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Wednesday, Feb 6, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Wednesday, Feb 6, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

What makes you happiest…

* Sen. Ira Silverstein defeated fading hack Bernie Stone for 50th Ward Committeeman

* Ald. Sandi Jackson trounced fading hack William Beavers for 7th Ward Committeman

* Ald. Pat Dowell destroyed state Rep. Ken Dunkin for 3rd Ward Committeeman

* Mary O’Connor edged out the invisible and absentee former state Rep. Ralph Capparelli for 41st Ward Committeeman

Explain.

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Is the Republican Party dead?

Wednesday, Feb 6, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Much has already been made of this and more will be, I’m sure…

Spurred on by two presidential candidates with local ties and a primary that actually meant something, suburban voters were picking Democratic ballots in potentially historic fashion Tuesday.

Across the region, voters were consistently pulling more Democratic ballots than Republican in an area once considered a GOP Eden.

Early results showed nearly 30,000 more Democratic ballots than Republican cast in both Will and Lake Counties. In DuPage County, nearly 16,000 more Democratic ballots were pulled.

Kane was the only suburban county where Democrats weren’t clearly favored. And there it was essentially even.

* Also…

Last night on CL-TV in Chicago, Chicago Tribune political reporter Rick Pearson declared doom for the Illinois Republican Party for the next 20 to 40 years. He reviewed the George Ryan administration and the 2004 Alan Keyes debacle, saying the party lacks direction and leadership.

Then, he said, with a smug expression, “It may take a generation for the Illinois Republican Party to rebuild its strength in Illinois.”

* Steve Sauerberg’s Senate campaign, such as it was, has to be a huge disappointment for the IL GOP, even though he won.

* The 14th Congressional District was not a terribly bright spot, either. In 2004, George W. Bush won the district with 56 percent. This year, the two parties split it about even. And in the congressional primaries, the Republican candidats got about 2,500 more votes than the Democrats, or about 51 percent of the total vote. The Obama Effect may not carry into November, however, so these raw numbers may not hold up. Still, Democrat Bill Foster may end up giving Jim Oberweis a real run for his money, if he can survive any potential recount.

* Cook County is a mess for the GOP. The Democratic vote there was overwhelming.

* But it wasn’t all death and destruction for the Republicans. Aaron Schock’s monumental win over two candidates was a definite bright spot. There weren’t many others.

* Here’s a broad roundup of congressional stories to chew on…

* Lipinski, Shock likely headed to victory

* Schock wins 18th District

* Davis surpasses opponent for nomination to Congress, will face Shimkus

* Another war veteran to face Roskam

* Morgenthaler, Greenberg To Face Roskam, Bean

* Geneva millionaire gets edge for Democratic nomination in 14th Dist.

* Biggert breezes to win in campaign for sixth term

* Baldermann takes on job as candidate

* Sauerberg wins GOP Senate contest to face Durbin

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No Greening of Illinois

Wednesday, Feb 6, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

* The Illinois Green Party primary was a bust. The party has not been able to build on its showing from the 2006 governor’s race, where its candidate scored about ten percent of the vote and kept the incumbent from breaking 50. It’s now an “established” political party, so it was entitled to hold an honest to goodness primary.

Trouble is, nobody showed up.

* Take a look at the presidential ballots. With 97 percent reporting, just 2,555 people took a Green ballot yesterday. Sure, there may have been some confusion and misdirection at the polls, but 2,555 people? Statewide?

* In the Cook County precincts of Illinois House District 41, Green Party candidate Kevin M. O’Connor got 14 votes. Jerome Pohlen, the IGP’s candidate in the 3rd Congressional district, got 41 votes in the city. And the ward committeeman contests were a joke…

GRN - Ward Committeeman, 5th… Christian K. Wedemeyer 11 votes

GRN - Ward Committeeman, 6th… Beverly Neely 2 votes

GRN - Ward Committeeman, 7th… Nathan Peoples 2 votes

It goes on and on like that.

The Green Party isn’t “dead.” There’s still a chance that the politics of this state are so messed up that they can make some minor inroads in November in one or two races. But yesterday’s exercise in party building was an abject failure. So far, the IGP appears to be little more than a “none of the above” choice, rather than a party that people actually want to belong to.

