If Barack Obama wins the White House on Tuesday, Gov. Blagojevich will appoint a search committee to advise him on who he should appoint as his replacement in the United States Senate, I learned Monday.
I’m told that Blagojevich will host a press conference later this week in Chicago in order to discuss the appointment, the criteria and give some insight into the process to replace Obama, elected to the Senate in 2004. […]
Blagojevich will not limit the pool of potential Obama replacements to elected officials.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Whoever takes this appointment could very well be doomed. The whiff of Blagojevich’s stank has so far been the kiss of death in legislative and congressional races this year. I can’t see his popularity getting much better in the run-up to 2010. It may get much, much worse if the feds catch up to him.
Enjoy your two years in the Senate, whoever you may be (if, of course, Obama pulls this out), because that may be all you get.
The only way out of this impending disaster (or, if you’re a Republican or a Democratic primary opponent, a gift from God) is to allow Obama to make the pick. Get this choice as far away from the governor as possible. A blue ribbon panel just won’t do the trick.
* Also, in case you care, Rasmussen Reports has a new poll showing Obama leading John McCain in Illinois 60-38.
Private funeral services for Christine Ann Durbin, the daughter of U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Loretta Durbin, will be held this Thursday in suburban Maryland outside Washington, D.C. The services are limited to family and close friends.
Chris Durbin, 40, passed away on Saturday from complications related to a congenital heart condition. She is survived by her parents, her husband Marty Johnson and son Alex; brother Paul (and wife Jamie); sister Jennifer (and husband Michael).
In lieu of flowers the Durbin family has asked that a charitable donation be made to:
Children’s Heart Institute
Adult Congenital Heart Research (in honor of Chris Durbin)
Children’s National Medical Center
111 Michigan Ave NW
Washington, D.C. 20010
Constituents wishing to express their condolences to the Durbin family can access an online condolence book at www.durbin.senate.gov. Books of condolence will also be available at the Senator’s offices in Illinois and in Washington, DC (details as to location of each book can be found at www.durbin.senate.gov). Handwritten or personal condolences may be sent to the Senator’s Springfield office at 525 S. 8th Street, Springfield, Illinois, 62703.
“Chris was a remarkable woman who was deeply committed to her family and deeply loved in return. The Durbin family is so grateful and has been touched by the outpouring of sympathy and support from those who have sent along their prayers and good wishes,” said Durbin spokesman Joe Shoemaker.
* Your endorsements (not your predictions) for tomorrow’s election. As far down the ballot as you can go. Explain fully without any predigested (or even undigested) talking points. Thanks.
* The Evans & Novak Political Report has moved Republican Congressman Mark Kirk’s race to “Leaning Democratic.” No explanation was offered.
ENPR has freshman Democrat Bill Foster’s race against Republican Jim Oberweis as “Leaning Democratic” as well as Senate Majority Leader Debbie Halvorson’s contest against Republican Martin Ozinga.
* Mike Murray takes a look at the Oberweis vs. Foster race and finds Oberweis coming up short…
Independent groups have seen the writing on the wall, as $4.7 million was spent on the competitive special election. However, nothing has been has been spent for the fall rematch, a clear indicator that Foster is the favorite.
Perhaps the best indicator of Foster’s victory comes from Oberweis own pocketbook. In spite of his rhetoric, Oberweis has only contributed $475,000 to his fall campaign compared to the $2 million he shelled out for the special election.
* Adding to the GOP’s problems, early voting was huge in Illinois and election day may set a record…
Election officials counting ballots throughout Illinois say the state has set a new record of more than 821,000 early votes cast.
Authorities say that includes almost 484,000 early voters in Chicago and suburban Cook County.
The previous state high was set during the February primaries, when about 220,000 people voted.
Cook County Clerk David Orr says election judges alarmed by large crowds called fire marshals to several polling places Thursday.
Illinois election officials hope that record turnout in advance of the actual Election Day means shorter lines on Tuesday, when many expect turnout to be about 80 percent.
Still, there’s worry that many of the state’s remaining 6.9 million registered voters could clog the polls.
About 220,000 people cast ballots before Election Day in the February primaries in Illinois.
