* From the summer of 2012…

Illinois Republicans gathered in Tampa for the Republican National Convention, and they’ve designated House Speaker Mike Madigan as their punching bag, launching the website FireMadigan.com dedicated to paraphernalia with the logo seen at right. A Madigan spokesman laughed the Republicans’ gumption off, saying, “Not much success then. No reason to think their luck will change.”

“We need to make a change, people recognize that,” said Illinois GOP Chair Pat Brady. “We’re just going to create awareness about the damage Mike Madigan’s policies — or lack of policies — have done to the state of Illinois. That’s a message that’s really resonating (with voters.)”

* Not everyone was fully on board…

Former governor Jim Edgar says the “fire Madigan” campaign is a gimmick.

That’s not necessarily bad — campaigns need gimmicks, he says … but Edgar says Republicans ought to be focusing on winning more elections.

“I’d like to see more Republicans in the legislature, and yeah, I’d like to see Tom Cross as Speaker. I’m not so — [I don’t] think we ought to just concentrate on telling the Democrats they ought to get rid of Mike Madigan. That’s their decision.”

* The state party was also hawking “Fire Madigan” tchotchkes and clothing back then…

After coverage of our FIRE MADIGAN signs at Republican Day at this year’s Illinois State Fair, we’ve had many people asking for FIRE MADIGAN materials so we’ve created this online FIRE MADIGAN store.

If you think after over 40 years in Springfield and Illinois being ranked as one of the worst states financially that it’s time to Fire Illinois House Speaker/Illinois Democratic Party Chairman/Father of the Illinois Attorney General Mike Madigan, you can have a little fun helping spread the word with any of these FIRE MADIGAN products, including t-shirts, hats, bumper stickers, buttons, and signs. Check back often as more designs and products will be added in the weeks ahead!

* The items still appear to be still for sale…

The party’s FireMadigan.com website from back in the day is no longer active and the Wayback Machine and Google don’t have cached archives.

* Fast-forward four years to 2016…

“When we started this, it was less about building unfavorables and more about letting people know who he is and how Springfield actually works,” said Pat Brady, former chairman of the Illinois Republican Party who launched a “Fire Madigan” campaign four years ago. “Now they are trying to take that and win seats with it, and I think they are going to have success.”

“It’s ‘Fire Madigan’ on steroids because they have the resources and the funding and a lot of very smart people running these campaigns. It’s a lot more well thought out and a stronger strategy than we’ve ever had,” Brady said. “We are in a state that has been dysfunctional for so long that they are looking for someone to blame, and the speaker is an easy target. If we can get across the point that a vote for an individual Democrat is a vote for Madigan, I think that’s very effective.”

Others are less convinced.

“We’ve made Madigan an issue for years. I mean, when I was running for governor re-election, I had quadruple bypass surgery. I credited one of the bypasses to Mike Madigan,” former Republican Gov. Jim Edgar quipped to a Springfield audience last month before raising doubts about the strategy targeting Madigan.

* And now today…

Together, the people of Illinois can hold their state representatives accountable by asking them to sign The People’s Pledge, putting the people back in charge of state government and ending Mike Madigan’s grip on power once and for all.

Visit www.FireMikeMadigan.com to learn more about The People’s Pledge and get involved.

* From the brand spanking new website…

Illinois politics is rotten at its core. Dominated for decades by one man: Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan.

He’s amassed power at all costs, even as Illinois has suffered under his rule. Madigan will do anything to keep his grip on power, even as scandal engulfs his reign.

Enough is enough.

THE PEOPLE’S PLEDGE requires members of the Illinois House of Representative to promise to oppose Mike Madigan as House Speaker no matter what.

Even if Madigan refuses to resign, our state representatives can still take his power away by removing the Speaker’s gavel from Madigan’s grip.

The People’s Pledge also makes sure a Madigan-like politician can never rise again by placing term limits on legislators and statewide officeholders. The People’s Pledge puts the people back in charge of state government.

Thoughts?