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Women, Latinos gaining strength in Democratic Party here

Wednesday, Feb 6, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

* These numbers come to us courtesy of Emily’s List. It’s the Super Tuesday breakouts by gender…

* According to the Illinois exit polling, white men were 23 percent of the Democratic electorate, while white women made up 34 percent. The gender gap went across all races. Black men were 9 percent of the total Democratic vote while black women were 15 percent. Latino men were 8 percent and Latinas were 9 percent.

* There is one other important demographic to consider. Latinos made up 17 percent of the Democratic vote, while blacks were 24 percent. So they’re gaining fast. Congressman Luis Gutierrez got about 61,000 votes yesterday, which was far higher than the 37,382 votes he got in the last presidential primary. Some of the state legislative contests in Hispanic districts also saw a near doubling of the vote from four years ago.

Black voting was up as well, but not nearly as much as the Latinos. About 143,000 votes were cast in Congressman Bobby Rush’s primary, for instance, up from about 102,000 in 2004, when he was unopposed.

* And then there was the Cook County State’s Attorney race, where Anita Alvarez fit the growth demographics perfectly. She’s a woman and is also Hispanic. From the Sun-Times…

Alvarez appeared to have won with support from soccer moms and Latinos and in wards run by old-style bosses. She won the city vote with 25 percent to Allen’s 24 percent. Of the 50 wards, she won 15 — including those run by Cook County Commissioner John Daley, Ald. Ed Burke (14th), House Speaker Michael Madigan and Ald. Dick Mell (33rd). She also won nine suburban townships, while Allen won 12.

Those so-called “Machine” wards are heavily Latino, and the boys are losing control. Mell went all out for Rep. Rich Bradley against Sen. Ira Martinez, but Martinez won big.

* I would add that Joe Berrios’ big win for Board of Review was certainly helped by the strong Latino vote. They have become a force to be reckoned with.

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Mansion up for bids

Wednesday, Feb 6, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Hey, somebody wants to spend time there…

Supporters of one of the largest high school districts in Illinois — Township District 214 in Arlington Heights — are auctioning off 49 “experience” packages on eBay this week. One of the items is a four-course dinner for as many as 10 people at the Executive Mansion in Springfield.

* But this is all they’ve bid?

High bid on the mansion package was $360 Tuesday evening after nine bids. The auction ends at 7 a.m. today. […]

[Mansion curator Dave Bourland] said the cost for dinner at the mansion is $34 per person. Tours are free.

Discuss.

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Late morning shorts

Wednesday, Feb 6, 2008 - Posted by Kevin Fanning

* Sen. Durbin hot over DOE’s remark about Illinois

A Washington bureaucrat’s disparaging remarks about a scuttled coal plant downstate has a pair of Illinois lawmakers burning.

After the feds nixed a $1.8 billion clean-burning coal plant in Mattoon known as FutureGen last week, an Energy Department official said his agency wasn’t interested in “building Disneyland in some swamp in Illinois.”

* FutureGen developers say they’ll still go for federal funds

* Daley opposes aldermen seeking to influence CTA, force plastic-bag recycling

* It’s time to bag all that plastic

* Most school questions rejected

* Mixed reception for condom program

* Chicago polls go well — despite punches, broken machines, wrong ballots and ‘invisible ink’

* State-by-State Votes; map here

* Super Tuesday: Democrats divvy it up, McCain up

* Obama, Clinton neck and neck

* Obama candidacy spurs activism

“A lot of people who got involved because of Barack Obama will continue to be involved in politics,” says Kevin Roos, 26, of Glenview.

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Some things to discuss while I take a nap

Wednesday, Feb 6, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Barack Obama and John McCain both won every single Illinois county.

* How does Democrat Bill Foster win the special election primary in the 14th Congressional District by 3,700 votes and then win the regular primary by only 327 votes?

* I’m of the opinion that the Democrats ought to just forget about putting anyone up against Aaron Schock after he won 71 percent in a three-way primary race. Am I wrong?

* Does Tony Peraica have a snowball’s chance against Anita Alvarez? Consider this: With almost all the votes totaled in the city and the county, Peraica won 130,622 votes running unopposed. Alvarez, who scored 26 percent in a six-way race, got 226,043.

* Did you see anything interesting in the Illinois exit polls?

That ought to keep you busy for a while.

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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Gordon; Connelly; Jacobs; Gay politics; Steans (Use all caps in password)

Wednesday, Feb 6, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Today’s edition of Capitol Fax

Wednesday, Feb 6, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Break time

Wednesday, Feb 6, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

* I’m gonna try to get a few hours sleep, but the blog is on autopilot, so you can continue viewing results using the pull-down menu below the big red box in the upper right corner, or just click here.