* But Steve Sauerberg bravely soldiers on, albeit in a boat aimlessly floating up the River Nile…
One poll of 800 likely voters released this week by Maryland-based Research 2000 found that [Democratic US Sen. Dick Durbin] had a 59 percent to 34 percent lead, 7 percent undecided. But Sauerberg is undaunted: “Our internal polls are not as bad as some other polls.'’
Operative phrase: “Not as bad.”
* PI has posted an excerpt from a CBS News report on veterans running for congress that features Illinois Democratic candidate Jill Morgenthaler…
* Walking precincts can be scary at times, or it could just involve navigating through a maze of Halloween decorations…
Life as a campaign foot soldier can be brutal.
Doors slammed in your face; shouting; aggressive dogs. And for April Wong Loi Sing, loud, scary Halloween prop noises.
That’s what the married mom of four and Marty Ozinga volunteer encountered Saturday morning after wading through a front yard of elaborate Halloween decorations, searching for a front door to knock on.
“The homeowner and I had a big laugh afterward,” she said, after a loud, high-pitched noise piped into the front yard had her screaming with shock and fright.
* Elections a miracle: Before you make fun of senior citizens who act as judges on Election Day, or anyone else who serves in that capacity, I suggest you take one of the training sessions offered free of charge by the office of Cook County Clerk David Orr. Those judges earn every doughnut they eat on Election Day.
The federal judge in the trial of former Chicago alderman and power broker Edward Vrdolyak told prospective jurors this morning that Vrdolyak will plead guilty to a kickback scheme involving the sale of a medical school building.
Sources have said for weeks that Vrdolyak was staunchly resisting any sort of plea bargain, even after the feds reportedly offered him a very sweet deal in exchange for testimony on other matters. His attorney reportedly urged him to talk, but he refused. Until now, perhaps.
Fast Eddie probably knows where a whole lot of bones are buried, so this could get interesting.
*** 10:47 am *** I’m hearing from a good source close to the action that Vrdolyak will plead guilty to the above charge, but will apparently not testify on other matters that the feds have professed interest in, at least for now. 16 months is the prison term floating around.
In a statement to reporters, Vrdolyak’s lawyer, Michael Monico, said Vrdolyak had been discussing a possible guilty plea with his family for some time. “And on Saturday the government suggested a reduced charge,” Monico said.
Vrdolyak had been indicted on mail and wire fraud, but prosecutors agreed to charge him with conspiracy, which carries a shorter prison term. […]
The plea agreement states that the U.S. attorney’s office would not file any charges against Vrdolyak in relation to accusations leveled against Springfield powerbroker William Cellini, who was indicted last week and accused of trying to extort a campaign contribution for Gov. Rod Blagojevich. […]
“I didn’t know at the time they were going to be mailed,” [Vrdolyak] said of certain documents that were part of the fraudulent deal. “But I was in fact hoping my client would get the deal.”
* As I told you yesterday, Paul Vallas won’t run for governor, or, apparently, anything else in 2010…
Saying he still has work to do to improve New Orleans schools, Paul Vallas said Sunday he won’t run for governor of Illinois in 2010.
Vallas, who was the first Chicago Public Schools CEO, is a major player in education. He heads the New Orleans school system and used to run Philadelphia schools.
* Vallas held the Sunday press conference to announce his support for the constitutional convention ballot question. The suburban and downstate pollling I’ve seen lately is all bad for the “Yes” folks, so it probably didn’t do much good.
When a politician can singlehandedly stop school funding reform in Illinois, or ethics reform, then there is something fundamentally broken about the governing charter that does nothing to intervene in that insult to democracy.
When a governor can use his amendatory veto power to add to, not just subtract from, a piece of legislation, effectively acting as a program-creating, revenue-allocating Legislature unto himself, then there is something grievously wrong with the all-too-ambiguous Constitution that allows that to happen. When just three people can essentially craft and agree on a budget that is then passed overwhelmingly by 175 largely clueless others who serve as mere props to the main play, then you don’t have representative democracy.
For those reasons - all real indiscretions committed by representatives of both major parties - Illinoisans should vote “yes” to a ballot measure that calls for a constitutional convention to address that which ails the document passed to much acclaim in 1970. Given the most dysfunctional, incompetent and arguably corrupt state government in memory, that Constitution desperately needs some tweaking.
Yep.
