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Tribune Nods

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Illinois

The Chicago Tribune disses Bob Churchill:

62nd District (north suburbs): Rep. Bob Churchill once had influence as a top lieutenant to former GOP leader Lee Daniels. But since Daniels stepped down as House minority leader, Churchill has largely been reduced to creating obstacles for the new minority leader, Rep. Tom Cross. Democrat Sharyn Elman is a breast cancer survivor who was motivated to run in part by Churchill’s vote against requiring insurance companies to cover mammograms. The broadcast journalist is a ball of fire. She’s open to the idea of caps on non-economic damages for medical malpractice claims, state restrictions to end-of-career pension sweetener deals for public employees and expanded drug treatment programs for inmates. Elman is endorsed.

And doesn’t have kind words for Mike Boland:

71st District (northwest Illinois): Democratic Rep. Mike Boland’s nickname around the Capitol is “Squish,” because sometimes it’s hard to nail him down on issues. He occasionally comes up with interesting initiatives. His latest is to get keno added to the state’s lottery system. Republican Steve Haring, the economic development director for a six-county district in northwestern Illinois, is a creative campaigner. He has developed a 10-minute DVD where he talks in straightforward fashion about where he stands on jobs, education and other issues. Haring is endorsed.

I’ve been around more than a few years and I’ve spent a lot of time in Sen. Denny Jacobs’ office (Boland’s arch nemesis), but I don’t think I’ve ever heard Mike Boland called “Squish.”

I wasn’t able to get to the Boland race this week, but watch Monday’s edition.

And once again, if you were surprised at being automatically forwarded here from my old website, everything’s fine. If you just want the media links, click here.

posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Oct 15, 04 @ 10:42 am

Comments

nice Blog, although the dorks that are paying $300 for your drivel should be pretty upset at being able to read the same schlock here for free.

Comment by Anonymous Friday, Oct 15, 04 @ 11:54 am
Nice blog. Keep on expanding it. Will you be expanding your regular Capital Fax soon?

Comment by Louis G. Atsaves Friday, Oct 15, 04 @ 12:12 pm
Rest assured, if I get very many subscriber complaints about this, I’ll dump it faster than you can say, “What’s a blog?” The idea is to supplement the Fax and tease others into buying a subscription. If it doesn’t work, I’m outta here.

Comment by Rich Miller Friday, Oct 15, 04 @ 12:29 pm
Boland is a great guy. I’ve known him for years too and have never
read or heard the term “Squish”. Bruce Dold has been known
to pull made-up things out of his ass (on behalf of the Tribune
Editorial page) before in order to justify endorsing a lesser-qualified Republican over a more qualified Democrat. This is common practice
at the newspaper David Halberstam called “mediocre” on NPR when describing his stint in Chicago writing the Jordan book. The Trib would be endorsing Jack Ryan over Obama if he were the nominee. Enuff said !

Comment by Anonymous Friday, Oct 15, 04 @ 3:10 pm
My guess is that the House Republicans included the fictitious nickname “Squish” in the Boland dossier they sent to Dold…stapled to their “Top Priority Candidates” list…which, incidentally matches perfectly with the Tribune’s endorsements…surprise, surprise. If his stint expires with the Trib, Dold can rest assured that he has a future as a political flak for the Republican Party.

Comment by illinoispolitik Saturday, Oct 16, 04 @ 5:13 pm