* Congressional and Cook County discussions are going on here.

* Subscribers can click here for some analysis.

* National news feeds and discussion can be seen here.

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Illinois exit polls

Tuesday, Feb 5, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Republicans

* Democrats

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Congressional and Cook County results *** Lipinski wins big *** Sauerberg, Seals declared winners *** Tribune loses *** Schock wins huge *** Alvarez wins ***

Tuesday, Feb 5, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

* 8:41 pm - With 36% of the vote counted, Congressman Dan Lipinski has 53 percent, to 24 percent for his closest challenger Mark Pera.

* 8:45 pm - The Republicans were more than a bit worried by the spectacular number of undecideds in their poll of the US Senate primary, but with 13 percent of the vote counted, their anointed candidate Steve Sauerberg has 56 percent of the vote.

*** 9:30 pm *** The AP has called the race for Congressman Dan Lipinski. He’s got 53 percent of the vote with 77 percent counted.

Also, Dan Seals has a gigantic lead over Jay Footllik in the 10th.

And with just 31 percent counted, Rep. Aaron Schock is trouncing his opponents. He has 74 percent. That should more than hold up.

*** 9:34 pm *** With 80 percent of the vote in, Anita Alvarez has a slim one-point lead over Tom Allen in the Cook County State’s Attorney race. Larry Suffredin is further back and Howard Brookins is 9 points behind Alvarez.

Also, slated candidate Gene Moore is whomping on Daley-backed Ed Smith 61-39 with 81 percent counted.

And Justice Alan Greiman lost big.

*** 9:47 pm *** The AP declares Sauerberg the winner. Dan Seals was given the nod by the AP in the 10th Congressional.

* 10:00 pm - With 53 percent of the vote in, Jim Oberweis has a 56-42 lead over Chris Lauzen in the 14th. Bill Foster leads John Laesch by just three points, 44-41, with 54 percent counted.

*** 10:22 pm *** It appears that incumbent Board of Review member and county party chairman Joe Berrios has stomped “reform” candidate Jay Paul Deratany in the city and even carried the county. I guess this means that Cook County wants a tax hike? Well, wasn’t that the Tribune’s take?

Stroger isn’t on Tuesday’s ballot. But some of his friends hope to convince reluctant members of the Cook County Board that they can support Stroger’s massive tax plan and not lose their own re-election bids two years from now. That pro-tax strategy rests on the fate Tuesday of two close Stroger allies. Which makes it imperative that every voter who requests a Democratic ballot dump two loyal members of Team Stroger, county Board of Review Commissioner Joseph Berrios and county Recorder Eugene Moore:

Moore won, too. Big.

* 10:25 pm - I don’t know why the AP hasn’t declared him the victor yet, but Tim Baldermann is so far ahead in the 11th District GOP primary that he’ll never be caught.

*** 10:25 pm *** The Associated Press has declared Rep. Aaron Schock the winner. No surprise there, but he has 72 percent of the vote in a three-way primary. Wow.

* 10:55 pm - With 78 percent of the vote counted, 1,557,497 Illinoisans voted for a Democratic presidential candidate and 653,146 voted Republican.

*** 11:17 pm *** Zorn reports that Tom Allen has conceded the Cook County State’s Attorney race to Anita Alvarez.

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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Results trickling in… Picking up steam… Dunkin losing big… Delgado almost home… Burns up… Collins with big lead… Gordon up… Hendon wins big… Prochno ahead… Delgado wins… Johnson concedes… Jacobs in tight race… Kevin’s update… Stout wins… AP winner’s list… Jehan Gordon wins…

Tuesday, Feb 5, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Another Peoria update from Kevin

Tuesday, Feb 5, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

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CAMPAIGN NEWS UPDATES

Tuesday, Feb 5, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

* 11:19 pm - Clinton may have egg on her face. Obama appears to have won Missouri.

* 10:41 pm - AP calls Missouri for Clinton. That’s a big win for her. Big. Here’s her spin…

Barack Obama outspent Hillary by $300,000 in TV ads in Missouri. He also benefited from the endorsements of high-profile surrogates across the state such as Representatives Carnahan and Clay, and Senator McCaskill, all of whom actively campaigned for him and appeared in ads on his behalf.