* The Tribune takes another crack at the issue today…
Insult and indignity are complete: Rod Blagojevich, governor of Illinois, wants you to vote against calling a constitutional convention. He frets that delegates might propose limiting the executive powers—real or goofily imagined—by which he pays for his obsessions at the expense of taxpayers. Without legislative approval. Without our approval.
He might have added: Delegates also could propose letting voters recall pols who accept fat salaries but won’t do their jobs honorably. Inept governors included.
So this settles it: Virtually all of the insiders with claims on power and money in this state fear losing clout. That is, for once the insiders are worried about you.Some opponents of a con-con sincerely believe that today’s citizenry isn’t as astute as, well, the citizenry that approved our current constitution. Other opponents sincerely believe only in their own entitlement.
* But this is a big reason why the numbers are breaking heavily against the con-con…
The opposing sides in the debate over whether Illinois voters should call a new constitutional convention are waging a lopsided battle when it comes to raising money to promote their messages.
About $1.7 million has been contributed so far to political funds affiliated with the referendum question that will appear on ballots Tuesday. Of that amount, almost all of it — more than $1.5 million — has been directed to a group that wants Illinoisans to vote “no” when they’re asked if they favor a constitutional convention.
* Con-con career starts: The last time Illinois voters decided to rewrite the constitution, way back in 1969, the state ended up with a bumper crop of new political leaders. Here are a dozen people whose political careers began at the 1969 convention, when they were among the 116 delegates.
An uncanny likeness of freshly indicted political power broker William Cellini is pictured in an oil painting at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield.
Dressed in a natty black suit, Cellini — a longtime state government insider who was indicted last week on corruption charges — is standing over Lincoln’s right shoulder, gesturing as if to make a point to the president as vote totals come for Lincoln’s 1864 re-election.
The museum won’t confirm that it’s Cellini in the picture — but it’s not denying it, either, since the artist has acknowledged putting friends and acquaintances in his work at the museum.
Look, the federal indictment against Cellini may not be as strong as it could be, and he most definitely deserves his day in court, but he’s always been a controversial figure in Illinois politics and completely associated with this state’s “pigs at the trough” image. He and Jim Thompson re-invented “pinstripe patronage” here
So, indictment or no indictment, forever memorializing him at the Lincoln Museum - of all places - is an abomination.
If you’ve ever read Paul Simon’s book “Lincoln’s Preparation for Greatness,” you know that back in the days when Lincoln was in the Illinois House, businesses which wanted to incorporate had to pass a bill through the General Assembly. As a result, lots of legislators got in on some free money by being made corporate directors. Lincoln never did.
Also, at a time when Illinois was still mostly undeveloped, the General Assembly routinely passed legislation opening up public lands for private developement and legislators usually were in on the scam. Lincoln only participated once, and he ended up losing money.
So, putting the king of pinstripe patronage in a painting of Abraham Lincoln that’s hanging at the Lincoln Museum is just wrong, on every level.
And when the Sun-Times asked if the Museum would remove the painting if Cellini was convicted, the paper got this response…
“It’s a piece of art, with no one saying it’s him or not. So no,” museum spokesman Dave Blanchette says.
What a crock.
Cellini and his wife have raised a ton of money for the museum, and Mrs. Cellini essentially oversees the museum via her chairmanship of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. Cal Skinner discovered in January of last year that Julie Cellini’s visage is also in a painting at the museum.
These paintings cement our state’s reputation as almost beyond reform. Or, since it’s Cellini, perhaps it should be “asphalts” our reputation.
*** UPDATE *** Scott Reeder notes the irony at Gov. Blagojevich’s firing of Richard Beard, the director of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum and Library, who was accused of shoplifting…
But the governor hasn’t been charged with any crime — so far.
If he ever is, let’s hope he holds himself to the same standard that he held Mr. Beard. Blagojevich fired him before a jury had ruled. Guilt or innocence was irrelevant — only the unseemliness of the accusation mattered.
Yes, it would be nice if politicians held themselves to the same standards they hold others. But, if I were you, I wouldn’t hold my breath — just my nose.
According to The Center on Budget Policy and Priorities’ report The Impact of State Income Taxes on Low-Income Families in 2007 nine states tax the income of two-parent families of four earning less than ¾ of the federal poverty line ($15,902). Only nine states do that. And Illinois is one of them.
