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Do you think Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s quick decision to investigate those anonymouse House Republican robocalls was the right thing to do? Should she have allowed the State Board of Elections to handle the issue first? Do you think the Repulicans will try to put AG Madigan in the middle of every little political spat from now on in order to even the score against the Democrats? Does this expose her to charges that she favors her father’s House Democratic organization? Explain.
UPDATE: The Post-Dispatch has a story today.
posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Apr 12, 06 @ 8:08 am
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(1) No! (2) Yes (3) Yes (4) Yes, Its an election year and one is hard pressed not to take on their own’ governor who is in trouble already. We are very unlikely to see any more come of the investigations out of her office. However in fairness to her, Jim Ryan did little and indict the members of the Republican admins. It will take a serious federal investigation of Blago to have any progress be made. That will likely come a year or more from now, because Fitzgerald had to finish Geo. Ryan.
Comment by southernilrepub Wednesday, Apr 12, 06 @ 8:23 am
The State Board of Elections has no power to do investigate anything but failure to file a D-2 on time. All the SBE can do is point out what the law is… they can’t investigate or prosecute anything. Pointing out what the law is usually takes 6 months of internal investigation by all the King’s Horses and all the King’s Men.
Comment by BC Wednesday, Apr 12, 06 @ 8:23 am
Of course she is going to do what ever it takes to carry out her father’s wishes.The Repubs have every right to go after her since she allowed Blago to use his office for re-election purposes.
Comment by DOWNSTATE Wednesday, Apr 12, 06 @ 8:32 am
This is why every legislative leader needs a child who is an attorney general…
Comment by Speaking on condition of anonymity... Wednesday, Apr 12, 06 @ 8:37 am
AG Madigan should have stayed out for a little bit until Elections had their look. Many Republicans I know don’t have a problem with her and believe she is doing a good job. She should not have been so quick to inject herself in to this stuff.
Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Apr 12, 06 @ 8:41 am
I kind of liked the ‘cease-fire’ that was going on the last few years between the parties…they both had their hands in the trough, but since everyone was getting rich, there was really no reason to call anyone out on it. Sure, the feds have to come in once in a while, but only if things get too out of hand.
After all, most of the corruption is not technically ‘illegal’. Ask around, and you’ll hear nothing but stories about how hard working and dedicated everyone is.
How is her investigation into the selling cell phone records going? That was hyped for a while. Did she protect us from that threat?
Comment by Johnson Wednesday, Apr 12, 06 @ 8:41 am
The State Board of Elections in innefective.
Comment by Just Observing Wednesday, Apr 12, 06 @ 9:27 am
Maybe she did jump too quickly, but clearly a law was broken and honestly the HGOPers can’t do much on this issue - everytime they talk about it they have to start with “when we broke the law she shouldn’t have been the one to investigate us” . . .
Also, from a campaign strategy the GOP would be wise to keep Lisa disengaged. The more she campaigns, the more it will help the Governor.
Comment by Goodbye Napoleon Wednesday, Apr 12, 06 @ 9:35 am
Lisa said at the State Fair she could support Rod politically — all while she was supposed to be investigating him. That tells you all you need to know. And that her Dad is Rod’s re-elect chairman.
Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Apr 12, 06 @ 9:50 am
If the State Board of Elections truly has no police powers (or is ineffective) and if this is a political minefield as portrayed above, then AG Madigan should consider appointing a level headed former prosecutor or judge to act as a special counsel to handle this and any future complaints. Take it out of her direct hands. However, it will take a former prosecutor/judge with a lot of integrity to navigate the political storm that may follow.
Although if AG Madigan does decide to keep the investigation in house, Napoleon is right. The more the Republicans complain, the worse they’ll look and the better Lisa’s name recognition will get as she battles the so-called “culture of corruption.”
Comment by Anon sequitur Wednesday, Apr 12, 06 @ 9:55 am
or you could argue that it exposes Lisa Madigan for not investigating some of the some type stuff Rod has done.
