More about 2025 than 2028
Monday, Feb 24, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Politico today…
There was no push-back within Pritzker’s team about comparing the Trump administration and the Nazi era, something that Republicans have criticized. “There was a lot of conversation about it, like ‘How do we do this, and how do we do it the right way?’ But I wouldn’t say that there was any hesitation,” [Anne Caprara, the governor’s chief of staff] said. “This is the moment and the message that we need to deliver and if it gets a lot of attention, we feel like people need to hear it.”
Getting the message across: “We are very careful with the language,” Caprara said. “But I don’t think I’m being hyperbolic when I say that the people around me working in government and others who email me are extremely alarmed [about what’s happening in Washington]. They’re texting and emailing asking ‘What should I be doing and why isn’t somebody saying something about how bad it is?’” […]
Caprara dismissed critics who say the speech was an effort to promote Pritzker’s political stature. Not so, she said. The governor “feels a moral obligation and also he thinks it’s the right thing to do.”
* Gov. Pritzker on Jen Psacki’s podcast…
Pritzker: I don’t know if you remember. I think it was in January or February of 2024, Joe Biden gave a big speech at Valley Forge, and it was a speech about democracy.
[Biden recording: America, as we begin this election year, we must be clear: Democracy is on the ballot. Your freedom is on the ballot.]
Pritzker: And even though everything that he said was 100% accurate, and he intended it to be the message of his campaign, but that really doesn’t work. I have to say, you know, if you knock on 100 doors, and I’ve knocked on a lot of doors in my day, probably way more than 100 a lot, a lot. And I can tell you that if you said to people that democracy is challenged, people wouldn’t know what you’re talking about. They know they go to the polls and vote every two years or every four years, and things just keep going no matter who gets elected. And so democracy being challenged or being at risk isn’t something people can even imagine. So in my view, it was a terrible message, even though it clearly was being challenged, and we’re seeing the results of that now. But I don’t think that the average American is thinking that. So that’s one thing. I think a second thing I’ll just point out is, you know, this was, in my view, an election that should have been all about, and we should have singularly focused on affordability. And again, I didn’t make any of the decisions about what the messaging would be.
But I can tell you that if you just go walk down the street and stop 100 people and ask them what’s really bothering them and what they’d like to see it’s, you know, more focus on affordability. I mean going to the grocery store and not being able to buy eggs at a reasonable price. Or now, you know, with the tariffs that Donald Trump is proposing tomatoes and lettuce and, you know, [garbled] prices are going up, and so addressing that, trying to hone in on it. We did it here in Illinois. I eliminated the state grocery tax in Illinois, for example, we went after some of the very costly things, like health care. We’re going to do it again this year that are affecting people’s lives where, you know, the cost of health care and health care premiums keeps going up and up. And I think, if you’re not addressing those kind of kitchen table issues, making it cheaper and easier for kids to go to college and for their parents to be able to afford it, those things are the most important things, I think, to folks out there who were going to the polls in November and Democrats managed not to focus on that. And we need to be really clear, really clear as Democrats focusing on the things that really matter.
The take-away from all this is that Pritzker understands that the stuff he talked about at the end of his speech last week hasn’t been an effective campaign message against Trump. So, why did he do it anyway? As explained above, lots of folks were demanding that somebody stand up and say what they were thinking. I was told much the same last week. From the subscriber section…
When I pressed the issue yesterday, I was told that the governor was trying to send as strong a message as possible to timid national Democrats that it is time to wake up to escalating authoritarianism. The address was Pritzker’s most high-profile opportunity to send that message and it therefore had a much better chance of being noticed than if he did it at a lesser event.
In other words, the speech was not so much about 2028, as the Tribune claimed over the weekend. The end of his speech was about February of 2025. Today.
* Even so, I’m still not convinced it was a good idea to use that constitutionally required speech to deliver that message. He could’ve gone to the White House with the National Governors Association and said it and he would’ve gotten a ton more coverage…
- LOL - Monday, Feb 24, 25 @ 2:02 pm:
No one who attended NGA accomplished anything g other than giving trump a platform to berate and belittle them. The Gov’s speech is going viral because it needs to be said and people want to hear someone say it. I know this is hard for people to believe but there a politicians who do things because they feel strongly about their moral compass. There’s no forum at NGA to deliver a message that speaks to the masses and I say that as someone who has attended more than a few of these lobbyist funded cattle calls.