       

32 Comments - Blue Bayou - Thursday, Jul 12, 18 @ 10:00 am: Fire Rauner first, then we’ll sort things out. - Anonymous - Thursday, Jul 12, 18 @ 10:00 am: This is genius! It will help every candidate who is running against an opponent named Mike Madigan. Too bad there are no candidates with an opponent named Mike Madigan. - Arsenal - Thursday, Jul 12, 18 @ 10:01 am: I think there’s evidence that “Fire Madigan” is a stronger message now than in 2012. House Dems lost seats in 2016 (Yes, it may have been the Trump of it all), and Rauner has raised the salience of the issue. Now, is it enough to overcome the anti-Trump headwinds in Illinois (assuming they continue)? I don’t know. But I wouldn’t dismiss this just because it’s been tried before. - juan the legend - Thursday, Jul 12, 18 @ 10:03 am: Quoting Pat Brady and Jim Edgar as representatives of the Republican Party? Other than Rauner, I can’t think of 2 individuals who did more damage to the party. Brady lost every possible election and Edgar started this whole pension mess. Illinois is cray-cray. - Louis G Atsaves - Thursday, Jul 12, 18 @ 10:07 am: Some things never change. Republicans want Madigan gone. Madigan numbers polling worse than Rauner. Democrats play both sides, with many claiming Madigan has too much power, and others remaining silent. Township committeemen had the opportunity to vote him out and didn’t this year. Only one voted against him. Just one. Elected Democratic Representatives all voted for him to be Speaker except one who abstained, who did not get a clock. Only one. Just one. And Republicans are being made fun of for being anti-Madigan? Explain those contradictions to me until your blue in the face. Try to make sense of this nonsense. If you can. - d.p.gumby - Thursday, Jul 12, 18 @ 10:07 am: Is this intended to be an “our guy’s a bum, but, look, this guy is even worse” style of campaign? - Roman - Thursday, Jul 12, 18 @ 10:11 am: It’s a more effective weapon than it was in 2012 or ‘14, thanks to all the money Rauner has poured into Madigan attack ads. And given the drag Trump and Rauner will be on some GOP state legislators this year, they have to try and make Madigan a counter weight, which shouldn’t be hard given that the speaker is more unpopular than both. It’s an old and unimaginative line-of-attack, but it works better now than ever before. - Anonymous - Thursday, Jul 12, 18 @ 10:12 am: That’s a message that’s really resonating (with voters.)” - benniefly2 - Thursday, Jul 12, 18 @ 10:20 am: The next time Mike Madigan shows up on my primary ballot in the Illinois 46th, I will definitely vote against him. Same goes should he happen to show up on my ballot in the general when I go to vote in Dupage county. Until then, this is all pointless. I certainly can vote against our current governor, however. - Annonin' - Thursday, Jul 12, 18 @ 10:34 am: How about a pledge to stop the cover up in Quincy? This is about as tired as usin’ the primary losers in TV ads. Can Brady finally empty his storage locker? - WhoKnew - Thursday, Jul 12, 18 @ 10:36 am: Just because you have T-shirts left over from 2 years ago… /s - RNUG - Thursday, Jul 12, 18 @ 10:38 am: == Edgar started this whole pension mess == Nope. Actually, it was Edgar who started us on the fix for it. You may not like the Edgar pension ramp, and there is a lot to not like, but it is a path forward. The person who started us down the post 1970 Constitution pension problem was Dan Walker and that General Assembly. They shorted the pension funding which led to the union lawsuit which led to the 1975 IFT decision that the GA didn’t have to fund the pensions, they just had to pay them when due. - Boone's is Back - Thursday, Jul 12, 18 @ 10:45 am: That dog looks thrilled to be in that t-shirt. - JS Mill - Thursday, Jul 12, 18 @ 10:47 am: =And Republicans are being made fun of for being anti-Madigan? Explain those contradictions to me until your blue in the face. Try to make sense of this nonsense. If you can.