62 Comments - Anonymous - Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 9:32 am: I’m a social conservative who wouldn’t give Sam the time of day. The guy needs to go back to his construction business. - Oswego Willy - Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 9:33 am: Well, McCann has gone from having my interest… to now having my attention. They have my full attention. - anonymous - Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 9:36 am: ==I’m a social conservative who wouldn’t give Sam the time of day. == Then you’re not a social conservative. - Oswego Willy - Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 9:38 am: ===I’m a social conservative=== If you support Rauner and his uber-left, costal, limousine liberal social agenda he’s signed… you’re doing it wrong. - wordslinger - Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 9:38 am: If he makes the ballot, he’s trouble for Rauner, no question. Still that “if” dangling out there, though. He’s not going to get a pass. - Board Watcher - Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 9:41 am: A local 150 top guy just the other day was telling people they actually think and hope Sam wins the whole thing. Which tells me dont be to sure all those votes he is taking are coming from Rauner - Grand Avenue - Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 9:43 am: The Libertarians just filed their slate - Real - Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 9:46 am: A local 150 top guy just the other day was telling people they actually think and hope Sam wins the whole thing. Which tells me dont be to sure all those votes he is taking are coming from Rauner -I don’t think that will be the case. If so maybe Madigan feels threatened by JB. - Lucky Pierre - Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 9:47 am: Finally have a “Republican” you can vote for OW? - Anonymous - Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 9:47 am: Anon 9:36, I’m definitely a social conservative. Willy, Rauner’s positions have nothing to do with my feelings about McCann. He better get hired by JB if he wins cause the guy is toast in the R party. - Nick Name - Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 9:49 am: ===McCann could combine backing from social conservatives as well as supporters of President Donald Trump, in addition to union members…=== I hope union members aren’t foolish enough to fall for this. “Fool me once” and all that. - Hansel - Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 9:50 am: As the only pro-life candidate in the race, Sam’s likely to attract both Democrats and Republicans. I suspect that both JB and BR will micro-target pro-life voters on behalf of Sam and pro-choice voters on behalf of themselves. In a blue wave year, JB wins that one walking away. Pro-Choice Dems are the biggest block and they are all riled up and ready to vote. - anony - Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 9:51 am: ==Willy, Rauner’s positions have nothing to do with my feelings about McCann. He better get hired by JB if he wins cause the guy is toast in the R party == OW has said this before and I agree. It isn’t the Republican Party right now. It’s the Rauner Party. - Oswego Willy - Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 9:52 am: ===Rauner’s positions have nothing to do with my feelings about McCann.=== Hmm… ===I’m a social conservative=== Actually, supporting Rauner… you’re not, lol Ask Mr. Breen. Phony is gonna phony. ===Finally have a “Republican” you can vote…=== Good to know “Lucky Pierre” you acknowledge, again, Rauner isn’t a Republican. Not by any measure. - Oswego Willy - Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 9:54 am: (Tips cap to - anony -) ===I hope union members aren’t foolish enough to fall for this. “Fool me once” and all that.=== You mean Rauner? Please clarify. Thanks. - "Old Timer Dem" - Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 9:56 am: Rauner and Pritzker are both poor choices. Any third party candidate would have a chance! - Anonymous - Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 10:02 am: McCann is in it for payback, big time, to Rauner. He cant say that, of course, but he has many people who dislike Bruce SO MUCH, they will go with McCann just to help batter Rauner. Rauner has a truckload of thoroughly unlikable characteristics that will beat him come election. - Arsenal - Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 10:02 am: ==A local 150 top guy just the other day was telling people they actually think and hope Sam wins the whole thing.