- Rich Miller - Monday, Feb 24, 25 @ 2:03 pm:
===There’s no forum at NGA to deliver a message===
And yet, the governor of Maine made her own.
- AlfonsoLake - Monday, Feb 24, 25 @ 2:05 pm:
Here’s what I know - that speech is everywhere right now. I open any social media app I have on my phone and 20 people in and out of politics are sharing it. So regardless of why he did it and what the intention is - people are responding to it. And they are responding to it on the mediums that Republicans and Trump have traditionally done well on.
And I disagree that he could have gone and delivered the same message at the NGA. Trump wasn’t going to give a Governor who clearly loathes him a platform like that. He would have been used as a photo op in the room while Trump scolded him from the podium. Frankly - Pritzker’s team seems to be playing chess right now while everyone else is playing checkers.
Speaking as an Illinois voter myself, I’m glad he used the state of the state to deliver this message. It is relevant to me as an Illinoisian. These cuts are affecting my friends and some of my family. I WANT to hear my Governor address it. And I think a lot of other people do too given all the attention it’s getting.
- Arsenal - Monday, Feb 24, 25 @ 2:07 pm:
==And yet, the governor of Maine made her own.==
She had to get called out by Trump. Hard to plan for that.
To the post, I think it’s both about right now AND 2028- and of course, right now we need to talk about both authoritarianism AND economics, and we’ll have to do both in 2028, too. But I don’t think Pritzker and his team are surprised or dismayed by the attention he got for this speech.
- Enlightening Penguins - Monday, Feb 24, 25 @ 2:11 pm:
With all due respect, Rich - the Governor of Maine got a one line response in as the President berated her from the podium on an issue the Dems don’t want to talk about. I’m glad she did what she did and I genuinely admire Governor Mills - but it’s not like Trump would have given JB a venue to say what he said last week. And judging by the attention the Governor is getting over that speech - the calculation was well worth it. There are different ways to get a message out and just because you don’t like this one does not mean it hasn’t been effective.
- Responsa - Monday, Feb 24, 25 @ 2:12 pm:
In my opinion this was absolutely about 2028 and an attempt to make his name better known on the national front. Despite his ambitions JB’s name is rarely mentioned in the company of Josh Shapiro, Whitmer, Beshear and Jared Polis as potential frontrunners.
- Captain Obvious - Monday, Feb 24, 25 @ 2:13 pm:
Democrats being concerned about “authoritarianism” is a hoot. They like it just fine when they are in charge. They whine about losing their rights under Republicans while they do everything they can to suppress free speech, religious freedom, and Second Amendment rights when they have control. They drone on about threats to our democracy (which is not what our country has ever been) while ignoring the will of their own party’s voters in two presidential primary elections. Spare me. Pritzker’s nazi comparisons really had nothing to do with the budget, he will be taking every opportunity going forward to position himself to run for President in 2028. No reason to be disingenuous about it now.
- Rich Miller - Monday, Feb 24, 25 @ 2:15 pm:
===just because you don’t like this one does not mean it hasn’t been effective===
Most everyone who has commented on it has claimed that it was a 2028 ploy. So, I would definitely argue that it hasn’t served its intended purpose.
Bite me.
- Chicago Voter - Monday, Feb 24, 25 @ 2:23 pm:
Ahhh, haven’t had a good bite me in a while.
- TrumpEdgarVoter - Monday, Feb 24, 25 @ 2:26 pm:
Here’s the issue everyone & their father is too quick to jump to screaming Nazi, Fascist, Nationalist. Just stop. The Governor has every right to disagree with the President and use his state of the state to do so, but just stop. 43 percent of the Illinois electorate are not nationalists. I also despise my member of congress who invoked Hitler with her incoherent stream of thoughts on her second day in office four years ago.