* 9:58 pm - I almost forgot about this thread. From Drudge…

CLINTON: AR, MA, MO, NY, NJ, OK, TN
OBAMA: AL, CT, DE, GA, ID, IL, KS, MN, ND, UT

HUCKABEE: AL, AR, GA, MO, TN
MCCAIN: AZ, CT, DE, IL, NJ, NY, OK
ROMNEY: MA, ND, UT

* 8:27 pm - Hillary Clinton claims win in New Jersey…

This weekend, Hillary Clinton’s campaign had an intensive GOTV blitz that included over 100,000 calls to voters. Exit polls showed that the Latino population in particular delivered overwhelmingly for Hillary Clinton.

* 8:19 pm - Hillary Clinton is crowing about her win in Massachusetts. From a press release…

Despite the fact that Senators Ted Kennedy and John Kerry were actively supporting and campaigning for Obama, Hillary Clinton won the state.

Despite the fact that the Governor of Massachusetts endorsed Obama, Hillary Clinton won the state. Despite the fact that Obama visited Massachusetts just last night, Hillary Clinton won the state. This is a strong victory and shows that Hillary Clinton has strength in places where Barack Obama was expected to win.

* 7:08 pm - The Trib has a story about the dumbest election judges in the state.

* 7:05 pm - No surprise here, but the Tribune has already called Illinois for Obama and McCain.

* ArchPundit has some raw, unweighted exit poll rumors.

* Preliminary national exit poll results are summarized: Fox; MSNBC, TIME, ABC, CBS, CNN.

* I’ve taken some of the suggestions from this post, added a few others and put them into a specialized news feed…

* And here’s a national news feed…

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Watch CBS 2’s coverage right here

Tuesday, Feb 5, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

Don’t live in the Chicago area? Planning on sitting at your computer instead of your TV while returns come in? Well, you’re in luck.

Starting at 10 o’clock tonight, just click on the banner below and watch CBS-2’s coverage live, right here…

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This just in…

Tuesday, Feb 5, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

* 3:42 pm - The beginning of a comeback? From an e-mail just blasted out by the City Club…

The City Club of Chicago welcomes Paul G. Vallas on Monday, April 28, 2008 for a Public Policy Luncheon.

* 3:48 pm - The Illinois Green Party is alleging foul play. From a press release…

Voters who hoped to participate in the Illinois’ first ever statewide Green Party primary are receiving a very rude reception at many polling places, especially in Chicago.

In the early hours of voting, Green Party officials began receiving reports from frustrated voters across the state who, in many cases, had been told by pollworkers that there are no Green Party ballots available at their polling places, or that they had to vote on suspect electronic voting machines, even while other parties use paper ballots.

Some of the most outrageous incidents, however, occurred across the wards of Chicago, where Green Party ballots have been apparently tampered with so they can’t be read and accepted by voting machines, voters are given Democratic ballots despite requesting Green ballots.

* 4:00 pm - A couple of 42nd Ward election judges got into a brawl today…

An election judge was charged with battery Tuesday morning after punching another judge at a 42nd Ward West Loop polling place, according to Chicago police.

The female judges, whose party affiliations were not immediately known, were quarreling over “procedures” when one punched the other in the face, said Central District Capt. Joseph Vaclavik.

The judge who was punched, believed to be in her mid-50s, was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital for evaluation, Vaclavik said. The other, in her late 30s, whose name was not released, was charged with misdemeanor battery, Vaclavik said. He could not elaborate on the procedural matter that sparked the fight.

The brawl between the twojudges was the culmination of a clash that had been raging for years, fellow poll workers said.

* 4:02 pm - Aaron Chambers is at the Hyatt waiting for the Obama party to begin…

Obama is not expected to begin speaking for seven more hours, but already several hundred people are flowing through and around the grand ballroom, in the hotel’s basement, where Obama will stage his event.

The crowd appears to be roughly divided between media and security. Yes, there are a couple hundred reporters, producers, etc., but there are just as many security personnel — secret service, Chicago police (uniformed and in plain clothes), and even officers wearing TSA (Transportation Security Administration) uniforms.

* 4:29 pm - Just a reminder from Emily’s List…

The [Democratic] primaries and caucuses thus far have seen from a 3-4% increase in the share of the electorate that is female. Turnout has been exceptionally high with women making up 57% to 60% of the electorate.

* 4:45 pm - Planned Parenthood/Chicago Area President and CEO, Steve Trombley writes about those Barack Obama “Present” votes and Illinois NOW’s harsh criticism of him during the current campaign…

During his time as a state senator, no major pro-choice organization questioned Obama’s present votes. Instead, Obama received endorsements from Personal PAC, NARAL of Illinois PAC, the Illinois Planned Parenthood Council, and, YES, EVEN Illinois NOW.

