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* Independent gubernatorial candidate Scott Lee Cohen was endorsed by National Taxpayers United yesterday. Jim Tobin runs the NTU, of course. He’s best known in recent years for his demand that the Illinois State Police be abolished.
Anyway, this is from Tobin’s statement…
“Scott Lee Cohen signed our Taxpayer Protection Pledge, in which he declared: ‘I, Scott Lee Cohen, pledge to the taxpayers of Illinois, that I will oppose any and all efforts to increase state or local taxes.’ […]
“The Democratic candidate, Gov. Patrick Quinn, and the Republican Candidate, Bill Brady, have refused to sign our Taxpayer Protection Pledge,” said Tobin. “Quinn, if elected, would make good on his promise to raise the state income tax a staggering 67 percent to pay for the lavish, gold-plated pensions that have made Illinois’ retired government employees millionaires. Brady, the Republican candidate, would continue the tax-and-spend policies of Springfield Republicans, who have been responsible for the largest state tax increases in Illinois history.”
“Scott Lee Cohen is not a career politician. As a father of four, a lifelong Illinois resident and a small business owner, he understands the challenges that Illinois residents face. He has hosted job fairs, putting thousands of Illinois residents back to work. He knows how losing one’s job can devastate a whole family. As Governor, Scott will continue to use his experience as an entrepreneur to ensure that the people of our state have good paying jobs to support their families.”
Cohen put “thousands of Illinois residents back to work”? Really? I’d like to see some evidence.
Still, no matter what you think of either man, that endorsement will look pretty darned good in Cohen’s ads.
* In other third party news, Steve Rhodes writes about Green Party gubernatorial nominee Rich Whitney…
I’ve never met [Whitney] and for all I know he’s a royal goofball.
Then writes…
It will be no surprise to regular readers that the Beachwood will, in all likelihood, offer its institutional endorsement of Whitney in our annual voters’ guide, just as it has in the past.
Oh, yeah. Now I’m really comfortable with that “voter guide.”
* Perhaps Steve could look through this site for clues. Here are just a few of the stories we’ve published and posted…
* Whitney’s budget and economic plans were published here in March. Our video of his press conference is here.
* Whitney’s statewide tour in May was covered here.
* The reasoning behind his initial refusal to release his tax returns is here.
* His sharpest attack of the year on Pat Quinn is here.
* You can click here to see how he worked with noted atheist Rob Sherman.
* His position on gay marriage is here.
* Links to Whitney’s solution to the economic crisis and Whitney’s “At Issue” appearance are here.
* His Illinois State Fair schedule is here.
There’s lots more, including from four years ago, but you get the drift. Here are a few other handy files…
Yes, I’ve knocked Whitney for his inept campaign and lack of fundraising skills, but when someone has been running for governor for four years and has no money or even a decent network, I tend to get frustrated with him.
You won’t see as much coverage here of independent and third party candidates as the two major parties, but you’ll still find more here than anywhere else. It certainly beats mindlessly republishing a candidate’s press release and calling it a day.
posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Sep 17, 10 @ 12:17 pm
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Can Cohen take the hit to his credibility, lol?
Comment by wordslinger Friday, Sep 17, 10 @ 12:30 pm
We love you too, Rich!
Comment by PFK Friday, Sep 17, 10 @ 12:41 pm
“Thousands of jobs.” Why not say “tens of thousands,” or “millions of jobs?” I mean, if you’re going to lie, why hold back?
He couldn’t possibly have paid thousands of people to circulate his petitions or appear in his commercials. Dozens maybe, but not thousands.
And again, the one job I’ve seen detailed that was credited to an SLC job fair was selling cable TV door-to-door for 3 months. That pays on commission only, no actual salary. Is anyone going to report on these ridiculous job fairs or are we just going to repeat what Cohen and Tobin say?
