ILGOP slams Pritzker over Madigan
Tuesday, Mar 8, 2022 - Posted by Rich Miller
* ILGOP…
Anyone who paid the least bit of attention to Illinois politics over the last few years knew that Mike Madigan was corrupt. Indeed, Democrats connected to Madigan took surprise losses in 2020 in key house districts (House Democrats Net -1), a Supreme Court District (Kilbride retention defeat) and a high profile congressional race (Rodney Davis crushes Betsy Londrigan). A non-corrupt governor would’ve run for the hills rather than stand by Madigan’s side.
By early 2021, Madigan and his entire political machine had been under investigation for two years. Offices raided, indictments raining down. It was obvious who federal investigators were after. And beyond corruption, Illinois had been led for nearly 40 years by Madigan and it had never looked worse.
Yet, the day Madigan opted to step into the shadows, Madigan’s #1 supporter, Governor JB Pritzker, made sure everyone knew exactly how he felt about the now indicted Ex-Speaker.
Pritzker waxed poetic saying, “The people of Illinois have much to be grateful for thanks to his dedicated public service, and the many sacrifices he and his family made to make a difference in our lives.”
Questions for the Governor now:
• Nothing has changed between then and now except the rumors being confirmed - so does the governor still believe the people of Illinois should be grateful for Madigan’s service?
• When other candidates during the 2018 Democratic gubernatorial primary said Madigan should step down, Pritzker demurred. When it was obvious who federal investigators were after, some Democrats voiced that it was time their longtime leader retire. Pritzker never voiced that desire. And when many other Democrats took Madigan’s campaign cash, Pritzker actually gave Madigan over $10 million. Why does Pritzker have such a special affection for one of the most corrupt politicians in America?
The $10 million figure is accurate.
* The full Pritzker quote from the day Madigan resigned from the House…
“When you dedicate your career to public service, it’s your loved ones who make the biggest sacrifices – whether it’s because you’re away from home, working long hours or spending time with constituents,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “Michael J. Madigan and his family dedicated countless hours to serving Illinois families, particularly during the Rauner years, when he served as the bulwark against constant cruelty to the most vulnerable.
Over his decades in office, he shepherded through some of the most consequential changes to our state: bringing about the legalization of gay marriage, fighting on the frontlines for workers’ rights, raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour, expanding access to voting and protecting women’s reproductive rights. The people of Illinois have much to be grateful for thanks to his dedicated public service, and the many sacrifices he and his family made to make a difference in our lives. I know how dearly he loves his wife Shirley, their children and grandchildren, and I hope that in this next chapter, his family can begin to make up for lost time.”
Your thoughts?
- Arsenal - Tuesday, Mar 8, 22 @ 10:01 am:
I think needing six days to write a press release that asks some questions that a candidate could easily answer, but will never actually have to, isn’t indicative of much.
When the 30 second spots hit, that’s when we’ll see the show.
- Chicagonk - Tuesday, Mar 8, 22 @ 10:02 am:
Pritzker teamed up with Madigan in 2018 so the attack ads write themselves. Whether the voters care is another matter - the concern would be that this depresses voter turnout for Dems and I think that would be the fear.
- Perrid - Tuesday, Mar 8, 22 @ 10:04 am:
Eh. Madigan’s #1 priority has been himself, sure, I don’t know that it logically follows that he didn’t do good work in his 40+ years in office. I don’t really care that JB said nice things about someone he had to work with.
- slow down - Tuesday, Mar 8, 22 @ 10:05 am:
Pritzker’s statement is accurate on policy accomplishments, but of course it’s not helpful to have quotes of him praising Madigan.
Still, I think it’s an uphill climb for Republicans to tie Pritzker to Madigan in any meaningful sense.
- West Side the Best Side - Tuesday, Mar 8, 22 @ 10:06 am:
Let he who is without Trump cast the first stone.
- Anyone Remember - Tuesday, Mar 8, 22 @ 10:09 am:
This from the Party of Bill Cellini? Pot, meet Kettle.
- Arsenal - Tuesday, Mar 8, 22 @ 10:10 am:
==I don’t really care that JB said nice things about someone he had to work with. ==
A critical mass of voters might, tho.
I do think that, in general, it’s hard to get people to “vote against” someone not on the ballot, unless that person is the incumbent President. But MJM is gonna give us one hell of a test case.
- low level - Tuesday, Mar 8, 22 @ 10:10 am:
I just hope the Governor’s re elect team is paying attention. This is going to be a big problem in the fall. This has the potential of being another New Jersey or Virginia.
- fs - Tuesday, Mar 8, 22 @ 10:12 am:
== This from the Party of Bill Cellini? Pot, meet Kettle.==
99.9% of Illinois voters: “Who?”
- TheInvisibileMan - Tuesday, Mar 8, 22 @ 10:12 am:
When was the last time republicans put forward a legislative package that aligns with whatever their values are. Or is the lack of such action a reflection of their lack of concrete values.
I can go to facebook if I want to hear people forever stuck on the Madigan groove of their record. Or updated - stuck on their bitstream packet.
