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More reform and renewal - pigs at the perpetual trough edition
Saturday, Sep 30, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller The party never ends. Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s administration, seeking a contractor to oversee the establishment of a major Southern Illinois recreational facility in late 2003, bypassed the downstate firm that had already done the master plan for the project. Yet another unintentional coinkidink, according to the Blagojevich administration. Those contributions may look carefully timed and influential, but they weren’t. Nope. That would be wrong. Peruse more stories on the relationship between Knight and the governor here and here.
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Saturday “expert” roundup
Saturday, Sep 30, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller The major punditry sites usually update their election prognostications on Friday. So, this will be a regular feature through election day. You can comment all you want, but comments won’t be visible until Monday morning, when I waive my magic wand.
* CQPolitics: Leans Democratic Ill. — Blagojevich * Charlie Cook: Leans Dem - Blagojevich - IL * The Washington Post’s The Fix “prognosticator” used the Sun-Times/NBC5 outlier poll as its sole basis for analysis, so, once again, there’s no reason to put any stock into what Chris Cillizza writes about any races, gubernatorial or congressional.
Immigration has emerged as a contentious issue in this campaign. Besides the Southwest, the Midwest has been one of the few areas of the country still responding to the immigration issue. * CQPolitics:
* Charlie Cook has not updated his rankings since Sept. 20.
* CQPolitics: Leans Democratic - Ill. 8 — Bean
* CQPolitics: Leans Democratic - Ill. 17 — Evans (open seat)
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15 ILLINOIS Rod Blagojevich (D) Last Ranking: 16
[Moved race out of “top 30.” Race is now at 31.]|
READER COMMENTS CLOSED FOR THE WEEKEND
Friday, Sep 29, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller In the meantime, peruse the videos posted at our new YouTube site…  And make extra sure to keep tabs on Illinoize this weekend. We have a couple of new contributors who will likely shake things up a little bit, plus Fritchey seems to have finally emerged from his hiatus.
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This just in… Trouble
Friday, Sep 29, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller Rep. Jack Franks has just sent out a press release that makes a very valid point about how Gov. Blagojevich’s administration could be in big, big trouble over allegedly illegal state hiring. Franks (D-Woodstock) has filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the guv’s office for all exemptions granted by Blagojevich to his own Executive Order 1, which froze state hiring in 2003. The only way anyone can get a state job (or a promotion) to this day is to obtain an exemption to the order from the governor. The point here is that it will be difficult to make the case that a couple of mid-level personnel chiefs who were taking orders from above were responsible for any alleged lawbreaking. Why? Because not only did the personnel people fill the jobs with political hacks on alleged orders from the governor’s patronage office (and, in Beverly Asciridis’ case, by the governor himself), but the governor’s office itself then had to approve all the new hires. Franks’ press release is below, along with his letter to Gov. Blagojevich and a copy of the governor’s Executive Order 1. Click the pics for a larger version.
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It’s all how you look at it
Friday, Sep 29, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller At 1:10 pm, the Tribune posted a story entitled “Stroger ducks questions on suspended county aide.” Under pressure to explain the role of his father’s patronage chief in his campaign for Cook County Board president, Ald. Todd Stroger (8th) refused to answer questions Friday after making a brief statement about the matter. Then, three paragraphs later… Stroger went a step farther Friday, saying that if he beats Republican Tony Peraica on Nov. 7, [Gerald] Nichols will not work for Cook County. At about the same time, the Daily Herald posted a story entitled “Todd Stroger says he’d fire dad’s patronage chief.” With his father’s former county administration under federal investigation, Cook County Board president candidate Todd Stroger said today that if elected, he will fire a close friend allegedly tied to rigged hiring. The lesson we can take from this is the Tribune reporter was far angrier at Stroger for not answering questions than was the Daily Herald scribe. and it showed.
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YouTube and Capitol Fax
Friday, Sep 29, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller I’ve added some new videos to my YouTube “video log.” It takes about a second to put those vids on my YT home page, so there are several. * The Daily Show did a recent “explanatory report” on pre-election polling. * I’ve posted some new TV ads that both defend Tammy Duckworth and attack her. * There’s also an interview with Cook County Board Commissioner and Statehouse lobbyist Larry Suffredin. * Todd Stroger’s appearance on Chicago Tonight is up. * An interview with Secretary of State Jesse White is also on the “vlog,” as is an interview with Sen. Ira Silverstein. * And as I told you yesterday, some new ads by the governor’s campaign have been posted. You can subscribe to videos that I upload to YouTube myself by clicking here. But, be advised that when I see a video I like that was uploaded by someone else I add it to my “video log” - and those vids won’t show up in your subscriber alerts. The vlog is on the home page.
