* I was hanging out with a good friend the other day who told me about a recent conversation he’d had with a non-political friend. His pal was very impressed with Sen. Daniel Biss’ first TV ad (click here to watch it if you haven’t seen it). Why did he love the ad so much? The reason can be found in this scene…

The guy said that anybody with an ironing board right off the kitchen had to be a regular person.

* The Question: Where do you think the ironing board is in the homes of the other gubernatorial candidates? This question applies to both parties and you can guess the ironing board locations for as many or as few as you wish. Have fun.

       

75 Comments - South of Sherman - Wednesday, Feb 7, 18 @ 4:07 pm: Rauner — in the back of the trashcan van Pritzker — next door in the building with no toilets Kennedy — in the Merchandise Mart Bob Marshall — in one of the other three Illinoises - Dr. M - Wednesday, Feb 7, 18 @ 4:09 pm: Rauner’s ironing board is in Madigan’s office. He wears Carhartts or a leather vest because he can’t iron his shirts. - TopHatMonocle - Wednesday, Feb 7, 18 @ 4:09 pm: Pritzker’s is in the ironing board room of course. If you have trouble finding it, it’s right next to the gift wrapping room. - Robert Montgomery - Wednesday, Feb 7, 18 @ 4:09 pm: Rauner’s ironing board is not in his home(s), but at Fantasy Costumes in Chicago. - Amalia - Wednesday, Feb 7, 18 @ 4:09 pm: Raunter and Pritzker….in the maid’s quarters Kennedy - there is no ironing board - Anonymous - Wednesday, Feb 7, 18 @ 4:11 pm: Rauner - in the servant’s condo Pritzker - In the dry cleaning quarters on the third floor of Condo #3 Kennedy -Doesn’t iron his clothes - Rich Miller - Wednesday, Feb 7, 18 @ 4:13 pm: Rauner and Kennedy: Maid’s quarters. Pritzker: Butler’s wing. - #UnionVoter - Wednesday, Feb 7, 18 @ 4:13 pm: same place mine is at the dry cleaner .. who has an ironing board anymore? - Rich Miller - Wednesday, Feb 7, 18 @ 4:13 pm: ===who has an ironing board anymore? === I do. - Dr. M - Wednesday, Feb 7, 18 @ 4:14 pm: Ives’ ironing board is stored in her basement-dungeon, next to Steve Bannon. - dbk - Wednesday, Feb 7, 18 @ 4:15 pm: Rauner - has nine, each in the basement quarters Pritzker - owns his own laundry or ten, off-site Kennedy - are we sure he owns an ironing board? - Arsenal - Wednesday, Feb 7, 18 @ 4:15 pm: Not a candidate, but since Madigan has been living rent-free in Rauner’s head for so long, I assume he keeps his ironing board there. - JoanP - Wednesday, Feb 7, 18 @ 4:15 pm: Rauner - I asked him, but he doesn’t know, ’cause he’s not in charge. - A guy - Wednesday, Feb 7, 18 @ 4:16 pm: Rauner- ask his attendant which Dry cleaner picks up his laundry. Pritzker- A really big room Biss- Back seat of his Prius. Kennedy- Thought they quit selling them. - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Feb 7, 18 @ 4:17 pm: Ives… too easy… close to her white sheets. Rauner… off the den, in a glass case showing off “ordinary people stuff”… not unlike an exhibit you’d find at his Dartmouth College Library. Pritzker… the low hanging fruit, the lazy answer is by the toilets, but he’d be using the ironing board, so my guess would be if you went into a 24’ x 36’ “walk in closet”, you’d find a 12’x 14’ room with a ironing board, lit by a $46,000 chandelier with an iron plated in gold, and a handle with fine Corinthian leather. Kennedy… Kennedy is a strange duck. Ironically, his ironing board is found in his garage near his bicycle, because, and I really want to get this quote right… “You even know how sweet $&@ an ironing board is for a ramp to jump stuff? It’s B$&@in” - Hank - Wednesday, Feb 7, 18 @ 4:18 pm: Marshall: Divided it between 3 or 4 rooms Hardiman: Doesn’t need one for all his silky shirts Daiber: Gained sentience, doesn’t know who Daiber is Pritzker: Hidden away in attempt to get property tax break somehow Rauner: Somewhere in the wing of the house which is just Carhatts now Ives: Held in another room until a shirt proves there’s a verifiable need to be ironed. Kennedy: “I didn’t have an ironing board growing up.” (Leaves debate) - JoanP - Wednesday, Feb 7, 18 @ 4:18 pm: “who has an ironing board anymore? ” I’m with Rich on this. I do. I’m one of those odd people who actually likes to iron. I find it very meditative, with a little classical music playing, and you get the lovely aroma of freshly ironed clothes/linens. If I had the space for it, I’d get a rotary steam iron, and iron my bed and table linens, too. We had one when I was a kid, and I miss it. - Keyrock - Wednesday, Feb 7, 18 @ 4:18 pm: Pritzker — Cayman Islands. Rauner - at the YMCA (where he keeps his costumes). - Arsenal - Wednesday, Feb 7, 18 @ 4:18 pm: ==Ives… too easy… close to her white sheets.