The ILGOP spent how long beating on the drum of medical privacy and throwing tantrums over masks at the capitol, then just last week tossed all of that completely out the window in their recorded votes on workplace medical privacy.
They aren’t even internally consistent, which isn’t terrible surprising - but the degree of it taking place within the party now certainly is.
The ILGOP just seems so… empty. Why bother even acknowledging their questions at this point, much less answering it.
- JS Mill - Tuesday, Mar 8, 22 @ 10:14 am:
=99.9% of Illinois voters: “Who?”=
How did the Fire Madigan campaign work for Rauner last time?
Exactly.
- Grandson of Man - Tuesday, Mar 8, 22 @ 10:15 am:
The party who supports Trump and insurrection says what? Where is Madigan now, and where is Trump? One is fully out of politics, the other fully in.
- Henry Francis - Tuesday, Mar 8, 22 @ 10:15 am:
Poor ILGOP, they are so jelly that despite devoting 98% of their platform to removing MJM from office, they had nothing to do with his removal. Their ineptness is something.
- Hahaha - Tuesday, Mar 8, 22 @ 10:16 am:
*Pritzker publicly praises Madigan*
*Pritzker gives $10 million buckaroos to Madigan*
“I think it’s an uphill climb for Republicans to tie Pritzker to Madigan in any meaningful sense.”
Please, make it make sense.
- Grandson of Man - Tuesday, Mar 8, 22 @ 10:17 am:
“Please, make it make sense.”
See party, super-minority.
- slow down - Tuesday, Mar 8, 22 @ 10:18 am:
If Madigan was still the speaker, or at least speaker at the time of the indictment, then to me it would be a bigger drag for Pritzker. But it was under Pritzker, that Madigan was replaced.
I’m not giving Pritzker credit for removing Madigan but I do think it gives him some cover that it was under his watch that Madigan’s tenure ended.
- Hahaha - Tuesday, Mar 8, 22 @ 10:20 am:
Grandson of Man -
See Griffin, Ken.
Making the connection is like shooting a basketball into a pool.
- The Real Downstate - Tuesday, Mar 8, 22 @ 10:23 am:
Love that the ILGOP has done so poorly at the state level that they have to hype a net gain of 1 House seat and list a SCOIL race and a Congressional race in their list of wins.
- fs - Tuesday, Mar 8, 22 @ 10:24 am:
== How did the Fire Madigan campaign work for Rauner last time?==
What Federal bribery charges was Madigan facing at the time, where he was involved in a court case that will be in the news well into election season?
But you somehow think Madigan is just a Bill Cellini nobody this year? Have fun with that thinking.
- Arsenal - Tuesday, Mar 8, 22 @ 10:25 am:
==Please, make it make sense. ==
Perception and facts don’t have to go hand-in-hand.
- MisterJayEm - Tuesday, Mar 8, 22 @ 10:27 am:
Turns out the Democrats were more prepared for a post-Madigan Springfield than the the Republicans.
Maybe one year the GOP will give Illinoisans something to vote for, but I guess 2022 ain’t gonna be it.
– MrJM
- Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Mar 8, 22 @ 10:27 am:
The thing with MJM…
Money, no money, the message has already put folks where they are gonna be… it’s not like “well, I was gonna vote Dem but *now* Madigan being indicted, I’m flipping”
It’s to engage the old, angry, white, rural voters… even with Irvin leading the charge with “All lives matter”, “Chicago Crime” and “She-Caw-Go poly-Tick-in”
Irvin and company want to corner that market, “bigly” in the Trump-Era GOP.
One race at a time. Right now, it’s a primary.
- Bruce( no not him) - Tuesday, Mar 8, 22 @ 10:38 am:
Fair hit. Like it or not, voters seem to care about corruption.
At least, when it involves “the other” party.
- Arsenal - Tuesday, Mar 8, 22 @ 10:44 am:
==voters seem to care about corruption.==
I’m not sure the way they cast their votes actually supports that conclusion.
- anon2 - Tuesday, Mar 8, 22 @ 10:46 am:
The GOP accusation would’ve applied to 2002. == Anyone who paid the least bit of attention to Illinois politics over the last few years knew that == George Ryan was corrupt. But that didn’t stop GOP legislators from standing with him until he left office. There was no courageous 19.
- BluegrassBoy - Tuesday, Mar 8, 22 @ 10:49 am:
Not a good look for sure, the Madigan boogie man will haunt JB and make this election much much more difficult for him than it should be. As Bruce said, voters don’t like crooks, so the GOP has a great message to drill into voters heads for 8 months.
- TheInvisibileMan - Tuesday, Mar 8, 22 @ 11:02 am:
== so the GOP has a great message to drill into voters heads for 8 months. ==
Is that message that the members of the democratic party are the ones who voted him out of being speaker of the house?
Because it seems like an odd strategy to point out that the person now gone from office, is gone because of nothing the republicans did.
“Vote for Republicans. We enjoy being bystanders, and we will censure anyone who dares to go against our chosen party leadership unlike the Democrats.”
