* DGA…
Governor Bruce Rauner’s poor primary performance keeps moving the Illinois governor’s race up the rankings as the National Journal’s Hotline ranked it the #1 most likely race to flip parties next year (it was previously ranked #5). Zach Cohen and Kyle Trygstad of Hotline wrote:
Rauner is the most vulnerable governor, and his seat is the Democrats’ best pickup opportunity. Democratic nominee J.B. Pritzker won 200,000 more votes in his decisive March primary than Rauner, who won renomination by just 2 points […] in a state that Hillary Clinton won by a similar margin, and his odds further improved when Rauner’s alienation of the Right led to a third-party challenge from GOP state Sen. Sam McCann…
The new ranking coincides with Rauner return from Europe to find his base problem even worse. Before his trip, Rauner was merely failing to reunite his divided party after state Representative Jeanne Ives took 48% of the primary vote. Now, he returns home to find even more challenges after Republican state Senator Sam McCann joined the race and immediately began courting disgruntled Ives voters.
“Three years of failed leadership and a party unity problem add up to make Bruce Rauner the most vulnerable incumbent in the nation,” said DGA Illinois Communications Director Sam Salustro. “Rauner’s record of failure has turned off Democrats and Independents — and has inspired Republicans to line up and hold him accountable. It’s no wonder Illinois is ranked as the most likely governorship to flip in America.”
* Pritzker campaign…
Today, the Pritzker campaign is introducing a weekly series to hold Bruce Rauner accountable for his frequent falsehoods, and will also debut “Rauner Lie Alerts” in real time when the failed governor is caught in a lie. With over 70% of Rauner’s 18 fact checks rated “half true” or worse, the truth is clear: Bruce Rauner is a liar.
Proposing a balance budget is the constitutional obligation of a governor, but Bruce Rauner has failed to meet that every year he’s been in office. Despite receiving a Pants on Fire! rating from PolitiFact for claiming he’s proposed a balanced budget in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018, Rauner continues to pathologically lie about his failure. “Indeed, fiscal experts say Rauner has never proposed a balanced budget as required under the state Constitution since taking office in 2015,” the fact check concludes.
“Bruce Rauner failed to propose a balanced budget and then repeatedly lied about not fulfilling his constitutional obligation to Illinois taxpayers,” said Pritzker campaign communications director Galia Slayen. “Every single year this governor failed to do his job and then lied about it to the very same Illinoisans suffering the consequences of his failures.”
* Rauner campaign…
After yesterday’s launch of PritzkerMadigan.com, the Rauner campaign today added a companion parody Twitter account: @PritzkerMadigan
Follow for musings on the insider deals, out-of-control spending, and endless tax hikes holding Illinois back.
Feel free to send a Direct Message to our team at @PritzkerMadigan to inquire about available patronage jobs with the Pritzker-Madigan ticket (you never know when a U.S. Senate seat is going to open up).
From the account…
*** UPDATE *** Here’s the first “lie alert”…
RAUNER LIE ALERT: “New” Trade Show Announced 265 Days Ago
Chicago, IL – Bruce Rauner lied again. After spending a week and a half in Europe, Rauner “announced” a trade show coming to Illinois… 265 days after it was first made official.
“Bruce Rauner is fabricating accomplishments as he returns to Illinois empty handed from another failed trip abroad,” said Pritzker campaign spokesman Jason Rubin.
- Show me the numbers - Wednesday, Apr 25, 18 @ 10:09 am:
Any chance we can see this polling that has Pritzker up 18?
- UIUC - Wednesday, Apr 25, 18 @ 10:09 am:
One. Trick. Pony
- The Captain - Wednesday, Apr 25, 18 @ 10:10 am:
Awesome, another parody Twitter account. I am super, super pumped that there is another parody twitter account. Every one of these is hilarious and useful and effective. #awesome
- wordslinger - Wednesday, Apr 25, 18 @ 10:10 am:
Parody is effective if it’s funny.
If it’s not funny, it’s just obnoxious and stupid, a la Proft’s “thanks” spot for Ives (which was also repulsive, for the trifecta).
You can’t fake funny. We’ll see if they can pull it off, but if they can’t, best to put it away.
