48 Comments - DuPage Saint - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 10:46 am: She has a point. Another rich guy trying to buy an office and telling people what is good for them and by the way do as I say not as I do. - Zeke - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 10:48 am: KL not supporting may get him votes - Last Bull Moose - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 10:50 am: Rich people can be progressive. Both Roosevelts, Teddy and FDR, were wealthy and progressive. The Rockefellers tend to be progressive. Rich people do not need her union’s money, and this works against her interests. - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 10:51 am: Karen Lewis likes her own politics better than the politics that could help her Union. She fails at this often. Sometimes it’s better to think bigger and broader than her own idea is right and wrong in her Ivory Tower world. So… If it’s JB vs. Rauner… she would at “best” be neutral? Yikes. You’re not helping your membership, Ms. Lewis. - A guy - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 10:52 am: That Karen Lewis sure is magnetic, ain’t she? - A State Employee Guy - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 10:55 am: I think Ol’ Karen needs to google “oligarch.” After she’s done with that, she can explain to us how she justifies $200K+ yearly total compensation off the backs of the rank and file. - Stand Tall - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 10:55 am: Like Karen Lewis they are progressive with other peoples money. - 47th Ward - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 10:56 am: At this point, you want Karen Lewis as an enemy. CTU is a potent force in Chicago elections. Statewide? Not so much. JB is running for Governor, not Alderman. - JohnnyPyleDriver - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 10:59 am: Depends. What are their policies and how do they live their life? - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 11:02 am: ===At this point, you want Karen Lewis as an enemy. CTU is a potent force in Chicago elections. Statewide? Not so much=== From ANY candidates’ point of view, this is exactly right. From CTU’s point of view, Lewis’ beliefs and political pinings do not have the best interest of her membership… … of course she could be crazy like a fox and plans on not liking “anyone” so she’s not an issue to any candidacy, but that means she’d be putting her own ego in check fircagreater good… dunno if she is capable of that(?) - Grandson of Man - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 11:06 am: I’m sorry but I don’t buy the oligarch false equivalence that Lewis and others are peddling. Rauner and Pritzker are two different people. It’s wrong to lump them together merely because of their wealth. Take Gov. Dayton of Minnesota. I read that he’s a billionaire, but he raised taxes on top incomes. I imagine he supports Medicaid expansion. I fear people who would throw away much of what they believe in because of a “purity” issue like someone’s wealth. There will probably be large differences between Rauner and Pritzker. - 47th Ward - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 11:07 am: ===From ANY candidates’ point of view, this is exactly right.=== I dunno, I bet Pawar would welcome her support. Biss too, although it’s hard to imagine Lewis going with Biss. Both of these campaigns need money and troops and momentum. Both want to be the Bernie of the race. - 47th Ward - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 11:09 am: Also, compared to Rauner, JB is Mother Jones. - tunnel - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 11:09 am: Karen and CTU need to get serious about the Governor’s race or they will be losing more bargaining rights than they already have. Be smart, not smug. - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 11:14 am: ===Both of these campaigns need money and troops and momentum. Both want to be the Bernie of the race.=== Agreed. Also agree both MAY want that support, but it might muddy the water in attracting Bernie voters(?). Both Biss and Pawar need momentum of a movement where today they fill restaurants, tomorrow they fill ballrooms and whole gymnasiums. They both need to build infrastructure within a Bernie type momentum. Does Lewis’ support aid in that prong of corralling a movement into pluses than voters? Thanks for your take - 47th Ward -, it keeps me thinking. - Albany Park Patriot - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 11:15 am: Agree with the smugness comment by Tunnel. It’s like all the smug folks who complained about that “corporate Democrat” Hillary Clinton. They helped give us what we have now, without question. How about evaluate policies and positions. It’s not like CTU isn’t loaded with people from wealthy backgrounds themselves. - Blue Bayou - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 11:18 am: Even if Karen Lewis is right, it doesn’t