These comments, whether totally unacceptable in case of (R-No Relation) or Gov. Pritzker drawing those parallels from 80 years ago serve no purpose for useful discourse. I know (R-No Relation) has no common-sense, I just hoped our Governor would figure out a more diplomatic way of disagreeing without disparaging those who did vote for the President.
- Overbay - Monday, Feb 24, 25 @ 2:29 pm:
Love ya Rich Miller but disagree with you on ‘a ton more coverage’ point. Governor Pritzker’s speech penetrated social media, influencers, celebrities, main stream media (Meet the Press etc.) more than I have ever seen any Governor from Illinois. I think controlling the venue was the difference. NGA was a circus.
- JS Mill - Monday, Feb 24, 25 @ 2:30 pm:
=They whine about losing their rights under Republicans while they do everything they can to suppress free speech, religious freedom,=
My goodness how hypocritical of you. The republicans groused and groused about freedom of speech and religious (christian) persecution all through the biden term. Now referring to the 5 century old name of a body of water gets you banned. Why aren’t you complaining about that? Why aren’t you complaining about the overt violation of the establishment clause of the first amendment?
As with everything on the right, every accusation is a confession.
- To Be Clear - Monday, Feb 24, 25 @ 2:32 pm:
The Governor is aware just how anxious, fearful and stressed folks are all over the State every time a new order or tweet comes out from Musk, Trump or any federal “official”. The Governor was sharing his own feelings as a Jewish man living in a country that seems to have found it acceptable to raise your hand to salute a dictator responsible for 11 millions deaths. If you go back and read the speech, it was written through the lense of personally lived experiences of the Governor and survivors of fascism. Nothing about 2028 in that speech - 2025 was and remains the focus for the Governor.
- Rich Miller - Monday, Feb 24, 25 @ 2:36 pm:
===more than I have ever seen any Governor from Illinois===
You must’ve been asleep during Blagojevich. /s
- Fuji Film - Monday, Feb 24, 25 @ 2:38 pm:
I’m not sure what you mean, Rich, by it “hasn’t served its intended purpose.”
If it’s intended purpose was to draw attention to what Trump is doing and how dangerous it is - well it accomplished that. The speech is everywhere. All the local and national outlets are covering it and frankly forcing other Dems and Reps to respond to its message.
If the intended purpose was the raise the Governor’s profile and get him attention with Democrats in advance of a 2028 run - well it accomplished that too. It’s all my friends and family can talk about. And it has penetrated on social media channels in ways I rarely see anything political do.
Why all the “bite me” anger - don’t we want our governor standing up for democracy and talking about what we want our country and our Constitution to mean? Doesn’t that fall right in line with one’s duties as an elected official and as someone whose job it is to protect Illinoisans?
And I’m sorry but no - hard disagree the governor could have gotten the same kind of coverage out of the NGA. No one - least of all Trump - as going to give him a stage to say what he said there.
- Spring Forward - Monday, Feb 24, 25 @ 2:41 pm:
Uhhh - yeah ok JB is not getting the same kind of coverage as Blagojevich as he did not try and sell a Senate seat and then get sent to jail. But yeah - the most non sensational/positive coverage I’ve seen an Illinois governor get and I’m sure no in JB’s office is complaining about that.
- Who else - Monday, Feb 24, 25 @ 2:47 pm:
I thought it was totally appropriate, and I think if you think he was talking about you that says more about you than about what he said. He described things that actually happened– it was not an exercise in hypotheticals. And while there are more relevant lines that can be drawn to more recent adventures in tyranny, like Hungary, it is still relevant to see how it’s played out in other contexts. The fall of constitutional democracy in Germany is such a basic frame of reference for this governor that it does not surprise me this is where he went with it.
As far as its relevance to Illinois goes, this was a state of the state address, combined with the budget address. Both the state of our state and the budget for FY26 are intrinsically linked to what’s happening to our federal government.
I’ve been incredibly frustrated by the instinct so many democrats on the national stage have to go along to get along. But why do democrats want to get along with someone who declares himself king and brings his buddy to work with him to violate laws and the constitution in the most inhumane ways possible, all while treating career civil servants with the respect owed to a dust pan?