Average statewide reading scores released Friday show 53.3 percent of 11th-graders in public schools met state standards, down from 54.1 percent in 2007 and the third straight year that high school reading scores dropped.
State pension assets dropped almost $14 billion between Oct. 1, 2007, Sept. 30, 2008.
What this means is that pension systems — under-funded by the state for years — face an even bigger gap between their assets and what they’ll ultimately need to pay out to retirees.
For example, in June 2007, the Illinois Teacher’s Retirement System (TRS) was funded at 64 percent, making it one of the most underfunded public pension systems in the nation.
But the bear market has sent TRS investments into a tailspin and a June 30, 2008, audit found it funded at just 56 percent, TRS reported on Thursday.
The pensions are far from broke. The TRS, for example, had $34.1 billion at the end of September, even after its assets plunged $8.2 billion, or 19 percent.
In 2007 California had the 2nd lowest number of full-time equivalent state government employees relative to population among all states. California had 103 state employees for every 10,000 residents while Illinois had the lowest ratio at 97.
Inmate disturbances at Menard Correctional Center in Chester which have forced the Illinois Department of Corrections to place the maximum-security facility on lockdown status concerns the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME).
AFSCME spokesman Anders Lindall said Wednesday afternoon that Menard is on a lockdown status due to incidents Friday, Saturday and Monday in the inmate dining rooms in the maximum-security unit of the facility.
“This is an example of the crisis that DOC is creating all over the state by closing down Pontiac Correctional Center. Pontiac is a perfectly good facility but it is being closed and that action is creating new complications everywhere else in the system,” said Lindall.
“I’m very concerned about my condominium community and the impact this will have on their financial bottom line. We on one side have given condo refuse rebates and now, we’re going to go back and tax the container….We’re sending out some really conflicting messages,” Tunney said.
* State Sen. Chris Lauzen lost the 14th Congressional District Republican primary against Jim Oberweis last February, but Lauzen’s already gearing up for another bid in 2010. Check out this flier…
I called the contact person on the flier, and he said there were no orders yet from Lauzen about whether this will go ahead if Oberweis wins on Tuesday. There was also no talk of paying off any campaign debt from February’s bid. Lauzen is carrying $254,541 in debt. But this is more about 2010 than 2008. A new Lauzen website called “Defend Illinois” is about to be launched, and Paul Sippil is the owner and tech contact…
Administrative, Technical Contact:
Sippil, Paul
…Adding… The above website is not affiliated with Lauzen, according to Sippil.
Oberweis is generally considered the underdog against Democrat incumbent Bill Foster. But announcing a fundraiser before Oberweis’ political body is even officially dead yet is somewhat odd.
* According to a friend who was there, former Chicago schools chief and onetime gubernatorial candidate Paul Vallas was asked at a press conference today whether he would run for governor in 2010.
Vallas flatly ruled out a 2010 run.
Vallas said he has asked for a one-year extension of his New Orleans public school district contract. He was asked about other offices, including county board president, and Vallas reportedly said he wasn’t going to run through the whole list.
Paul Vallas announced Sunday he would not run for governor or any office and has instead signed on for a third year as head of New Orleans’ public schools.
“I would have liked to have run for governor,” Vallas said.
But Vallas said he is staying on as chief of New Orleans’ school district for at least an extra year to “get it done right.”
Vallas signed on for a third year down South last week, meaning his contract won’t expire until June of 2010, too late he said to make a run for office in an election that November.
However, Vallas said, “I’m not going to say I’m never going to run for anything again.”
My cynical self wonders if he used those recent leaks about a possible countywide bid as a negotiating ploy with the New Orleans school board.
[*** End of update ***]
* Vallas’ press conference was called to express his support for the constitutional convention referendum. Doug Finke appears to endorse a “Yes” vote in his column today…
So, by all means, if you want to help the governor continue to do a bang-up job, vote against a convention.
Watch Pat Quinn debate Dawn Clark Netsch on the con-con here.
Harris Fawell, former congressman for the 13th Congressional District, is backing a Democrat for president for the first time in his life. The 79-year-old Republican said there’s a good chance that Obama will carry the county.