Sometimes I really wonder if the ILGOP understands what it has turned into. Some days they seem to proudly acknowledge it, but others they seem blissfully unaware of it.
- Wading in... - Tuesday, Mar 8, 22 @ 11:08 am:
===the GOP has a great message to drill into voters heads for 8 months.===
The voters have been hearing about corruption from the ILGOP for way, way more than 8 months, and here we are. The ILGOP has nothing to offer. Nothing.
- Back to the Future - Tuesday, Mar 8, 22 @ 11:11 am:
“…drill into voters for 8 months…”.
I think it is going to feel like 8 years.
- Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Mar 8, 22 @ 11:18 am:
===I think it is going to feel like 8 years.===
With abortion, the “economy”, foreign affairs, state fiscal affairs…
If the ILGOP wants the race to be two-pronged; Crime and Madigan…
… where are the inroads to suburban women (abortion) ethnic groups and voters (Ukraine) and persons of color living in urban areas of Illinois (All Lives Matter)
Until Pritzker polls under water *after* the primary season, all this bluster by the Griffin Ticket is …
“… to engage the old, angry, white, rural voters… even with Irvin leading the charge with “All lives matter”, “Chicago Crime” and “She-Caw-Go poly-Tick-in”
Irvin and company want to corner that market, “bigly” in the Trump-Era GOP.
One race at a time. Right now, it’s a primary”
- Nuke The Whales - Tuesday, Mar 8, 22 @ 11:31 am:
1942: Michael Madigan is born
1986: First use of “but, Madigan” campaign.
2025: Michael Madigan dies of old age.
2032: Republicans send me twelve “but, Madigan” mailers.
- Anyone Remember - Tuesday, Mar 8, 22 @ 11:39 am:
===This has the potential of being another New Jersey or Virginia.===
A thorough airing of Ken Griffin’s business activities, going back before the “I’m short your house!” era, would offset any of that.
- Grandson of Man - Tuesday, Mar 8, 22 @ 1:00 pm:
“See Griffin, Ken.”
See Raunerism and deliberate, unprecedented damage to the state’s financial and human infrastructure. JB has money too.
- West Side the Best Side - Tuesday, Mar 8, 22 @ 2:00 pm:
Nuke - You’re killing off Madigan at only 83? And of “old age”? In 2032 when the Republicans are still sending out the “but, Madigan” mailers he’ll just put them in recycling with the other junk mail he receives, including his AARP magazine when he finishes reading it.
- left of what - Tuesday, Mar 8, 22 @ 2:22 pm:
==See Griffin, Ken==
Money certainly matters, but I wouldn’t jump the gun on this. Irvin has no statewide name ID, that costs money. More importantly, he isn’t the own the libs candidate, that would be Bailey. Technically, Rabine is also trying but failing at that. The base wants the guy who will post a video on social media of taking an AR mag to the 3000 page budget bill. Irvin is not that guy.
The whole Irvin/Bourne tickets feels like it came out of the same meeting from 2013 or 2014 when Rauner decided he was running. It is like a relic of a gop that does not exist anymore.
Basically, yes, money matters. But it is marginal. Irvin has to catch up to Bailey in cultivating name recognition. Money can help with that, however, it is an uphill battle. Also, maybe this is too hot of a take for how early it is, but the vibes from the Irvin camp are just not in-line with where the Republican base is and all the money in the world might not matter if you are out of step with voters. Irvin could be the Jeb candidate of the 2022 Illinois primary.
- Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Mar 8, 22 @ 2:54 pm:
=== Basically, yes, money matters. But it is marginal. Irvin has to catch up to Bailey in cultivating name recognition. Money can help with that, however, it is an uphill battle.===
- “Meh. It can be done”… Mike Z, campaign manager, unknown Bruce Rauner…
It’s quite comical, this dismissive way “money” is seen here, heck, even Bailey wanted “GriffinBucks”
It matters. Money matters in a large way. Ask Schimpf, ask Bailey… it matters, it is an end all, because it is one of the *key* first hurdles to be seen as viable.
===The whole Irvin/Bourne tickets feels like it came out of the same meeting from 2013 or 2014 when Rauner decided he was running. It is like a relic of a gop that does not exist anymore.===
Well, you may be right. The racists thinking, insurrection supporting, and conspiracy theorists are dominating the party… but a 5-person race (if Sullivan ever files, lol) it allows Irvin to comfortably win with 37% plus. Rabine and Sullivan will spend cash to whittle down Bailey and his Trump, Far Right, “E”-Van-Gelical… cult. Irvin is where he needs to be, if Z gets this right.
- The Dude Abides - Tuesday, Mar 8, 22 @ 6:11 pm:
The GOP has a lot of ground to make up between now and November to unseat JB. They have played the Madigan card forever so I can’t say I’m surprised that this is their strategy. Maybe it will put a dent in JB’s lead. People vote their pocketbooks, JB has Illinois moving in the right direction. He’s certainly better than our previous three Governor’s, a lot better. I think he will win a second term fairly comfortably.