I’m glad he said what he said when and where he said it.
One unexpected outcome from the speech has been that my non-political friends (the ones have no idea what this blog is and think that congress meets in Springfield) heard the speech– and they not only heard about what’s at stake and were relieved that someone is talking about it, but they went back and watched the rest of it. They know I am adjacent to the Springfield world and asked me about policy things Pritzker is doing related to healthcare, among other things. I’m not sure that’s every happened to me before after a budget address.
- TrumpEdgarVoter - Monday, Feb 24, 25 @ 2:48 pm:
ToBeClear - I did read his address, then watched it. That’s where my disappointment stems from. I can’t know what it was like to be a survivor of the Holocaust, but I can be educated. Talk with my fellow Illinoisans about what practices to avoid, but there’s still the specter of 43 percent of us being labeled as nationalists. That’s the lens of disappointment I feel towards the Gov.
- Shytown - Monday, Feb 24, 25 @ 2:49 pm:
Two things be true at the same time whether intended or not. Can it be the right message at this moment in time? Yes. Can it have an intended or unintended benefit of elevating his national profile? Yes, even if this is a constitutionally required speech. I think whatever the governor says it’s going to get on the radar of national media as most folks are looking at him and a handful of other governors as potential challengers in 2028, so I’m OK with him using his platform to say the things out loud that need to be said. Between dismantling the FBI and the military, to slashing critical services to vulnerable people, or surrounding himself with fanatical Magas and Nazi signaling advisors, our country is at a critical crossroads. I’m worried that most people are still not awake to the fact of what is going on around us. We are barely a month into this administration, and people are still going about their everyday lives as if the dismantlement of our very democracy is not underway right now, every day at every hour under this administration. I wish that every leader with a national platform would stand up and say what needs to be said, and encourage people to be resilient and brave and loud so that others feel more safe to stand up and also say what needs to be said.
- Politix - Monday, Feb 24, 25 @ 2:56 pm:
JB is doing what the DNC should have been doing for several years now. It takes guts to step up and call terrible things what they are when everyone else is afraid to.
- Rich Miller - Monday, Feb 24, 25 @ 2:58 pm:
SECTION 13. GOVERNOR - LEGISLATIVE MESSAGES
The Governor, at the beginning of each annual session of the General Assembly and at the close of his term of office, shall report to the General Assembly on the condition of the State and recommend such measures as he deems desirable.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)
- Gravitas - Monday, Feb 24, 25 @ 3:10 pm:
“How bad it is” after thirty-five days? Like the past four years were utopian? How often does a major political party cancel its own nominee during the middle of a campaign? These are not normal times.
The dictatorship, fascist, and Nazi tropes were were used extensively in the 2024 election cycle and rejected because a significant number of voters did not believe the smears. Pritzker used the same arguments at the DNC without moving the needle. Why double down now?
Will Illinois suffer in terms of Federal funding because of the rhetorical grandstanding of its leaders. That’s something that I worry about.
- Rich Miller - Monday, Feb 24, 25 @ 3:13 pm:
===were used extensively in the 2024 election cycle and rejected … Why double down now?===
Did you not read the post? It’s all explained. He actually *agrees* it didn’t work.
- Steve - Monday, Feb 24, 25 @ 3:15 pm:
I really believe JB would have compared Trump to Nazis whether he is running for political office or not. That’s what he believes. So, do a lot of voters in Illinois. I don’t know if JB’s Illlinois views on politics can win in 2028. Times change and Barack Obama had different challenges in 2008. The next presidential election cycle should bring out all Democratic candidates that really want to run for president. There will be no Trump next time. JB’s got the money and he’s the governor of the 6th biggest state. It’s up to him.
- Norseman - Monday, Feb 24, 25 @ 3:19 pm:
Whether on purpose or not, JB is responding to the backseat pundits and social media commenters who are screaming for more Dem action. On the other hand, it is a legitimate point that a too large a segment of the general public doesn’t care about what is being done to our democracy. They care about the price of eggs, etc. etc.