= The explanation is Bruce Rauner. Most dishonest governor in Illinois history. The democrats will stay with Madigan as long as Rauner is around because he has the will to go to the mat with Rauner. - Anonymous - Thursday, Jul 12, 18 @ 11:09 am: How does Madigan poll in his district alone - zatoichi - Thursday, Jul 12, 18 @ 11:11 am: Do the Repubs have great candidates running for every Representative position? Who is the superstar running against Madigan in his home turf? Sell all the trinkets with nifty saying they want, until they pick up enough seats to vote someone else as Speaker nothing is changing. - Da Big Bad Wolf - Thursday, Jul 12, 18 @ 11:32 am: So they all plan to rent apartments in Madigan’s district? How else can they fire him? - Arthur Andersen - Thursday, Jul 12, 18 @ 11:50 am: RNUG, you can lead a horse to water…. - SAP - Thursday, Jul 12, 18 @ 11:56 am: IL GOP, IPI, etc. have pounded the Madigan message long enough that it has started to sink in. Downstate Dem candidates all have to navigate the “Madigan Question” every election cycle. Some downstate Dem members are afraid to get promoted into leadership because it ties them too closely to Madigan. Fire Madigan has had some success. - a drop in - Thursday, Jul 12, 18 @ 12:54 pm: “How does Madigan poll in his district alone” Better than his opponent. - VanillaMan - Thursday, Jul 12, 18 @ 1:07 pm: Sad to see has-beens rereleasing failed material because they’ve got nothing else and they think there’s enough nerds to finally squeeze a hit out of it. Psy’s “Ganghan Style” and “Fire Madigan” are the same age, but I really don’t want to hear either in 2018, even though Psy’s was the Global Hit of 2012 while ILGOP flopped even in Sangamon County. Mitt Romney would agree. - Exclamation Point Deleted - Thursday, Jul 12, 18 @ 1:18 pm: SAP - it was certainly a driving factor in John Bradley’s loss. Trump’s strong downstate showing was the likely #1 factor but Bradley’s leadership spot had to be up there as well. - Arsenal - Thursday, Jul 12, 18 @ 1:34 pm: ==Do the Repubs have great candidates running for every Representative position?== The question I’m coming back to is “Are they going to fund any of these candidates?” Some of the HR quarterly reports are kinda sparse. - Mama - Thursday, Jul 12, 18 @ 1:40 pm: My dog needs a Fire Rauner T-shirt. Rauner needs someone to blame (not himself) for the mess Rauner created in IL these past 4 years! - Cheryl44 - Thursday, Jul 12, 18 @ 1:48 pm: I lived in Ravenswood Manor during the Blago era. I was roughly halfway between him and Cullerton. You wouldn’t believe how quickly our streets got plowed back then. If Madigan was my rep, I’d vote for him even if he were dead just for that perk. - dbk - Thursday, Jul 12, 18 @ 3:16 pm: –The democrats will stay with Madigan as long as Rauner is around because he has the will to go to the mat with Rauner.– This x 1000. Madigan has both the will and the skill to oppose BVR, something which is (of course) ignored by the “Fire Madigan” crowd, who act like he became powerful by accident. But since the only people who can fire him are his constituents, I don’t see the point - if Rauner’s re-elected, Madigan will be re-elected Speaker. If Pritzker is elected, it seems to me possible he’ll resign/retire in 2019. - Loop Lady - Thursday, Jul 12, 18 @ 3:32 pm: Thanks for clarifying that Brice has no strategy and a lousy record in the upcoming Gub election GOP… I find both of the candidates lacking…I will work to fire Bruce and return the favor as he did to me in 2015… - Annonin' - Thursday, Jul 12, 18 @ 4:40 pm: GovJunk only gets 27 comments. Is it safe assume if a candidate is for this they also support the Quincy cover up? Yup. - btowntruthfromforgottonia - Thursday, Jul 12, 18 @ 5:08 pm: So exactly how long has Rauner been running for House Speaker? About four years now? - Grumpy old man - Thursday, Jul 12, 18 @ 6:38 pm: The only way Madigan can get fired is by having the voters in his district vote him out and while he is delivering the goods he will stay in office. BTW I support term limits for every elected office. Another note… slamming JB for ripping out toilets come in is that the best you can do. Stop being a mouthpiece for Rauner.DAJs - Jerry - Friday, Jul 13, 18 @ 9:08 am: Waste of time and money…… - TKMH - Friday, Jul 13, 18 @ 9:27 am: “Fire Madigan” is such a stale sentiment. We’re unfortunately at this impasse where the guy oleaginously controls many levers of power, but national trends will ensure that anyone with a D next to their name sticks around Springfield to support him. Also doesn’t help that we all suffer from But I Like My Democratic State Rep. Syndrome, myself included. At this point, people know what they’re getting: Dems who’ll preach independence come election time but will fall in line come inauguration. It goes without saying that empowering the Ives’ of the state is a worse alternative. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.