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Friday, Nov 10, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

Get some rest.

If you just can’t tear yourself away from the blogs, make sure to spend some time at Illinoize. Bollywood Friday looks fun today.

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Winners and losers and how to come back from defeat

Friday, Nov 10, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

Eric Krol’s Friday column takes a look at winners and losers. Here are two of his losers:

Newspaper editorial boards and crusading columnists. The old-fashioned journalistic campaigns against Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich and Cook County Board President-elect Todd Stroger certainly fell flat, didnâ€™t they? Itâ€™s going to be a long four years for print reporters covering Blagojevich.

Illinois voters. They told pollsters corruption was their top issue, then re-elected Blagojevich, whose administration is engulfed in scandal probes, and picked Stroger, whose fatherâ€™s administration faces a federal probe.

Krol also tagged the Illinois Republican Party as a loser, which is pretty obvious. Chicago Sun-Times editorial page editor Steve Huntley talked to House Republican Leader Tom Cross and offers some thoughts on what the IL GOP needs to do now.

What Cross doesn’t say outright is that the social conservatives’ message won’t pass muster with the middle-of-the-road voters who constitute the majority of the Illinois electorate. Moderate voters see hard right positions opposing stem cell research and advocating the teaching of creationism in school science classes as an offensive intrusion of religious values into medical science and public education.

Teaching intelligent design in a school science lab makes as much sense as having Charles Darwin’s The Origin of Species required reading in Sunday school. Opposing embryonic stem cell research on the grounds that a microscopic collection of cells is a fully realized human being, a person, comes across as a cruel denial of medical hope to millions of people suffering chronic and fatal diseases.

The social conservatives’ objections on stem cell science hinge, of course, on abortion. They must have been jolted by the rejection of a stringent abortion ban by voters in South Dakota, a red state. Yes, many Americans have qualms about abortion, but when confronted with the uncomfortable choice of no restrictions on abortions vs. a complete government intrusion into private life, most people will opt for less government. You’d think that’s a position conservatives would understand.

Its message is a major reason that the GOP has a gender gap. Cross said the party needs to reach out to women and ethnic and minority groups.

Discuss. But do it quickly, ‘cuz later today I’ll be shutting down comments for the weekend so I can finally escape this blog.

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Question of the day

Friday, Nov 10, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

Let’s do something non-partisan today and talk about a “boring” policy issue.

First, the setup:

An array of not-for-profit groups today endorsed a plan to allow county governments in Illinois to impose taxes of up to $2 per pack on cigarettes.

The plan, initiated by DuPage County Board Chairman Robert Schillerstrom, calls on state legislators to pass a law granting them the authority to tax cigarettes. Only Cook County has that power now, and it levies the full $2 per pack. […]

Metro Counties of Illinois, an association representing a dozen counties, has been spearheading a $2-per-pack tax for at least a year. But it hasnâ€™t yet gone anywhere in the General Assembly.

But the measure now seems to be gathering steam, and is scheduled to be reviewed by a state senate committee next week.

Now, the question: Should counties be given this authority? Does this possibly open the door to other county taxation powers? Is it fair to smokers to continually force them to balance government budgets?

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Blagojevich ran 22,109 TV ads, gears up for more

Friday, Nov 10, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

These numbers bring it all into focus in a major way.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich spent more than $18 million on about 22,000 television spots to secure Tuesday’s re-election victory, swamping his Republican challenger’s TV dollars almost 4-to-1 and prompting renewed calls for fundraising limits in Illinois, a market analysis indicates. […]

The firm, TSNMI/Campaign Media Analysis Group of Arlington, Va., calculates that between the March primaries and Tuesday’s election, Blagojevich bought 22,109 television spots in markets throughout Illinois, as well as St. Louis and Paducah, Ky., at an estimated cost of $18,148,050.

Topinka, with a far smaller war chest than Blagojevich’s, started her television campaign later, ultimately airing 4,638 spots, with an estimated cost of $4,636,068.