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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY (Part 2) - Spears radio ad; Dagit mailer; Granberg radio ad; Automated polling; Emil Jones (Use all caps in password - and use YESTERDAY’S password)
Friday, Sep 29, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller
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The nastiness continues
Friday, Sep 29, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller The NRCC is never one to hold anything back. But, as I point out in my Sun-Times column today, claiming or implying that an opponent supports terrorists is the “DC Way” - and I’m pretty sick of it. Click on the pics for larger images.
[Hat tip: SoapBlox]
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Friday, Sep 29, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller
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Question of the day
Friday, Sep 29, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller A bill to ban horse slaughtering passed the Illinois Senate but not the House. The SJ-R ran an editorial about the issue today. One need not be a tree-hugging vegetarian to have qualms about the slaughter of horses for human consumption. […] The Post-Dispatch updates on the accident at this link. QUESTION: Should the slaughter of horses for meat be banned in Illinois? In the US? Explain.
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Radogno slams Alexi, but Obama stands by his man
Friday, Sep 29, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller Not much in the way of print media on yesterday’s Chris Radogno press conference but Chicago TV did cover it pretty well. Let’s start with ABC7: New questions were raised Thursday about a political candidate’s alleged connections to organized crime. Alexi Giannoulias is a Democrat running for Illinois state treasurer. His Republican opponent, Christine Radogno, is asking these questions. But she isn’t the only one. Meanwhile CBS2 checked in with Sen. Rockstar. We caught up with Giannoulias when he was shooting new political commercials Thursday. He wouldn’t say if Obama will appear in one. But a spokesman for Obama said Giannoulias has the senator’s full support. Emphasis added. And NBC5 got this gem of a quote from Giannoulias: “I would love to sit down with the speaker and see if we could sit down and talk about how we could uh, you know work together,” he said.
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Guv skips prime media event
Friday, Sep 29, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller I’m told that Gov. Blagojevich skipped the opening of this open-road tolling link. He has been to all the others, even bringing in a famous Indy car racer to zoom through one of them. Some reporters were not pleased with the short notice of his pending absence, particularly since the campaign promised last week that they’d be more forthcoming about his schedule. A call and an e-mail to the governor’s press office asking for an explanation were not returned. What up, RR?
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Campaign’s “crux” debated
Friday, Sep 29, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller The “crux” of the comptroller’s race isn’t really delinquent Medicaid payments, but whether Carole Pankau can even make voters notice that she’s on the ballot. But, this is still an informative piece. Illinois owes $1.4 billion in delinquent Medicaid payments — and just who should take the blame for it may be the crux of the state comptroller’s race. Hynes’ campaign fired back that Pankau has been silent about the issue for years, so it’s nice to see the two finally engaging on something. Pankau started off this race essentially endorsing Hynes. I’m most curious to see if this campaign can generate more than a handful of comments on an otherwise slow Friday.