== That’s what they have to say if they’re giving him crypto-support. - Practical Politics - Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 10:07 am: “If you support Rauner and his uber-left, costal, limousine liberal social agenda he’s signed…” This sort of thing had me scratching my head when Pritzker tried to link Rauner to Trump on immigration issues. I am not exactly a Rauner fan, but it was a stretch to claim that Trump and Rauner are allies or hold the same viewpoints on border security and processing undocumented immigrants. - wordslinger - Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 10:09 am: –A local 150 top guy just the other day was telling people they actually think and hope Sam wins the whole thing. Which tells me dont be to sure all those votes he is taking are coming from Rauner– It tells me there’s one guy talking out his tukkus. Nothing more. In Illinois, the arithmetic simply doesn’t work for a third-party candidate on the right to get a plurality in a statewide race. - Oswego Willy - Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 10:11 am: ===Pritzker tried to link Rauner to Trump on immigration issues. I am not exactly a Rauner fan, but it was a stretch to claim that Trump and Rauner are allies or hold the same viewpoints on border security and processing undocumented immigrants.=== The goal is to get Rauner to speak against Trump and Trump policies… so, you say things where Rauner has to clarify his own record. Notice Rauner won’t even say the word “Trump”, or use it with a negative connotation? Think that’s an accident? Rauner has no constituency. Rauner needs Trumpkins. So… make Rauner clarify he’s not with Trump, by linking, as all midterm candidates do, Rauner to the sitting president as both Rauner and Trump are underwater terribly in Illinois. - Grand Avenue - Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 10:15 am: There is long term strategy too here for Local 150. If Sam gets over 5% of the vote, then the Conservative Party becomes established in Illinois, which means they will have lower signature requirements, primary elections, and elected Committeemen - it means they can be a thorn in the Republicans’ sides for 4 years - Pundent - Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 10:15 am: =I am not exactly a Rauner fan, but it was a stretch to claim that Trump and Rauner are allies or hold the same viewpoints on border security and processing undocumented immigrants.= Not really. You have a divisive President and a Governor who has no real constituency. By not clearly establishing where his principals lie Rauner can simultaneously be deemed “liberal” or “conservative” depending on the issue and audience. He’s very much a man on an island and that leaves him vulnerable. - Bumblin stumblin rumblin - Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 10:16 am: McCann will get maybe 6% of the vote and probably pull votes from both candidates. He has enough baggage to drag him down if anyone runs negatives against him. JB will probably still win by 10 if McCann is on the ballot or off. Taking third party candidates seriously is just feeding into a non narrative. No one outside this blog knows who he is or is talking about this. - RNUG - Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 10:21 am: == A local 150 top guy just the other day was telling people they actually think and hope Sam wins the whole thing. Which tells me dont be to sure all those votes he is taking are coming from Rauner == I know Sam will pull mostly R voters but my fear is Rauner might squeek back in in a 3 way race. It’s a long shot, but it is (a) Illinois where anything can happen and (b) I think more of an outsider year than a blue wave year, at least in Illinois. - The Dude Abides - Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 10:38 am: Interesting take RNUG on what might happen if Sam gets in the race. The conventional wisdom is that it will hurt Rauner more. I know this, there are more than a few folks who aren’t happy with either choice of Rauner or JB. As you say you never know in Illinois. - E Neiman - Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 10:41 am: 47,000 for the Libertarians. Wonder how many McCann got with his union funding. - Pundent - Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 10:49 am: I expect that the support from Democrats will be strong based on the turnout numbers in the primary. At the same time Rauner showed how vulnerable he is with conservatives given the race he had with Ives which was much closer than it should have been give the advantages of money and incumbency. The real question to me is whether or not McCann will get any meaningful financial support. If he’s on the ballot and has money it’s a major headache for Rauner. - Thomas Zane Stepp - Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 10:53 am: Can we take a moment to reflect on how laughable Kash Jackson’s candidacy is? - Anonymous - Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 10:55 am: Illinois needs a good, honest military veteran on the ballot. Thanks McCann. - Real - Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 10:58 am: I know Sam will pull mostly R voters but my fear is Rauner might squeek back in in a 3 way race. It’s a long shot, but it is (a) Illinois where anything can happen and (b) I think more of an outsider year than a blue wave year, at least in Illinois. -Judging from the primary I don’t think that will be the case. JB was hammered more tgan any candidate including Rauner yet he still had more votes than all of them. Even with all the other candidates being anti-Madigan we see JB still pulled more votes than them all. - Thomas Zane Stepp - Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 11:00 am: === Even with all the other candidates being anti-Madigan we see JB still pulled more votes than them all.