Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar

Wednesday, Oct 13, 2004 - Posted by Rich Miller

Keyes campaign gloats over debate “win” in campaign e-mail:

(SPRINGFIELD, OCTOBER 13) â€“ Keyes 2004 campaign manager Bill Pascoe, reacting to Alan Keyes’ clear win in last night’s debate against Barack Obama, released the following statement:

“The first debate is history, and the result is clear: Alan Keyes won this debate with a clear knock-out. After watching the way he put Barack Obama on the defensive from the opening bell, it’s easy to see why Obama went from doing his impersonation of Muhammed ‘I’m the Greatest!’ Ali to doing an even better impersonation of Roberto ‘Watch me throw up my hands as I quit and yell “No Mas!”‘ Duran. [Snip]

Obama’s Malthusian views on economics â€“ which would enhance, rather than reduce, the economic stratification of our society â€“ were put in their place as the poppycock they are. [Snip]

Alan clearly had a better grasp of the issues, and represented the views of the great majority of Illinois’ mainstream voters.”

Now he’s going after mainstream voters? Now? Or does he believe that he’s the mainstream guy and people are finally waking up to this undeniable fact? His relatively sedate delivery last night suggests the former, but I’m pretty sure it’s the latter.

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An invaluable tool

Wednesday, Oct 13, 2004 - Posted by Rich Miller

I was just talking to Cindi Canary over at the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform about something that I’m writing for Thursday or Friday and she tipped me to the ICPR’s new blog.

Called “The Race is On!” the blog wades through A-1’s every day and pulls out some of the tastier bits. Here’s today’s:

October 13
State Sen. Pat Welch shows $150K in-kind from the Senate Dems. And Judge Karmeier shows $350K from JUSTPAC, half in-kind for TV and the other half in cash. Karmeier’s A-1 money is now just about equal to what both candidates spent on the entire Supreme Court campaign two years ago.

I will be all over this site in the coming days.

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More on Mike Baer

Wednesday, Oct 13, 2004 - Posted by Rich Miller

From the State Journal-Register:

RALEIGH - A Springfield man on the campaign trail for an Illinois Supreme Court candidate died in a one-vehicle crash Monday night in southern Illinois.

Michael R. Baer, 29, of the 1700 block of Bent Oak Drive was pronounced dead upon arrival at a hospital in Eldorado.

Authorities said they are looking into the possibility the crash was caused by Baer experiencing a diabetic-related reaction while he was driving.

“We do know that Baer called a friend in Springfield about 10 minutes prior to the accident and stated he was experiencing an insulin reaction,” Saline County Sheriff Ed Miller said in a written statement. “We also know that he was a severe diabetic, and the initial investigation points towards a medical reason for the crash.”

Baer was a member of the Illinois Senate Republican staff but had taken a leave of absence from that job to be a campaign aide for Lloyd Karmeier, a Republican judge who is running for a seat on the state Supreme Court from southern Illinois.

Baer had been at a Saline County Republican Central Committee meeting in Harrisburg earlier Monday evening and was driving to another meeting in nearby Hamilton County, authorities said.

Baer was headed east near Raleigh, some 30 miles east of Marion, at about 7:10 p.m. when the 2004 Oldsmobile Bravada he was driving veered off the roadway about 150 feet, struck a culvert, went airborne for 20 feet and landed on the passenger side, the sheriff’s office said.

He was extricated from the vehicle by the Eldorado Fire Department and taken to Ferrell Hospital.

Read the full story. The SJ-R did a good job on this one.

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Favorite Debate Headline

Wednesday, Oct 13, 2004 - Posted by Rich Miller

WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH ALAN KEYES?

Kudos to Eric Zorn.

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Bean has new poll

Wednesday, Oct 13, 2004 - Posted by Rich Miller

As a follow-up on today’s Phil Crane story, Melissa Bean reportedly has a brand spanking new poll “that shows the race is tighter than Joan Rivers’ face,” according to a reliable source in the area.

Like I wrote in the Capitol Fax today, if Crane wins, it won’t be by much.

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Making a little lemonade

Wednesday, Oct 13, 2004 - Posted by Rich Miller

All those lawsuits could soon be used as a cash cow in Madison County.

Raising filing fee(s) on attorneys who file lawsuits in Madison County will add a half million dollars to the fiscal 2005 Madison County budget, said County Board Chairman Alan Dunstan.

Exactly which fees end up getting raised, and by how much, will be discussed at Thursday’s Finance Committee meeting. Figures on how much the county takes in annually from filing fees were not available Monday. [snip]

The number of class action lawsuits filed in Madison County jumped from two in 1998 to 43 in 2001. In 2003, they increased to 106, Dunstan said.