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Morning shorts
Friday, Sep 29, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller * Miller: ‘Cut and run’ remark undercuts Roskam, despite being misquoted * “The national spotlight on the campaign for retiring U.S. Rep. Henry Hyde’s 6th District congressional seat heated up Thursday as Democrats picked Tammy Duckworth to respond to President Bush’s weekly radio address and as former U.S. Sen. Bob Dole spoke out to clarify a Duckworth mailer.” * SJ-R: The Illinois State Police are looking at moving their operations out of the crumbling State Armory in Springfield even as an $800,000 repair project is undertaken on the building. * Tribune: “Cook County Board President Bobbie Steele said Thursday the county’s budget deficit going into 2007 exceeds $400 million, and she asked all department heads and elected officials to cut their spending by 10 percent.” * Trib Editorial: [Steele] didn’t mention privatizing county services. Or layoffs. Or closing redundant institutions. She didn’t mention the need for a strong inspector general to slash the surtax that corruption extracts from taxpayers. She didn’t mention the need to consolidate county fiefdoms by the dozens. She didn’t mention the need to overhaul an antiquated system of salary increases that allows many employees’ compensation to grow by leaps and bounds. * Daily Herald: Some call forecast for deficit a scare tactic * I run this ward, alderman’s friend allegedly said - Claimed she had ‘total control over the 16th Ward’ * AP: Republican candidate for governor Judy Baar Topinka said Thursday she’s confident lawmakers would approve the Chicago casino that’s a key component of her proposed budget plan. Topinka, who first proposed her plan last month, said she has talked to lawmakers who were interested in the idea before and “will be interested again.” * Post-Dispatch: In the governor’s race, neither incumbent Rod Blagojevich nor challenger Judy Baar Topinka has an official profile on MySpace.com. Blagojevich has a bare-bones profile on Facebook.com; Topinka, the state treasurer, has nothing. While Rep. John Shimkus, R-Collinsville, has profiles on Facebook and MySpace, Rep. Jerry Costello, D-Belleville, has very little on Facebook and nothing on MySpace. * Tribune: The first name of Cook County Circuit Judge Victoria A. Stewart has been misspelled on 1.5 million ballots. Reprinting them would cost $450,000. * State fund could help pay funeral costs for slain woman, three children * Tribune: Chicago merchants would be barred from selling air guns that resemble real weapons and possession of the imitations would be banned under a measure advanced Thursday by the City Council’s Police and Fire Committee. * Daley , in DC, pushes Chicago as Olympic site * Guv candidates respond to Associated Press questionnaire * We had this days ago here on the blog. The AP finally catches up: year after state agencies were caught throwing sensitive documents into the trash, two Illinois agencies admit they recently mishandled personal information about their employees. The Corrections Department said its information breach involved “virtually all” of its 13,500 employees but would provide no details. * Huntley: Are you willing to pay politicians to campaign?
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The governor’s new ad
Thursday, Sep 28, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller The governor’s campaign has uploaded his new TV ad to its website. I wrote a little about the spot earlier this week. And here’s another new spot. See lots more ads, interviews and raw footage by clicking the image below.
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Thursday, Sep 28, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller
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YouTube and Capitol Fax *** Updated x1 ***
Thursday, Sep 28, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller [Bumped up and updated] My YouTube page is now up and running. The permalink is at the right. I see Illinois-related videos quite often, so now I’ll just add ‘em to the YouTube page so you can see them, too. You can see the page here, and if you’re already registered at YouTube, you can subscribe to the videos that I post here.  *** UPDATE *** I forgot to say that I have a few new videos on the “video log.” Congressman Jerry Weller and his Dem opponent speak at a candidates’ forum and are asked questions by the audience. [There are now more.]
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Question of the day
Thursday, Sep 28, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller We’ll use Stu Umholtz’s comments in the Peoria paper today to get things going. Illinois lawmakers need to decide whether the state should resume executions because “we cannot simply allow the status quo to continue,” Stewart Umholtz, the Republican nominee for attorney general, said Wednesday. Should the moratorium be lifed? Explain.
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Madigan: Umholz has been “very nice”
Thursday, Sep 28, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller This little nugget was buried way down in the piece but is more than just a little bizarre. During an appearance Wednesday in front of the Peoria Journal Star editorial board, [Attorney General Lisa] Madigan also was asked about her campaign’s investigation into [Republican opponent Stu] Umholtz’s office. This summer, a Democratic Party staffer requested documents from the Tazewell County state’s attorney’s office. I wonder if Umholz realizes that Madigan’s statement makes him look like a tool.
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Daily Herald fact checks candidates
Thursday, Sep 28, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller The Daily Herald looks beyond the hot-button “old guard” patronage issues today and examines whether Todd Stroger and Tony Peraica are making valid claims. Here are two examples. There are more. Read the whole thing. Todd Stroger claimed that “homeowners are going to pay higher taxes†if Tony Peraica is elected. It seemed a strange claim, given that Peraica, as a county commissioner, was at the forefront of beating back tax hike attempts by Todd Stroger’s father, John H. Stroger, when he was president. This is very good reporting, but nothing like it is being done by anyone else in the county board president’s race.
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Roskam and Duckworth tee off at Trib “debate” *** Updated x2 ***
Thursday, Sep 28, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller Supposedly, Peter Roskam used the Tribune editorial board debate to back away from his “cut and run” comments he uttered at the last debate. But that isn’t in the Trib’s story. Republican Peter Roskam and Democrat Tammy Duckworth disagreed Wednesday about everything from the Iraq war’s effect on national security to airport expansion, highlighting stark differences in their campaigns in the 6th Congressional District. […] Meanwhile, Bob Dole is forced to climb down a bit from effusive comments he made about Duckworth.
