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Thursday, Feb 9, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

Who are you supporting for governor and why? Please don’t tell us why you’re not voting for someone else. Just tell us why you’re backing your candidate.

109 Comments

A play for the endorsement?

Thursday, Feb 9, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

The other day, the Chicago Tribune editorial page thundered that gubernatorial candidates needed to first address the state’s massive pension debt before proposing any new spending programs. Looks Like Topinka read it.

GOP gubernatorial candidate Judy Baar Topinka warned that if she is elected, interest groups from schools to health groups shouldn’t expect many new programs or money.

It’s time the state starts living within its means and paying off existing debts, she said.

That requires putting the majority of all new revenue toward paying off the pension debt that has mounted for years and made the solvency of Illinois’ retirement funds the worst in the nation, she said.

“You can’t keep using the pension fund as a piggy bank,” Topinka told the Journal Star editorial board Wednesday, where she was interviewed for a potential endorsement. […]

“We’re just going to have to get used to the idea that much of any new revenue is going to have to go to pensions,” she said. “There’s only one way you solve that pension problem: you pay it off.”

Not exactly a sexy campaign slogan. Next move, Tribune.

37 Comments

Morning shorts

Thursday, Feb 9, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

Â· I despise Washington, DC politics, and have as long as I can remember. This bit of goofiness does nothing to make me change my mind. The amount of national dust that can be kicked up over something as trivial as a career politician’s bruised ego is beyond me. Message to all DC types: Get over yourselves.

Â· John Cox has apparently decided that he hasn’t withdrawn from enough campaigns.

Â· Was this ever in doubt?

Â· The feds force SIU to drop paid fellowships for the poor, minorities and females because they discriminated against non-poor white males.

Â· Republican congressional candidates list their reform plans.

Â· Charlie Johnston calls the McCulloch prosecution into question.

Â· Two state employees claim there was nothing untoward about a controversial IBM contract approved during George Ryan’s administration. Prosecutors had an earlier witness who claimed the deal was rigged.

Â· There’s massage and then there’s massage, but the person in this story appears to be the “clean” sort, not the dirty kind. Conclusion: That piece is a totally unfair hit.

Â· Congrats to Deputy Dog Bradley Tusk, whose wife is pregnant.

Â· Ald. Solis says he’s not interested in being appointed City Clerk to replace Jim Laski. Word is that’s because the mayor told him he wouldn’t get the job anyway.

10 Comments

Question of the day

Wednesday, Feb 8, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

Another long setup.

First, let’s rerun the Tribune numbers I posted here last night, plus a few more.

Blagojevich 62
Eisendrath 18
Other 2
Undecided 18

Topinka 38
Oberweis 17
Gidwitz 11
Brady 8
Martin <1
Undecided 25

Birkett 27
Rauschenberger 20
Wegman 2
Bruckman 1

Mangieri 14
Giannoulias 10

Read the whole thing, but here are some excerpts from the Trib’s story:

Topinka, holding significant name recognition after winning statewide office three times, has gained 7 percentage points from a similar Tribune poll of GOP voters in October while Oberweis, who also has strong statewide name recognition, has picked up only 2 percentage points. Gidwitz, with a major TV ad budget, has gained 7 percentage points from the fall while Brady has picked up only 1 percentage point since then. […]

When Republican voters were asked to compare their own political beliefs to Topinka’s, 43 percent said they mostly agreed with her while 20 percent said she was not conservative enough and 5 percent said she was too conservative. […]

Gidwitz’s spending of more than $2 million has had some impact among voters. Now, fully 85 percent of voters recognize his name, yet a plurality-45 percent-has no opinion on whether they view him favorably or not. Brady, who has begun limited advertising, is known by 72 percent of the voters, but like Gidwitz, 45 percent have no opinion of him. […]

Oberweis also has voiced support for a referendum on the state ballot asking voters whether the state constitution should be amended to prohibit same-sex marriage. Fully 68 percent of GOP voters support such an amendment-including 86 percent of very conservative voters-while 21 percent do not support an amendment. […]

Only 35 percent of Democratic voters said Blagojevich has kept his 2002 campaign promise to end business as usual in Springfield, while 41 percent said he has broken that commitment. Democrats were also sharply divided-42 percent to 38 percent-on whether the state was headed in the right direction.

Barely half of Democrats-52 percent-said they would like to see Blagojevich re-elected, indicating that while there is appreciable unhappiness in the ranks with the current governor, many do not see Eisendrath as a viable alternative.

And for a little historical context, here’s an excerpt from the Tribune’s February 2002 gubernatorial poll:

[Jim] Ryan continues to hold a sizable lead, although O’Malley is gaining ground campaigning as the strong conservative. 49% prefer Ryan, down from 57% in January, while 18% prefer O’Malley up from 10%. Corinne Wood, campaigning as a moderate Republican who favors abortion rights, dropped to 18% from 21% in January, and her favorable rating has fallen below her unfavorable rating.

Analyze it.

55 Comments

Andy did you hear about this one?

