*** UPDATE *** If this newly posted AP story is any gauge, Sen. Hendon’s comments have “worked” to get the message out about Brady’s voting record…
Republican Bill Brady’s views on abortion, gay rights and other social issues are getting new attention, but the candidate for governor says his focus is on jobs and money.
State Sen. Rickey Hendon harshly attacked Brady’s record over the weekend, calling his fellow senator “idiotic.” And an abortion-rights group is running an ad pointing out Brady’s position.
Brady opposes abortion even in cases of rape and incest. He also opposes including gay people in the state law against job and housing discrimination.
Brady has criticized legislation requiring equal pay for equal work, and he opposes gun control.
[ *** End Of Update *** ]
* As I told subscribers this morning, Sen. Rickey Hendon’s comments over the weekend put Gov. Pat Quinn in a real trick bag. And even though Hendon kinda/sorta apologized for them on WLS Radio this morning, I’m not sure this is over yet.
“I’ve never served with such an idiotic, racist, sexist, homophobic person in my life,” Hendon said before introducing Gov. Quinn. “If you think that the minimum wage needs to be three dollars an hour, vote for Bill Brady. If you think that women have no rights whatsoever, except to have his children, vote for Bill Brady. If you think gay and lesbian people need to be locked up and shot in the head, vote for Bill Brady.”
Republican candidate for governor Bill Brady says Governor Quinn should apologize to the people of Illinois for what Hendon said about Brady.
But Quinn said he is not apologizing for comments he himself did not make. Brady suggested he and Hendon should say they’re sorry.
“It’s not about me — it’s about the people of Illinois,” Brady, a state senator and businessman from Bloomington, says. “They are disgusted with campaigns that go to that level. I think (Quinn) needs to apologize, and he should renounce Hendon from his campaign.”
With little more than a week before the Nov. 2 election, Quinn has wanted to put the focus on his vast differences with Brady’s record on social issues to an electorate that largely is concerned about the economy and jobs. Hendon provided the political cover to do so.
Quinn’s support among African-American voters is weak for a Democrat, a new Tribune/WGN poll shows. Among women statewide, Quinn is barely ahead. And among white suburban women, who tend to be moderate on issues such as abortion, Quinn and Brady are running even.
So, Hendon helped focus a “weak” black base, but likely turned off that all-important suburban white woman demographic.
* As mentioned above, Hendon kinda/sorta apologized today. From WLS Radio…
Now Hendon tells Cisco Cotto on WLS, “On your show right now I will apologize to the people of the state of Illinois if they were offended by what I said, but I will not apologize to Bill Brady for telling the truth about his voting record,” Hendon said.
When we ask conservative Republicans running for office this year where they stand on important social issues like gun control and abortion, we typically get a canned response that goes like this:
“Golly, when I knock on doors and talk to the voters, they just don’t care about that stuff. All they want to talk about is jobs.”
There is truth to that. The bad economy is foremost on the mind of most voters.
But that response is also a transparent dodge, a way to divert attention from what can be extreme, even dangerous, views.
In Illinois, nobody has played dodgeball harder than state Sen. Bill Brady, the GOP nominee for governor. And nobody has had better reason. Brady’s deeply conservative views on many social issues, if widely known, would appall the more moderate Republican and independent voters he needs to win.
* Roundup…
* Mark Brown: Brady cash flood make mockery of disclosure laws: These are among the many individuals and corporations fueling the Republican Governors Association, which reported dumping another $1.4 million into Illinois late last week, channeling the money through a shell campaign fund, RGA Illinois 2010 PAC, that was created for the purpose of helping Brady. The group’s latest donation pushes its total involvement in the Brady campaign past the $6.8 million mark, which I believe to be unprecedented in an Illinois state election.
* When Brady fought the neighbors: Dave Anderson, who retired as Normal city manager in 1998, said he’s never walked out of a meeting with the Bradys. “And I can’t say that about every subdivider in town,” he said. That willingness to negotiate goes hand-in-hand with what observers say is a concern to protect the family’s reputation. Among the family’s many charitable efforts was building a home in Philo last year for ABC’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” just months before Brady won the Republican gubernatorial primary.
* Two things to keep in mind about the Tribune’s new US Senate poll. From the article…
The poll of 700 registered voters, conducted last Monday through Friday…
I’m going on the hope that they asked those registered voters if they were likely to vote. If not, this is worthless. Also, a five-day window? Some of these numbers are now a week old. That’s ancient in campaign terms.
Kirk’s support among independents increased from 38 percent to 50 percent, the poll showed, while Giannoulias’ backing among unaligned voters was relatively stagnant at about 28 percent. During that time period, the number of undecided independent voters dropped from 22 percent to 8 percent — with Kirk picking up virtually all of those deciding on a candidate. […]
The poll showed potential avenues where Giannoulias can grow support — if he can get Democrats motivated. Concerns of a post-2008 letdown have prompted Obama to make two visits back home to Chicago to help Giannoulias and other Democrats, with a third trip planned for Saturday.
Only two-thirds of voters in predominantly Democratic Chicago back Giannoulias’ candidacy, a gain of less than 5 percentage points from late September, while 15 percent of city voters said they were undecided. At the same time, in increasingly Democratic suburban Cook County, Giannoulias carries a slim 49 percent to 43 percent advantage over Kirk.
Kirk holds a strong 15 percentage-point advantage among men, and Giannoulias has an 8 percentage-point edge among women across the state. But the two men each have the support of 43 percent of a key voting demographic: white suburban women who tend to be social moderates.
* Meanwhile, the DSCC just leaked its latest topline…
If the election for U.S. Senate were held today, for whom would you vote — Alexi Giannoulias, a Democrat, Mark Kirk, a Republican, Michael Labno, a Libertarian, or LeAlan Jones, of the Green Party?
Total Giannoulias 38%
Total Kirk 36%
Total Labno 4%
Total Jones 7%
Undecided 16%
Another five-day polling window, but at least it’s more recent (Wednesday through yesterday). 600 likely voters. MoE +/-4.0 percent.
* Related…
* Charlie Cook: Dems’ House Losses Likely Enormous, but Senate Hard to Read
