* WBEZ interviewed former Illinois Republican Party Chairman Pat Brady…
Pat Brady: “There have been races where candidates were 15, 20 points down and ended up winning by 10. The 15-20 points numbers we saw from a couple of polls [are] inherently unreliable. So it’s a lot closer than that and no Republican I think is resigned at the governor losing. So we’ll see what happens in two weeks. The polls have been wrong the last four or five election cycles.”
On the GOP appealing to Chicago voters through ‘bread-and-butter’ issues
Brady: “The case can be made that the irritation at living in the city—and I’m a surburban guy, but I have lived in the city in my life—[are] taxes and services, and bread-and-butter issues that Republicans have to make the case they can do a better job delivering, particularly on property taxes and education. You want to be able to send your kids to school and get a good education. So there are issues that I think Republican philosophies will work better but we just need to get that message out more and get candidates to run and raise money and do it. The taxes are driving people and business out—and for no reason. Like I said before, there is no better city in the world I don’t think than Chicago, we just have to make it a livable place. And I think the Republican platform in general—outside some of maybe the social stuff—can work in an urban environment, we just have to have good messengers.”
“We just have to have good messengers” and we’ll win Chicago [exclamation point] Hooray [three exclamation points]
…Adding… Maxwell rebuts the headline…
- Anon E Moose - Monday, Oct 29, 18 @ 4:21 pm:
Interesting take that Chicago is not “a livable place.” Should work out well.
- Wow - Monday, Oct 29, 18 @ 4:23 pm:
I am a loyal D.. I know Pat very well, I respect and love Pat.. but I wish one of Pat’s close Repub friends would have called me and told me that Pat recently fell and hit his head..
- Nacho - Monday, Oct 29, 18 @ 4:25 pm:
==We just have to have good messengers.==
Don’t worry, Proft is on the case.
- G'Kar - Monday, Oct 29, 18 @ 4:25 pm:
Republicans are best for education? That’s a new one (banned symbol)
- Norseman - Monday, Oct 29, 18 @ 4:26 pm:
Bread and butter is all we can expect from the GOP as it is constituted today.
- @misterjayem - Monday, Oct 29, 18 @ 4:29 pm:
“There have been races where candidates were 15, 20 points down and ended up winning by 10.”
In a statewide race?
With a week to go?
In Illinois?
I hope Pat has a prescription for whatever he’s smoking…
– MrJM
- Oswego Willy - Monday, Oct 29, 18 @ 4:31 pm:
Rauner is personally 20+ points under water.
It’s the messenger, and this messenger’s message.
Ask Ives supporters.
Keep up, Mr. Brady, it’s why Rauner lost me on that fateful day in Decatur.
OW
- Wensicia - Monday, Oct 29, 18 @ 4:32 pm:
—outside some of maybe the social stuff—
Isn’t that social stuff their “bread-and-butter”?
- Rich Miller - Monday, Oct 29, 18 @ 4:33 pm:
===I hope Pat has a prescription for whatever he’s smoking…===
Don’t blame that on the weed.
- Roman - Monday, Oct 29, 18 @ 4:35 pm:
I’ve heard a lot of suburban Republican legislators argue the opposite — that property taxes are artificially low in Chicago because of Madigan, or something like that.
- Oswego Willy - Monday, Oct 29, 18 @ 4:37 pm:
Also… Mr. Brady…
You have Diana Rauner, a Democrat, approving Bruce’s messaging.
Think on that, as we all wonder aloud… “where did all the Republicans go?”.
- Grandson of Man - Monday, Oct 29, 18 @ 4:37 pm:
“there is no better city in the world I don’t think than Chicago, we just have to make it a livable place”
Chicago is just the crappiest greatest city in the world. Just ask the poor victims who’ve lived/profited there for a long time, like Rauner, Hurricane, IPI, Kass and the rest of the phony criers.
- JS Mill - Monday, Oct 29, 18 @ 4:37 pm:
Maybe Pat should tell the GOP AG candidate. Her message of late is basically vote for me or everyone will be a Democrat.
- Anon0091 - Monday, Oct 29, 18 @ 4:43 pm:
And the only poll that matters is the one on election day. Spare me Pat. This is super-lame spin, even for you.
- DuPage Bard - Monday, Oct 29, 18 @ 4:44 pm:
Dan Proft likes living in Chicago. Makes a lot of money working, living and playing in Chicago.
That’s your messenger now Pat.
Jim Durkin’s folks have abandoned the Governor. Bill Brady’s folks have abandoned the Governor. Jeanne Ives abandoned the Governor a long time ago. Erika Harold abandoned the Governor. And from the looks of today Diane abandoned the Governor in favor of Sanguinetti.
- TominChicago - Monday, Oct 29, 18 @ 4:44 pm:
Do they really think that blaming the message is a winning argument? How do you better message Rauner’s first term?