Comment by 47th Ward Friday, Sep 17, 10 @ 12:42 pm
==(put) thousands of Illinois residents back to work==
and cheated thousands more out of money as a legalized loan shark.
Comment by Anon Friday, Sep 17, 10 @ 12:49 pm
In some way I find it a little annoying all of the claims that the media has ignored the Green Party, given their amateurish campaigns, lack of resources and points total disconnection with political realities they have gotten a fair amount of coverage this time around. The Peoria/Bloomington media had coverage of several campaign stops in the area for both Whitney and LeAnn Jones, as well as mention his Walkeresque bike trip across the state more than once.
Frankly it is the Green party’s job to find a way to win not the medias to find away for them.
Comment by RMW Stanford Friday, Sep 17, 10 @ 12:56 pm
Anon,
=and cheated thousands more out of money as a legalized loan shark=
And just how did that happen? Were people kidnapped and forced to fork over their belongings to SLC? Have you ever heard of the phrase “free will”? Do you believe people have free will or are they controlled by a mysterious force known as SLC? Silly.
As for the rest of that, SLC is directly responsible for giving many people jobs - all that ink in the papers has to come from somewhere. And all the newsprint. All those print/radio/TV reporters are getting paid to report on the doings of SLC. C’mon, that’s gotta count for something.
Comment by dupage dan Friday, Sep 17, 10 @ 1:01 pm
DD, I deal with such “loan companies” a lot. They’re legalized scam artists who feed off of desperation. Unless you think 600-900% annual interest is a fair number.
Comment by Anon Friday, Sep 17, 10 @ 1:17 pm
Dupage Dan,
Let’s ask the opposition report. Page 15 of the opposition report what do you say?
“The plaintiff alleged that ‘after 25 years, defendant cahnged contract policy from 1 year to 3 months, but stull advertises [sic] in yellow pages 1 year pawn. When plaintiff returned during May 1997 defendant already sold the rings.”
Of course, that case was dismissed without trial. However it also seems he attempted to cheat his vendors out of several hundred thousand dollars for goods and services rendered.
I mean, it’s all right there. This isn’t a debate over the morality of loan sharking.
Comment by Dirt Digger Friday, Sep 17, 10 @ 1:21 pm
RMW, I’m not sure I follow your point. Are you suggesting the Green Party shouldn’t do media relations and try to get mentioned in political coverage? Should Rich Whitney, for instance, be content to be left out of an article that talks about his D/R opponents as if they are the only two people in the race?
Comment by PFK Friday, Sep 17, 10 @ 1:32 pm
Some observations,
If the Green Party can’t get any traction with all this oil leaking stuff happening, they either better get a new standard bearer or give it up.
If being paid pennies on the dollar when selling your valuables when you are desperate for money is considered a job then SLC truly has employed thousands.
Goofy groups like Tobin’s usually endorse candidates, coincidently, after a donation. I figure $500 bucks would have done it for SLC. I’m sure somebody will find out how much it took.
When listening to Whitney, he sounds very knowledgeable and reasonable until all of a sudden he goes off into never never land and doesn’t come back.
Comment by Phineas J. Whoopee Friday, Sep 17, 10 @ 1:40 pm
Anon & Dirt Digger,
You conveniently ignored the “free will” component in my post. Don’t like pawn brokers? DON’T USE THEM. Don’t like how the laws are written? WORK TO CHANGE THEM. It is a lawful business, GET OVER IT.
Hmmmm a case got dismissed. Sounds like justice was done. Remember, don’t mistake justice for fairness.
Comment by dupage dan Friday, Sep 17, 10 @ 1:41 pm
PFK,
No of course Whitney and the other Green party candidates should be trying to get press coverage. That being said the media has limited resources available to cover all of the candidates, limited time, space and reporters. What in the best interest of the paper’s reading giving equal or near equal time every candidate regardless of what the likely hood of them winning is or focuses on the candidates that have a realistic chance to win?