Bob Dole said “I”? He didn’t say “Bob Dole is supporting Pete Roskam… That’s his name, ‘Pete,’ whether he likes it or not, it’s ‘Pete’”? And Rahm Emanuel lays out the national Democratic GOTV strategy. Key to the Dems’ House strategy is picking up a hot political market segment — drop-off voters. They are sought-after micro- targets for Democrats in 2006. They are the voters who turned out in the 2004 presidential year but may well stay home in November. That isn’t gonna be easy. *** UPDATE *** The video of the debate can be found here. The Tribune being the Tribune, there’s no way to download it. *** UPDATE 2 *** Roskam said “cut and run” was “admittedly not” Duckworth’s position.
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Reform and Renewal keeps marching ahead *** Updated x1 ***
Thursday, Sep 28, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller I’m sure this has nothing to do with electoral politics at all. The administration of Gov. Rod Blagojevich this month issued contracts to video and still photographers that could combine to cost the state $945,000 for the year beginning Oct. 1. Exactly. *** UPDATE *** Lee Newspapers also had a story today on this subject.
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Um, huh? *** Updated x1 ***
Thursday, Sep 28, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller Different outlets, very different coverage. * Sun-Times‘ Oprah quote: “I would just like to say to our esteemed governor, you could sign autographs for me any time,” Winfrey said when she took to the lectern. “And I love your philosophy. Thank you so much for what you’re doing for the state.” * AP’s Oprah quote: “You can sign autographs for me any time,” Winfrey told the governor. “I pay my taxes; I help you a lot.” * Tribune’s Oprah quote: There wasn’t one. But the last graf was this: But unlike Winfrey, Gov. Rod Blagojevich, State Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka and Mayor Richard Daley drew scant attention from onlookers * ABC7: The first debate in the race for governor in Illinois is scheduled for Monday night in Decatur. But the sparks were already flying Wednesday when the candidates crossed paths at a women’s business luncheon in Chicago [where Oprah spoke]. * Decatur Herald & Review on Monday’s first gubernatorial debate: Green Party candidate Rich Whitney has not been invited to participate. Organizers said the event was scheduled before Whitney won a spot on the November ballot, and Blagojevich had said he wanted to debate Topinka alone. IRN, the Decatur debate host, declined to invite Whitney to Monday’s event after Blagojevich’s campaign said it didn’t want him there. “We agreed to debate Treasurer Topinka. We weren’t really interested in renegotiating” to include Whitney, said Blagojevich campaign spokeswoman Sheila Nix. […] * AP coverage of the debate: The Associated Press on Wednesday withdrew its invitation to host a debate between the candidates, saying their inability to agree on a date HAD left the news organization without enough time to make arrangements for the event. Rich Whitney may have surpassed several obstacles to get himself on the November ballot as the Green Party gubernatorial candidate. * And what the heck is this?  * Tribune: Hoping to stimulate development and create jobs in Will County, Gov. Rod Blagojevich announced Wednesday an expansion of the Joliet Arsenal enterprise zone that will provide an industrial park developer tax incentives to convert 770 acres within the former arsenal site into a bulk distribution center. *** UPDATE *** FYI, the hot tub couple were found not guilty.
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Morning shorts
Thursday, Sep 28, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller * “A prominent Arlington Heights landscaping firm could lose millions in Chicago Public Schools contracts after district officials alleged that the company used a black-owned trucking company as a front to secure work intended for minority-owned businesses, officials announced Wednesday… The company is owned by Aidan Monahan, who since 1999 has donated tens of thousands of dollars to Democratic Party officials, including Mayor Richard Daley and Gov. Rod Blagojevich.” * Tribune’s letters to the editor section gets a bit bloggy. * Topinka press release: What’s the Governor Hiding? * Get your 2006 Election Day Advent Calendar * Editorial: Chicago aldermen, it appears sometimes, sure have a funny idea about why businesses are in business. The latest evidence is the call by some aldermen to stop buying groceries at all Jewels, to protest the fact that not enough people are buying groceries at one Jewel. * Another unannounced public appearance by Gov. Blagojevich: “Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich was in Galena, Illinois Tuesday, hosting a “Going Global” roundtable discussion on foreign trade.” * Birkett touring to close campaign gap * Open road tolling lanes to debut at 2 more plazas * 183rd’s new mission still unknown - Air Guard’s chief says many units in the same situation
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