matter. You don’t make political progress in IL by sticking to the purity of your ideas. You find someone who will do something and you make sure they do it. If Pritzker will govern, while being honest about what he does, then that’s what we need. Not another rich liar. - Reality Check - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 11:19 am: You know who loves this kind of thinking? Bruce Rauner. - @MisterJayEm - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 11:20 am: No real difference between Bush and Gore. No real difference between Trump and Clinton. No real difference between Rauner and Pritzker. Shouting false equivalences from the left doesn’t have a history of working out for progressives. – MrJM - Rocky Rosi - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 11:21 am: Once a person becomes a 4 digit millionaire they become part of the elite team. No matter what they say in public their main motive is controlling the heard. Real money changes a person. Remember you only have real money when you are a 4 digit millionaire. - NoGifts - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 11:21 am: They may have good intentions but they are not operating in the same environment as the rest of us. It does reduce their ability to understand the problems of the 99% and what is a useful solution to them. - Grandson of Man - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 11:28 am: I support campaign finance reform and getting big money out of politics, but until that happens, situations will arise in which fire may have to be fought with fire–like in Illinois, where Rauner and Griffin are pouring many millions of dollars into politics. I am concerned more that Pritzker may be a bad candidate than only his wealth, at this point. Will he be good at messaging and handling the massive attacks that will come his way? Will he have other flaws or things in his past that he won’t be able to overcome? Some of this might involve wealth, but as a Democrat, he will likely vote for progressive taxation, expanding/keeping health insurance, marijuana legalization and other liberal or progressive policies. - Deadbeat Conservative - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 11:29 am: So a candidate who wants a functioning government that has a budget and pays its bills is now a “progressive”. This article should have been labeled “Our Sorry State”. - Chi - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 11:35 am: “what’s going to be different?” How clueless or malevolent a statement. Someone remind her how Rauner had been different than Quinn, despite what AFSCME was telling their members. - Franklin Delano Bluth - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 11:37 am: Am I alone in thinking that Karen Lewis’ clout has dropped significantly in recent years? Maybe it’ll make a resurgence in 2019 but as of right now her whole schtick seems a little desperate. As other commenters have noted, citywide the CTU holds some sway but statewide I don’t see many people caring - Chicago Cynic - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 11:37 am: “Once a person becomes a 4 digit millionaire they become part of the elite team. No matter what they say in public their main motive is controlling the heard.” What kind of nonsense is that? I’m guessing you voted for Gary Johnson out of “principle.” Roosevelts, Kennedys, Rockefellers. Are you really saying their “main motive” was “controlling the herd (which is how you spell it, btw). That’s just absurd on every level. - Juvenal - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 11:53 am: Can a wealthy person be “progressive”? Can a poor person be “conservative”? Of course the answer to both is “Yes.” I am guessing that Karen Lewis’ reluctance regarding Pritzker is his long term affiliation with Rahm Emmanuel and his family members’ involvements in CPS. I would expect CTU to support Pawar. As a sitting alderman who is likely to remain on the city council, both SEIU and CTU will probably support Pawar in the primary. That actually works in Pritzker’s favor long term. - Pyrman - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 12:41 pm: I wonder how Lewis will spin this the first time she meets with Gov. Pritzker? She has done a disservice to her members. - Keyser Soze - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 12:49 pm: It is very difficult to warm up to Ms. Lewis. Maybe it’s the Fedora. - Pundent - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 1:09 pm: =At this point, you want Karen Lewis as an enemy.