Given the current state of the Whitney campaign, and it state since the start of this election period, I think he has been given relatively fair amount of media coverage by at least some of the local station and papers.
What I do not think is justifiable is Green websites and candidates that blame their loses on the media refusing to cover them or give them equal time.
Comment by RMW Stanford Friday, Sep 17, 10 @ 1:47 pm
Looks like Cohen’s having a little fun!
http://weaskamerica.com/2010/09/17/illinois-governors-race/
Comment by JCIII Friday, Sep 17, 10 @ 2:17 pm
Rich, that Whitley media clip pack is like one running obituary of former political and government reporting jobs in Illinois.
Comment by Piling on Friday, Sep 17, 10 @ 2:32 pm
==Don’t like how the laws are written? WORK TO CHANGE THEM.==
Well that would be a lot tougher to do if people like Cohen were to win, now wouldn’t it? Hence, the need to point out exactly who he is and what he does.
Comment by Anon Friday, Sep 17, 10 @ 2:51 pm
I got the same clip package you got, Rich. Both you and the sender miss the point. Re-read my post and try again.
Comment by Steve Rhodes Friday, Sep 17, 10 @ 3:37 pm
I read your post and understand your points, Steve. Perhaps you could do a little work for a change. Instead of lavishing praise on somebody you don’t know anything about and complaining that nobody’s writing about him nicely enough.
Sheesh, man. What happened to you?
Comment by Rich Miller Friday, Sep 17, 10 @ 3:41 pm
RMW, I think it’s a chicken and egg situation. Media coverage can lead to more donations, more support etc. Look at the Tea Party for example, which was invented by and promoted endlessly by Fox News, and talked about as if it was some spontaneous people’s movement, and now thanks to heavy media coverage, IT IS a real people’s movement (although, who knows, it might all fall apart tomorrow if it weren’t covered so much).
My main gripe with the media is not the amount of coverage, but that they still turn to pundits like Paul Green — who hasn’t said anything interesting or original in years — who continue to repeat the same lazy criticisms against the Green Party and third parties in general, as if they’re reading straight out of a textbook that says third parties never amount to anything and mostly just take away votes from the major parties, without ever proving it or even taking a fresh look at what is really going on.
Beyond that, I don’t have too many gripes with the media’s treatment of our candidates. While we still get left out of articles routinely, the Green Party this year actually has gotten more media coverage and included in more polls than ever before, and that’s no accident. It’s a result of a lot of hard work and prodding over the last four years.
So to put the Green Party’s progress in perspective, we’ve overcome steep ballot access hurdles, and we’re now at a point with the media where I think we would be treated more fairly if more of our campaigns actually had fully developed media operations.
Which leads to the next challenge that we have to overcome, which is fundraising…we haven’t raised enough money to hire campaign staffers and produce the materials that we need.
Part of the problem is that Green Party candidates and donors tend to be very attuned to the ills that come along with political fundraising, and it becomes something of a moral dilemma. We tend to be suspicious of aggressive fundraising and big spending, and that becomes a problem when your opponents are all raising and spending millions.
I personally don’t think we can overcome a multi-million dollar ad campaign with more grassroots organizing. We already do an incredible amount of work all across the state with very, very little money and resources, but it’s not enough. We have to start doing more fundraising, or we’re not going to get to the next level.
It can happen. For instance, Jeremy Karpen, our 39th state rep candidate, actually raised more money than his Democratic opponent, incumbent Toni Berrios, in the first half of the year. Consequently, he’s got an office, a ground game and a pretty good shot at winning.
Comment by PFK Friday, Sep 17, 10 @ 3:58 pm
Scott Lee could of run away but he didn’t. He will not dance for the other parties. Did you see the emotion on his kids face. This guy is real and he has my vote and all my friends to. They counted him out two many times. This time their in trouble. He will win.
Comment by Magnum Tuesday, Sep 21, 10 @ 11:56 pm