- Annonin' - Wednesday, Apr 25, 18 @ 10:14 am:
can anyone ’splain how the GovJunk website works
when a reader clicks to get more info they get a shakedown message and a demand for money and a lot of personal information. When we put in some info all we got was a call from Stu Levine.
- Just Me - Wednesday, Apr 25, 18 @ 10:19 am:
I’d like Pritzker to announce a plan to increase employment in Illinois. His plan of stabilizing government by raising taxes doesn’t sound like a real “job creation” strategy to me.
- Real - Wednesday, Apr 25, 18 @ 10:22 am:
Pritzker has created many jobs in the private sector, unlike Rauner who made a career on destroying jobs for his benefit.
- City Zen - Wednesday, Apr 25, 18 @ 10:22 am:
Does (Parody) have to appear in the name? Thought that was reserved for the description.
Needs a catchier name though, like “Pritzy n Mads”
- Macbeth - Wednesday, Apr 25, 18 @ 10:42 am:
Well, they’re missing the boat if they don’t incorporate the ‘Madigan Chair’ from yesterday.
- Arthur Andersen - Wednesday, Apr 25, 18 @ 10:54 am:
Annonin’, excellent.
- Arsenal - Wednesday, Apr 25, 18 @ 11:07 am:
==Any chance we can see this polling that has Pritzker up 18?==
That was done by the same fraudy pollster that Rich refused to cover right before the primary, so I hope it stays buried.
==I’d like Pritzker to announce a plan to increase employment in Illinois.==
It’s on his website. He’s made a big deal about it, especially when downstate.
- Earnest - Wednesday, Apr 25, 18 @ 11:21 am:
Piggybacking on Fako article post, I’m not sure saying a politician lies is the strongest of arguments. A stronger negative would be Rauner’s effectiveness in executing the basic functions of his office…estimating costs of contracts, monitoring execution of those contracts, and assuring state government runs well.
Slightly OT, but I may be missing coverage of the recent Medicaid/SNAP debacle where people are being declared ineligible and it’s difficult to get through to staff to address the issue. Community agencies dependent on Medicaid and Medicaid Waiver funding are in danger of losing payments because it’s taking over 90 days to get things corrected for some people.
- Chicago Cynic - Wednesday, Apr 25, 18 @ 11:37 am:
“That was done by the same fraudy pollster that Rich refused to cover right before the primary, so I hope it stays buried.”
You are absolutely correct Arsenal. I generally advise folks to completely ignore “Victory Research” but with one caveat. There have been other polls done that show the race between 15-20+ points. So under the “even a broken clock is right twice a day” theory, this sounds about right.
- Arsenal - Wednesday, Apr 25, 18 @ 11:41 am:
@Chicago Cynic-
Yeah, but if I may be a Sangamon County cynic, even if this poll is legit I suspect it’s Step 1 and a poll over the summer showing Rauner’s miraculous comeback is step 2. And I’d just rather not play the game.
- Chris P. Bacon - Wednesday, Apr 25, 18 @ 11:52 am:
Bruce, you don’t like Mike Madigan. We get it. We really don’t need another whiny little vehicle to not pay attention to.
- City Zen - Wednesday, Apr 25, 18 @ 1:59 pm:
==I’d like Pritzker to announce a plan to increase employment in Illinois.==
The jobs platform is, in a nutshell, if the taxpayers build it, they will come. Unfortunately, no one told him it has already been built, and they have already came and went.
- Lester Holt’s Mustache - Wednesday, Apr 25, 18 @ 2:40 pm:
====I’d like Pritzker to announce a plan to increase employment in Illinois.====
How about, “I pledge not to constantly describe the state I supposedly lead as a garbage fire and promise I won’t hold the budget hostage every year in order to obtain an ever-changing list of demands”? Or, if you want simple, “I pledge not to increase our debt by $12 Billion dollars in three short years”?
Either would probably lead to higher employment.
- Grandson of Man - Wednesday, Apr 25, 18 @ 4:57 pm:
“That was done by the same fraudy pollster that Rich refused to cover right before the primary”
Sorry, Rich and others, for posting this poll in another thread. I’ll flag this pollster next time and not post its results.
But bad poll or not, the results seem consistent with other polling. The polling article wound up on The Hill.