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Thursday, Jul 28, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller

* I was just talking to Anders Lindall at AFSCME about a story that wasn’t panning out and he asked me if I’d heard that Jamey Johnson was playing at the Du Quoin State Fair this year. I hadn’t, but it’s true. He’s playing Friday, September 2nd at the grandstand.

Looks like I’m gonna be hauling the camper down ‘yonder this year.

* Love me some Jamey, man. As he sings in one of his songs, his music and attitude is somewhere between Waylon Jennings and George Jones. Let’s take a little break from the weirdness and have a listen…

Started burning our candles
Both ends and the middle
A bunch of roaring outlaws at high speed

* Also, you may know that Anders used to be a music critic for the Chicago Sun-Times. He wrote a piece not long ago about a rising country star from an AFSCME family from the same town where one of my brothers used to live. It’s definitely worth a read…

One of the brightest new country music stars in Nashville comes from an AFSCME union family right here in Illinois.

With her debut album Midwest Farmer’s Daughter, Margo Price has landed a guest spot on “Saturday Night Live”, a video on CMT, and a rave review in Rolling Stone, which called her “undeniable” and compared her to Loretta Lynn.

But what looks like a rocket ride to stardom is really the latest twist in a long road that started in Aledo, Ill., southwest of the Quad Cities, where Margo and her sisters were raised by mom Candace and dad Duane. He worked for 25 years in Illinois prisons, first as a correctional officer at East Moline, where he was a member of AFSCME Local 46, and then as a lieutenant at Hill Correctional Center (Local 1274). Duane was a PEOPLE contributor and after his retirement in 2010 joined AFSCME Retirees.

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Can’t win for losing

Thursday, Jul 28, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller

* A Democratic state Representative attends a Republican governor’s event in her own district, applauds politely at the end of his speech and then this happens…

A Confused Kate Cloonen Stumbles into Governor Rauner’s Term Limits Event
Yet Cloonen continues to back Mike Madigan’s rigged system

Yesterday, Governor Bruce Rauner held an event in Kankakee advocating for term limits on elected officials in Springfield – a cumulative 10 years for State Representatives and Senators and 8 years for statewide elected officials, including Governor Rauner himself.

Democrat State Rep. Kate Cloonen, a vocal opponent of term limits, attended the event and applauded Governor Rauner as he concluded his remarks, but has remained silent on his term limits initiative. Why did Cloonen attend the Governor’s event?

Has Cloonen changed her mind on term limits?

Does she support Governor Rauner’s term limits initiative?

Does she still back Mike Madigan’s rigged system?

Was she playing Candy Crush and her attendance was by pure happenstance?

Is she politically calculating?

Is she just confused?

And what is she telling her constituents?…

“Kate Cloonen continues to support Mike Madigan’s rigged system,” said Aaron DeGroot, spokesman for the Illinois Republican Party. “For years, she has opposed term limits, but her attendance at the Governor’s event is a bit perplexing. Could it be that she tells her constituents one thing while doing another in Springfield? Cloonen has remained silent on the initiative, but her constituents deserve an answer. Does Kate Cloonen support Governor Rauner’s term limits initiative or not?”

* The accompanying video…

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*** LIVE COVERAGE *** Rauner press conference

Thursday, Jul 28, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller

* From the governor’s office…

Daily Public Schedule: Thursday, July 28, 2016
What: Governor Makes Announcement Regarding Transformation at Illinois Lottery
Where: James R. Thompson Center – Blue Room
100 W. Randolph, Chicago
Date: Thursday, July 28, 2016
Time: 11:00 a.m.

Live video from our good pals at BlueRoomStream.com is here.

* Follow along with ScribbleLive…

11 Comments

Kirk campaign admits contact with “whistleblowers” after Duckworth settlement

Thursday, Jul 28, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller

* From the National Review…

Two women suing Representative Tammy Duckworth, the Democratic nominee for Senate in Illinois, rejected an agreed upon settlement offer on Wednesday, forcing the case to go to trial next month, according to the Daily Herald.

The timing is unfortunate for Duckworth, who is running to unseat Senator Mark Kirk, one of the most vulnerable Republicans up for reelection this year. The formal rejection of the settlement comes the day before Duckworth is set to take the stage at the Democratic National Convention. And per the Herald, the trial will take place on August 15, in the heat of campaign season. […]

Some Democrats suggested the timing of the two women rejecting the lawsuit was suspect, coming the day before Duckworth’s address in Philadelphia.

[Mark Kirk campaign manager Kevin Artl] says the campaign had no discussions with the two plaintiffs about their decision, and says they were under the impression that the whole case had been settled, noting that they had already begun running an ad attacking her for settling. Artl adds that he spoke with the two women by phone in their capacity as whistleblowers, saying they reached out to the campaign after the settlement was announced to tell their story.

Hmm.

* I followed up with Artl…

They reached out to us the week following the announcement of the settlement. They wanted to tell their story. We have talked to many whistleblowers who have felt bullied and ignored by Duckworth.

* Related…

* Kirk Campaign Utilizing Snapchat To Tie Duckworth To Blago

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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Supplement to today’s edition

Thursday, Jul 28, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller

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*** UPDATED x1 - Emanuel responds *** Right under the bus he goes

Thursday, Jul 28, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller

[Bumped up for visibility.]