== Shut down reader comments, we’re done here. - Aaron DeGroot - Wednesday, Feb 7, 18 @ 4:21 pm: Pritzker - One of the toilet-less bathrooms - Iron-ee - Wednesday, Feb 7, 18 @ 4:23 pm: ===who has an ironing board anymore? === Everyone in the military. - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Feb 7, 18 @ 4:25 pm: Ironing board, use it, major house staple. - City Zen - Wednesday, Feb 7, 18 @ 4:25 pm: Ironing boards fold rather nicely into tight closet spaces. The only reason you’d still have an iron out like this is if it’s still hot. If the iron is still hot, what is it doing at the bottom of the stairs? - Anon221 - Wednesday, Feb 7, 18 @ 4:25 pm: Biss- Where it shouldn’t be- at the bottom of the stairs. Come on man, move it so the kids don’t trip - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Feb 7, 18 @ 4:29 pm: All I’m saying is… you get a decent looking tarp, you magically create one heck of a moving bar. Get an ice bucket, couple napkins up top, cooler hidden behind the tarp, under the board… I’ve heard of this, that’s all I’m saying… - pto - Wednesday, Feb 7, 18 @ 4:31 pm: Not to be “one-upped,” Rauner will be eager to show off his ironin’ board situated smack dab in the middle of the kitchen. - NIU Grad - Wednesday, Feb 7, 18 @ 4:33 pm: Robert Marshall: Located within the future “Illinois 2″ scribbled onto his highway map - Henry Francis - Wednesday, Feb 7, 18 @ 4:36 pm: I am calling shenanigans on the ironing board placement. I don’t see an outlet on the wall where you could plug in the iron. And who would put it at the bottom of flight of stairs. Rauner has has ironing board on the back porch of the mansion. That’s what Kip was doing over there, bringing the Guv his laundered money. - Keyrock - Wednesday, Feb 7, 18 @ 4:40 pm: Kennedy kept his at the Apparel Mart. He didn’t take it with him when he left. - James - Wednesday, Feb 7, 18 @ 4:43 pm: Rauner: The Ironing Board is in his pocket, right next to the IL Labor Relations Board - Rich Miller - Wednesday, Feb 7, 18 @ 4:44 pm: === I’m one of those odd people who actually likes to iron=== Mainly, I just pile unmatched socks on mine until I find matches. lol - Skeptic - Wednesday, Feb 7, 18 @ 4:44 pm: Rauner has one, but Madigan won’t let him use it. - Ironing board - Wednesday, Feb 7, 18 @ 4:44 pm: I had to iron my shirt today. Back in the 70s when Polyester was in style… I would have saved time. Cotton shirts are horrible. - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Feb 7, 18 @ 4:45 pm: Slip and Sue… has her ironing board hanging from a door… so as the legs are not needed… and no tripping occurs… - Ole' Nelson - Wednesday, Feb 7, 18 @ 4:45 pm: More impprtantly, did he say teachin’? Isn’t one “g” dropping phony enough in this state? - Cheryl44 - Wednesday, Feb 7, 18 @ 4:46 pm: I’m in agreement with everyone who thinks that ironing board is in a strange place. Maybe it was moved to make room for the cameras. - City Zen - Wednesday, Feb 7, 18 @ 4:48 pm: “Dad? Do we have to watch the Flintstones again?” - Pritzker's Toilet - Wednesday, Feb 7, 18 @ 4:49 pm: —I’m with Rich on this. I do. I’m one of those odd people who actually likes to iron. I find it very meditative, with a little classical music playing, and you get the lovely aroma of freshly ironed clothes/linens. If I had the space for it, I’d get a rotary steam iron, and iron my bed and table linens, too. We had one when I was a kid, and I miss it. — I have shirts waiting for me to Iron them - can I stop by and drop them off at your place? - Alternative Logic - Wednesday, Feb 7, 18 @ 4:52 pm: Oh man, having a commercial rowenta iron and brabantia ironing table is