Rauner Yesterday: “I’m So Proud Of What’s Going On In Washington, D.C.”
At a campaign stop yesterday, Governor Bruce Rauner sang the praises of the White House’s agenda on the same day that two of President Donald Trump’s close associates became felons. The Herald & Review captured Rauner’s full embrace:
“It’s an honor for me to work for you and I’m so proud of what’s going on in Washington, D.C. In Washington they are cutting taxes, they’re reducing regulation, they’re fighting against the illegal immigration, they’re fighting against unfair trade barriers and unfair trade deals. They’re creating more jobs and helping the American workers. We’ve got higher wages now and more jobs now because of that. Illinois is strong because of what is happening in Washington and what our doing in our administration.”
President Trump lost Illinois by 17 points, but a recent NBC/Marist poll found him with higher favorability ratings than Rauner (30% to 26%).
“As Donald Trump’s top advisers head to prison and his administration is enveloped in scandal, Bruce Rauner is proud of President Trump’s work in Washington,” said DGA Illinois Communications Director Sam Salustro. “It’s no wonder that Illinois voters view Bruce Rauner, lacking in principles and lacking in accomplishments, as a failed leader.”
* Circling back on this story from last week because I missed this bit the first time…
Speaking after the rally, Pritzker said that, if elected, getting an infrastructure bill that will address Illinois’ roads, bridges and waterways will be “critically important” for him during his first year in office.
The last comprehensive capital plan in Illinois, the $31 billion Illinois Jobs Now! plan, was signed by then-Gov. Pat Quinn in 2009.
When asked how to cover the cost of a capital plan, Pritzker suggested possible revenue streams such as legalized sports betting, online sales tax and legalizing and taxing marijuana.
Online sales tax money is already budgeted and sports betting won’t bring in huge state tax dollars.
He’s talked about taxing pot for a long time, but mainly for general revenue purposes, although he did seem to suggest once that it could be used for education funding.
Pritzker said in April that marijuana could be in the mix for a capital bill, along with his graduated income tax (which he still won’t detail).
I do not expect the man to produce a full state budget on his own. But he’s making a lot of promises and we don’t even have a coherent outline of how he’s gonna pay for them. I mean, even Bruce Rauner did that in 2014.
Pritzker is launching a new three-day tour of central and southern Illinois. Hopefully, he’ll get pressed on some of this stuff.
The latest Democratic mailers are accusing state Rep. Lindsay Parkhurst of voting against programs for veterans and the elderly.
That’s misleading. The Democrats have provided no proof she targeted those programs in particular. […]
The Democrats are using a similar tactic against Rep. Jerry Long, R-Streator, in La Salle County. A recent flyer accuses Long of opposing money for programs that track sex offenders, citing the same budget bill that he joined Parkhurst in voting against. The programs tracking sex offenders consume only a tiny fraction of the budget, which is tens of billions of dollars.
My own opinion is that if you vote “No” on a bipartisan compromise budget that’s signed into law, this is what you can expect. Yes, it’s ugly, but their vote is their vote. Those who voted “Yes” have had to answer for whatever’s in the bill, like money for the Obama presidential center.
So, while Parkhurst and Long may fully support those state programs in their own minds, their actual voting record is the only thing that truly counts. It’s public record. It’s fair game.
But I know from previous posts that many disagree. So…
* The Question: Is it fair game to ding legislators over the details of a bipartisan budget that they officially opposed or supported? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
…Adding… I should add that some of these mailers (that the Dems do all the time) can backfire on their candidates. As well they should. But that’s also part of the campaign process. Your opponent goes too far, you benefit. Saying somebody supports rapists or child molesters or whatever because they voted against a budget can cause the accuser problems if the hit isn’t believable.
* While looking out your house’s window in Wilmette you see a little girl walking her dog without any adults around. Do you 1) Ignore it because this is Wilmette and the kid is old enough to walk her own dog; 2) Go outside and ask the little girl if she’s OK because maybe she isn’t old enough and could’ve wandered off; or 3) Immediately call the cops? If you chose “3″ I just cannot understand you at all…
Just after returning home from a walk around the block with her dog, Marshmallow, an 8-year-old Wilmette girl expected a visit from a playmate. Instead, police officers arrived at the family’s door.
An anonymous caller had contacted police after seeing the girl walking the dog alone, said her mother, Corey Widen. While police never pursued charges, the seemingly common activity launched an Illinois Department of Children and Family Services investigation to see if Widen was neglecting her children, she said.
