* Tribune…
Democratic candidate J.B. Pritzker was in the Logan Square neighborhood on Friday to launch what his campaign is calling the “Illinois Workdays” series.
The effort is aimed at showing Pritzker working alongside regular people in various jobs and industries. Pritzker, an heir to the Hyatt Hotel fortune, is worth an estimated $3.5 billion, according to Forbes. So he might be trying to overcome campaign concerns about how well regular Illinoisans can relate to him.
On Friday, Pritzker was at the Sip of Hope Coffee Bar, video crew in tow, where he talked to the manager and workers. Proceeds from the coffee bar go to support suicide prevention and mental health education. Pritzker has spoken of the need for more state funding for mental health.
* Yep, this is actually a thing. From a Friday media advisory…
** MEDIA ADVISORY: Today at 1:45 PM **
JB Pritzker to Launch ‘Illinois Workdays’ Series at Sip of Hope Coffee Bar
WHAT
JB Pritzker to launch new ‘Illinois Workdays’ series where he will work alongside Illinoisans in various jobs and industries and experience their day to day at Sip of Hope Coffee Bar in Chicago.
WHEN
Friday, July 27 at 1:45 PM
WHERE
Sip of Hope Coffee Bar
3039 West Fullerton Avenue
Chicago, IL 60647
* There was no mention of working with the employees in his lone tweet about the stop…
There is a photo attached to that tweet of him standing behind the counter, however.
*** UPDATE *** The Pritzker campaign says that as of now there are no plans to use this video in TV ads. They video just about everything and this is no different.
- Texas Red - Monday, Jul 30, 18 @ 10:25 am:
JB’s take on Dirty Jobs ?
- Anonymous - Monday, Jul 30, 18 @ 10:30 am:
is it even possible for a politician (particularly a multi-billionaire) to try to ‘bamboozle the schmucks’ by trying to come off as just a regular ‘ol guy and get away with it? They all try it in some form or another. The usual giveaway is when they are holding the hammer on the wrong end.
- JS Mill - Monday, Jul 30, 18 @ 10:35 am:
How much cash is he handing out? /s
- BlueDogDem - Monday, Jul 30, 18 @ 10:45 am:
Is he borrowing some or Rauners’ costumes ?
- JB13 - Monday, Jul 30, 18 @ 11:00 am:
Shucks. I was hoping this was going to be a redux of Mike Lowe’s “Dirty Jobs.” Of course, in Illinois politics, sorry jobs means something entirely different, but still. I’d pay to watch Mr. Pritzker muck out pig stalls or clean out a septic tank.
- JB13 - Monday, Jul 30, 18 @ 11:01 am:
Mike *Rowe’s* Dirty Jobs. Autocorrect.
- PJ - Monday, Jul 30, 18 @ 11:07 am:
Political consultants are the worst. Whoever thought that playing dress-up for a day makes a billionaire relatable (same guy Rauner uses?) is being drastically overpaid.
- City Zen - Monday, Jul 30, 18 @ 11:14 am:
No too late to re-create the Starbucks meme with JB behind the coffee counter and any taxpayer with a megaphone?
- Earnest - Monday, Jul 30, 18 @ 11:50 am:
Love the fact that he brought some light to the good work of the coffee bar and the need to support our mental health system. Hate the fact that it feels like his version of Rauner dropping his g’s.
- bored now - Monday, Jul 30, 18 @ 12:22 pm:
tom harkin in iowa and bob graham in florida did this (they shared a media consultant, bob squier, who is credited w the concept) — and got lots and lots of local or earned media w them.
be hard to imagine that local media could resist…
- Arsenal - Monday, Jul 30, 18 @ 12:34 pm:
Kinda sounds to me like the Trib over-interpreted the story. The whole “candidate works odd jobs” thing is nothing new.
- Arthur Andersen - Monday, Jul 30, 18 @ 1:01 pm:
AA would settle for JB reprising his first job down in the basement of the Hyatt doing laundry. No vest that day, I bet.
- Lester Holt’s Mustache - Monday, Jul 30, 18 @ 1:50 pm:
Sheesh you guys are hopeless pessimists. What harm does it do for him to do this? IMO more politicians should do this, especially super wealthy ones like Pritzker and Rauner. These guys probably dont get much exposure to the average day of working folks. Even just hanging out with people on the low end of the pay scale for a few hours would probably do them some good. Who knows, they might even learn something.
- Anon221 - Monday, Jul 30, 18 @ 2:57 pm:
Cheri Bustos does this too- Cheri on Shifts
http://www.cheribustos.com/news/cheri-bustos-how-will-you-help-create-retain-jobs-in-the-quad-cities
- Grandson of Man - Monday, Jul 30, 18 @ 3:14 pm:
Pretty contrived stuff. I wish Pritzker would stay more in his lane and focus on what he actually did—helped create tech jobs, helped feed schoolchildren and stuff like that. Pritzker is a job creator. That is something to tout politically without having to pretend he’s an Everyman.