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Daley: Blagojevich claim is “cuckoo” *** UPDATED x3 *** AG Madigan: Wait could “invite” lawsuit *** More calls for Obama to step in *** Guv says he’s not cuckoo ***

Monday, Sep 15, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

* I’ve said before and I’ll repeat it again that I strongly believe Gov. Blagojevich is right that the CTA’s claims about the cause of its current budget deficit are bogus. But, this is just too funny to pass up…

Mayor Richard Daley said Monday that Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s claim the mayor and the CTA are misleading the public about transit funding problems is “cuckoo.”

Daley quickly followed up his one-word response by saying he was “not getting into an argument” with Blagojevich.

“He’s arguing with everybody in America,” Daley said of the governor.

Well, not quite everybody, even though it seems like it sometimes.

Have at it.

*** UPDATE 1 *** The Sun-Times has the crowd react…

The crowd of educators Daley was addressing broke into loud laughter.

*** UPDATE 2 *** A group of legislators and most statewides (sans Jesse White, who was preoccupied, and Gov. Blagojevich) held a press conference today about the perennially stalled ethics bill…

At a Chicago press conference, state Attorney General Lisa Madigan called on Senate President Emil Jones Jr. to reverse course and call the Senate back into session within the next few days, rather than waiting until after the November elections, as Mr. Jones has said he’s inclined to do. […]

Waiting quite likely will invite a lawsuit over whether the legislation has been unduly delayed, Ms. Madigan said, and the courts could reject any bill as improperly approved.

“There is a risk of that,” said Ms. Madigan, flanked by a bipartisan gathering of Democratic and Republican political leaders. The only way to avoid that risk is for the Senate to meet soon, she added. “The (proposed) law is in jeopardy and we know why.”

Also, reporters wanted to know if the press conference attendees thought Barack Obama might be of help. The Republicans were eager to reply…

[Sen. Kirk Dillard] suggested that what would really move Mr. Jones to fast action would be a call from his favorite protégé: Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama. Mr. Obama’s campaign had no response.

Yep.

But he won’t. Still, it’s a good idea.

If John McCain would just insert one sentence into a speech about this topic, it would be front-page headlines all over Illinois.

*** UPDATE 3 *** Blagojevich: I’m not cuckoo…

“Look, I have a great deal of respect for Mayor Daley, I don’t think I’m cuckoo, but I will tell you what drives me crazy and what drives me crazy is the CTA blaming years of mismanagement on senior citizens taking the bus for free,” Blagojevich told reporters after meeting with state Sen. James Meeks (D-Chicago) to discuss school funding.

“I just think again blaming the seniors and blaming a good thing like that for the mismanagement of the CTA to lay a foundation for a fare increase is unfortunate,” Blagojevich said. “And I don’t consider myself cuckoo but that kind of stuff drives me crazy.

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Kirk poll shows incumbent maintaining big lead; Plus, DCCC goes on the attack

Monday, Sep 15, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Mark Kirk’s campaign is floating some new poll results. Keep in mind that this has a margin of error of +/- 5.6 percent. From the executive summary…

In a September 10-11 poll by McLaughlin & Associates, Rep. Kirk maintains a 22-point lead (51/29) in a rematch against Dan Seals. In IL-10, Senator Obama’s favorability rating has dropped from 67/26 in June to 59/32 in September. Kirk continues to be more popular than Obama with a fav/unfav rating of 63/20 while Dan Seals struggles at 40/22. A number of key Democratic-leaning groups endorsed Kirk including Planned Parenthood, the National Education Association, the National Wildlife Federation and the Human Rights Campaign. […]

Additionally, with the conviction of Tony Rezko and a possible indictment of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich looming, Seals must fight a strong local anti-Democratic headwind with Blagojevich’s fav/unfav sinking to a record low of 13/68.

If you’re above 50, you’re in decent shape. 51 isn’t completely safe, however. Negative attacks are flying (see below).

Also, I’m not convinced yet that Rod Blagojevich brings down Democrats all that much because RRB is not seen as a “normal” Democrat. He fights with his party so much and is so, well, bizarre at times that other Dems may not pay the price, along the lines of how Republicans didn’t really suffer from Alan Keyes’ presence in 2004. I could be wrong, but that’s my take so far. Argue this in comments and I’ll make sure to listen.

* And this is from the polling memo…

Since our last poll three months ago, Dan Seals gained no ground on popular incumbent Mark Kirk in the general election for US Congress in Illinois’ 10th Congressional District, still trailing by a daunting 22 points. Kirk’s favorability rating (63%) is still very strong. Independent and Ticket Splitters who vote for the person not the party are in control of the race. The majority of voters in the district are very thoughtful and independent and demonstrate that by supporting both Senator Barack Obama and Congressman Mark Kirk.

* Head to head results…

Congressional Ballot: If the election for US Congress were held today and the candidates were Mark Kirk, the Republican candidate, and Dan Seals, the Democrat candidate, for whom would you vote?

Mark Kirk 51%
Dan Seals 29%
Undecided 21%

Congressional Ballot Among “Ticket-Splitters”

Mark Kirk 56%
Dan Seals 9%
Undecided 35%

* More…

* Methodology…

This Illinois 10th Congressional District survey was conducted among 300 likely general election voters between September 10 and 11, 2008. All interviews were conducted via telephone by professional interviewers. Interview selection was random within predetermined election units. These units were structured to correlate with actual voter turnout in a statewide general election. This survey of 300 likely voters has an accuracy of +/- 5.6% at a 95% confidence interval.

* Meanwhile, as mentioned above, the DCCC has released an ad blasting “rubber stamp Congressman” Mark Kirk…

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