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Rauner on Obama: “One of the most anti-business presidents we’ve had in the last 70 years”

Wednesday, Oct 1, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller

* With President Obama coming to Chicago today to fundraise for Gov. Pat Quinn, I thought it might be a good time to post something I’ve had for a couple of weeks (I came up with the idea the week I was sick and never got around to posting it).

Back then, I was looking for something else and stumbled upon a Politico story from this past March…

Bruce Rauner, the billionaire Republican nominee for Illinois governor, is doing all he can to turn himself into a career politician named Mark Kirk. […]

Rauner has on his staff four Kirk alumni in his effort to replicate the moderate GOP senator’s path to blue-state victory. And like Kirk — and unlike Republicans in almost everywhere else in the country — Rauner avoids bashing President Barack Obama, who remains popular in his home state.

That’s true. He avoids talking about Obama.

* But I figured there had to be something out there, so I asked the Quinn campaign if they had any anti-Obama remarks in their files. They sent over a Bloomberg interview from May, 2011…

“Unfortunately, I think President Obama is one of the most anti-business presidents we’ve had in the last 70 years.

“His policies and anti-business rhetoric have created a level of hostility and unpredictability coming out of Washington that’s damaging to our economy.”

If you do the math, he’s referring to FDR as being the most anti-business president before Obama.

* When asked if Obama’s actions represented “outright hostility” or just “neglect,” Rauner responded…

“I would say hostility.”

* Raw audio…

Click to listen

…Adding… Oops. Forgot to post this one…

* Michelle Obama in new ad: ‘Barack and I’ are voting for Quinn: “Now, Pat’s fighting to raise the minimum wage. He’s working to create jobs here at home, instead of shipping jobs overseas. And he’ll never cut funding from military families or veterans to give a tax break to the wealthy. That’s the choice, and there’s just too much at stake in this election to stay home. So for this election, Barack and I are casting our votes for Pat Quinn.”

* The ad is here

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Quinn and congressional Democrats

Thursday, Jul 10, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller

* The Hill looks at Illinois congressional contests…

At least four Illinois races this cycle are competitive, and Republicans are optimistic they can pick up at least one to two seats, especially with a robust GOP turnout operation backed by the wealthy Rauner.

One-term former GOP Reps. Bob Dold and Bobby Schilling are both in close rematches against Democratic Reps. Brad Schneider and Cheri Bustos, respectively. Republicans also hope to knock off freshman Rep. Bill Enyart (D) after unsuccessfully targeting the open downstate district in 2012, contending GOP state Rep. Mike Bost’s campaign is on the upswing.

* One reason why the national GOPs are optimistic is the unpopularity of Gov. Pat Quinn…

The GOP-aligned American Action Network released an automated poll last week that showed Dold up 42 percent to 39 percent in the rematch [with Schneider]. But in the governor’s race, in a district Obama won by 17 points, Rauner was leading Quinn 49 percent to 37 percent. Republicans expect similar, or even worse numbers, in from their governor in other districts in the state. […]

“We can tie Quinn to every single congressional race,” said one national GOP strategist

That poll and the expectation of tying candidates to Quinn doesn’t surprise me at all. I’m not so sure that works well in Illinois, though. Republicans tried hard to tie Democrats to Rod Blagojevich without much success.

* More from the poll…

President Barack Obama has a 44 percent job approval rating in the 10th district with 46 percent saying they disapprove and 10 percent not sure. […]

Schneider is vulnerable because in his second year as a House member, a large number of poll respondents—44 percent—have no opinion of how he is handling his job, with 28 percent approving and 28 percent disapproving. […]

* The candidate calls himself a moderate but then campaigns with Nancy Pelosi and the chair of the Democratic National Committee.

More likely 32 percent

Less likely 45 percent

Not sure 23 percent

* The candidate claims to be independent but votes with party leadership 90 percent of the time.

More likely 15 percent

Less likely 43 percent

Not sure 41 percent.

That district could easily wind up bouncing back and forth between the two parties for the rest of the remap cycle.

* Back to The Hill…

Democrats’ one saving grace could be Sen. Dick Durbin (D). The Senate majority whip is up for reelection but faces only nominal GOP opposition for a fourth term. As a downstate native who hails from Springfield, he’s always had a good image around the state and is a valuable elder statesman and party fundraiser.

I just don’t think as of yet that Durbin’s coattails will be long enough.

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