- Montrose - Monday, Oct 29, 18 @ 4:47 pm:
“there is no better city in the world I don’t think than Chicago, we just have to make it a livable place”
It’s really impressive how he instantly undermined both points he attempted to make at the same time. He really is good at this messaging thing.
- Cheryl44 - Monday, Oct 29, 18 @ 4:47 pm:
The city is so irritating that the Rauners clouted their daughter into a school here instead of forcing the poor child to attend New Trier.
- Rusty Bridges - Monday, Oct 29, 18 @ 4:49 pm:
You know Rauner’s in trouble when his main mouthpiece is Pat Brady, the most failed and most unpopular state GOP chair in memory.
- Archpundit - Monday, Oct 29, 18 @ 4:49 pm:
You could probably put together a heck of a collection of laughable election time claims while party elders are trying not to depress turnout even further. Brady just oversold the story too much.
- Huh? - Monday, Oct 29, 18 @ 4:50 pm:
“no Republican I think is resigned at the governor losing.”
At least in public. But at night in the quietness of the dark, thoughts run wild of the dramatic loss and crushing of the GOP.
- Anonymous - Monday, Oct 29, 18 @ 4:51 pm:
JB wins but again, there is no way he is 16-22 points ahead.
Maybe JB has a couple of major stumbles here in the last week. After all, he and his campaign are doing their best to give it away.
- efudd - Monday, Oct 29, 18 @ 5:01 pm:
Not really surprised.
Republicans were never resigned with gays enjoying the same civil rights as everyone else.
Republicans were never resigned with women having say over their reproductive organs.
Republicans are never resigned with being on the right side of history, being God’s emissaries and all.
- Arsenal - Monday, Oct 29, 18 @ 5:04 pm:
==JB wins but again, there is no way he is 16-22 points ahead.==
You thinkin’ 25-30?
- efudd - Monday, Oct 29, 18 @ 5:04 pm:
“After all, he and his campaign are doing their best to give it away.”
What? By addressing every issue head on so it has less than a week life span?
- Arsenal - Monday, Oct 29, 18 @ 5:06 pm:
==After all, he and his campaign are doing their best to give it away.==
Which campaign was it again that let it’s principle spend 6 hours on a bike ride to nothing *and* lost an endorsement?
Dog knows JB’s team has made mistakes, but this comment is something else after the weekend Rauner had.
- Nacho - Monday, Oct 29, 18 @ 5:16 pm:
==JB wins but again, there is no way he is 16-22 points ahead.==
OK, let’s ignore the polls for a moment. Rauner is an unpopular incumbent who has failed in pretty much every way possible in the past four years and has the added misfortune of trying to run for reelection in a blue state during a cycle that favors Democrats. He’s facing third party challenges to his right which have forced him to expend effort to shore up his right flank (a problem in no small part due to how he alienated such voters during his term). His messaging changes practically every week. What about that makes a 16-22 point deficit unrealistic?
- Oswego Willy - Monday, Oct 29, 18 @ 5:23 pm:
Dear Mark Maxwell,
You win.
OW
===You thinkin’ 25-30?===
When - Pick A Name - and - Piece of Work - finally agree to a number…
- Really? - Monday, Oct 29, 18 @ 5:25 pm:
Reality please
- Whatever - Monday, Oct 29, 18 @ 5:35 pm:
I’m a Republican, and I’m not resigned to the Governor losing — I am sincerely hoping he does.
- Pundent - Monday, Oct 29, 18 @ 5:36 pm:
=JB wins but again, there is no way he is16-22 points ahead.=
Well Hillary Clinton won Illinois by 16 points over a President who is currently more popular than the Governor.
- Last Bull Moose - Monday, Oct 29, 18 @ 5:54 pm:
I have been a Goldwater, Reagan, Bush 1, Bush 2, Romney, and Kasich Republican. I cannot be a Trump or Rauner Republican.
Voting to help Rauner lose bigly.
- Anon221 - Monday, Oct 29, 18 @ 5:57 pm:
“…outside some of maybe the social stuff…”
Oh Pat, do please elaborate on the “social stuff”. I’d love to hear more of what that means to you… or should I just assume you mean affordable healthcare, daycare, rent, wages, food??? You know, some of the basics of what makes a community.
- Baloneymous - Monday, Oct 29, 18 @ 6:00 pm:
“The polls have been wrong the last four or five election cycles.” — Pat Brady
In the words of Michael Cohen — “which polls?”
- Oswego Willy - Monday, Oct 29, 18 @ 6:11 pm:
===Reagan, Bush 1, Bush 2, Romney, and Kasich Republican. I cannot be a Trump or Rauner Republican.===
Co-sign.
Rauner and Trump are not Republicans, by any measure or matrix, policy or politics.
Raunerism, and Raunerites either practicing Raunerism or those willing to be led by Raunerism…
… it won’t be forgotten or forgiven… until an apology is given to Republicans and Illinois… for supporting Raunerism.
I know I have receipts. I’m also a forgiving sort, and I want healing… for Illinois and the ILGOP… but Raunerism… it has to go for both to try to heal.
