50 Comments - 47th Ward - Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 11:15 am: Well that accelerated quickly. - wordslinger - Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 11:22 am: Pritzker was smart to move on this quickly. The photo with Cassidy was a particularly nice touch. The dude has spent $70M and will probably spend at least another $100M to become governor. The fee-fees of the apparently dim-witted Madigan crew mean oogats. They’re getting in the way. - Anon0091 - Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 11:23 am: So much for JB being in lock step with Madigan. - PublicServant - Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 11:24 am: Gov: This is nothing more than a sham photo op - Texas Red - Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 11:25 am: Et tu, JB? - driver - Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 11:25 am: Independent investigation of what? That’s not rhetorical. I’m legitimately asking what should be investigated. - m - Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 11:26 am: Does he have some sort of condition that renders him unable to pronounce the name Madigan? - Dome Gnome - Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 11:27 am: There’s no way that this wasn’t coordinated with Madigan in advance. - Oswego Willy - Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 11:31 am: ===There’s no way that this wasn’t coordinated with Madigan in advance.=== Tilt the tin foil to the right, your hat will get the ball game… ===Does he have some sort of condition that renders him unable to pronounce the name Madigan?=== Picture… 1,000 words. As much as the statement makes, the picture makes the larger statement… ===Your move, Mr. Speaker.=== … and that’s the statement. - SaulGoodman - Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 11:31 am: **Maybe J.B. can get her another $70,000 part time job** You don’t like facts much, do you? From a simple search of the Cook County payroll site, Cassidy made about $25k in 2016 and $22k in 2017 from Cook County. - Rich Miller - Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 11:34 am: ===You don’t like facts much, do you?=== The deleted goon may have mistaken Cassidy for Ken Dunkin, whose new Rauner job will make him $70K a year… making this the first time Kelly Cassidy has EVER been mistaken for Ken Dunkin. lol - JS Mill - Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 11:34 am: =Does he have some sort of condition that renders him unable to pronounce the name Madigan?= Trump- just in case the governor has forgotten the name of our president. - Smalls - Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 11:41 am: Major kudos to Cassidy for pushing this. It had been disappointing to watch as it was all being slid under the rug, and Madigan had been re-elected as party chair with little mention of this. Very disappointing for the party that supposedly is the bigger supporter of women’s rights. I hope this is more than just a one day presser for JB and he pushes forward with pressing for an investigation. - VanillaMan - Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 11:42 am: While I am concerned over our state’s budget, finances, out-migration, corruption, unemplyment, crime, lack of governing, education, infastructure and abject government failure, I’m glad Pritzker has his political priorities on the front burner of this election. - DuPage Saint - Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 11:42 am: Rich was not trying to be a goon about it saw salary on another web site said info from BGA I admit I did not go to BGA site so on me here is my reference Kelly Cassidy $73,471.84 - Henry Francis - Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 11:42 am: If your main goal is to curtail Madigan’s power/control - then JB is your candidate. He has the money, and is building the organization, to stand on his own. And he is able to give refuge/support to anyone who wants to buck the speaker. The Guv better be careful with all his bluster about voting for him so he can take on Madigan. He’s had 3+ years to do so and has failed. And he hurt the State in his failed attempts to take him down. JB actually has a chance of doing what the Guv so desperately wanted to do. - VanillaMan - Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 11:45 am: Oh, I’ll also need to add that my comment wasn’t meant to be snark because some could read it that way, right? - Cheryl44 - Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 11:50 am: Thanks for the clarification VMan. - MacombMike - Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 11:50 am: ===JB actually has a chance of doing what the Guv so desperately wanted to do.=== Don’t hold your breath. - Kyle Hillman - Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 11:52 am: “making this the first time Kelly Cassidy has EVER been mistaken for Ken Dunkin.” May it it be the last too. - Thomas Paine - Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 11:57 am: Madigan should refer Cassidy’s allegations to the Legislative Inspector General himself. Boom. Done. - m - Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 12:04 pm: =If your main goal is to curtail Madigan’s power/control - then JB is your candidate.