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* My Sun-Times column looks at the lt. governor’s mess…
Gov. Quinn hasn’t been doing public events this week. I don’t really blame him.
Quinn managed to survive the Democratic primary by a few thousand votes, only to realize a few hours later that he had been paired on the ticket with a pawnbroker who had been arrested for allegedly holding a knife to his girlfriend’s throat and had allegedly attempted to rape his wife, among other things.
When that news broke, I’ll bet everybody at the shuttered Dan Hynes campaign breathed a collective sigh of relief. “Hooray! We lost!”
Michael Sneed reported in Thursday’s Chicago Sun-Times that at least 70 people had contacted the governor’s office asking to be the new lieutenant governor candidate.
Some are surely legitimate, but I imagine that many others are coming out of the woodwork.
“Hi. Can I apply for the job?”
Sure. What are your qualifications?
“Well, I work at a massage parlor and my ex-boyfriend once tried to slit my throat.”
Click.
State Rep. Arthur L. Turner (D-Chicago) finished second in the lieutenant governor’s race and says he’s a natural choice. But if he couldn’t defeat the nightmarish Scott Lee Cohen, how the heck is he going to help the Democrats beat the Republicans?
Turner has been involved in a long-running feud with state Sen. Rickey R. Hendon (D-Chicago). Most people figure Hendon got into the lieutenant governor’s primary to take black votes away from Turner, his fellow African-American legislator and longtime political nemesis. Whatever it was, it worked. If Quinn chooses Turner, Hendon will certainly make lots of trouble for the governor in the Illinois Senate.
Friends of S. Raja Krishnamoorthi think he should be the choice. Krishnamoorthi is an Indian American who lost to Rep. David E. Miller for comptroller in the Democratic primary. Republicans were worried that Krishnamoorthi would win that race and be the spark that fully ignited the extensive and wealthy Indian-American community on behalf of the Democratic Party.
But choosing an also-ran such as Krishnamoorthi would be a direct slap at Turner and his African-American allies. No way.
Rep. Mike Boland (D-East Moline) finished fourth in the lieutenant governor primary and thinks he ought to be named to the ticket. Yeah. OK. Skip over the No. 2 guy to choose somebody who finished way back in the pack? Right. Check. Next!
Dan Hynes really ought to be the one to step up here. His millions of dollars in negative TV ads almost worked, but the incumbent is now damaged goods. Hynes doesn’t want to run as Quinn’s second banana, and Quinn can’t stand the sight of Hynes, so that’s that. Too bad for both men, because a Quinn/ Hynes ticket would have been dramatic enough to put this mess behind them and help rehabilitate both their images.
Attorney General Lisa Madigan might want to run for governor in four years, so there’s some talk of picking an elder statesman such as Southern Illinois University President Glenn Poshard. He’s a conservative Downstater, which would bring some much-needed balance to the completely liberal Cook County ticket. And he’s old enough that he wouldn’t have the ambition to run for the top job when Quinn is finished.
Maybe state Rep. Jack Franks (D-Marengo) has the right idea. Franks wants the party to just leave the spot open. Don’t fill the Cohen vacancy.
It’s a useless, do-nothing job anyway, so why even bother replacing Cohen?
No matter whom the Democrats choose, somebody will be miffed, so picking nobody could avoid that morass and allow them to focus on Jason Plummer, the Republican lieutenant governor nominee — an unknown, very conservative 27-year-old who spent his family’s money to win the nomination.
It’s something to consider.
* Related…
* Fox Valley State Rep. Franks says leave Lt. Gov. slot empty
* Ill. state representative says Quinn should run solo
* House Speaker Michael Madigan speaks to John Williams
* Lt. Gov. job — mend it, then end it
* Lawmakers trying to sort our future of lieutenant governor’s office
* Two proposals would make next lite gov the last one
* `What if?’ game could result in a real winner for Illinois
* Ex-Nominee’s Troubles Stain Pawnbrokers
* The hidden advantages of the Dems’ Scott Lee Cohen fiasco
* Is The Ball In Quinn’s Court?
* Simon: ‘Yes’ to lieutenant governor, if asked
* Poshard says he has not interest in lieutenant governor’s post
* State GOP chair defends party’s nominee for lieutenant governor
posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Feb 12, 10 @ 11:14 am
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