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Question of the day

Friday, Oct 10, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

Sorry it’s so late today. Lots of work on my plate.

* Question: Predict Barack Obama’s margin of victory in Illinois.

* Bonus Questions: Will Obama have Illinois coattails? Where?

Explain all your answers as completely as possible. Thanks.

66 Comments

Durbin, Sauerberg tear into their own parties and each other

Friday, Oct 10, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

* I’m not sure if the GOP base is gonna be happy with this statement by Republican US Senate candidate Steve Sauerberg…

“We do need change, I just don’t think John McCain is the change needed.”

Oof.

* Incumbent US Sen. Dick Durbin responded…

“Dr. Sauerberg would be a change in Washington,” Durbin said. “At least a change in face, but he would bring the same politics. It’s sad for students who are here because this is a debt that you will pay for.”

* Durbin supports Barack Obama, of course, but he lit into his fellow Illinois Democrats yesterday during a newspaper editorial board meeting…

Durbin calls the gridlock among his fellow Democrats at the state Capitol embarrassing. […]

“This mess is our creation, Democratic creation, and there are no excuses for what has happened,” [said Durbin]…

Durbin said he’s tried to work more closely with Blagojevich on key issues, but doesn’t get his phone calls returned regularly. He said he doesn’t know what it will take to fix the problems or whether he or anyone else in Washington could help cut through the morass.

“I don’t know that I could ride to the rescue of our state government,” Durbin said. “They have to own up to their own responsibility.”

That may end up in a GOP mailer or two.

* On another front, here’s a quote from Sauerberg during the Tribune editorial board “debate” with Sen. Dick Durbin earlier this week…

Sauerberg acknowledged that Durbin has “done a great job on some of these issues” dealing with veterans.

* Sauerberg during last night’s Illinois Radio Network debate…

Only days after backtracking on questioning Democratic U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin’s patriotism, Republican challenger Steve Sauerberg reheated the issue Thursday by accusing him of actions that “embolden the enemy” and “put our soldiers in danger” in Iraq.

* Sauerberg at the Tribune Tower…

“I do applaud your efforts on behalf of the troops,” Sauerberg said.

* Sauerberg last night…

The facts are I go around the state and people question Dick Durbin’s patriotism. These behaviors are unpatriotic. I see the ramifications of his poor judgment.”

* Durbin responds…

‘I don’t know where the bottom is anymore in your campaign. Why don’t you debate the issues?'’ Durbin said. ‘’Common decency still works.'’

‘’It does still work,'’ Sauerberg shot back, ‘’and you should have shown it in your remarks about our troops.'’

* More from the debate…

Sauerberg also supported his plan to eliminate Medicare and instead allow citizens to buy individual health care from private venues. He said this plan will give all citizens health care, regardless of preexisting conditions or health care benefits through employers.

* And a bit more on that health care proposal…

On health care, Sauerberg proposed dismantling employer-provided health care in favor of an open market system that eliminates pre-existing condition restrictions and tightens a patient’s ability to sue their doctors.

But he offered no specifics on the size of the tax breaks and vouchers he backs to help the uninsured.

“It is conceptual,” Sauerberg said of his plan.

You can listen to the entire debate by clicking here.

17 Comments

Again with the “Present” votes?

Friday, Oct 10, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Yesterday, the Washington Post ran one of the better analyses I’ve seen yet of Barack Obama’s history in the Illinois Senate. You should definitely go read the whole thing. While it covers some overly familiar territory (poker games, clashes with black Senators, white friends, etc.), it is overal quite nuanced - until it gets to the end…

There remained only one problem with Obama’s résumé, a rare hole the politician himself had never foreseen, friends said. Obama voted “Present” 129 times in the state Senate, all during his six years in the minority. His political opponents have used those votes as proof of cowardice. By refusing to vote “Yes” or “No,” they argue, Obama avoided casting votes on controversial issues in order to protect his record.

But Obama placed more than half of his “Present” votes along with other Democrats in organized protest of Republican legislation, voting records showed. Allies said many of his other “Present” votes reflected his tendency toward analysis and precision: He voted “Present” whenever he liked a bill but felt uncomfortable with its wording, they said.

“Nobody ever thought the ‘Present’ votes would become an issue,” Lightford said. “Obviously, he never thought so, or he probably would have voted ‘Yes’ or ‘No.’ ”

Nobody thought the votes would be an issue because “Present” votes are pretty common in the General Assembly.

* I requested the following charts from a Democratic entity. The first has the summary of the top seven “Present” voters in the Senate during the time Obama was in Springfield…

As you can see, almost every one of those Senators is (or was) highly respected at the Statehouse.

Here’s the breakdown by year. Click the pic for a larger image…

Obama’s “Present” votes appear to closely track with other Democrats on the list. So, while Obama certainly had more “P” votes than lots and lots of other Senators, he wasn’t out of line with people like Vince Demuzio and John Cullerton.

* One more thing. Former GOP Sen. Steve Raushenberger has repeatedly made an issue of Obama’s “Present” votes and once told me that his total was nowhere near Obama’s. In fact, the Democratic researcher found that Rauschenberger voted “Present” 82 times between 1997 and 2004. That isn’t too far below Obama’s total.

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