=== To be fair, the anti-Madigan vote was split, as will be the conservative vote here. - Nick Name - Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 11:03 am: OW- ===You mean Rauner? Please clarify. Thanks.=== I mean fooling enough to vote for anyone but Pritzker. - Real - Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 11:06 am: To be fair, the anti-Madigan vote was split, as will be the conservative vote here. -That’s only if you are assuming 100% of Biss and Kennedy voters are ant-Madigan. I’m not anti-Madigan yet I would of voted for Biss but chose JB because of the money factor. A lot of other voters voted the same way. - Thomas Zane Stepp - Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 11:06 am: === Taking third party candidates seriously is just feeding into a non narrative. === Not really, Rauner has a worse approval rating than Trump and just barely edged out of the primary. McCann can have a real effect on this race. - Thomas Zane Stepp - Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 11:12 am: === -That’s only if you are assuming 100% of Biss and Kennedy voters are ant-Madigan. === Nothing is ever 100% but I wouldn’t call it an unfair assessment that the general population that voted for Biss and Kennedy were anti-Madigan. Both ran anti-Madigan campagins. Had the vote been more consolidated then the race would have been more competitive. - Nick Name - Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 11:14 am: *foolish. Sorry. - Real - Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 11:15 am: Nothing is ever 100% but I wouldn’t call it an unfair assessment that the general population that voted for Biss and Kennedy were anti-Madigan. Both ran anti-Madigan campagins. Had the vote been more consolidated then the race would have been more competitive. -Well, Rauner has been the most anti-Madigan Governor we have seen since Madigan has been in office and yet he himself barely won his own primary.. So again it seems that Rauner is more in trouble than Madigan or JB.. Rauner being so anti-Madigan almost lost his own primary despite spending tens of millions in anti-Madigan rhetoric. - Grand Avenue - Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 11:20 am: The Board of Elections lists Kash Jackson as GRAYSON KASH JACKSON formerly known as BENJAMIN ADAM WINDERWEEDLE until name changed on Aug 29, 2017 - Thomas Zane Stepp - Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 11:21 am: === Rauner being so anti-Madigan almost lost his own primary despite spending tens of millions in anti-Madigan rhetoric. === I agree 100% on that. I’m just saying that it probably would have been a closer primary race had the anti-madigan dems gotten behind Kennedy or Biss. Heading into the general election is good news for JB as the tone is shifting more and more away from Madigan and more towards issues of substance and policy. - Real - Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 11:26 am: Heading into the general election is good news for JB as the tone is shifting more and more away from Madigan and more towards issues of substance and policy. - So far it has been heading toward more toilet and Blago talk. Rauner is avoiding policy and issues because he knows his platform appeals to no one but a red republican or for some uninformed voter in the least. - Thomas Zane Stepp - Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 11:28 am: === So far it has been heading toward more toilet and Blago talk. Rauner is avoiding policy and issues because he knows his platform appeals to no one but a red republican or for some uninformed voter in the least. === Exactly, but the tone of the overall race is craving more substance now that primaries are over. What helped Rauner edge out in 2014 and in the primaries simply won’t work in the general election here. - Saluki - Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 11:43 am: There is no path to victory for Rauner. - TopHatMonocle - Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 12:16 pm: May god bless the poor Rauner interns who have one week to go through 100k signatures at the board of elections. Good luck with that. - The Captain - Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 12:45 pm: If McCann’s people really think his campaign is winnable (it’s not) we’ll know quickly because they’ll try and knock the Libertarians off. McCann can’t afford to split the non-Rauner non-Pritzker vote with Kash Jackson (or anyone). - Original Rambler - Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 12:51 pm: The Biss voters I know are also anti Madigan. They will be voting for JB. I question how many Dem primary voters would cross over in the general to vote for Rauner, McCann or Libertarian because of their anti Madigan views. If they abandon JB it will be because Rauner