She was buried.

And the fundraising is not going to end any time soon, as my Sun-Times column explains today.

Last week, one of Governor Rod Blagojevich’s best pals told me that the governor would definitely run for a third term. […]

(I)f you thought Gov. Blagojevich would finally get down to the business of actual governance and stop with all the campaign hooplah, you’ve got another thing coming. The governor is most comfortable in campaign mode - quoting Elvis on the stump, issuing press releases announcing populist-sounding programs that aren’t actually funded, throwing sharp public elbows at those who would oppose him - and that is apparently where he’ll stay.

Wednesday, the day after the election, a group of eight “good government” groups issued a press release calling on Gov. Blagojevich “to work as hard at passing sweeping campaign reforms as he did at winning reelection.” Not gonna happen. If he really does have his mind set on a third term, then his unseemly fundraising will continue. The only difference from his first term will be that indicted pal Tony Rezko won’t be around to rake in allegedly corrupt millions.

My brain is ready to explode.

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Odelson swears Stroger is a reformer *** Updated x1 ***

Friday, Nov 10, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

Election law attorney Burt Odelson played a major role in Todd Stroger’s campaign and now swears to Phil Kadner that Stroger will be a reformer.

“(H)e wasn’t going to denounce his father or the way he ran the county. Who would do that to his father? […]

“What Todd will do, I guarantee, is hire professional people and listen to their advice. I call him a Reagan Democrat. He will build a consensus across party lines.

“If (Republican) Tony Peraica had won, he wouldn’t have been able to do anything. The Democrats would have controlled a majority on the board. There would have been constant bickering. It would have been (Chicago) City Council Wars all over again.” […]

“All these big downtown law firms are making millions of dollars off the county, and that’s going to stop,” Odelson said.

“They drag out negotiations on lawsuits for months and months, collecting maybe $200,000 in fees, and then settle a case for $50,000.

“I’m going to look at all these excessive legal bills.”

I’m not exactly holding my breath, but it has been pretty funny watching the white liberal media’s shock at their candidate Tony Peraica’s thuggish election night antics. Maybe they’ll also have to admit one day that they were wrong about Todd Stroger.

*** UPDATE *** Peraica did win some Chicago wards. Glenn Hodas has provided us with a chart:

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Maps and charts and graphs, oh my!

Friday, Nov 10, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

Glenn Hodas, a political consultant and numbers cruncher, has provided us with some nifty maps and graphs to help us understand this year’s election a little bit better. Click all the images for larger versions.

I’ve had to reduce the file sizes to make the images load better on the Internet, but if you want to see the maps, etc. in all their high-rez glory, just head over to Glenn’s website and find his contact information. I’m sure he’ll do whatever he can to help

First, a color-coded statewide map gives us the intensity of the vote for governor…

If you want to see a much bigger statewide map, click on this image…

Next up, a bar graph that gives us the governor’s race head-to-head percentages by region…

This pie chart will give you a very clear picture of how each region turned out on Tuesday…

And here’s a county map that shows the same thing…

This bar graph shows how each of the statewide Democratic candidates did against each other…

The chart below shows how the treasurer candidates did by region…

OK, back to the governor’s race. The following charts show how the suburban vote changed from 2002 (Rod Blagojevich vs. Jim Ryan) to 2006. Notice that the Republican numbers dropped in every case.

DuPage…

Kane…

Lake…

McHenry…

Will…

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Morning shorts

Friday, Nov 10, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Old-line Illinois Republicans wear the jacket, but the White House was apparently part of the cabal. Peter Fizgerald on the appointment of New Yorker Patrick Fitzgerald as US Attorney in Chicago: “Karl Rove called back and said we will not appoint anyone from out of state. Weâ€™ll let you pick anyone you want, as long as that person is from Chicago.”