That’s right! Illinois NOW endorsed Barack Obama in his elections in 1998 and 2002 AFTER he voted “present” on several bills. As Illinois NOW officials have stated, they were aware of the “present” vote strategy, and they still endorsed him. They also endorsed several other prominent Illinois politicians who voted the same way.

It is only after years have past that Illinois NOW has changed its mind. Apparently, these days they don’t agree with the strategy that they originally endorsed.

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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Reports from the field - South Suburbs; Martinez

Tuesday, Feb 5, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Update from Peoria - Voting troubles? Plus, Kevin files a story from the scene

Tuesday, Feb 5, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Predictions open thread *** Updated x1 ***

Tuesday, Feb 5, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

Try to keep your Super Tuesday predictions as Illinois-centric as possible. Thanks.

*** UPDATE 1 *** This story might help with your predictions…

llinois board of elections officials were more willing to talk today about the weather than the voting, saying it’s too soon to get a strong bead on statewide turnout. But press them, and they say there’s little chance a light rain, mid-30s temps, and a possible freeze toward evening will keep the state from breaking a 15-year turnout record today. […]

The [Cook County early voting] numbers featured a spike in young voter ballots and college absentee votes, said County Clerk David Orr. […]

Turnout in Sangamon County, home of the capital city of Springfield, was also far exceeding turnout in previous years, election officials there said.

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Election day experiences *** UPDATED X2 ***

Tuesday, Feb 5, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

[Bumped up for greater visibility.]

Post your election day observations below. How many were at your polling place? How many have voted so far? What was the weather? How many poll-watchers, flier-mongers were present? Any problems? Any goons? Etc.

Give us as much detail as possible, please.

*** UPDATE 1 *** There have been a lot of comments here about demands from Chicago election judges that voters produce an ID. I just called the Chicago Board of Elections and they said they didn’t know why this has been the case. You don’t have to show an ID to vote in Illinois on election day (early voting is different). I’ve been in contact with the attorney general’s office about this and I’ll update in a bit.

*** UPDATE 2 *** The attorney general’s office just called back to say they’ve dispatched some teams around the city to check out complaints of voters being indiscriminately asked for ID’s. There are some instance where election judges can ask for an ID, but if voters believe that the law is not being followed they should contact the AG’s hotline numbers. Chicago area voters call 1.866.536.3496 and downstaters can call 1.866.559.6812

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Message to readers

Tuesday, Feb 5, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

There’s been an intermittent problem all morning with the news feeds, which has resulted in the site not being accessible at times. It’s being worked on, but part of the problem, I think, is national Internet traffic is way up today. Hopefully, this problem can be - and will be - fixed soon.

I’ve pulled the feeds down during particularly slow periods, and I’ll do so again if there’s more trouble.

If you run into trouble with slowness, just keep hitting the “refresh” button, or click the banner at the top of the page.

Thanks for your patience.

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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Martinez; Jefferies; Hendon; ComEd; Cable TV (Use all caps in password)

Tuesday, Feb 5, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

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ATTENTION: BLOGGERS AND CANDIDATES

Tuesday, Feb 5, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

[Bumped up to give the post more exposure]

If you’re going to be blogging more than just a little about today’s Illinois primary, please make sure to put a link in comments here. We’d like to track your work as much as possible.

Also, if you know of any good campaign parties tonight, slip those into the comment section below. I’ll be home, blogging away, but some readers might be in the mood for a little fun.

* Illinoize is already cranking up pretty hard, by the way.

[News feeds are now on this post.]

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Question of the day

Tuesday, Feb 5, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Mark Brown writes today about the 150,000 Cook County residents who took advantage of early voting and may have cast their ballots for candidates who are now out of the race…

When Democrat John Edwards and Republican Rudy Giuliani folded their campaigns last week, they essentially nullified the votes of hundreds if not thousands of their supporters in Illinois who had already cast a ballot.

Those voters don’t get a do-over today, and therefore won’t have a real voice in picking this year’s Democrat or Republican nominees (not that they were on a winning track in the first place).

It’s the chance those voters took when they went to the polls early. Obviously, there is no way to retrieve a secret ballot once it’s been cast. But for those who hadn’t really considered the possibility in advance, the result still stings.