Comment by takethehighroad Wednesday, Apr 12, 06 @ 10:05 am
“Does this expose her to charges that she favors her father’s House Democratic organization?”
Yes. No matter the merits, this looks just terrible – my plain-spoken father would say it “looks like crap†– and was, therefore, politically stupid.
This appears to be exactly the kind of thing that the GOP squawked would happen if L. Madigan became AG while M. Madigan was running the House Dems.
I don’t know if there is any merit to a claim of bias. But I do know that when your political opponents say, “She’s gonna do ‘X’” you ought to know that if you do “X”, they are going to be ready to jump all over you for it and scream “I told you so.”
Even if the State Board of Elections has no power to do investigate this allegation, she should have stepped aside, let the SBE determine that they were statutorily incapable of investigating the incident, let the SBE explain why they couldn’t act on this — and then her office could have stepped in because it had to do so. But instead she appears much too eager to use the power of her office against her father’s opposition.
That said, I’d still vote for her for Governor.
Note: Sorry about all the italics — too much coffee.
Comment by So-Called "Austin Mayor" Wednesday, Apr 12, 06 @ 10:10 am
1. The ISBE has plenty of powers, like subpoenas and fines. Plus it is the JOB of the ISBE to enforce the Election Code. They just won’t do it when a political fight is involved, which is a different question.
2. Madigan was foolish to drag the AG’s office into this controversy. Not only is she wide open to claims that she is using the prosecutorial power of the AG’s office as a political weapon, she is also exposed to tough questions about selectivity in her investigations.
A rare mistep.
Comment by Bubs Wednesday, Apr 12, 06 @ 10:16 am
Is her investigation politically motivated: Yes
Is it warranted: Yes
Just because her motives are impure doesn’t mean the House Republicans didn’t brake the law.
Comment by Veritas Wednesday, Apr 12, 06 @ 10:19 am
I know a (currently) unopposed house dem up here in Lake County that had nasty, misleading robocalls pumped into their district a short time ago. The calls distorted the rep’s record and included an incitement to call the rep’s office in Springfield (long distance) and complain to the staff there. There was no mention of where the calls were originating from.
Republicans are desperate to get a candidate appointed to run against this outstanding rep and I had thought the calls were local - just to soften the ground for a possible opponent. Now we see they were part of a wider strategy.
Nasty.
Can anybody point us to the exact statute that covers this sort of thing?
Comment by Scott Cisek Wednesday, Apr 12, 06 @ 1:44 pm
I think she has done as good a job as she can at seperating herself from her father, politically.
Comment by The Hankster Wednesday, Apr 12, 06 @ 1:49 pm
Maybe someone should wake up Stu WhatzHisName and see what he thinks. Would go after The RoboCross?
Does he think Madigan is wrong?
Let’s get this guy some free attention before he begins to atrophy.
Comment by Reddbyrd Wednesday, Apr 12, 06 @ 4:12 pm
It’s funny how the dems attack the medium, but not the message. not much to say when you do cut funding to vets programs and raid the state pension system, i guess.
Comment by T. Landrum Wednesday, Apr 12, 06 @ 7:08 pm
T. Landrum — Tom Cross is attacking Democats for a budget that hasn’t even been voted on yet. Stupid.
The whole point of the calls was to try to disrupt the budget process and keep the Democrats from passing a budget without GOP votes. That’s obvious.
To those who argue this is no big deal, I say pish. By their own admission, the GOP was funding illegal phone banks against nearly 1 in 4 House Democrats.
Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Thursday, Apr 13, 06 @ 2:21 am
I think the AG’s office does everything it can in terms of investigations it conducts considering the number of requests that must be sent to them. I think the father/daughter connection is played out. She has totally proven herself as an effective statewide leader and has earned the respect of many in both parties.
Comment by Anon Wednesday, May 24, 06 @ 3:52 pm