* Tribune…
As he campaigns for the Democratic governor nomination, Downstate schools administrator Bob Daiber is calling for Illinois to pass the Equal Rights Amendment, saying it’s time to guarantee equality for men and women.
“I am proud of the fact that my staff that works for me is 80 percent female, and I have great relationships,” Daiber said at a late October forum in Chicago. “Because I build my office on one word: respect. And I think that’s what all women want, and that’s what I am all about.”
But records show that Madison County taxpayers paid nearly $500,000 to settle a 2010 lawsuit after a federal jury found Daiber retaliated against a woman by laying her off after she complained she wasn’t being paid as much as a male colleague.
Daiber described the case as an “unfortunate situation,” but denied retaliating against the employee. Daiber said he tried to work with her to find a resolution, and added that he has built a reputation as a fair employer who has worked to help women achieve leadership roles in education and government.
Ouch.
…Adding… According to the Daiber campaign, the county’s insurer paid the settlement.
* In other news, we talked about this ad last week, but here’s the press release…
Today, Citizens for Rauner launched a new TV ad entitled “That’s the One I Would Want.”
Despite Pritzker saying that “no one knew the FBI was investigating the man,” it was widely reported that the FBI was looking into Blagojevich’s corruption well before Pritzker’s fateful conversations with the soon-to-be federal inmate. In this ad, Pritzker can be heard asking Blagojevich to appoint him as State Treasurer, very clearly stating “that’s the one I would want.”
JB Pritzker is just another corrupt insider who is part of the problem. The people of Illinois deserve to know the truth.
The spot is here.
* Saturday…
Today, JB Pritzker and State Representative Juliana Stratton hosted a panel with DACA recipients to discuss the policy changes needed at the state and federal levels to protect immigrant communities and help families thrive. As JB and Juliana moderated the panel, they learned about the obstacles DACA recipients face pursuing a college education, obtaining work permits, and securing healthcare for their families.
“Illinois should be a welcoming state where everyone is treated with the respect and dignity they deserve,” said JB Pritzker. “But right now, immigrant families across our state are under assault by a racist, bigoted president and his partner in Springfield, Bruce Rauner. We can’t remain silent, we need to listen to immigrant communities and stand together to protect the people of our state. There is no doubt DACA recipients deserve every opportunity to thrive in Illinois and when I’m governor, immigrant families will never have to question if they have a partner and an advocate in Springfield.”
* Today…
On Thursday, February 1, Daniel Biss will kick off a seven day tour visiting colleges across Illinois to meet with voters and share his vision for an Illinois that works for all of us. Daniel has fought in the legislature and on the campaign trail to make higher education accessible to every Illinoisan, including advocating for free in-state tuition at public colleges and universities and introducing, passing, and overriding Bruce Rauner’s veto of the Student Loan Bill of Rights.
“Students have so much at stake in this election,” said Daniel Biss. “Under Bruce Rauner’s administration, students have lost their MAP grants and seen academic programs cut while being asked to pay more and more every year. This tour is about acknowledging the challenges of the last three years and charting the road forward for the next thirty. It’s about joining together on our campuses and in our communities to build a state that guarantees every Illinoisan the opportunity to pursue higher education, exercise their right to healthcare, and earn a living wage.”
Over the course of the tour, Biss will visit 13 college and university campuses across Illinois.
- Forgetting Robert Marshall - Monday, Jan 29, 18 @ 9:47 am:
Drop out already, Bob.
- wordslinger - Monday, Jan 29, 18 @ 9:48 am:
This second Blago/Pritzker spot was the one I was expecting from the get-go.
It’s much more direct than the first one. I’m not even sure why they even did the first one; it just wanders around the barn, not going anywhere in particular.
- Stones - Monday, Jan 29, 18 @ 9:50 am:
Daiber had two chances to win the nomination - slim and none. Slim just left town.
