= Democratic failure. No to blame but themselves. =
Have to agree. The lack of a consistent response to the Governor, delivered in the 21-st century media is baffling.
- Rabid - Tuesday, Jan 10, 17 @ 5:47 am:
The traveling salesman can sell madigan’s popularity. Turnaround fell flat with no measurable cost savings to sell, sad. If you were on the right track munger’s 23 and me didn’t happen