a class thing now? What if you just iron a lot?!? Life is too short for a janky ironing kit. Besides, I always imagined rich folks having a dedicated laundry servant or something. - Jocko - Wednesday, Feb 7, 18 @ 4:59 pm: - Ives is in the laundry room, to be used on garments clearly labeled as such and nothing else. -Rauner’s ironing board is the den, the straightest thing in his possession. -JB saved himself the trouble and installed a dry cleaners on site. - cm - Wednesday, Feb 7, 18 @ 5:07 pm: JB probably has his ironing board in the kitchen too, since it’s the least offensive place. - Anonymous - Wednesday, Feb 7, 18 @ 5:12 pm: Rauner - in the prop warehouse Ives - buried in the closet Kennedy - lost in the attic JB - in the Butler’s Pantry of course. Q - 47th Ward - Wednesday, Feb 7, 18 @ 5:16 pm: Ironing board? Other than Biss and maybe Ives, the rest simply buy new clothes to replace the wrinkled ones. - Red fish blue fish - Wednesday, Feb 7, 18 @ 5:16 pm: Contrary to popular belief, JB Pritzker irons his own clothes. Specifically, he uses three ironing boards to iron a single shirt. Kennedy’s ironing board is next to his dual washer/dryer unit. Surprisingly conventional. And when finished ironing, Dan Biss likes to put his ironing board back in a discrete broom closet– right next to his Harvard diploma. - Precinct Captain - Wednesday, Feb 7, 18 @ 5:22 pm: I have a small ironing board as well as an iron that I keep in my car. I don’t own a full-size ironing board, but I imagine in the homes of Kennedy, Pritzker, and Rauner it’d be somewhere where the maid can get to it. A storage closet? - Arthur Andersen - Wednesday, Feb 7, 18 @ 5:22 pm: I have an ironing board and use it regularly. Those shirts that need to go to the laundry have to sit somewhere. - Rutro - Wednesday, Feb 7, 18 @ 5:32 pm: That ironing board is no where near an outlet and at the bottom of the stairs. Politico calls that ironing board pants on fire. - Wensicia - Wednesday, Feb 7, 18 @ 5:33 pm: Rauner: Diana, where’s our ironing board? Mrs Rauner: What’s an ironing board? - Michelle Flaherty - Wednesday, Feb 7, 18 @ 5:33 pm: Doesn’t Kennedy keep his in the elevator? - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Feb 7, 18 @ 5:33 pm: - Rutro - ===That ironing board is no where near an outlet and at the bottom of the stairs. Politico calls that ironing board pants on fire.=== Pfft. Haven’t you seen a solar powered iron before? - Responsa - Wednesday, Feb 7, 18 @ 5:34 pm: We always leave our iron and ironing board up 24/7/365 in the guest room. And then when we actually have guests I always say, “We have the ironing board up for you in case you needed it after the long trip and everything being scrunched in the suitcase.” They invariably say, “That’s so thoughtful. Thank you very much.” - Truckin' On - Wednesday, Feb 7, 18 @ 5:37 pm: Rauner: doesn’t own one. costumes don’t require ironing. Pritzker: uses dry cleaning service Ives: ready to swing at someone Kennedy: laundry room wall mounted Daiber: garage - Stephanie - Wednesday, Feb 7, 18 @ 5:41 pm: Like Daniel Biss, my kitchen bar stools also don’t match! I didnt notice the ironing board, but yes! So relatable! - Anonymous - Wednesday, Feb 7, 18 @ 5:57 pm: We have two Ironing boards. They are both very old and we use them. Also, we will not vote for Biss. Ironing board people united against Biss. - Christopher - Wednesday, Feb 7, 18 @ 6:02 pm: New campaign slogan: Vote for Biss, he’ll “iron” things out in Illinois. - Illinoise - Wednesday, Feb 7, 18 @ 6:04 pm: Pritzker: wherever the Speaker asks him to put it. - Snapper - Wednesday, Feb 7, 18 @ 6:40 pm: Very interesting push. Just noticed that JB had a Snapchat anti Biss ad. The man is everywhere with advertising these days. So I’m going to say JB doesn’t have an ironing board. He has an app for that. - Steve - Wednesday, Feb 7, 18 @ 6:52 pm: JB= at the cleaners… - Anonymous - Wednesday, Feb 7, 18 @ 6:55 pm: Ow hands down your the winner with Ives and the white sheets - OurMagician - Wednesday, Feb 7, 18 @ 7:20 pm: Rauner-Wisconsin, Indiana, or Missouri, oops not Missouri. Pay no attention to Missouri. Kennedy-did not respond to question, just like almost all the