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There’s a right way and a wrong way to cover politics

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* The generally accepted rule of thumb when watching campaign coverage, particularly downstate, is that you can expect local newspapers will be far better at it than the local TV stations. But check out how WSIL TV covered GOP lt. governor nominee Jason Plummer’s campaign stop…

The Republican candidate for lieutenant governor visited southern Illinois Friday. Jason Plummer began the morning at a prayer breakfast, then hit the bocce ball court at Herrinfesta Italiana.

The candidate has come under fire recently for refusing to release his tax returns. Jason Plummer is the only candidate running for Lieutenant Governor or Governor who has not released his tax forms. News 3 tried to find out why, but that response never really came. When News 3 asked Plummer if he would release his tax forms, he turned the tables and questioned transparency in the Quinn administration.

“How come he hasn’t asked the members of his own party,” Plummer asked. “How come he hasn’t asked his hand-picked appointees that impact public policy about that issue?”

A wee bit defensive, no?

The video is here.

Now, compare that TV coverage to the meat of the Southern Illinoisan’s coverage…

Plummer attended the morning’s prayer breakfast before making his way to the HerrinFesta Italiana Bocce Complex, where he participated in the Robert A. Ferarri Corporate Division Bocce Tournament. He said he frequently visited Southern Illinois during the Republican primaries, but Friday was his first trip to HerrinFesta.

“This is great. Somebody asked, ‘Have you ever played bocce ball?’ and I said, ‘Nowhere this nice,’” Plummer said. “I’ve played a lot in front yards and back yards, but this is phenomenal.”

Oy.

* Meanwhile, the Peoria Journal Star editorial board weighs in on Plummer’s refusal to release his tax returns…

Plummer, the 27-year-old from Edwardsville, has thus far refused requests to release his income tax returns, a subject that has become a political right of passage for serious candidates. Here Plummer says it would put his business interests at a “competitive disadvantage,” in that it would involve releasing sensitive information about his family’s company and its investors. Brady trotted out the same objections and then released the data anyway, under pressure to do so, if under overly controlled circumstances.

Look, Plummer is applying to be a heartbeat away from becoming the state’s CEO. And it was the Brady/Plummer campaign crew, after all, that questioned whether Attorney General Lisa Madigan, now first in line of succession with no one occupying the lieutenant governor’s seat, owed it to voters to release her tax data. She did, and her GOP opponent this fall is following suit. What’s good for the goose …

Beyond that, this is just a matter of Illinois voters deserving to know what they might be getting in Plummer. It should be no surprise to anyone who seeks high public office that it comes with some privacy sacrifices. Plummer has virtually no public record to judge. At 27, how much can he have to hide?

posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Jun 1, 10 @ 12:02 pm

Comments

Bill Brady should send this lad away to Dick Cheney’s underground lair until the election is safely over.

Brady can only be hurt by the chubby cherub speaking to the media.

Comment by jaded voter Tuesday, Jun 1, 10 @ 12:10 pm
So we thought Plummer was only 27, but apparently he’s only 5.

“But mooooooooooooom, Billy’s mom doesn’t make him do it!”

They asked Simon to release her returns. She did. Then they said Lisa Madigan had to. She did. Now they want some unidentified appointees. Next they’ll say Quinn’s barber should release his returns first.

Keep kicking the can down the road Jason. You’re just proving you’re the ONE who is the biggest phony in this race.

Comment by just sayin' Tuesday, Jun 1, 10 @ 12:23 pm
I think, now, Plummer is going to have to reconcile the fact that if he wins, and he wants all that transparency, every quarter as a campaign platfrom for example, people are NOT going to let this go. I enjoyed very much the WSIL report getting and reporting that Plummer considers himself a novice at politics … captain obvious … or I guess Ensign Obvious is appropriate.

Along with transparency after election, Plummer must be able to explain away how is it acceptable when you are not disclosing where ANY or ALL of his income is, when he is not taking that public check. Who has YOUR purse string as you sit a heartbeat away from running the 5th largest state.

How comfortable should we all be with a person that close to being our governor, who loaned his campaign, personally mind you, $350K, and yet we have no clue how that monies were secured, and at 27, how much of that did Plummer earn with that real world experience of 5 years from graduation at the U of I?