* Daily Herald: Oberweis said itâ€™ll take some time, but Republicans can take back their party. He said having local committeemen work hard in precincts by going door to door and welcoming fresh faces would be a good start. â€œWe have many (committeemen) who have been around a very long time and who try to keep out new ideas, new volunteers and new candidates who will challenge the system,â€ Oberweis said.

* Minimum wage hike ‘first order of business’ for Blagojevich

* Illinois behind on paying for cleanup of gasoline-leak sites

* Duckworth says future run for office a possibility

* ComEd rivals in no rush to compete in Illinois

* At 80, is Chief Illiniwek ready to retire?

* Rahm Seeks Caucus Chair Post

* Friday Beer Blogging: Dem Sweep Edition

* Too Bushed to Bash Both

* RTA has big plans — if the money’s there

* Editorial: Big ideas, little money

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Tim Nieukirk’s “victory” speech

Thursday, Nov 9, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

BOOM-Shakalaka!

The Get Nieuked ticket got 16 write-in votes in the City of Peoria alone.

It’s not too late to help retire the Get Nieuked campaign debt by buying a t-shirt, button or trucker cap at their CafePress page. Go help them out.

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Thursday, Nov 9, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Question of the day

Thursday, Nov 9, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

First, a little setup:

Former GOP primary candidate Jim Oberweis says Gov. Rod Blagojevich was ripe for the picking, but the Republicans had the wrong candidate in Tuesdayâ€™s election.

Instead of looking back, like Mr. Oberweis did, let’s look forward. What should the Republican Party do now?

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The Stroger beat goes on… for at least four more years

Thursday, Nov 9, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

If you missed the Tuesday night/Wednesday morning fireworks when Tony Peraica led a crowd of angry party-goers to the Cook County Building to demand that the votes be counted in his race, you should definitely check out these Pioneer Press videos:

Follow Republican candidate for Cook County board president Tony Peraica on election day, from a final push for votes to a march on the County Administration Building.

* Part 1
* Part 2

Sun-Times columnist Mark Brown has some good anecdotes about the evening. Brown was a Peraica supporter, but he was clearly shocked at the candidate’s election night antics.

While Peraica had every right to be angry about the performance of the clerk’s office and the right to be present with a competent team to oversee the returns and demand answers, there was no need for the over-the-top hysteria that nearly created a mini-riot. You don’t call out a group of people who have been drinking for hours to help you solve a problem unless you’re spoiling for a fight.

It was a foolish, ill-advised performance on Peraica’s part, one that left more than a few people who voted for him feeling less disappointed by his loss.

I’m on record here as not being a big fan of new Cook County Board President-elect Todd Stroger, but we certainly benefitted that night from his laid-back style.

Peraica ended up losing the race by about a hundred thousand votes, which is much better than the 470,000 votes that Judy Baar Topinka lost it by, but it wasn’t close enough to claim that vote fraud was responsible.

There was a consolation prize, however narrow the margin.

Peraica… appeared to be hanging on to his County Board commissioner’s seat representing the western suburbs.

Peraica’s loss, or, rather, the sight of the Chicago machine hauling first John and then Todd Stroger across the finish line undoubtedly contributed to the decision by Congressmen Jesse Jackson, Jr. and Luis Gutierrez not to run for mayor next year, no matter what they say. If the machine can nominate a stroke victim and elect his not exactly over-qualified son, then doze guys can do just about anything… Except evade the feds.

A federal grand jury is demanding records from City Hall regarding injury claims of city workers, a move that comes two weeks after the Sun-Times reported Chicago patronage workers claim to be hurt at a rate that exceeds the nation’s most dangerous jobs.

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The ever-present feds

Thursday, Nov 9, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

Either out of intentional irony or not, the Sun-Times sent crime writer Frank Main to cover Gov. Blagojevich’s victory party Tuesday night.

Political victories don’t make the feds go away, and they apparently don’t stop the news stories, either.

The latest story is about a lawsuit filed last week, just before the election. Maybe that’s why nobody wrote about it.