other issues during the campaign Ives-had one but the illegal Mexican transgender teacher formerly pregnant person took it thanks to SBIronBill1 Pritzker-did not try and donate money to be appointed to any Ironing Board in the state. Blames Bruce Rauner for trying to expose this fact. - Streator Curmudgeon - Wednesday, Feb 7, 18 @ 7:55 pm: Pritzker: At some Hyatt hotel that does his laundry. Rauner: Only wears no-iron costumes. Biss: Has casters on the bottom to move into camera range for TV commercials. Ives: Doesn’t have one. Irons all her clothes on the right wing of a Piper Cub. - Sigh - Wednesday, Feb 7, 18 @ 8:02 pm: I use my ironing board almost every day - it’s next to the closet. But to the video: Did anyone notice the “purple Biss” box is nice positioned so it’s not obvious that the iron isn’t plugged in? Since they iron, the next important question is does Biss steam iron or is he a spray starch kind of guy? If he is a steam iron, does he use bottled water or tap water? These are important questions bc of lime buildup from hard water. And I guess I need some ironing pointers from Biss bc I have to iron with my board away from the wall, so I can rotate my shirts - My New Handle - Wednesday, Feb 7, 18 @ 8:18 pm: Ironing Board? Salaried or per diem? I thought Patty Shuh did his press work? - downstate commissioner - Wednesday, Feb 7, 18 @ 8:36 pm: When I started buying my own clothes, I brought home a couple of shirts-my mom promptly told me NEVER to buy no-iron shirts again.. I haven’t. The modern cotton shirts don’t seem to wrinkle like they used to. To the post-Rauner uses his is jack his motorcycle up, Kennedy sleeps on his,, Ives, as was mentioned above, uses hers to iron white sheets, Pritzker covers his money with his, and Biss’ is normally stacked with clothes to go upstairs… - Quizzical - Wednesday, Feb 7, 18 @ 8:47 pm: Rauner — I had an ironing board but Mike Madigan stole it - SSL - Wednesday, Feb 7, 18 @ 8:50 pm: That’s actually JB’s ironing board in the commercial. Biss stole it from him along with the election. - Blue dog dem - Wednesday, Feb 7, 18 @ 10:06 pm: Biss really doesnt use an iron. Ya’ know green and all. He hamgs his clothes in the shower. But did ya ever notice his white shirts never come clean? Yup recycled grey water - Anon - Wednesday, Feb 7, 18 @ 10:41 pm: Biss - ironing board next to whatever “middle class” prop is necessary. As an aside, please ignore the fact that his actual kids don’t make an appearence in the ad with his “genuine” ironing boArd - Lynn S. - Wednesday, Feb 7, 18 @ 11:02 pm: Regarding the commercial: am I the only one who noticed that the table has a purple tablecloth and the little girl wears a purple nightgown and coat? And wasn’t Biss a college mathematics professor? Admittedly, a teacher, but not quite the same as someone teaching in a public school in a low-income district… - Friendoftheprogram - Wednesday, Feb 7, 18 @ 11:05 pm: Ironing boards don’t make you middle class but I like the idea of trying to say that well to do Evanston candidate is = to average Illinoisian. You may not be a billionaire but you surely are not middle class.. - Lynn S. - Wednesday, Feb 7, 18 @ 11:06 pm: Regarding Rich’s QOTD: Willie won it, pretty quickly, so all I’ll say is that ironing is on the list of household chores I enjoy, and someday I’ll treat myself to a Rowenta iron. I have an ironing board, but it’s covered in clothes that need to be folded and put away. - Well... - Thursday, Feb 8, 18 @ 8:27 am: Even “regular people” wouldn’t block the stairs with an ironing board. - hisgirlfriday - Thursday, Feb 8, 18 @ 8:36 am: What got me with the ad was the exterior shot of the house and how little it is. That’s what sells Biss as a middle class dude IMO. Houses like that were why I moved back Downstate where I could feel prosperous in a middle class lifestyle instead of cramped and struggling. - Ron Burgundy - Thursday, Feb 8, 18 @ 8:57 am: JB promises he will contact the Chairman of the Ironing Board and get to the bottom of where it is. - Jake From Elwood - Thursday, Feb 8, 18 @ 9:49 am: Pritzker’s next ad will feature a washboard and a tinderbox Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.