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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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