A state employee who says he was wrongly passed over for a promotion claims in a federal lawsuit that a political power broker decided who was hired at two agencies under Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

John Gnutek alleges William Cellini, a Republican campaign cash cow, agreed to support Blagojevich with about $86,000 in contributions in 2002 for extraordinary influence over hiring decisions at the Gaming Board and State Police.

Way down in the very last paragraph, however, is the most interesting part.

The suit also claims Cellini helped get Gaming Board jobs for two people he knew would do no work for their paychecks. The Gaming Board’s former interim director, Jeannette Tamayo, raised the same concern in a lawsuit against the board she filed in June.

Hope is not a plan, and the Republican hope that Rod Blagojevich is eventually indicted is a really stupid way to waste the next four years. Still, jokes from columnists can be fun. Pat Gauen:

The hovering threat could make Tuesday’s the most important election of a lieutenant governor in Illinois history. I once wrote that the only real duty of the job is to wait for a call from the governor’s coroner. That neglected the possibility of a call from the governor’s jailer.

Unless and until that happens, the corruption schtick is not a good issue for the severely damaged Illinois Republicans. At least not yet.

More than 85 percent of Illinois voters were concerned about corruption and ethics in state government, but half of those voters chose Blagojevich, 40 percent went with Repbulican challenger and 10 percent opted for Green Party candidate Rich Whitney, according to exit polls conducted for the Associated Press and the TV networks.

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Morning shorts

Thursday, Nov 9, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

* A coalition of eight reform organizations challenged Gov. Rod Blagojevich on Wednesday to work as hard at passing sweeping campaign reforms as he did at winning reelection.

* Some suburban business leaders warned Wednesday that the state could face economic trouble with anti-business policies after Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich secured a second term.

* Whatâ€™s next for Birkett? Future is up in the air

* Green Party breaks through

* Despite loss, Green Party big winner

* How Green is our valley - The third-party candidate for governor received nearly a fourth of Rockford area votes.

* Editorial: By winning more than 10 percent of the gubernatorial vote, the Green Party has won a role in the state’s political process that could bring new and worthwhile ideas into future elections.

* Hinz: To the victors Tuesday go the challenges

* McQueary: Losers from Election Day include Tony Peraica, who not only lost the Cook County Board presidential race but nearly got tossed from his seat on the board. Storming Cook County Clerk David Orr’s office at 1 a.m., wild-eyed and enraged, with a campaign contingent of well-liquored supporters, probably was ill-advised.

* AP: Women cast just over half of the votes Tuesday, and they clearly favored Blagojevich. He got 53 percent of the women’s vote, compared to 36 percent for Topinka.

* Blagojevich: ‘We’ve got a lot more work’

* Editorial: Governor is right; there’s ‘a lot more work to do’

* Blagojevich earns mediocre support in central Illinois - Governor wins only four counties in 18-county region

* Eaton: Illinois should be the first to promote chromosone-based gender identity

* ‘Accidental Speaker’ calls it quits

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Wednesday, Nov 8, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Election results analysis thread - The morning after

Wednesday, Nov 8, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

If I can take my eyes off this bizarre, late night TV coverage of the Cook County president’s race, I’ll be heading to bed soon and won’t be posting until later this morning because I have to do a long Capitol Fax first.

In the meantime, click on one of the election results links at the bottom of this post and take a look at how the vote went statewide then talk about it below.

To the Topinka/Duckworth/Radogno/Watson/Seals/etc. supporters out there, please try to avoid too much bitterness. You had ample opportunity to vent last night. The people have spoken. You gotta come to terms with it, so you might as well start now - even though the end of a losing campaign has all the subtlety of a speeding freight train slamming into a mountainside.

Besides, after I’m done working on other things I’ll just delete the over-the-top invective anyway. So deal with it or take it elsewhere.

*** UPDATE *** People. The title says “analysis thread,” not “whining thread.” If you still feel the urge to vent, go here so we can wall it off.

*** UPDATE 2 *** From the Sun-Times website:

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