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Campaign 2010 roundup

Thursday, May 7, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Slate has Attorney General Lisa Madigan on a list of 20 possible US Supreme Court nominees. I kid you not…

Lisa Madigan, 42, is a rising star in Illinois politics, a friend and former colleague of Barack Obama’s from the Illinois state Senate, and the current attorney general of the state. She is said to be considering a run for governor, and the New York Times named her among a roster of down-the-road candidates for the first female president.

Consider this for Madigan’s column: She successfully argued a case before the Supreme Court, the first attorney general to personally do so in 25 years—while seven months pregnant. The case, Illinois v. Caballes, gave police the authority to use drug-sniffing dogs on the outside of a stopped vehicle without a warrant or reason to suspect possession.

As Law.com notes, Madigan has other serious law-and-order bona fides, such as advocating for stricter supervision and registration of sex offenders, stronger methamphetamine laws, and scrutiny of the state’s gaming industry… Like Obama, Madigan has a background in community organizing. She also taught young women in South Africa during apartheid.

Pat Quinn can only hope, but I wouldn’t hold my breath if I was him. Thankfully, I’m not.

* The Toronto Star’s Washington bureau believes Chris Kennedy is a go…

Others close to Kennedy, 45, say the decision to run is a done deal and that in 2010 he will seek the Democratic slot for Obama’s old Senate seat, currently held by controversial appointee Roland Burris.

* Republican gubernatorial hopeful Joe Birkett takes yet another shot at fellow hopeful Bob Schillerstrom…

“I haven’t seen him anywhere in the state other than DuPage and Cook,” Birkett said. “I’m the top Republican vote-getter in the state of Illinois for the past 10 years. I get more votes per dollar than any candidate and that’s a fact. And the reason for that is I have strong record and strong roots here in Illinois.”

Highlighting your perennial candidacies is probably not the greatest idea in the world.

* Speaking of perennial candidates, David McAloon is running for the 11th Congressional District.

…Adding… Springfield Alderman Frank Edwards is running for governor? I don’t get it.

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Thursday, May 7, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Things that make you go “Hmm…”

Wednesday, Apr 22, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Laura Washington had a good column this week about Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. My favorite part…

Now the headlines are getting ugly. Now the mouths at the Dirksen Federal Building are spilling salacious, off-the-record but damning details. Political “friends” of the Jackson family are allegedly chatting up investigators, about pay-to-play and quid pro quo.

All true.

* Let’s move away from that former Senate contender to a current Senate contender. As we’ve already discussed, an investment fund in the state’s Bright Start college savings plan lost $85 million last year. Normally, that probably wouldn’t be any big deal since just about everybody lost money in the markets last year. But this one may be different…

Mr. Giannoulias knew about problems in Bright Start’s Core Plus investment fund a full half-year before he finally stopped throwing money into it.

According to Mr. Giannoulias’ office, he e-mailed Oppenheimer on May 6, saying he wanted to discuss Core Plus’ underperformance and how to “turn the ship around.” But it wasn’t until Dec. 4 — after the credit markets and Core Plus’ investments in mortgage-related securities had tanked — that the office diverted all new contributions from Core Plus to U.S. Treasuries.

By that time, the fund had about completed a year in which the value of what was supposed to be a nest-egg dropped a nifty 38%.

Mr. Giannoulias office says it was urged to “stay the course” by an independent advisory panel. But the treasurer made the final decision to wait.

Go read the whole thing.

* And then there’s this…

[A no-show grant] is one of 54 state grants frozen by the federal government as part of an on-going investigation into former Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s administration.

54 grants have been frozen?

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