“I feel kind of disenfranchised,” complained Naperville Township Republican Chairman Fred Spitzzeri, who tells me he eagerly cast a vote for Giuliani on the first day of early voting and urged others to follow suit, then was shocked as the former New York mayor withdrew from the race six days before our election.[…]

For now, at least, the better option for early voters in future elections might be to at least hold off a little longer, especially in presidential races where the field is fluid. For anyone who had waited, there were still two more days of early voting after Giuliani and Edwards dropped out.

* And, now, to the question: Should early voting be abolished at least for presidential campaigns? Or, should things stay the way they are? Explain.

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Reluctant mushrooms want sweeteners

Tuesday, Feb 5, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

* The city council mushrooms are grumbling about the real estate transfer tax increse that they have to approve as part of the mass transit bailout bill. The General Assembly made the tax hike “permissive” - meaning the onus on passing the thing fell to the council. That seems fair to me, but aldermen, like any politician, are upset that the ball is now in their court…

On Monday, Finance Committee members vented their anger — by temporarily derailing the increase and attaching a few strings.

Before they could agree to raising the tax from $7.50 to $10.50 per $1,000 of sale price, aldermen demanded that senior citizen home buyers would have to be exempt from the increase — and that active members of the military and disabled veterans join seniors in riding the CTA for free.

* And then there was this…

Alderman Walter Burnett says minority firms should get half the investment work [for the CTA pension fund].

“This is beneficial to have the CTA, but it’s also beneficial to our community to have a piece of the pie. We have to have a part of it and employ people, so it’s two-fold for a lot of us and it’s out duty to make sure people get their fair share.”

* Added Ald. Ed Burke…

CTA pension fund trustees are “going to have to understand they need to be sensitive to doing business with local money managers, with minorities and women.” […]

Burke added that only six of 43 investment management companies are minority-owned firms and that 16 of 43 are Chicago-based concerns.

* However, as always, they’ll probably just do what they’re told…

The committee will reconvene Wednesday morning and, despite the gripes, is expected to advance the tax increase measure in time for fast-track consideration by the full council, which is scheduled to meet immediately afterward.

“This is one of those votes I think a lot of us will make, holding our noses,” said Ald. Isaac Carothers (29th). “If this doesn’t happen, you are not going to have buses.”

* The most interesting thing about yesterday’s Finance Committee debate was that it was held the day before primary day.

So, some voters who saw the stories last night on TV or today in the papers may take out their anger over another tax hike on any incumbents today. It may not amount to many people, but if there are close races it could make things interesting.

* This idea, from CTA Tattler, is pretty silly, however…

if you live in the 14th Senate District on the Far South Side of Chicago, you should not vote for Senate President Emil Jones. He did the governor’s bidding throughout this mess, and refused to call for votes in the Senate some House-supported transit bills that Rep. Julie Hamos got passed.

If you live in the 22nd House District, House Speaker Michael Madigan is your representative. His feuding with Blago prolonged the “Doomsday” crisis, though he did work with Hamos to get bills passed.

Neither Madigan nor Jones has a primary opponent today. It’s pretty easy to check that out.

* Related…

* No such thing as free rides — ask home buyers

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Reed out at Sun-Times

Tuesday, Feb 5, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

* I wondered how my new editor at the Sun-Times was gonna react when candidate endorsement season arrived.

Cheryl Reed thought she had been given total control over the editorial page. I suspected that her independence would not extend to endorsements. And now she’s gone…

Cheryl Reed, the editorial page editor, has quit, and quite spectacularly.

* From Ms. Reed’s memo…

“I am deeply troubled that the editorial board members were not allowed to address concerns raised about the Obama [February 1] and McCain [February 3] editorials, even though the endorsements were turned in more than two days before they were published. Instead, wholesale rewrites were done by people who aren’t even on the board, including one person who is no longer employed by the paper.”

* I used to joke with Steve Huntley, the former editorial page editor, that his alcohol intake must’ve increased drastically during endorsement season. The big boys would make him write some difficult pieces, to say the least. Rod Blagojevich, Todd Stroger, and on and on and on. It couldn’t have been easy.

Reed was a relative newcomer to Illinois, so she wasn’t around to see the endorsements from the 2002 primary, which caused a furor when every hack in town got the paper’s nod.

* In Reed’s case however, it doesn’t appear that the endorsements themselves were directed from on-high, as was done before. Reed quit because the editorials were ordered rewritten by the top echelon.