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Is it me…

Tuesday, Oct 12, 2004 - Posted by Rich Miller

…or did Alan Keyes win that debate (more than partly due to the types of questions asked)? Yes, Keyes got a little testy with one of the questioners, but at the very least he held his own, suppressed his loonier tendencies, and talked like a fairly normal human being. At worst, it was a tie. He certainly beat the extremely low expectations of his performance. More in the fax tomorrow.

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Best line so far

Tuesday, Oct 12, 2004 - Posted by Rich Miller

Excuse me, let me finish. Excuuuse me.

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WJBC site slammed

Tuesday, Oct 12, 2004 - Posted by Rich Miller

Can’t get through. Good thing I remembered I have a decent AM radio in the house.

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Debate Stuff

Tuesday, Oct 12, 2004 - Posted by Rich Miller

Thanks to ArchPundit, we have a link to a station that will be broadcasting tonight’s debate over the Internet. I checked it out and the station has apparently updated its online capabilities since the spring, when I couldn’t get its debate broadcast to work. WJBC

Also, here’s a list of all the stations in the Illinois Radio Network, which is hosting the debate.

Over at Truth Girl, we have the Obama/Keyes debate drinking game. I would highly advise against participating, however, because you could die of alcholol poisoning after about ten minutes.

1 drink:
Every time Obama mentions an ordinary Illinoisan by name.
Every time Obama mentions outsourcing.
Every time Obama mentions factories closing. (And yes, 3 drinks if all three of the above come in one answer.)
Every time either candidate mentions John Kerry.
Every time Keyes says “slaveholder’s position.”
Every time Keyes says “infanticide.”
If Keyes says “Marxist” or “socialist.” Another drink if he adds “hard-line.”
Every time Obama mentions the rising cost of health care or uninsured workers.
If Keyes responds to a health care question by talking by tort reform.
Every time Keyes rips on the media.
If Keyes uses the phrase “selfish hedonist.”
If Keyes uses the phrase “haunted by the possibility of a child.”
Every time Keyes mentions his “experience” during the Reagan administration.
If Keyes references being Catholic.
If Obama references his personal religious beliefs.
If Keyes mentions tariffs as the solution to everything.
If Keyes mentions the Dred Scott case by name.

2 drinks:
Every time Keyes interrupts the moderator.
Every time Keyes interrupts Obama.
Every time Keyes tries to challenge Obama to additional debates.
Every time Keyes says that the polls are false, that he doesn’t believe the polls, etc.
Every time they agree on something.

At the end, a toast:
To yourself for listening to a radio debate. It was so retro, afterall.
To Obama for putting up with Keyes.

Two drinks every time Keyes interrupts the moderator and two drinks every time he interrupts Obama? Truth Girl is trying to kill us all.

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The goose and the gander…

Tuesday, Oct 12, 2004 - Posted by Rich Miller

Via comments we learn that the JoinCross bloggers have changed their post about the Democrats playing the race card in Rep. Beth Coulson’s campaign. Looks like a lot of it was deleted.

As I wrote in the Capitol Fax today, slamming the Democrats for race-baiting was probably their only option, considering the trouble they’re in up there. But the House Republicans’ hands are not totally clean on this subject, as we’ll discuss in tomorrow’s edition. Their huffing and puffing…

I mean, the Democrats claim to be the party of progressiveness and inclusion yet Michelle Bromberg and Speaker Madigan are playing this card as if it is 1904 instead of 2004.Â

…is not exactly credible. Check tomorrow’s fax.

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Ugliness

Tuesday, Oct 12, 2004 - Posted by Rich Miller

Could this find its way into an anti-Beth Coulson mailer soon? Word is, it might.

Posted by Preacher Bob on [25 Aug 2004 09:12AM]

Future Illinois Senator Alan Keyes is correct when he states that morally trained citizens, especially anti-abortion Christians, should be able to own machine guns to use against Satan’s minions in Planned Parenthood and other related groups. The Evangelest Paul said “EVERY KNEE MUST BEND”, and through the work of the Ambassador and Cory Burnel of christioanexodust.org, the heathens will be DESTROYED!.

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No room at the inn

Tuesday, Oct 12, 2004 - Posted by Rich Miller

I know I promised a story about the negativity in Rep. Mike McAuliffe’s race for today, but there wasn’t enough room. I’ll run it tomorrow. Also, expect a story on Congressman Crane’s race against a very hard-charging Democratic challenger.

If you want to see the Alan Keyes part of the anti-Coulson mailer that was discussed in today’s Capitol Fax, go here.

Go here for a new story on the Will County State’s Attorney scandal.

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