* The Tribune endorsed Tammy Duckworth for congress…
Walsh has been a congressman made for cable television, but not for his constituents. He has fueled the political vitriol that has paralyzed Washington, that nearly shut down the federal government, that has failed to produce meaningful fiscal reform and economic recovery. We saw something in that endorsement interview — what a congressman Joe Walsh might have been.
Our endorsement instead goes to former Veterans Affairs leader Tammy Duckworth, a war veteran from Hoffman Estates, who has campaigned as a constructive, bipartisan problem solver and would eschew extreme rhetoric in favor of thoughtfully working together. We think she would be the kind of moderate Blue Dog Democrat who reflects the new 8th District, which takes in portions of western Cook, northern DuPage and eastern Kane counties.
* Walsh issued a defiant statement in response…
“I’m not at all surprised by the decisions of the Chicago Tribune and the Daily Herald to endorse Tammy Duckworth. Ms. Duckworth has always been the preferred candidate of the elite Chicago liberal media. The day I care what the Chicago media thinks about me or this race will be the same day that I leave the political arena. I am running for Congress to serve the people of the 8th district, who are struggling to find work, stay in their homes, and are fighting to make sure that their kids and grandkids have the same opportunities that they did.
“For years, the Chicago media has been out of touch with families like those in the 8th district. It is no surprise that these papers lose readership almost every single year and have essentially become irrelevant and bankrupt. It is because the elite media does not understand that American families are fed up. They are sick of the same old politicians making promises to get endorsements. As the Tribune said of my opponent, she is a ‘more-practiced politician. Practiced, that is, in not offering her opposition targets by getting to specific on solutions.’ I can not and will not go down that same road.
“We are at a crucial point in America, and this country needs leaders who will stand up and say no to Washington’s back room go along to get along deals. Now more than ever we must move past the talking points and come up with real solutions. The elite Chicago media will never understand that, but the American people do. Let us remember that if the good people of Illinois cared about what these irrelevant papers had to say, Tammy Duckworth would now be serving her third term in Congress, as both the Herald and Tribune enthusiastically endorsed her 6 years ago, against Peter Roskam.”
…Adding… A commenter sums it up well…
If he truly did not care about getting the newspapers’ endorsements then he would not have bothered to sit down with them for the endorsement interviews.
His press release is little more than the response of a petulant child who did not get what he wanted.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee released a new automated poll showing Tammy Duckworth with a 10 point lead, winning 52 percent over Congressman Joe Walsh’s 42 percent – dangerous territory for an incumbent. Congressman Joe Walsh’s favorables are underwater with nearly half of voters holding a negative opinion of him. In contrast, Tammy Duckworth is both well known and well liked with a definite advantage in this Democratic leaning district.
“The problem Congressman Joe Walsh faces is that voters both know him and dislike him,” said Haley Morris of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “While Illinois families have had enough of Congressman Walsh’s dangerous uncompromising Tea Party record in Washington, they clearly favor Tammy Duckworth as the only candidate standing up for the middle class.”
* Related…
* Truth check: Is Duckworth violating uniform rules?: Department of Defense rules state that members of the military “not on active duty (including retired members) may use photos of themselves in uniform for ‘campaign media’ purposes.” However, “the photo or information must be accompanied by a prominent and clearly displayed disclaimer that neither the military information nor photographs imply endorsement by the Department of Defense or their particular military department.”
* The House Majority PAC says it will spend $2.4 million on ads linking moderate Republican US Reps. Judy Biggert and Bob Dold to Joe Walsh and other unpopular conservative people and causes.
When Fox Chicago reported exclusively on Rep. Judy Biggert’s income tax returns two weeks ago, we noted that she is believed to be the wealthiest member of Illinois’s Congressional delegation. Her Democratic challenger, though, is even wealthier, a point underscored in her new attack ad.
A Foster spokesman said the 11th District congressional candidate is, indeed, a multi-millionaire. But he called just about everything else in his opponent’s new ad misleading. He said a theatrical stage lighting company Foster co-founded in 1975 did layoff 61 people during a downturn a decade ago, but it now employs more than ever: 650 in the U.S.
The new ad debuted as Foster released his income tax returns for the first time ever. One surprise in a review by Fox Chicago News: while preparing his campaign to return to Congress, Foster earned so little last year that he owed no income tax. His wife, Aesook Byon, also a physicist like Foster, filed her taxes separately. She made more than $200,000 in 2011. So, the couple paid about $55,000 in taxes — 24.7% of their income.
While Foster sold his interest in the lighting company to his partners in 2007, the payout will take 16 years and be taxed at the lower, capital gains rate. In 2010, for example, Foster and his wife received a combined $1.5 million, with 18.6% their effective joint tax rate.
* Biggert’s campaign pounced on the fact that Foster paid no income taxes last year. From a press release…
The Judy Biggert for Congress campaign today released the following statement from Naperville small businessman Jimmy Bergeron, owner of Jimmy’s Grill:
“I’m a hardworking small business owner and taxpayer, and the things Bill Foster voted for while he was in Washington makes it harder for me to keep my doors open. He’s running again, and he’s always talking about how he wants to raise taxes on people like me. So I was pretty angry when I saw on the news that he paid no federal incomes taxes last year. It’s incredibly hypocritical of Bill Foster to pay no taxes when he’s running around campaigning for higher taxes on hardworking small business owners.”
* The Biggert campaign also wants Foster to release more returns…
Over the weekend we learned that millionaire former Congressman Bill Foster paid no taxes last year. In keeping with a promise she made on Fox Chicago during a televised debate, Representative Biggert previously provided the last five years of her returns to the station. In the interest of transparency, the campaign will offer other members of the media the same opportunity. But it comes with a challenge - will Congressman Foster release the last five years of his and his wife’s returns to the media as well?
* Biggert has been running an ad claiming that the “millionaire former congressman” Foster outsourced jobs to Wisconsin and backed legislation that allegedly “sent jobs to China”…
Rep. Judy Biggert (R-Hinsdale) has been endorsed by the Illinois Education Association. The announcement was made at Hinsdale South High School in Darien Monday.
Biggert is the incumbent running for the 11th Congressional District. Her opponent is Democrat Bill Foster.
Although some members of the Republican Party have actively said they don’t agree with teacher unions, Vice President Kathi Griffin of the Illinois Education Association said it’s important to look past Biggert’s political party.
“I think it’s important that we focus on what the candidate stands for,” Griffin said. “It’s not whether you are a Democrat or Republican. It’s whether you’re a friend to education, and that’s what we see in Judy Biggert and why we are endorsing her.”
Even better than the recommendation — IEA does not use the word “endorse” — the group’s national parent, the National Education Association, several days ago quietly disclosed a $546,000 “independent expenditure” on her behalf.
A vote for Biggert would be a vote for fiscal restraint. And her re-election would be a constant, nagging reminder to House Speaker Michael Madigan and the rest of his crafty mapmakers that the voters don’t like being used as pawns.
Always with the Madigan.
* And I can’t remember if I posted this last week, so here’s the US Chamber’s latest ad against Foster…