Thanks to the Project 2025 folks and Musk, the DOGE purge is generating a backlash out of a concern for the privacy of their information and the loss of jobs that either personally affect them or brings a legitimate concern as to economic blowback.
Dem messaging needs to focus on the economic, privacy and world security concerns that are being made worse because of Trump and Musk.
P.S. The saying that history doesn’t repeat, but it does rhyme definitely applies to the Nazi metaphor for Trump/MAGA. (If you want to argue it, see me on Bluesky.)
P.P.S. Good on JS for putting the MAGA victimization whine in its place.
- Roman - Monday, Feb 24, 25 @ 3:33 pm:
I think what we see here is JB offering sound General Election strategy in the interview with Jen Psacki: meet people where they are, talk about kitchen table issue, etc.
While what we saw at the State of the State/Budget address was JB practicing sound Democratic Primary politics: beat up Trump, play off the anxieties of high propensity progressive voters, etc.
It all good politics. Not sure I love the idea of using a State of the State or budget address as a venue for it.
- homer - Monday, Feb 24, 25 @ 3:34 pm:
Pritzker’s Trump rhetoric in that speech was inappropriate, as Rich says. And who knows what he was thinking. If the “Trump=fascism” argument was a loser in the election, I’m not sure why Pritzker would think it is going to work now. Calling fellow Democrats cowards for not adopting a strategy that failed spectacularly in November is probably not going to inspire them.
- ArchPundit - Monday, Feb 24, 25 @ 3:36 pm:
===Here’s the issue everyone & their father is too quick to jump to screaming Nazi, Fascist, Nationalist. Just stop.
The problem with this is it ignores sometimes there are Nazis and fascists. Notice the recent spate of Nazi salutes. To someone like the Governor, that’s not a joke. It’s not to me either.
Federalism is one of the tools the writers of the Constitution saw as critical to avoiding authoritarianism. The Governor is acting in that tradition as we see multiple violations of the clear letter of the Constitution and law.
- Three Dimensional Checkers - Monday, Feb 24, 25 @ 3:37 pm:
Rahm Emanuel was saying on his podcast junket that the problem with the democracy and authoritarian messaging is not that it is wrong, but that Dems already have all the democracy voters. It does not persuade or add, just running in place. I understand the urge to give some reassurance to the base, but we need to focus on addition, not multiplying by one.
- ArchPundit - Monday, Feb 24, 25 @ 3:38 pm:
===Pritzker’s Trump rhetoric in that speech was inappropriate,
What was inappropriate? I don’t understand that if people are using Nazi salutes, ignoring the Constitution, and breaking federal law in several ways, how is it not appropriate for Governor of a state to not call it out? That’s the design of our system is that power is decentralized for a reason–something I’ll note the current President wishes to change.
- JS Mill - Monday, Feb 24, 25 @ 3:41 pm:
=Pritzker’s Trump rhetoric in that speech was inappropriate=
And your thoughts on the last almost decade of trump’s rhetoric?
Sorry, let’s keep it Illinois centric…how about the Illinois maga’s like rep. miller?
Exactly what I thought.
- Demoralized - Monday, Feb 24, 25 @ 3:41 pm:
==43 percent of the Illinois electorate are not nationalists.==
And yet they voted for one. So, yes, that at least condone it.
- Central Sally - Monday, Feb 24, 25 @ 3:50 pm:
I appreciated the Governor’s comments during his State of the State address. I’m not sure you can give an honest projection of the state or a balanced budget when one person at the federal level is putting so much in-flux. Friends and neighbors are losing jobs, scared to go to school, healthcare isn’t stable, funding for agencies and research is being ripped away… it made my fears and the fears of those around me feel validated. I thought it was a good space for it.
- ArchPundit - Monday, Feb 24, 25 @ 3:51 pm:
=====43 percent of the Illinois electorate are not nationalists.==
People vote for all sorts of reasons and criticizing a President for his actions is not criticizing all his voters. If a voter cannot separate out criticism of someone they voted for and themselves I’d suggest one might want to think of a more healthy self-identity.