“For something like this to happen to me, there’s something really wrong,” said Widen, 48, who agreed to let her 8-year-old daughter and 17-year-old son get the Maltese puppy last year as long as everyone took turns walking her. Widen, who asked that her daughter’s name not be used, said the girl’s walk around the block — most of which Widen says she can see out her windows — is the only time her home-schooled daughter is unsupervised. “The funny thing is … I’m a joke with my friends because my kids are around me all the time.” […]
Like in many states, the law in Illinois is vague. It defines a neglected minor as a child younger than 14 left “without supervision for an unreasonable period of time without regard for the mental or physical health, safety or welfare of that minor.”
But DCFS investigations are separate from criminal ones; even if police decide a parent has not broken the law, there could still be child welfare repercussions.
.@RodneyDavis giving blood a year after the Congressional baseball attack to support blood donations. He also addressed questions about his former staffer saying “I haven’t spoken to him” and “My campaign didn’t send him”. pic.twitter.com/6ZV3fkNTHf
* Davis’ former staffer, by the way, posted this rambling story on the Young Americans for Liberty website several months ago…
Here at EIU the culture doesn’t allow for much freedom of speech. The PC culture is alive and well at Eastern Illinois University, so my Restore the 4th event was lackluster. Our campus and therefore student culture is dominated by authoritarian leftists who condemn free speech in favor of safe speech and false pretenses of being non-offensive. Unless you’re a “progressive” group, or advocating for whatever group is trending at the time, real open free speech is hard to come by. That’s why my event last week was unique. Since I could not get official university recognition, I had to get creative to spread the message. Instead of setting up a booth or informational table, I took to the street and canvassed to individuals who couldn’t be bothered to peel their faces from their phones. This in -your -face, aggressive guerilla style seemed like the most effective way to spread the message in a seemingly uninterested audience. Hearing many people argue that there are more important causes than worrying about the content of their phones was truly disappointing. Have we become so fascinated with everyone else’s lives that we simply don’t care what happens to our own? While I didn’t get the experience or levels of enthusiasm I was hoping for, I got something else. I acquired a desire to help spread the message of liberty across my campus. It is sorely lacking free-thinkers and those who challenge authority.
Several dozen people crammed inside the Stripmasters break room to hear Rauner speak for about 10 minutes. Calling November “the most important election of my lifetime,” Rauner stressed the importance of voting for GOP candidates down the ballot.
Well, yeah. Understandable because he appears to be very much on the bubble right now. I’d say the same if I was him, but maybe not out loud to a group of people.
Electing more Republicans would make it possible to enact more measures that Rauner has long supported, such as term limits for elected officials, he said.
“We’re going to work our tails off to pick up at least two seats in the Senate and pick up nine seats in the House of Representatives,” Rauner said. “Mike Madigan will be gone!”
He hasn’t yet contributed any money to the Senate Republicans this cycle. Just sayin…
…Adding… Oops…
For the record, @BruceRauner … Illinois doesn't have a "Macomb County" despite this link in today's campaign email.
It does have a McDonough County, though. The city of Macomb is there. Both are covered by the McDonough County Voice. pic.twitter.com/Z6a8Po9BUv
* Coverage roundup for the governor’s latest tour…
* Gov. Rauner shares views during Shelbyville visit: Rauner’s main point, which he mentioned several times, was his hope to get rid of corruption brought on by corrupt Chicago politicians. … Rauner encourages voters to, “Get Erika Herold in as Attorney General, because she’ll help prosecute corruption and investigate unethical behavior.”
* Governor Rauner stops in Macomb: He urged voters to make Illinois a Republican-majority state, saying it was “the only way” to effect meaningful change. “We have a Democratic Party that’s taken over the state (and) one-party rule for decades: Madigan, Blagojevich, Quinn - the whole crowd - and they’ve almost bankrupted us, morally as well as financially,” he said. “We can’t have that. Democracy doesn’t work on a one-party basis.”
The latest round of GOP mailers essentially has Democrat Lisa Dugan tied at the hip to House Speaker Michael Madigan. In one Photoshopped image, Madigan and Dugan are playing poker with each other.
* ABATE endorsed Gov. Bruce Rauner today. From its Chicago president, Patrick “PJ” Jones, who is referring to a recent JB Pritzker TV ad. Click here to watch it…
“Bruce was a member before becoming Governor and has been a friend to all motorcyclists in the state. He has gone on many rides with the Chicago Chapter, and has supported many of the charities that we support including the Chicagoland Toys for Tots Parade and Shriners Hospitals.
“Governor Rauner is a true motorcyclist, and we feel it’s a slap in the face of all motorcyclists for someone to have called his riding apparel a COSTUME – we take our riding gear serious, and so does he.”
* Never make assumptions based on just one poll in August. Or at any time for that matter. For instance, a Tribune poll in September of 2014 had Gov. Pat Quinn leading Bruce Rauner by eleven points. That didn’t work out too well.