= I don’t necessarily disagree with your premise. Crazy world we live in. Rauner wanted to take on and weaken the unions. Now they are stronger than they were before. Rauner vows to fight Madigan. Now the best way to take on Madigan is to vote for Madigan’s candidate. =He has the money, and is building the organization, to stand on his own.= He is building. But the question is whether he will stand up to Madigan. If he gets elected, it will be interesting to watch the first big disagreement between the two. =Picture… 1,000 words. As much as the statement makes, the picture makes the larger statement…= A social media photo op and statement saying he believes that she should be heard and that there should be an independent investigation is a far cry from actually doing something to make that happen. Is he making calls to get the investigation ball moving? Is he holding a public press conference to loudly demand it? With his money and the infrastructure he’s building, we will know when he’s ready to stand on his own. Right now he still can’t muster the courage to say the name. It’s just enough to make it looks like he cares without actually putting his neck out there. - Anonymous - Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 12:10 pm: At this point, Pritzker doesn’t need the Speaker. He’s won the nomination and unless he goes batty crazy, Pritzker will win in November in a walk. Madigan can only hurt Pritzker at this point. And Madigan needs the Pritzker’s money more than Pritzker needs the Speaker. Pritzker would be well-served to distance himself from Speaker Madigan as far as possible. - Oswego Willy - Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 12:14 pm: ===A social media photo op and statement saying he believes that she should be heard and that there should be an independent investigation is a far cry from actually doing something to make that happen.=== Must’ve missed the photo taken today of Cassidy and Madigan… Hmm. - Lester Holt’s Mustache - Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 12:20 pm: Good news, and exactly what I have been hoping for from Pritzker. Madigan has made it clear he’s not leaving voluntarily, and this is a very good reason to start a concerted effort to push him out the door. Along with the blue wave funding, a major split with Madigan over this issue represent the first steps in getting an IL dem party that can finally move into this century. Cassidy, Biss, et al. will have no reason to support Madigan for speaker or party chair (although I fear they’ll come up with some cockamamie reason to do so). Billionaire dem governor and no more Mike Madigan spells doom for the ILGOP, if the circular firing squad doesn’t do it first. - Anonymous - Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 12:21 pm: When Rauner quits pouring $ into his campaign, he’s done and he knows it - JS Mill - Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 12:21 pm: =saying he believes that she should be heard and that there should be an independent investigation is a far cry from actually doing something to make that happen.= Maybe you don’t understand how government works, but candidates cannot “make” anything happen, once elected Pritzker can “make” something happen. Until then, this is what candidates do. - wordslinger - Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 12:24 pm: –…Pritzker will win in November in a walk.– Crazy talk. You can’t call a November election in May. Unforeseen events and revelations can always play a hand. - m - Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 12:28 pm: =Until then, this is what candidates do.= Yep, nothing more he can do at all. Let me know when he’s tweeting the photo. Or holding a presser. Or when Hampton is in the photo with him. - Rich Miller - Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 12:31 pm: ===Let me know when he’s tweeting the photo. Or holding a presser. Or when Hampton is in the photo with him. === And if he did all that you’d want something else, which is politics and expected. But try not to act like you’re above everyone else. - Lester Holt’s Mustache - Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 12:35 pm: ===*** UPDATE *** From Will Allison at the Rauner campaign…=== Poor Will. If a flack screams into the internet, but no one cares enough to bother to listen, does it make a sound? - @misterjayem - Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 12:53 pm: “Poor Will. If a flack screams into the internet, but no one cares enough to bother to listen, does it make a sound?” “ₘₑₑₚ” – MrJM - Sue - Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 1:03 pm: Didn’t take long for JB to learn that Madigan is a liability to his future governorship - 44th - Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 1:13 pm: Smart move JB, clear out Madigan without being the sword to do it. Madigan doesn’t strike me as going anywhere though. - wordslinger - Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 1:15 pm: –Didn’t take long for JB to learn that Madigan is a liability to his future governorship– At the moment, Madigan is a millstone around Pritzker’s neck, a threat to his ever becoming governor. How thick do your peeps have to be to come within a whiff of even the appearance of intimidation of Cassidy? It boggles the mind. I’ve always thought Madigan’s reputation as a political mastermind was way overrated. It’s just that in the Land of the Blind, the One-Eyed-Man is King. - Pundent - Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 1:17 pm: =Is he making calls to get the investigation ball moving? Is he holding a public press conference to loudly demand it?