Sooner or later, it is not going to be acceptable to blame others for his less than transparent campaign, and when you are touting yourself as THE ONE … which no one knew what he was THE ONE of, …except THE ONE who claims and run on transparency, yet refuses to follow it.

A novice … its all our fault a novice is here, but its his fault to run on something, then refuse to walk that walk…our only recourse is to hold Plummer’s feet to the fire and maybe his novice-ness will see that sometimes it comes back to bite you and you need to take your medicine.

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Jun 1, 10 @ 12:27 pm
Shouldn’t the PJS use “rite of passage” rather than “right of passage”?

Comment by English Teacher Tuesday, Jun 1, 10 @ 12:39 pm
Where is that Adam A. guy who made this tax return issue a big deal in the primary? Why isn’t he speaking out and calling on Plummer to release? Looks like Adam feels this is only a big issue for Republicans when he’s in a race against Republicans.

Also, Plummer’s excuse about “putting his business interests at a competitive disadvantage” is nonsense. Even if there was that type of info on some schedule or form, all he’s got to do is black-out the names or identifying info. No one would have a problem with that.

There is obviously some other reason for the stonewalling. Voters have no choice but to assume the worst in this state especially.

Comment by too obvious Tuesday, Jun 1, 10 @ 12:48 pm
The sooner Plummer can be booted off this ticket, the sooner everyone can breath easier. He makes Simon look like a seasoned professional.

Comment by VanillaMan Tuesday, Jun 1, 10 @ 12:56 pm
Plummer, Alexi G & Scott Lee Cohen are similar in that they are all liteweights in over their heads.

Why are they in this position? Because voters don’t employ or have good judgment when they pull the lever.

Voters pull for the candidate they simply heard the most about thru advertising. This costs alot of money. And of course our lackluster trio all had plenty of money.

MONEY WINS ALMOST ALL OF THE TIME IN POLITICS.
Money distorts everything. We live w/ the results.

Money wins in politics ALMOST all the time. This past crowded Republican gov primary was a good example of the rare time Money doesn’t automatically win. In any normal setting with just 2 or 3 candidates, establishment favorite Kirk Dillard wins 95 times out of a 100—and with big Est dollars behind him. The very crowded field did just enough to knock money off its perch.——-hello Bill Brady

Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Jun 1, 10 @ 1:12 pm
1.12 anon is moi.

Comment by jaded voter Tuesday, Jun 1, 10 @ 1:13 pm
VM this current race reminds me of the old adage… You just can’t make this stuff up

Comment by Ghost Tuesday, Jun 1, 10 @ 1:14 pm
If you dare the other kid to do something, you had better be prepared to follow up on the dare yourself or else you are going to look like an idiot or a coward. Neither will sit well with the voter in November. Plummer should just show his tax returns like Bill Brady did and then he is done with it. That is based on the assumption that he isn’t hiding anything from the IRS. Brady did the right thing. He comes across as honest by showing his returns. Jason Plummer’s youth and inexperience in how to conduct a political campaign is why he has been dragging his feet. Eventually, he will figure it out or will be clued in by a fellow Republican and he’ll submit his tax return.

Comment by Tiny Tim Tuesday, Jun 1, 10 @ 1:15 pm
The obvious reason for Plummer not wanting to open his tax return to public inspection is that it would most likely reveal sophisticated tax planning on the part of his family to distribute income and use tax avoidance techniques to lessen or eliminate the payment of income taxes.

Comment by WRMNPolitics Tuesday, Jun 1, 10 @ 1:24 pm
Exactly, WRMNPolitics.

Comment by GA Watcher Tuesday, Jun 1, 10 @ 1:47 pm
The “successful businessman” Bill Brady turned out not to be so successful the last few years. Perhaps the same is true of Mr. Plummer. His return will also indicate who is (and is not) paying him a salary. Since Plummer states that his primary qualification is his experience in the private sector, his income tax return will be an indication of how successful he is. I would think he would be jumping at the opportunity to show it off.