While those Tribune poll results went against the national pro-GOP tide four years ago, this new NBC/Marist poll seems to go right along with the national “blue wave” predictions. JB Pritzker leads Gov. Rauner by 16 and the Democrats have a huge ballot advantage in congressional races.
Even so, the poll has some very puzzling results in the crosstabs.
It’s not weighted too heavily for Democrats (38 percent), but polls of registered voters will tend to skew a bit more Democratic than polls of likely voters, and this one is of registered voters. It’s close enough on the geographical and racial splits, but it does look a bit on the young side.
* For me, anyway, the really odd results are in the collar counties and in central/southern Illinois. As you know, Hillary Clinton won every collar county except McHenry and Donald Trump did really well in Downstate.
Yet, when asked if they preferred a Republican or Democratic Congress, the collars chose the Republican Party 45-40 and central/southern Illinoisans chose the Democrats 44-40. The partisan margins in both regions were even more pronounced when asked which party they intended to vote for in the congressional elections.
Same for the governor’s race. The collars chose Rauner 40-34, while central/southern Illinoisans preferred Pritzker 43-33. A ten-point winning margin in that region would be an absolutely stunning upset for Pritzker and would reverse decades of trends.
* Now, even if the poll is dead wrong about those two regions, the overall results could be close to right. I’ve seen plenty of polls with some questionable crosstabs that wound up mirroring the final overall result. Also, Clinton won Illinois by 17 points and this poll has Pritzker ahead by 16. Another wave is almost assuredly heading our way. Etc., etc.
All I’m saying here is that either a couple of this poll’s regional results are off or are expectations are off. We’ll find out in November.
Also, for the small number of you who think that Pritzker should be leading by even more than 16 points, I’d point you to the very similar 2016 presidential results and the fact that the last time a sitting governor lost reelection by double-digits was 1960, when Otto Kerner clobbered GOP Gov. Bill Stratton by 11 points.
* Coverage roundup…
* Poll: Democrat leads expensive race for Illinois governor: And 57 percent of voters say their choice for Congress in November will be a message for more Democrats to “check and balance” Trump, while 32 percent say it will be a message for more Republicans to help pass the president’s agenda.
* NBC/Marist poll: Pritzker up by 16, Rauner 2-to-1 unfavorable rating: The poll showed Pritzker ahead of Rauner among self-described independent voters 43 percent to 25 percent and among those with a moderate ideology, 50 percent to 25 percent. Rauner had the advantage among self-described conservatives 55 percent to 20 percent and was backed by 71 percent of supporters of Donald Trump despite the governor’s aversion to speaking about the controversial president.
* Poll: Democrat leads expensive race for Illinois governor: With the state hosting at least four competitive U.S. House races this November, the poll also shows Democrats enjoying a 14-point advantage in congressional preference, with 49 percent of voters preferring a Democratic-controlled Congress, versus 35 percent wanting Republicans in charge. Inside those numbers, Democrats lead among women (54 percent to 30 percent) and men (44 percent to 39 percent); among voters in populous Cook County (59 percent to 23 percent); among independents (43 percent to 32 percent); and among whites with college degrees (54 percent to 34 percent).
* TV news poll shows Pritzker leading Rauner by 16 points: Poll takers were also asked about how President Donald Trump is doing. Of registered voters, 56 percent said they disapproved of his performance, with 32 percent saying they approved.
Beginning well before Labor Day, Sixth District congressional candidate Sean Casten’s campaign has placed a substantial cable TV & digital ad buy to counter false, negative ads being run by Peter Roskam and a Super PAC associated with House Speaker Paul Ryan. Today, the Casten campaign released their ad and the following statement:
“We’re proud that we’re in a position to offer voters the truth about Sean’s record as a successful green-energy entrepreneur who’s put thousands of people to work while fighting pollution and climate-change,” said Greg Bales, Campaign Manager for Sean Casten. “The ad features Charlie Bayless, one of the Directors of the Board Sean reported to, setting the record straight on Casten’s record of creating jobs and protecting his employees during their time working together for a clean energy company.”
Bales said that the new Casten ad would be seen on cable TV systems and digital platforms across the 6th District beginning on August 22nd and characterized the buy as “substantial.”
“It’s sad that Roskam has so little to say about his 25 years in public office that he can only throw mud at his challenger, and his ads are a complete distortion, as pointed out by Crain’s and the Better Government Association,” Bales said. “Now, with our first TV ad, voters will get the facts about Sean’s exemplary business record.”
So far in the general election, Roskam and his allies have spent millions of dollars on mailings, TV and digital ads. Yet, in the last two weeks, two different organizations that predict the outcomes of congressional races have moved the Illinois 6th District race from “leans Republican” to “toss up.”