- Huh? - Monday, Oct 29, 18 @ 7:17 pm:
“no Republican I think is resigned at the governor losing.”
Code for “we’ve already given up the field.”
- XDNR - Monday, Oct 29, 18 @ 7:44 pm:
The storefront window at the office of the Ogle County Republican Headquarters has Rauner’s small sign tucked in a corner rather than front and center. What does that tell you, just a token gift.
- Yellow Dog Democrat - Monday, Oct 29, 18 @ 10:51 pm:
Brady is party chairman, I am not gonna fault him for saying all hope is not lost.
I also agree with him that Republicans would be more successful in urban areas if they were Democrats. That’s also becoming rapidly true in the suburbs and the Collar counties.
- Maestro - Monday, Oct 29, 18 @ 11:15 pm:
As someone said earlier, Brady can’t give up due to his position. One thing I will say for him is there has been no fresh polling released on the race. But most of the polling released is from good sources and the Governor is far behind. His problem is most people see him as unlikeable. And that has nothing to do wtih Pritzker, Madigan, Etc.
- The Dude - Tuesday, Oct 30, 18 @ 6:39 am:
Funny, because I know several Republicans that he knows and they told me different.
- PublicServant - Tuesday, Oct 30, 18 @ 6:43 am:
There are none so blind as those who will not see.
- Anonymous - Tuesday, Oct 30, 18 @ 7:12 am:
Ya, I voted for Kasich. Then, he got beat and incessantly whined and I regretted voting for him.
John, you should have been better, worked harder, got the message out more. You lost and came across as a really sore, bitter loser.
- Truthteller - Tuesday, Oct 30, 18 @ 7:51 am:
I guess Brady is saying he knows no republicans, cause the ones I know wouldn’t vote for Rauner for dog catcher…
- siriusly - Tuesday, Oct 30, 18 @ 8:34 am:
I can introduce him to some. I have talked to half a dozen GOP state legislators who apparently know something Pat Brady does not.
- Morningstar - Tuesday, Oct 30, 18 @ 8:46 am:
These kinds of messages make grammarians cry.
- CharlieKratos - Tuesday, Oct 30, 18 @ 9:01 am:
OW, at what point does “No True Scotsman” come into play? I’m not sure the Republican party is the same party you believe it to be. At least not anymore. Look at Davis as an example. He votes against pre-existing condition coverage then campaigns on supporting it. That’s Gaslighting 101. That’s Rauner. That’s Trump. That’s not the party you remember… Is it?
- Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Oct 30, 18 @ 9:09 am:
- CharlieKratos -
I’ll answer this way…
It’s been important to see John Kasich out there talking to the failings of the GOP and POTUS and the loss of decency, empathy, and honesty within the Trump GOP. Truly, it’s those small few like Kasich that keep my hope for a chance that the “current” GOP will face a reckoning.
Also, I’m not naive. The GOP that I once knew is possibly wiped clean from the landscape. Can’t find it now. What I am finding are those willing to call this new GOP what it is, and they are/were the GOP of old. A scant few, but a few none the less.
All that said… what’s going on…
Trump is not a Republican. This “GOP” has hijacked a brand without grasping what the GOP was, what it meant, and usurped empathy, sympathy, and heart from the party of Lincoln.
So… for me… all I can do is vote accordingly, and when I vote, look for those willing to make the country and Illinois better. When you lose the vote of your party…
Be well,
OW
- Anonymous - Tuesday, Oct 30, 18 @ 9:13 am:
“So it’s a lot closer than that and no Republican I think is resigned at the governor losing.”
- except the Republicans working on the Rauner campaign, who have stated internally that they don’t believe they can win.
- CharlieKratos - Tuesday, Oct 30, 18 @ 9:18 am:
OW, well said. Thank you.
FWIW, I hope the “True GOP” can regain control of their party. I’d much rather be voting on conflicting strategies on how to make life better for everyone rather than voting on whether or not Democracy even survives.
- Mama - Tuesday, Oct 30, 18 @ 9:21 am:
“Rauner and Trump are not Republicans, by any measure or matrix, policy or politics.”
Your understanding of the difference between Rauner and Trump’s party is different from the Republican party. However, most voters see them on the Republican ballot, and they vote for them just because they call themselves Republicans.
- Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Oct 30, 18 @ 9:21 am:
===I hope the “True GOP” can regain control of their party. I’d much rather be voting on conflicting strategies on how to make life better for everyone rather than voting on whether or not Democracy even survives.===
Same with me, friend. Same.
- Mama - Tuesday, Oct 30, 18 @ 9:26 am:
“You don’t care whether democracy survives?” I guess this means you don’t care about: Freedom of the press; Freedom of religion; Freedom to love the person you love, etc…
- CharlieKratos - Tuesday, Oct 30, 18 @ 9:35 am:
Mama, I don’t think you understood what I was saying… I very much believe in and support our Democracy. That’s why I’ll never vote for a Raunerite or a Trumplican.