* Chris Cillizza in the Washington Post…

Losers…

* Rahm Emanuel: The president’s first chief of staff and the now-mayor of Chicago was a key cog in Obama’s first term. But the celebratory video that led into the president’s speech barely made mention of Rahm — and, when it did, it cast him as the guy saying that the Affordable Care Act couldn’t pass. Not great.

Man, that was a brutal moment.

* The video quote…

Among the White House achievements championed in the video was the passage of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. However, one of the voices in the video relays that Emanuel, as Chief of Staff during the first two years of Obama’s administration, tried to get him to kill the bill because it would cost him re-election in 2012.

“A lot of people argued the politics were too costly,” former adviser David Axelrod said.

“Rahm Emanuel came to him and said you’re going to have to pull the bill, because if you push this legislation, you will lose in 2012,” another voice said.

However, the video depicts Obama as soldiering on to get it passed, no matter the politics. Obamacare would wind up passing Congress without a single Republican vote before Obama signed it into law.

* Oof…

Dumping on Rahm Emanuel in the authorized Obama video? They must be really convinced Rahm's career is toast.

— Will Saletan (@saletan) July 28, 2016

* There was also this presidential line during the video when he’s talking about kids who’ve died in mass shootings…

“And by the way, it happens on the streets of Chicago every day.”

* Video…

You gotta wonder what the mood is at his big party tonight.

*** UPDATE *** Rahm and Durbin responded this morning…

Rahm was asked if he was upset about being used in the Obama intro video. He shrugged it off, saying it's nothing new. #DemsInPhilly

— Tina Sfondeles (@TinaSfon) July 28, 2016

Rahm Emanuel said he didn't take DNC video as an insult. On Obama healthcare decision: "Thank God he didn’t listen to my advice" #DNCinPHL

— Bill Ruthhart (@BillRuthhart) July 28, 2016

Sen. Dick Durbin says he doesn't think DNC video threw Mayor Rahm Emanuel under the bus, says Obamacare wouldn't have passed without him.

— Bill Ruthhart (@BillRuthhart) July 28, 2016

* Related…

* Mark Brown: White House not only race on some Chicago delegates’ radar: Mayor Rahm Emanuel made a late arrival Wednesday at the Democratic National Convention, but many of those regarded as possible successors have been on the scene all week.

* ADDED: Democratic National Convention video leaves Emanuel ‘under the bus’

37 Comments

Dueling taunts

Wednesday, Jul 27, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller

* From this morning…

Duckworth: "Is Kirk here? He's run so hard away from the republicans, I thought he may be a democrat now." pic.twitter.com/Sbbz9jJx9v

— Paris Schutz (@paschutz) July 27, 2016

Heh.

* Unrelated message from the Kirk campaign…

Duckworth has clearly decided the reform vote is not in her target universe. She defended Blago while he was under investigation and now is sticking with Madigan and his 13% approval rating.

I’m assuming that part of the accompanying video clip might make it into a TV ad…

* Related…

* Duckworth: Kirk running from record as Republican

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*** UPDATED x1 *** Why did Chris Kennedy run away from reporters yesterday?

Wednesday, Jul 27, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller

* To refresh your memory, this is what Chris Kennedy did after his speech to the convention delegate breakfast yesterday…

Kennedy then walked toward a waiting elevator, but a crush of Chicago reporters followed him in, not satisfied with the nonanswer.

“This is sort of ridiculous, please,” Kennedy pleaded.

“What’s ridiculous is you don’t answer questions,” WFLD-Ch. 32 reporter Mike Flannery shot back. “You’ve run four or five campaigns in the gossip column. Are you running for governor or not?”

“I don’t have to address you. Please leave the elevator and let me go to my meeting. Please do that. Have some decency,” Kennedy responded. “What have you become? Please, please.”

A furious Kennedy then left the elevator and headed to a nearby stairwell. Chicago Sun-Times reporter Lynn Sweet then chased him into the stairwell doorway requesting to take a photograph of the businessman, who obliged with an awkwardly forced smile.

Flannery was right about Kennedy teasing us with selected leaks about possible runs that never materialized. You may not like his aggressiveness (reporting is sometimes like legislating, the sausage-making process ain’t always pretty), but somebody had to ask the guy that question.

Besides, Kennedy asked to speak. And it’s customary to talk to reporters after one of those speeches. If he didn’t know that, well, too bad. He should get better advance people.

* Kennedy talked to Mark Brown later…

Kennedy said he thought his message to the delegation spoke for itself and that he refuses to participate in media scrums that are the regular stuff of politics and public office.

“People turn into animals in that environment, and they are asking ridiculous questions, acting like bullies. … It’s a b——- way to conduct each other’s business,” he said.

Kennedy said he would rather do one-on-one interviews with every reporter than one hallway press conference.

“If you don’t like that, I mean, sorry,” he said.

That might be a reason not to run.

Even Speaker Madigan, of all people, speaks to these convention “media scrums.” If Madigan can do it, so can Chris Kennedy. Brown has good advice.

*** UPDATE *** Flannery’s report on the debacle ends with Flannery saying…

You don’t want to talk to the average folks through this TV lens. Apparently, talking to the Mike Madigans of the world is good enough at this point for Chris Kennedy.

Oh, snap.

* Video…

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