= Karen Lewis has a brand and that brand is “adversarial.” I expect her to be critical of any candidate. The only real issue is the degree. In some respects I get it. Her role is to get as much as possible for her membership. But at the same time if you take the position that no one is acceptable or able to pass you’re purity test, you might be really disappointed about who’s calling the shots. - Carhartt Representative - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 1:11 pm: Keep in mind Penny Pritzker was on the school board for the closing of 50 CPS schools and a bunch of other bad decisions like hiring Byrd-Bennett. The entire Pritzker family has had a pretty antagonistic relationship with labor. I don’t blame her for not wanting another self-funded businessman. We’ve seen it go horribly wrong a lot lately. - Cook County Commoner - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 2:04 pm: I’d put Rauner and Pritzker in the plutocrat column, and Lewis and her union in the oligarchy column. - Ron - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 2:07 pm: Zeke - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 10:48 am: KL not supporting may get him votes - Last Bull Moose - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 10:50 am: Rich people can be progressive. Both Roosevelts, Teddy and FDR, were wealthy and progressive. The Rockefellers tend to be progressive. Rich people do not need her union’s money, and this works against her interests. Both fantastic points. KL is the worst of the worst. - Ron - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 2:09 pm: Carhartt, the worst decision was not closing more CPS schools. Since the closing of 50, CPS has lost another 15,000 students or so. We need to close another 75 at a minimum. - Ron - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 2:11 pm: CTU is largely disliked in Chicago too with the educated populace. - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 2:14 pm: ===CTU is largely disliked in Chicago too with the educated populace.=== Wonder if there was a poll done on Chicago Teachers? Hmm. - City Zen - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 2:15 pm: ==Since the closing of 50, CPS has lost another 15,000 students or so. We need to close another 75 at a minimum.== Then tell Rahm to stop building new ones. - Ron - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 2:28 pm: Populations are shifting, some parts of the city are seeing a massive influx of people, but the south and west sides are being drained of african americans as crime and job opportunities are horrible for them. Some new schools where people are moving to are needed. - Michael Westen - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 3:13 pm: “CTU is largely disliked in Chicago too with the educated populace” Yeah that’s why Rahm folded like a cheap tent on their strike issues. Since nearly two-thirds of the Democratic primary vote comes from Cook County, any smart candidate would welcome CTU support. There is no downside that I can see in a Democratic primary to having CTU’s foot soldiers and money. - Ron - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 3:37 pm: Rahm defeated Chuy, the CTU candidate, by a large margin. - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 3:40 pm: - Ron - http://bit.ly/2qQwtxn You’re welcome. - Shytown - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 3:53 pm: However, OW, that polling didn’t translate into votes - Rahm handily won re-election over Chuy and the CTU could only hang their hat on Sue Garza as the one true new win for their field and $ efforts (and that one was a nail biter). - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 3:58 pm: - Shytown - 1) Rahm faced a runoff. 2) Chuy vs. Rahm is not CTU vs. Rahm. This idea that CTU is unpopular direct hold water. Karen Lewis may be unpopular, Rahm may be unpopular, Chuy may be unpopular, but CTU is popular. It was up to Chuy’s Crew to translate CTU popularity into a win, not CTUs responsibility. - wordslinger - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 4:27 pm: –“Can one oligarch replace another oligarch?” Lewis responded, rhetorically. “What’s going to be different?”– That’s some serious dingbatism. - Ron - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 5:42 pm: Chuy was the CTU candidate. He got 44% of the vote. Rahm got the rest. - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 5:49 pm: ===Chuy was the CTU candidate. He got 44% of the vote. Rahm got the rest.=== And? It wasn’t because of CTU that Chuy lost, lol - Michael Westen - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 8:58 pm: “Rahm defeated Chuy, the CTU candidate, by a large margin.” If you think Rahm beat Chuy because of CTU, you have little knowledge of that election or Chicago politics. Still doesn’t address the larger point, in a large Democratic primary field for Governor, what could possibly be the downside for a candidate to have CTU’s money and field workers. There is non. - Anon - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 9:14 pm: Short-sighted as heck from Lewis. Minnesota’s governor is also a billionaire but one that did the right things. Being a billionaire doesn’t preclude good governance. We just got stuck with a lousy billionaire that’s more interested in lining his own pockets. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.