- TheInvisibleMan - Monday, Feb 24, 25 @ 3:56 pm:
“It takes guts to step up and call terrible things what they are when everyone else is afraid to”
Nobody was ever afraid. Although I understand why so many people want to retcon history to avoid accountability for their choices.
For YEARS all we heard from many many many democratic office holders, was that civility should be the rule - no matter how violent the attacks.
And yes, taking away rights is an act of violence.
The current crop of dems practically rolled out the red carpet for everything we are facing today. Not all of them, but a large number of them. They did not cause what is happening, they just were unwilling participants in advancing it. The only fear involved was in being called un-civil by others in the in-group. Fear is not the correct word. Cowardice is.
JB is doing what dems should have been doing for a long time. Unfortunately, many of those dems were all too busy finger-wagging and scolding people in their own party who attempted to do exactly these things previously. There are still people calling his actions uncivil, as if that means anything anymore. Words are never uncivil, by definition. Violence is uncivil, and words are not violence. The dems lost this message somewhere and the damage caused by it has been immense.
How many local city resolutions have there been about ‘being civil’. How many times have residents had to listen to this bloviating from on high while the actual problems people were becoming increasingly angry about were being dismissed?
There was no voice that could have been calm enough pointing these things out, which would not regularly be called uncivil in response by the peanut gallery. And it worked. People instead thought being focused on being civil, whatever nebulous definition it had at the moment, was the important part and not the actual issue being addressed.
A lot of people thought being civil with Nazis was the correct choice. Those people were wrong, and those who did that need to forever be reminded of their choice - just as much as the actual Nazis. Because there is no functional difference between the two.
- Rich Miller - Monday, Feb 24, 25 @ 4:00 pm:
===JB is doing what dems should have been doing for a long time===
Biden based his entire presidential reelection on that.
- TrumpEdgarVoter - Monday, Feb 24, 25 @ 4:00 pm:
Arch - credit to you for attempting to dissect the issue. I might not care for Trump the man or his style, but I do believe that some of the economic policies are more beneficial than under Biden.
Demoralized - exactly my point, a drive by comment no discourse.
JS Mill - I believe (R-No Relation) is exactly that — no relation to anything sensible. There’s clearly GOP legislators who can want the best for IL. This purity test in both parties is unhealthy for our state & nation.
In closing, do-better all of us. Figure out how to have meaningful discourse without slapping a label on your opponents
- SWIL_Voter - Monday, Feb 24, 25 @ 4:09 pm:
Such a funny debate. The GOP has called me a radical communist bent on destroying America and likened Democratic policy positions to PolPot for literally decades. But sure, please, let me hear from some more Republicans on how concerned they are about rhetoric. Hilarious.
- ArchPundit - Monday, Feb 24, 25 @ 4:11 pm:
===In closing, do-better all of us.
Fair enough and always trying
- Rich Miller - Monday, Feb 24, 25 @ 4:18 pm:
===practicing sound Democratic Primary politics===
You do realize that voters have a memory span of about 11 seconds, right?
- BE - Monday, Feb 24, 25 @ 4:43 pm:
==Will Illinois suffer in terms of Federal funding because of the rhetorical grandstanding of its leaders. That’s something that I worry about.==
IL got hit during Covid and Pritzker had to go elsewhere to get the supplies our state needed because Trump had a toddler fit. We’re going to be a big target for so much over the next 4 years.
But I think that Trump’s Revenge would still come even if Pritzker was silent for the next 4 years. Trump has a hard…liking about hurting people who didn’t vote for him and Chicago is one of his _favorite_ places to whine about and thus one of his favorite targets to take revenge on. Between how big Chicago is, how it votes and the fact that Obama lived here, he has plenty to hate about IL that doesn’t even bring Pritzker into it.
- It's always Sunny in Illinois - Monday, Feb 24, 25 @ 4:58 pm:
* Gov. Pritzker on Jen Psacki’s podcast…
Please…..Mike Madigan on Tim Mapes Podcast…..he needs to do better…
- you ok? - Monday, Feb 24, 25 @ 5:20 pm:
“It takes guts to step up and call terrible things what they are when everyone else is afraid to.”
Man. Some of us have learned nothing from November.