= Why would he? He’s not running against Madigan, Rauner is. There’s little upside for Pritzker in calling out Madigan when he can get far more traction by pointing at a governor who claims that he’s not in charge. - m - Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 1:31 pm: = There’s little upside for Pritzker in calling out Madigan when he can get far more traction by pointing at a governor who claims that he’s not in charge.= Is that a serious statement? Rauner and the entire GOP are trying to hang Madigan around JB’s neck. One of the primary debates was almost completely dominated by the talk of who was more or less independent of the Speaker. There’s a massive amount of upside to standing up to him. And doing so makes it easier to hammer the gov on whatever front you want because you take one of his biggest weapons away. =And if he did all that you’d want something else, which is politics and expected.= The pic is on Cassidy’s account. JB’s web and social media presence are absolutely devoid of anything even remotely mentioning this. He can’t even say Madigan’s name when discussing the topic. Yes, no matter what he does on this people will ask for more. I’m not asking for anything, and so far we aren’t getting that anyway. I’d say a statement that he’s not pushing, and agreeing to be in someone else’s twitter pic probably constitutes the absolute minimum you could do to simply appear sympathetic while doing nothing to actually bring about what his statement is calling for. =But try not to act like you’re above everyone else.= I didn’t think I was, but I’m also not going to act like Pritzker is standing up to Madigan. - Anonymous - Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 1:40 pm: Go away, Bruce. - Pundent - Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 1:53 pm: -m- You seem to be suggesting that Pritzker should be following Rauner’s campaign strategy and make this all about Mike Madigan. Regardless of who Rauner was running against he would hang Madigan around their neck. Heck he even did so with Ives. It’s the only sheet of music he has to play. Pritzker’s smart enough to know that his best chance of success is reminding everyone of Rauner’s failures not being baited into a discussion on Mike Madigan. He’s called for an independent investigation. While that may not be “enough” for you it’s more than enough to make it clear that he doesn’t tolerate what’s been done here. - Oswego Willy - Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 2:41 pm: ===The pic is on Cassidy’s account. JB’s web and social media presence are absolutely devoid of anything even remotely mentioning this. He can’t even say Madigan’s name when discussing the topic.=== (Looks at goal post… looks around… moves goal post… places it in ground, points at new goal posts) - Arsenal - Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 3:50 pm: ==If your main goal is to curtail Madigan’s power/control - then JB is your candidate.== Hmm. I would put it this way: Rauner has no chance of “beating” Madigan (this has been ably demonstrated), but JB might have a chance of gently coaxing him “away”. - m - Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 4:30 pm: =(Looks at goal post… looks around… moves goal post… places it in ground, points at new goal posts)= Were your goalposts on your own 1 yard line? - Oswego Willy - Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 4:31 pm: - m - My response speaks for itself. Good luck. - Way Down Here - Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 5:56 pm: Anonymous is spot on when he says that MJM needs JB a lot more than JB needs MJM now that the primary is over. It’s not like MJM built a strong party structure statewide JB needs. JB is spending the money and hiring the people that MJM should have spent and hired years ago to build a DPI which could do more than get MJM re-elected Speaker. Next to more Blago-MJM tapes possibly coming out, easily JB’s biggest weakness downstate is him being tied to MJM by Rauner. Time for JB to start creating distance from the Speaker. - BlueDogDem - Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 9:44 pm: Waiting on that MeToo movement heroine HRC, to come out with that Pritzker endorsement any day now. - wordslinger - Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 10:05 pm: –Waiting on that MeToo movement heroine HRC, to come out with that Pritzker endorsement any day now.– Do you ever turn off the Fox? Or is it an all-day job? - BlueDogDem - Wednesday, May 23, 18 @ 3:49 am: Word. I don’t watch partisan cable soap operas. Do You? As an independent, I recognize hypocrisy. Do You? And Yes, Pritzker will win in a walk. - wordslinger - Wednesday, May 23, 18 @ 6:18 am: –As an independent, I recognize hypocrisy.– What “hypocrisy” were you recognizing here? - Pundent - Wednesday, May 23, 18 @ 8:27 am: =As an independent, I recognize hypocrisy.= Ah yes. Because there’s nothing like introducing a completely unrelated individual to remind us of your misogyny. Duly noted. - Sunshyne - Wednesday, May 23, 18 @ 9:17 am: Does Rauner realize Madigan is not running for governor?? Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.