Comment by Pot calling kettle Tuesday, Jun 1, 10 @ 2:10 pm
WRMN is probably right. Or else Plummer is hiding something like child support, which might make him a pariah in the Sarah Palin “Abstinence Only!” Party.

But he is trying to hide something, if only his own naivete.

Comment by lakeview Tuesday, Jun 1, 10 @ 2:15 pm
Wow, speculation into Plummer’s returns is getting pretty intense, might want to release those Jason.

Comment by Small Town Liberal Tuesday, Jun 1, 10 @ 3:01 pm
Just happy that HerrinFesta got mentioned on Capitol Fax.

Comment by Dr. Reason A. Goodwin Tuesday, Jun 1, 10 @ 3:02 pm
That’s some pretty hard-nosed journalism from the Southern Illinoisan. My only question is: what was the best part of lunch?

Plummer’s going to have to show his cards, and he should have done it last weekend: two Stanley Cup games, Memorial Day, no one’s paying attention.

Kirk beat him to it, using Memorial Day to “correct” his military record.

Comment by wordslinger Tuesday, Jun 1, 10 @ 3:13 pm
It just occured to me that Rich is trying to cover politics…in hair.

Comment by Ghost Tuesday, Jun 1, 10 @ 3:18 pm
Private income tax information is not an important issue to me. I am more interested in the public pension and benefit accumulations of those candidates that are already in the public sector. Below is from Forbes.com. Is it possible that some in Illinois have similar payouts?

“Who are America’s fastest-growing class of millionaires? They are police officers, firefighters, teachers and federal bureaucrats who, unless things change drastically, will be paid something near their full salaries every year–until death–after retiring in their mid-50s. That is equivalent to a retirement sum worth millions of dollars.

If you further ask the question: How much salary would it take to live, save a build a $2 million stash over a 30-year career, the answer would be: somewhere close to $75,000 more than the nominal salary, if you include all the tax bites associated with earning, saving and investing money.

In other words, if a police officer, firefighter, teacher or federal bureaucrat is making $75,000 a year, she is effectively making twice that amount. Implied in her annual pension payout is that she diligently saved half of her annual salary–after taxes–in order to save, invest and build–again, after taxes–the $2 million pot.

So when you hear that government workers now make, on average, 30% more than private sector workers, you are not getting the full story. Government workers make more than twice as much as private sector workers, on average, when you include the net present value of their pensions.”

Comment by Truth Seeker Tuesday, Jun 1, 10 @ 4:16 pm
The people that are upset about Plummers tax return wouldn’t vote for him anyway.

Comment by Sueann Tuesday, Jun 1, 10 @ 5:25 pm
“How come he hasn’t asked the members of his own party,” Plummer asked. “How come he hasn’t asked his hand-picked appointees that impact public policy about that issue?”

Yeah, why hasn’t Pat Quinn asked his hand-picked nominees that impact public policy about why Jason Plummer hasn’t released his tax returns? We’re all waiting with baited breath to find out what Quinn’s appointees think about Plummer’s refusal to release his returns.

Comment by jerry 101 Tuesday, Jun 1, 10 @ 8:31 pm
I triple dog dare you!

Comment by Schwartz Tuesday, Jun 1, 10 @ 9:28 pm
Sueann nailed it.

Comment by T.J. Wednesday, Jun 2, 10 @ 8:58 am
Nothing like giving up on people … “If you don’t want me to be transparent, even though I will complain that others should …then don’t vote for me.” …

Nothing like bringing people together … I do not think Jerry Clarke’s strategy is “let’s alienate only a few people with dumb ideas, as opposed to more people with even more dumb ideas …” Winning elections is about getting more votes than the other guy, and there are a heck of a lot more Dems then Repubs, and Dems seem to be better at winning right now …

So, go ahead Jason, keep alienating the voters …”we don’t need them anyway …”

Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Jun 2, 10 @ 9:30 am
What a decision for the voters of Illinois to make - vote for the unqualified daughter of Sen. Simon who will vote with Madigan and the other mobsters running Illinois or the Silver Spoon Wonder who isn’t qualified to run the local quickie mart. Who is the Green candidate?

Comment by norichkidsforlg Monday, Jun 7, 10 @ 12:09 pm