- Arsenal - Monday, Jan 29, 18 @ 9:52 am:
==I’m not even sure why they even did the first one==
Probably meant it to be like rolling out an advertising campaign; you do a whole series of spots, and the first one doesn’t need to be the best. Like “Dan and Dave”. There’s a danger to that, especially if the first one is weak- people will tune out the later ones much sooner. But it’s not a crazy idea.
- PJ - Monday, Jan 29, 18 @ 10:00 am:
I’d love to meet Daiber’s constituency. Who actually wants to vote for him?
- Ron Burgundy - Monday, Jan 29, 18 @ 10:00 am:
Selling free college to college students isn’t exactly a tough sell, but do they vote enough in off-Presidential year primaries to make such an effort worth it? May be better to focus on funding the schools properly to attract the voting adults who live and work in those college towns.
- fed up - Monday, Jan 29, 18 @ 10:02 am:
Biss has emerged and will give JB a run for his (considerable) money.
- SSL - Monday, Jan 29, 18 @ 10:02 am:
By the time this is a all over many voters are going to think that all JB did was hang around all day talking to Blago on the phone. The second ad looks worse for the simple reason that JB made the call, and asked for something. The next ad should be sure to show how much money JB gave to Blago, and when. They haven’t even gotten to all the fun things they can do with toiletgate.
- Oswego Willy - Monday, Jan 29, 18 @ 10:03 am:
===I’d love to meet Daiber’s constituency. Who actually wants to vote for him?===
They shoulda been downstate conservative Dems that are 2A proponents, rural Dems, downstate, college town, small town Dems…
But…
- Oswego Willy - Monday, Jan 29, 18 @ 10:12 am:
It’s confusing why Pritzker isn’t going after Rauner, a real head scratcher.
The signature thing Rauner did as a challenger was 1/3 go after the 3 he was running against in the primary, and 2/3 go after Quinn… on everything.
What are they waiting for? More money?
You have Rauner’s Democratic candidate Chris Kennedy going after Pritzker too… it’s a head scratcher.
Why let Rauner own your story and his own story too… with Kennedy helping Rauner.
- Anonymous - Monday, Jan 29, 18 @ 10:13 am:
JB trying to link Rauner to tough immigration policies isn’t exactly a bad thing for Rauner. The same Rauner that signed the Trust Act. That issue is setting up for him to actually look reasonable now.
- Grand Avenue - Monday, Jan 29, 18 @ 10:18 am:
Who gave the Daiber oppo to the Trib?
Also, why the Trib - Daiber’s only going to get votes for one reason - he’s the downstate candidate, shouldn’t this have been dropped to SJ-R Southern Illinoisan etc
- Oswego Willy - Monday, Jan 29, 18 @ 10:20 am:
I guess Pritzker’s Crew wants that whole “doing bidness on the mansion porch” to fade away… just float away… no big woop… we’ll keep getting dinged on the Blago tapes, but don’t worry, we plan to let that whole phony blind trust thingy, which was in the news, just melt away…
Yep.
A head screstcher.
The Ad and art was written…
To Biss,
He’s doing what he desperately needs to do downstate… colleges students, college towns, and higher education.
Got to, got to, got to… got to get the college towns, college students, college educators on board. They need to be Biss’ unmeasured voters that can be motivated to vote in droves and get others to vote, like a Sanders-type candidate.
Must have a large plurality with these voters.
- Last Bull Moose - Monday, Jan 29, 18 @ 10:20 am:
Why run when you know that skeleton is in your closet? You make your unknowing supporters look bad.
- Precinct Captain - Monday, Jan 29, 18 @ 10:30 am:
At least Bob wasn’t speaking Russian
- Mamasmusings - Monday, Jan 29, 18 @ 12:29 pm:
===They shoulda been downstate conservative Dems that are 2A proponents, rural Dems, downstate, college town, small town Dems…====
Yep, that’s me and that’s who I lean towards voting for. Good call!
- Dave W - Monday, Jan 29, 18 @ 6:39 pm:
The County’s Insurer? That’s a creative way of saying “the taxpayers of Madison County”, since the settlement money actually came out of county coffers…which is why the County Board had to vote to approve the settlement.