commercials work more than any anti Madigan bias. It will be interesting to see which law firm represents McCann in the coming challenge. Did 150 do his circulating? That’s a lot of signatures. I never saw a single circulator. - Grandson of Man - Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 1:16 pm: “The Biss voters I know are also anti Madigan. They will be voting for JB.” I became an “anti-Madigan” Kennedy voter when he flipped to yes on marijuana legalization, because I loved the willingness to take on and criticize one’s own party and leaders like Madigan. I’ll be voting for JB as well. - INI - Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 1:27 pm: McCann is almost as good at acquiring signatures as he is at accruing unpaid taxes. - ZC - Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 1:30 pm: I had assumed behind the scenes the Democratic Powers That Be, Pritzker’s campaign included, were working to help McCann get signatures. A much better use of their campaign resources than running TV ads in June. - Phil King - Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 1:37 pm: According to his voting record ranked by ACU, McCann is the most liberal elected Republican in Illinois. Him running as a conservative is rich. Judging by the strange love he gets from people like OW, he seems much more likely to pull Pritzker votes from blue dog Dems. - blue dog dem - Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 1:57 pm: Saluki. I think you are barking up the right tree. - Real - Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 2:28 pm: Judging by the strange love he gets from people like OW, he seems much more likely to pull Pritzker votes from blue dog Dems. -But he is running as a pro-Trump conservative so not sure how you fugure he is pulling JB voters. Those JB voters dislike Trump. - Anonymous - Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 2:35 pm: If McCann makes the ballot, watch the interesting ads that will pop up from the creative Rauner camp. - Oswego Willy - Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 2:45 pm: ===According to his voting record ranked by ACU, McCann is the most liberal elected Republican in Illinois. Him running as a conservative is rich.== Probably as rich as Rauner with an uber-left, costal, limousine liberal social agenda, lol ===Judging by the strange love he gets from people like…=== Pro labor, pro 2nd amendment. “And?” - @misterjayem - Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 3:54 pm: “There is no path to victory for Rauner.” Perhaps. But I can easily imagine multiple paths to defeat for JB. – MrJM - A guy - Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 3:59 pm: 65,000 signatures, and perhaps fewer than 6.5 friends? That is pretty amazing. - Oswego Willy - Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 4:02 pm: ===But I can easily imagine multiple paths to defeat for JB.=== This is the most true. Let’s not forget. The Pritzker Crew stated publicly and for the record they have no idea what other Blago tapes exist. They admit they haven’t done a complete oppo on themselves to know what’s even out there. If that isn’t scary… or give you pause… - Anonymous - Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 4:25 pm: This reminds me of the time when Adlai Stevenson ran on a third party ticket because the Larouche people captured the Democratic nomination for governor. Raunder is an extremist while McCann is the real Republican candidate. - McBlocked - Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 4:40 pm: === Taking third party candidates seriously is just feeding into a non narrative. === Do you even know anything about third-party platforms and narratives? It’s good to see you two-party minions agitated. - wordslinger - Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 9:43 pm: ===According to his voting record ranked by ACU, McCann is the most liberal elected Republican in Illinois.– No worries then. Based on your brilliant analysis, Rauner would want to keep McCann on the ballot to take votes from Pritzker. Geez, you Raunerbots are sad and thick. I hope it covers the rent in Kazan. If he gets on the ballot and raises any money, old liberal McCann is going to run like Ives to the reactionary kook-right of Rauner on Mexicans/Muslims, gays, guns and abortion. How’d Ives do in the primary? Think that might appeal to Trump voters? You know, Quinn got 46.4% of the vote in 2014. How much wiggle room do you thing Rauner has in 2018? You should be on Prtitzker’s payroll, with that kind of tukkus-kissin’ trash-talk for Rauner. - wordslinger - Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 10:44 pm: –”There is no path to victory for Rauner.” – This is what shallow dumbkoffs say in June, and if they’re right, they remind everyone. If they’re wrong, they say nothing. Long way to November. - BlueDogDem - Tuesday, Jun 26, 18 @ 6:02 am: I will stick with my 9% loss by Rauner. If I am wrong. Please remind me come November. If I’m still kicking I will consume a slice of humble pie. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.