“He’s the best I have seen, the most qualified I’ve ever seen running for president,” Fawell said.
That sort of movement towards Obama in DuPage is at the heart of freshman Congresscritter Peter Roskam’s attempts to tie himself to the presidential hopeful in his direct mail.
* Both in that above piece and in the Tribune’s story here, college professors say they don’t think Rod Blagojevich will hold back Democratic candidates this year…
From races for the state Senate to Congress, Democratic candidates are eagerly displaying their photos with Obama, using his name on campaign signs and buttons and featuring his endorsement in advertising.
Republicans hoping to keep a Democratic tsunami from wiping out their last Illinois strongholds are countering with blistering ads that repeat the name of the scandal-plagued governor as if it were a mantra.
“I would think the Obama pull is going to be more important than the Blagojevich drag,” said Christopher Mooney, professor of political studies at the University of Illinois at Springfield. “Blagojevich is an unusual case. Still, these people are turning out for Obama.”
That’s true to an extent. However, candidates tied directly to Blagojevich are having terrible problems, at the congressional and legislative level. If Roskam loses (along with a few House and Senate races I’m following), then the Blagojevich Effect had no impact. If those candidates win (and Roskam is ahead, despite the late drop in support), then it did work.
* State Sen. Chris Lauzen’s endorsement of John McCain for president is all about the negative impacts of a possible Obama administration. That’s the underlying problem with McCain’s campaign. It’s almost completely comprised of (mostly emotional) appeals about why we should vote against Obama instead of for McCain.
Gallup’s latest update — based on interviewing conducted through Wednesday, Oct. 29 — shows that 21% of registered voters who plan to vote say they have already voted early or by absentee ballot. This percentage has been increasing steadily over the last two weeks. Another 12% of registered voters say they still plan on voting early, leaving about two-thirds of those who plan on voting who indicate they will actually vote on Election Day itself, next Tuesday.
These early voters are more likely to say they have voted for Barack Obama than for John McCain, by a 55% to 40% margin. Among those who plan to vote on Election Day, the spread is much closer — only a 48% to 45% Obama advantage.
Despite some perceptions that there may be disproportionate early voting among blacks, Gallup’s data show that black voters and white voters are roughly proportionate in their reports of already having voted.
There does, however, continue to be a significant age skew in the early voting patterns, such that older voters are significantly more likely than those who are younger to report having already voted.
More than 260,000 ballots were cast in Chicago and more than 226,000 ballots were cast in the rest of Cook County during the first early voting for a presidential election in Illinois, authorities said.
Recent polls show Barack Obama with a 20-30 point lead over John McCain in Illinois. But state Representative Jim Durkin is hopeful the race will narrow significantly by Election Day. Durkin co-chairs McCain’s Illinois campaign.
DURKIN: I know the political realities of this state. If we can get it between 8 and 10 points, I think it’ll reflect incredibly on the McCain campaign in the United States.
Durkin says Republicans in Illinois are focusing their efforts on nearby battleground states. He says hundreds of McCain volunteers are travelling to Ohio and Missouri, and many others are making phone calls to swing state voters.
* The Sun-Times writes about the preparations for Obama’s Grant Park rally…
Most of the city east of the Kennedy/Dan Ryan Expressway, north of Cermak Avenue and south of Illinois Street will be shut down to accommodate an anticipated throng as great as a million.
A series of road closures will be announced Monday.
Taking your car in the area will not be a good idea.
“Please, please use public transportation if you plan on coming down,” said Ray Orozco, chief of the city’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications.
Transit officials are preparing for an event similar to the annual July 3 fireworks show, only on steroids.
Metra and the Chicago Transit Authority are packing their schedules with extra crews and service, ensuring that the rally’s impact will be felt far into the suburbs.
Loop employers are being encouraged to send their workers home at 3 p.m. on Election Day to accommodate the influx, forcing Metra to start its outbound rush hour routine a couple of hours early.
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan says 166 teams of investigators throughout the state will be monitoring the general election.
Madigan says it’s to ensure that voting rights are protected on Tuesday.
On Sunday Madigan’s office announced that 125 teams will be assigned throughout northern Illinois including Chicago. Another 41 teams will observe activity in the rest of the state.
Investigators will be looking at any claims of voter fraud or voting irregularity.