Wednesday, Feb 8, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

Things can get pretty weird out there in Internet Land, what with those crazy kids and their web logs.

Take, for instance, this seemingly mundane post about that recent poll which shows Judy Baar Topinka leading Rod Blagojevich.

Everything seems fairly normal until you open up the post’s comments section. And then it’s as if you’ve stepped behind the looking glass.

A guy who implied that he ran the Democrat-leaning Election Projections blog posted several comments that were just beyond bizarre and obviously false. Remember as you read this that these are untrue rumors.

[All emphasis added.]

I have some very reliable friends in high places in this state and they all said that Topinka is connected to Abramoff and that story will break soon. Once it does sheâ€™s toast.

When questioned about the link to disgraced Washington, DC lobbyist Jack Abramoff, the commenter responded:

I just know that my friends Michael Madigan(the speaker of the House), Emil Jones, Jr.(president of the Senate), and Tom Holbrook have all told me that the connection is a sure thing, and their just waiting for the right time to release it.

I couldn’t reach Holbrook last night, but a spokesman for Mike Madigan said he’d never heard of such a thing.

When pressed for more details, the commenter boasted:

But Iâ€™ll tell a little about myself. Iâ€™m under 25 and as you can tell heavily involved in politics. This November Iâ€™ll become precinct committeeman for my town. Then in about 6 Iâ€™ll be a state rep. Not going to tell who Iâ€™ll be replacing but letâ€™s just say Iâ€™ve made friends with the right people. That person will be retiring around then. But instead of retiring that person will run for re-election and appoint me to the position. So whenever I tell you all about Illinois regardless of what it is I would take it very seriously. Blagojevich along with many others in this state all know who I am and I get the dirt on everyting.

Pressed further, he wrote:

Iâ€™ll give you a hint I live in St.Clair county Illinois and if you pay attention to that county over the next couple of years youâ€™ll figure out who I am. Thank you for your I guess â€œfaithâ€ in me and expecting big things. I know how laughable this is laughable to many of you. But if all goes according to plan Iâ€™m being groomed to become the next gov of this state but thatâ€™s a long way away. I can give you one clue though who the next gov will be after Blagojevich. Watch out for a man named Jay Hoffman heâ€™s currently being groomed by Blagojevich to take control after he wins re-election and me and Jay are letâ€™s say very very close.

Rep. Hoffman, reached last night, laughed so hard he almost split a gut when I read him the above paragraph. Hoffman had no clue who the young man might be, and said he figured it must be a right-wing Republican causing trouble.

I was killing some time last night and managed to contact the commenter via e-mail. He at first admitted he wrote the posts, then backtracked when presented with the impossibility of his story and said he only wrote some of them, then finally confessed that he had made the whole thing up. “I like messing with those right wing nut jobs,” he wrote.

He also denied that he is the guy who writes that Election Projections blog, claiming that he borrowed his friend’s identity to post at the other blog.

The funniest part, though, is that many of the commenters at the conservative blog took him seriously enough to engage him in debate.

11 Comments

Morning shorts

Wednesday, Feb 8, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

Â· There are 27.2 million blogs on the Internet. That’s nearly 8 million more than there were in October.

Â· Daley wants the state to pony up more money for schools. And Gidwitz has a plan to revamp schooling, but doesn’t say how to pay for it.

Â· Congrats to the Inside Dope on being nominated for a Koufax Award. I’ll let you know when voting is open.

Â· A reporter hates reporters.

Â· Lincoln this and Lincoln that.

Â· Blagojevich and Stephens bumped from “The Daily Show.” The segment will air Thursday, unless they’re bumped again.

Â· Statewide smoking ban passes House committee.

Â· Oberweis accepts Gidwitz apology. Frankly, I thought that off-the-cuff wisecrack did more to make Gidwitz look like a human than anything his high-priced consultants have ever done for him.

Â· The Speaker wants the attorney general’s hospital plan voted on this spring.

Â· AFSMCE is starting radio ads soon. Here’s the script for one of them:

Itâ€™s hard to maintain your dignity in a nursing home*always relying on other people to get you dressed, or eat, or go to the bathroom.

But itâ€™s inexcusable that the stateâ€™s largest veterans home is so short-staffed that it only gives its residents one bath a week. Can you imagine, laying there for a whole week without a bath?

And this is how we treat people whoâ€™ve fought for our freedom. Itâ€™s disgraceful.

And veterans arenâ€™t the only ones who suffer when state services are starved for resources. State prisons without enough staff, state parks, public safety, controlling pollution, services for kids and seniors*all threatened because our political leaders have avoided the hard choices.

For crying out loud, if the state needs more money, letâ€™s get it from people who can afford to pay*not by forcing disabled veterans to get only one bath a week. Thatâ€™s just plain wrong.

Our politicians need to get their priorities straight.

[TAG:] Brought to you by the Campaign for Responsible Priorities/AFSCME.

Â· I know many disagree with her, some just outright despise her, many would like to see her go away, and I’ve heard from all of the above, but the woman can sure drive traffic to the site.

7 Comments

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