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Friday, Oct 31, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

* The blog is gonna stay open this weekend, including comments. Please, no drunk comments. Those are the worst. Try to make my life as easy as possible by staying good while I’m away from my ‘puter.

I have a ton of stuff for a subscriber-only post, including lots of mail and a recording of a robocall, that I simply didn’t have time to deal with today. Plus, the weekend is likely to be full of other campaign stories for non-subscribers, including things like this rather odd and, if true, disturbing e-mail from Democratic congressional hopeful Dan Seals, entitled “Tampered Mail”…

Last week, thousands of Seals supporters should have received our campaign’s final direct mailing. Unfortunately, those letters were tampered with and never left the post office. Authorities are now investigating the situation, but we have already missed a critical opportunity to raise funds and keep Dan on the air in the final days of our campaign.

The campaign’s final direct mail piece, which included a quote from Senator Barack Obama supporting Dan, was set to hit the mail boxes of thousands of supporters last week. The mail was received by the United States Post Office and then transferred that same day to a United States Post Office Distribution Center.

After realizing that supporters had not received the letter, we discovered that the mail had been set aside and out of sight at the post office. The letters were supposed to have been treated as first class mail. They were not.

…Adding for clarity… While I believe this is almost assuredly simple incompetence, it’s still quite troubling that the USPS would screw up a First Class political mailer like this.

…Also… PI has a new radio ad for Seals featuring Obama.

* And here’s a new TV ad from Republican Marty Ozinga that slams Democrat Debbie Halvorson for her ties to Rod Blagojevich…

* There’s been so much crazy red-baiting on my teevee and in my e-mail lately that I’ve started thinking I must be in some kind of bizarre time warp, so here’s your flashback moment of Zen…

So now I’m home investigatin’ myself
Hope I don’t find out too much

19 Comments

Good looking candidates? Plus: Halvorson complains; Roskam ties himself closer to Obama; Kirk’s new TV ad; Etc.

Friday, Oct 31, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

* No offense intended, but I’m not sure that this new study applies to a huge number of Illinois races…

Seventy-three people — 35 men and 38 women — were asked to rate pictures of male and female congressional candidates on a seven-point scale for how competent, attractive, approachable and dominant they seemed to be. Then they were asked if they would vote for the candidates for president.

Both the male and female voters were more likely to say they would vote for women whom they considered attractive. The male candidates? Attractiveness was not an issue for either male or female voters.

Studies have shown that women with thin eyebrows, round faces and small chins are generally considered most attractive. Men considered good-looking tend to have thick eyebrows, square faces and large chins

* Despite outspending her Republican opponent on every level, Democratic congressional hopeful Debbie Halvorson is now complaining that Marty Ozinga is spending more money on himself. From a press release…

Yesterday, Marty Ozinga contributed another $100,000 to his campaign, bringing his total to $570,000 for the cycle to date (i ii iii). This is in direct opposition to his numerous declarations to the public that he would not self-fund his campaign. Legally, nothing prohibits Marty Ozinga from contributing to his own campaign, however, he has now violated the public’s trust on numerous occasions, telling the public one thing on one hand, and doing something completely different on another. […]

“I won’t be writing big checks for my own campaign, I just don’t believe in it” [Ozinga told the Tribune].

She has a point, but things change when you’re losing a race and it seems like the whole world is financing your opponent.

* In other congressional news, Republican Peter Roskam has a new mailer touting his ties to Barack Obama…

That’s the same family and the same quote featured on Roskam’s “I’m with that Obama guy” website.

You can find more Roskam mail and some harsh partisan diatribes at this link.

* Mark Kirk’s new TV highlights his endorsements from every major area newspaper…

* Related…

* Long lines for last day of early voting

* ‘Can you imagine what Tuesday will be like?’

* Big Early Voting Numbers Foretell Election Day Turnout

* Early Voter Turnout Exceeds 400,000 In Cook County

* Candidate forum held for 11th District hopefuls

* 13th District candidates talking technology

16 Comments

Blagojevich: “No” on con-con *** UPDATED x1 ***

Friday, Oct 31, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Thanks, governor!!! And I truly mean that….

Gov. Rod Blagojevich said [yesterday] that he doesn’t support a convention to rewrite the state’s 1970 constitution because he fears attempts to strip some of his executive powers. […]

“Thank God that the constitution gives the executive branch a lot of power to get around the legislative branch,” Blagojevich said, adding that without his ability to issue executive orders or use his amendatory veto power there would be no free mass transit rides for seniors or free breast and cervical cancer exams for women.

“If the constitutional convention were to occur and there was an effort to erode the executive branch’s ability to do those things, then I think less good things would happen for people,” Blagojevich said.

The governor just gave us the best reason yet to vote “Yes.” And he tied his horribly damaged reputation to the “No” campaign. What a break. Hopefully, this gets picked up by every major news outlet in Illinois.

If he was standing here right now I’d kiss him.

* Yet another goofy and false anti constitutional convention spam e-mail forwarded to me by one of my newspaper editors…

CON-CON is the Constitutional Convention vote that will take place on the Nov. 4th Ballot. One of the changes that the CON-CON will provide is the taxing of pensions in the State of Illinois.

Every public school teacher/administrator should get the word out to vote NO!!!!! Do not let the State tax our pensions.

Tell all your Illinois friends that on Nov. 4th vote NO to CON-CON.

Jeffry B. Nelson, Ed.D.

Peoria County Assistant Regional Superintendent of Schools

The confidence expressed by opponents that some radical thing WILL ABSOLUTELY HAPPEN if the convention is approved is simply absurd.

I attempted to contact Nelson yesterday without success.

* Meanwhile, Roland Burris has done an anti con-con radio ad. Listen here. It’s got a funky beat, so I wonder if they put this on African-American stations.

* Here’s another anti ad called “Waste.” Also, “Respect.”

* And I can’t help but wonder whether the groups that helped pay for this Jim Edgar TV ad may be doing some harm to incumbent legislators they are otherwise supporting…

Thoughts?

*** UPDATE *** Oops. I forgot to post the “Yes” group’s TV ad…

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